Several people contacted me after my previous blog post about my
-need for a new laptop, and provided very useful feedback. I wish to
-thank every one of these. Several pointed me to the possibility of
-fixing my X230, and I am already in the process of getting Lenovo to
-do so thanks to the on site, next day support contract covering the
-machine. But the battery is almost useless (I expect to replace it
-with a non-official battery) and I do not expect the machine to live
-for many more years, so it is time to plan its replacement. If I did
-not have a support contract, it was suggested to find replacement parts
-using FrancEcrans, but it
-might present a language barrier as I do not understand French.
-
-
One tip I got was to use the
-Skinflint web service to
-compare laptop models. It seem to have more models available than
-prisjakt.no. Another tip I got from someone I know have similar
-keyboard preferences was that the HP EliteBook 840 keyboard is not
-very good, and this matches my experience with earlier EliteBook
-keyboards I tested. Because of this, I will not consider it any further.
-
-
When I wrote my blog post, I was not aware of Thinkpad X250, the
-newest Thinkpad X model. The keyboard reintroduces mouse buttons
-(which is missing from the X240), and is working fairly well with
-Debian Sid/Unstable according to
-Corsac.net. The reports I
-got on the keyboard quality are not consistent. Some say the keyboard
-is good, others say it is ok, while others say it is not very good.
-Those with experience from X41 and and X60 agree that the X250
-keyboard is not as good as those trusty old laptops, and suggest I
-keep and fix my X230 instead of upgrading, or get a used X230 to
-replace it. I'm also told that the X250 lack leds for caps lock, disk
-activity and battery status, which is very convenient on my X230. I'm
-also told that the CPU fan is running very often, making it a bit
-noisy. In any case, the X250 do not work out of the box with Debian
-Stable/Jessie, one of my requirements.
-
-
I have also gotten a few vendor proposals, one was
-Pro-Star, another was
-Libreboot.
-The latter look very attractive to me.
-
-
Again, thank you all for the very useful feedback. It help a lot
-as I keep looking for a replacement.
-
-
Update 2015-07-06: I was recommended to check out the
-lapstore.de web shop for used laptops. They got several
-different
-old
-thinkpad X models, and provide one year warranty.
-