Notebook for college/work, is x220 a good idea?

Hey there, my ASUS K55V laptop is slowly dying and i think it’s time to get a new machine. Since my budget is fairly limited (~7000CZK = 290$) i’m thinking about buying used thinkpad x220 (i5/4GB). (I can replace RAM & HDD for almost new ones from another machine.) I wonder if it’s gonna last me at least two years and also if the battery (6-cells i think) is sufficient to get me trough at least two lectures (3 hours). The OS or the speed of the machine don’t really seem as a problem since i’m using an arch installation with bspwm as a wm. Also i’m hoping it’s enough to play full HD video on an external monitor &| work with Krita.

(i’m thinking about buying it from here: http://www.levnapc.cz/lenovo-thinkpad-x220-1.html)

Is it {a good choice,gonna (most likely) last at least two years}?
Have you got any more/better recommendations?

Thinkpads are great, I have a x201, but I wouldn't pay that much the x220. I think a more fair price would be $200 and you'll have money left over for an ssd.

A maintained Thinkpad will probably outlive the owner of it. They're built to last.

x220's are nice units. Great keyboard, easy to rebuild, clean and upgrade. Generally the only thing that I have seen go wrong with them is the thinklight at the top of the screen failing.

As suggested above. Price seems a litte high. Either way you'll be wanting to install a SSD so factor that in. (Plus maybe a new battery, but as Thinkpad parts are like Toyota Corolla's, parts are cheap and readily available)

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My current/only computer right now is a Thinkpad w520 (same generation as the x220). Fantastic laptop, and very serviceable. The one problem you may run into though is that they are old laptops with old batteries and hard drives. While with the standard battery when it was new it has the durability you require, we are talking about a laptop that is several years old at this point, and you may end up with a battery that work. Just don't expect it to run much more than basic stuff at this point, and NO gaming (unless you play SNES ROMs or DOS games). Web browsing will be laggy at 4gb of ram, but doable. Beyond that, watching videos and doing desktop publishing will be the limits. The screen will also likely be pretty unless you can find one that specifically says it has the IPS option. WiFi also will be limited to 802.11n. Basically my point is that it will not be good for much outside of the basics.

Also, whenever buying a used laptop, ESPECIALLY Thinkpads, do a fresh install of the OS with your own key and a image. DO NOT even boot into the OS on the Thinkpad and connect it to your network. Often, sellers will put malware on these laptops bundled with the OS. Also note that the RAM may have been replaced with low quality stuff, so be weary of that too.

So my advice would be this: if you get the laptop, plan on buying a battery and a new hard drive. Upgrading to 8GB of RAM, and an SSD will make a HUGE difference in performance for normal use. With the 6 or 9 cell battery, you should see 8-14 hours of battery life.

I would love to find a refurbished one for 200$, but unfortunately i have to factor in living overseas. By that i mean like 90$ in shipping + taxes .... in the end it would be probably more expensive & dangerous to buy it off ebay, than from a local refurbisher....

I have a Lenovo x220T, solid machine, I choose it for mostly the IPS screen to do quick and dirty Lightroom and photoshop on although the color gamut is really small. Maxed out the ram and it has two ssd drives in it. Original battery is still in it and gets about 2.5hrs of browsing. Originally I would get around 5-6hrs. Keyboard is great. screen is just ok but worlds better than a tn panel (at the time most laptops were tn). It runs Linux Fedora really well. These days I hardly use it but back when I did use it I really liked it. its not super light or sleek but it was perfect for me (I was an engineer student) so it went everywhere with me and was helpful in the labs.

Just bought an X220 for my girlfriend, they are such incredible machines you really can not go wrong, they are upgradeable and fully serviceable,they even have a spare m.2 slot you can but something in.

I got mine and hers for about $240 (aussie dollaraydoos that is), you should be bale to find one for around $200 I'd say.

You usually have nothing to worry about buying these second hand due to their crazy good build quality.