UPDATE, October 2024: This 13-year-old ThinkPad X220 is still my main computer! I use it every day for blogging, shopping, photo editing, business stuff, and even writing this comment. 😊 I also did one more mod since creating this video. I added an additional internal USB 2.0 port (weird, right?) using the laptop's vacant Bluetooth card port and this custom chip: ebay.us/dqV6bG (affiliate link). That brings the total number of USB-A ports to 6 and allows me to hide a small USB device inside the computer (like an additional Bluetooth adapter, wireless mouse dongle, or flash drive). For more frugal tips, be sure to subscribe to our channel and read the blog at www.tripofalifestyle.com Thanks for watching! - Lauren
@TripOfALifestyle I have a Dell Latitude E6530. Upgraded with 16 gig RAM, bigger battery, 2TB SSD, BD-RE drive, USB 3.0 ExpressCard. It has 2 USB 3.0 ports built in plus a USB 2.0 and an eSATA USB 2.0 combo port. It has 1080p display and nVidia GPU with dedicated RAM. I got it cheap because it had an i3 CPU. It was easy to swap in an i7. One puzzler is why DELL won't do a TPM 2.0 firmware update for it when they have for lesser models of the same era.
I am writing this on a x220 i got 2nd hand in 2014. It has an i5. I upped it to 16GB RAM and a Sata SSD. Still going strong! (Got it for 150 bucks lol)
That just shows how most people's needs in terms of technology were met 10-15 years ago already and all the fancy new tech is just satisfying consumerism.
@emperorarasaka Depends from settings and GPU, but it's possible to game on i7 from 2009. But most people aren't gaming anyway, for browsing, office and movies it's perfectly fine.
Great job, i'm 79 and still do all my own repairs thanks to youtube. Replace batteries in cell phones ( which they say can't be replaced) to replacing screens on laptops. You go girl!
Pro tip for anyone wanting to do this sort of thing: be cautious when blowing out any PC fans. It's best to either hold the blades still, or disconnect the fan(s) from the motherboard. Otherwise, you run the risk of generating an electrical current with the fan motor strong enough to short the motherboard when you spin the blades up with air pressure, because you're effectively turning it into an electic generator and that power is going to go somewhere if it's still connected to a circuit. But this was a great video and I really enjoyed the premise and end result data.
For every Muppet who says this is fine and you can ignore the comment above... That is BS! Listen to This man, hold them or disconnect them. I myself Fried two Motherboards with this (one as accident, the other to prove it can happen with a spare board) Don't be stupid me! :D
@@abdul-kabiralegbe5660 Yes, this & working on an open computer while on carpet flooring, especially in winter! That spark felt will likely surely damage something, why I don't do this, plus wear a $5 wrist strap touching a metal part of the unit. Some components, especially GPU's, doesn't always like the blasts of cold air to blow out dust either. Better to tear down to the point of removing the heatsink & then, if possible, wash it after allowing to sock to loosen the dust & pick as much of the rest out as one can. It's much safer, have seen many on Tech forums reporting this, in particular those who has MSI brand models. A GPU not torn down likely won't dry as much as an open motherboard & any trapped liquid can (& will likely) short the GPU as soon as booted.
Late to the party, but here goes. I used to work at a recycling/waste transfer site where we would get discarded laptops. I, being an old tech head, would enjoy taking them home and refurbishing them. Most often it was a plugged cooling fan. Was given a HP Pavilion with a busted 17" screen. Worked on an external monitor so ordered a new screen for $110.00 Cdn. Later installed a 512 Gb SSD, 16Gb RAM a cooling stand and after 10 years, still runs great. Now, if Microsoft would work on a lean mean OS like XP, I'd be thrilled. There's still Linux that I'm learning at 72 on another salvaged laptop. Too many people buy a new phone because it has a larger number after the fruit for which it was named. If it works, I'm using it.
Search for "Live" linux distributions you can run off a thumb drive. That allows you to try before you decide. Linux Mint may as well be a GUI like MacOS or Windows. You can get by without terminal for 90% of it. You can also run versions of Linux in a virtual machine on Windows, but it works much better the other way around, using Windows on a virtual machine via Ubuntu or Debian distros. With VMware being free, you even get pass through hardware functionality in many cases for Windows. Godspeed young man! 🍻
Btw, 128GB is plenty of space for a Linux Distro if you just decide to dual boot the machine. Realistically, RAM usage on windows will be the real bottleneck soon enough at 16GB.
No need to throw it out so it doesn't have all the newest bangs and whistles or super fast I still keep and use 8 to 10 yr old laptops to this day and I upgraded my acer 2010 network too.
Plus the fruit company intentionally designs it so that it will look bad after a few years of use. I mean, if it can't stand a few years of use, why buy it in the first place?
When it comes to USB ports, please keep in mind that USB 3.0 is available only in i7 version of X220. If you get i5 or i3, you will only get USB 2 ports.
True, but for all practical purposes it doesn't matter unless you are transferring mega amounts of data. For day to day use USB2 is fine, esp. if you are just connecting peripherals like a printer, mouse, keyboard etc.
I’m totally on board with this. So many wasted older computers that have plenty of life in them. In fact most people think they need to upgrade a pc just because the OS gets a little sluggish but I do a clean install of Windows every 2 years or so. I also built a home server and have a dedicated Linux laptop. For me computers are a hobby but I can build most people a great computer for a few hundred dollars. My Lenovo ThinkStation server has a Xeon 8 core/16 thread processor, 96Gb RAM, 1Tb NVMe SSD and 16Tb of HD storage and it cost me about $750. I just laugh when people buy $2500 Macs that they don’t need with the exception being video/music editors. You don’t need a MacBook Pro to be a college student or surf the web.
@@TripOfALifestyle also you mentioned that you don’t use your second drive bay. I always do because I keep my OS on one drive and my data on the other. Makes things easier when it comes to refreshing the OS or if it dies but I also know you mentioned your husband backs up the data. I just like the compartmentalization.
Thanks for making this video. I looked up at least 3-4 videos about repasting an x230T and yours is the only one that mentions that the Thermal Pads also need replacement. Everyone else just glosses over it, and only mention how to apply the thermal paste.
as a thinkpad enthusiast I love this video! you were really committed to that X220 -- the newer models just aren't as easily upgradeable, so I get it. I'm still in love with the T480 I bought in 2019 and have kept upgrading, even though I now daily drive an X1 Carbon 9th Gen.
I only have ever bought 1 laptop ever. Every single laptop after that shitty gateway I bought in like 1998 I have gotten for free from places that I have worked. Companies throw away computers like crazy and all of my laptops after that have been from these throw away machines. If you work somewhere get to know your IT staff and more then likely they have a bunch of old stuff laying around that they would be happy to let you have.... just don't steal stuff tho :P
@@TripOfALifestyle You are very welcome. I love discovering new content creators like yourself and your hubby on this platform. It's like Christmas everyday.
Got a 2010 macbook white. With ssd, new battery and extra ram. Used opencore to load a more recent mac operating system. Everything still works. Good for general use.
These old ThinkPads are something else. I've received old X200 for free (4 GB of RAM, no hard drive and Core 2 Duo P8600). Over the years I've upgraded the RAM to 8 GB, threw in a 120 GB SSD, USB 3.0 Express Card, new battery, swapped motherboard from X200 to X201 one with i3 CPU and installed modded BIOS without WiFi whitelist. Right now, I'm waiting for two adapters, which will allow me to install small NVMe drive and two additional SD cards (internally) for storage boost. I have plans for upgrading WiFi card in the future. Also, this unit (even with X200 motherboard) runs Windows 11 just fine.
@@arikowidtrash7074 It runs Windows 11 fine. It's a little bit slower than modern Intel Pentium laptops but otherwise pretty snappy for it's age. It does all the office work fast enough. TH-cam FullHD playback works. For 1200 frames it will drop about 5.
You are lucky that your laptop on Core 2 Duo recognizes 8Gb RAM. I have a Samsung (also on Core 2 Duo) and it refuses to see more than 3G RAM. No matter what I tried, even upgrading the latest BIOS version did not help. By the way, I also installed Win 11 on this laptop (need to change 2 keys in the registry during installation) and it works fine, but it takes a long time to load. That's why I use Win 8.1 - it is much lighter, loads faster and uses fewer resources.
@@Вася-ш3щ My X200 recognised 8 GB of RAM because it was Core 2 Duo P-series working on DDR3 memory. If you have Core 2 Duo T-series the chances are that it will only support only 4 GB of RAM and most likely only DDR2. Oh, and the newest version of Windows 11 (24H2) requires SSE 4.2 CPU instructions so old Core 2 Duo systems will not get past 23H2. You have to have at least 1st generation of Intel Core CPUs.
I do a very similar thing! As a cyber security engineer, my company supplies me with a laptop for work. But, for college and all personal use after college I have been using/upgrading a Lenovo Thinkpad E580 that I bought in high school. It didn't have a windows license when I bought it so I've been running Ubuntu natively since day 1 (I prefer standard Ubuntu to Xubuntu even though standard Ubuntu is slightly more resource heavy).
@@TripOfALifestyle Fair enough. The most important thing is that they are all free! Thanks so much for interacting! I love y’all’s content! Keep it up!
An excellent idea to continue using a perfectly adequate laptop. I have done almost all of the same mods with my X220 and it’s still going strong. The nice thing about Thinkpad laptops is that there were so many leased to corporations that there is a huge pool of used units for parts available. Because they were built for business use, the components were reliable and not necessarily leading edge so they last a long time. The old Thinkpad in particular are highly modularized so it’s easy to swap out certain components rather than having to replace the entire main board for everything. Thanks for the tip on the USB-C power inlet replacement! I got my upgraded WiFi module long ago as a Lenovo branded unit out of a newer parts Thinkpad found on eBay. I’ve been through 4 batteries and finally landed one that seems to be built less cheaply and that has lasted well. Because the “hard disk” SSD is so easy to swap I run Debian most of the time and can swap to Windows 10 for one specialized application that requires a direct hardware interface and won’t work with a virtual machine. The SSD and memory upgrades really give new life to the old X220. I also have an even older X200 that’s still in use and even an ancient X40 with a rare tiny replacement SSD and running 32-bit Debian that I keep around as a novelty.
after watching this and a few other videos i got a thinkpad x220 in crappy condition for 40 dollars and fixed it up. Im a lot into it and it still has some minor issues but i like it a lot. one of my favorite laptops i have
Major kudos for getting your laptop for an average investment of less than $100 / year. I think not every brand would upgrade as well as the one you have, a testament to the wise choice you made in the beginning. Thanks for sharing your experience. Happy travels, and Happy Holidays!
Awesome video, so many great ideas for my old pads I had not thought of and probably wouldn't have without this video. Top notch info. The overall video presentation was generally easy on the eyes too (:
The X220 was also the last laptop they made with that particular keyboard. For that reason alone, it's great. On mine, the fan stopped working -- IDK if it's a hardware or software problem. I will try to replace the fan. And thanks for a very pleasant and helpful video.
Got an old x220t which I've only now replaced with a newer laptop for its intended function. Two tips I can mention: -Get H264ify plugin for your browsers. YT and other streaming sites are starting to use H265 encoding, which is great if you have hardware that can handle it (anything after around 2016). Anything older can request the older codec instead which these laptops can handle. That should stop stuttering or fan spinup on higher definition screens. -Consider getting the dock. Most of the business line have/had docking stations you could buy. They'll perform better than 3rd party USB docks and can keep your setup cleaner at home -If yours has a low resolution display, you may be able to upgrade to 1920x1080. Check the original specifications and models available for your laptop, many came with higher resolution options. If you can get either the model number it refers to or the panel number you can upgrade it. This isn't super hard to do on older systems, but one side effect is that some of the feature buttons may not longer match up correctly. All of the features are there, you just need to figure them out for yourself.
Your video is inspring as I have a few retired laptops sitting at my storage room collecting dust and these retured laptops are actually younger than your Thinkpad. I think I am trying to do some refurblishing work to rejunvenile them.
You've pretty much pushed it to the max! I like it. I've got same X220 with i7. Where did you get the USB-C charging port? Was unaware of that, so appreciate it. I'm checking Aliexpress but haven't seen one. If you wanted to squeeze every bit of performance out of it, you could look at compiling with Gentoo but I doubt it'd be worth it + you'd have days of compiling ahead of you. Think if you wanted to go further mods, you'd have to go X230 but I appreciate this is your original laptop so likely quite attached to it
@@TripOfALifestyle Winner, thank you. I often forget to look there. I've read that Kingsener batteries on a Aliexpress are generally quite good, that's my next stop. I'm mostly plugged in each day, so I've used TLP to set my battery thresholds to 40-50% charge, i.e. extending the lifetime of the battery before it degrades. I'm also interested in recelling the battery but just don't have the time or equipment just yet. I'd definitely watch a video on that if you're looking for another challenge
Barrel to USB-C is a great mod! If you forget your charger, you can almost always find a USB-C cable nearby. The i7's have had an amazing run, almost any of those 2+GHz i7's from 2012 or later are still very useful today (and many can be found with native HDMI out, but an onboard SD-card reader can be hit or miss-- that's handy for xfer drone or camera images). Around $300 for a (second hand) daily driver (non-gaming) system is very do-able (i7 because 2+ row taskbars is how we roll, 14-16" screen, SATA/mSATA/NVM, 16GB and good to go). Old MacBook Pro's from that era (which are also i7's) are also still decent (but kind of heavy) or older Razer Blade's. Modern laptop does offer the higher speed USB-C 3.2 (where you can attach external GPUs, which is a lot more practical than using those external riser adapters). Even if not gaming, doing some Google Earth or faster video editing/effects preview is always good (for me a GPU helps with astronomy imaging, stacking/stretching images). // You can also find old laptops at Vintage Computer Festivals around the country throughout the year (the one in Chicago being probably the best for laptops).
Amazing! First time I see a barrel charging to usb c charging upgrade. I didn’t think that was possible. Can you share more details about that? What parts to look for and how to make the replacement?
I've also the same machine! X220 has THE most incredible keyboard, it's a pleasure to use. On a side note does your Thinklight work with the hotkey? I can't find a fix for that on Linux? :-)
I'm been using an old DEll 1545 from 2008 for nearly 15 years. Recently upgraded the ram, upgraded the CPU, added an SSD and even brought a replacement battery (holds a decent charge now). Gave it a good clean too. Total cost around £25 :) Purrs like a kitten and does everything I need.
My MacBook is 12 years old. It was unused for over 3 years until I finally installed Ubuntu 24.04 on it a few months ago. I procrastinated a long time because I already had another desktop pc with Linux on it, but the MacBook now gives me the option of doing work from my own room if I suddenly have brain storms in the middle of the night and don't feel like leaving my room. Linux is great for breathing life back into old hardware that is no longer supported by commercial software.
My X220 is still kicking hard! I have Arch on it and sometimes I can feel it's kind of slow for some modern tasks, but for what I'm using it, it performs brilliantly. The most "annoying" thing is that it chugs on 4K video, especially if it's a higher bit rate. I mainly use it for Internet radio, personal e-mailing, organizing and listening to music. I love how portable and durable it is.
I have a HP Elitebook 8460p from December 2011 with an I5-2520M; 8 GB DDR3 and a 2 TB HDD. I have a desktop and I'm retired, so I don't really need a laptop anymore. Only once in 2 years, when I go back to my country to visit family for 1 or 2 months. Mostly I use my laptop as backup server and that is why it has a 2 TB HDD, because my desktop has 2.5 TB storage. Desktop and Laptop run Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and for storage I use OpenZFS and all my apps run in Virtualbox VMs (Linux and Windows). So I have exactly the same VMs and Data on Desktop and Laptop. I bought the off-lease laptop in 2017 for ~$200 and only replaced the HDD. My $349 desktop is a Ryzen 3 2200G (4C4T; 3.7 GHz) from April 2019; 16GB DDR4; a 512 GB NVME and a brand new 2 TB HDD for speed supported by a 128GB SSD cache. Begin of this year my 2 reused HDDs (1 TB + 500 GB) died after 10 power on years. I intend to upgrade to a Ryzen 5 5500GT or 5600GT (6C12T; ~4.5GHz) and 32GB of DDR4. The Ryzen 3 2200G still runs fine, but for the next 5 to 6 years I will need somewhat more power and space :) Besides I'm almost 80 and I don't like to continuously estimate in my head the required free memory for VMs I want to start.
I work at a company with a mobile workforce and the workload demands that we replace aging computers with new ones because motherboards are dying from fans giving out (non-replaceable) and heat issues, as well as terrible slowdown as Windows gets more bloated. The most important upgrade is replace HDD with SSD and the most important setting change is TURN OFF TURBO BOOST in the BIOS. It makes it run hot, increases power consumption, and greatly increases fan noise.
I did pretty much all the updates to my x220 you did -- SSD, 16gb, I've replaced the keyboard twice, WLAN card. I also replaced the fan though it was fine. Thought about the USB 3.0 PC card.
Good advice if you already have an oldpad from way back and you want to upgrade it. Picking one up today expecting it to go another 12 years would be weird though (where are you getting the Thunderbolt port from? Like actual Thunderbolt with charging and DisplayPort?). For such a purpose I'd probably get a Framework (if I weren't so married to the ThinkPad TrackPoint).
yeah i don't think spending money to keep it going it actually worth already not using windows had to spend 100 on batteries alone along with all the other stuff at that point just buying knew is the way to go. just like computer maybe every 5 years make some type of upgrade move by then your couple generation into new tech and it is well worth the jump to new hardware keep something for ten years ago going isn't worth it. unless your to retro type of videos. but most of those is about showing things at their stock or close to stock specks so upgrading kills that type of video.
I got x230 which is similar. great laptop. my only problem is getting a good battery since lenovo has long stopped producing battery for this series. after bought 3 batteries that each only lasted for one year I got sicked of it so I uninstalled the battery. to power the laptop I use power bank 65 W which has type C port that can deliver 20V 3,25A. the good thing is you can get much bigger capacity with powerbank. the battery capacity is only 5300mah but you can buy powerbank 20000 mah that will give you longer usage time.
Here i'd add that if you will change the thermal paste again maybe look in to PTM 7950. That i7 likes to run hot so excellent heat transfer and life-time longevity are quite usefull. You also might want to do an IPS mod if not done already. Your X220 has lived a wonderfull life :D
I'm a Thinkpad fanboy. My wife and I each have a Thinkpad T520 in addition to our desktops. In addition I'm using a T420 as a poor man's server mainly for automated backups and personal web server. It has an SSD as the main drive and a 2TB HDD in a caddy replacing the DVD drive. We have had good luck buying off lease PCs and laptops on eBay. Normally use recyclers rather then one-offers trying to sell their old computer.
I'm rehabbing an early 2011 MacBook Pro that belonged to my wife. So far, I've replaced the battery, a broken touchpad, and the SSD, and installed Ubuntu 24.04. I could have kept the old SSD in service, but replacing it was the easiest way to back up its contents. The MagSafe charger failed yesterday; one of its power pins stuck. A couple of pokes with a thin probe put everything right. One more task remains: upgrading the memory. I'll do that later this week. Update: One of the pins in the power supply's MagSafe connector stuck yesterday, which caused charging to fail. A couple of pokes with a mechanical pencil put things right. Just upgraded memory to 16 gigs and the machine just cooks. Love it!
Whoa, hold the phone...you went from a Barrel Charging port to a USB C Charging port??? Can I please see the explainer vid on how you did that? I thought I was good until I came to this channel. You've got some nice mods.
Great tutorial. Hard to retire a good running laptop. My 2010 Asus ROG laptop's screen went out as a result of short caused by the faulty power supply. It's a power house of a gaming laptop but unfortunately, the backlight harness is a rare commodity. Thanks for the inspiration.
unfortunately the USB3-Port is ONLY AVAILABLE if the I7 is installed on the X220 the I5 and the I3 has only USB2. If this is an issue go for the X230 this has an USB3 on each version.
The happiest part is considering how much e-waste you haven't created, as a lot of people treat a laptop as a throwaway item and renew when the next fastest thing comes along. For myself I've never bought new, just by used and upgrade what you can😊😊
This is kind of girl I love to be with. Not a girl that spoiled with her latest MacBook Pro. I also now focusing on buying a futureproof laptop so that they can last 10+ years. I would have been happy with a Lenovo Thinkpad W520 but my 4K video editing work requires like a Pascal Quadro GPU so Fujitsu Celsius H780 is perfect.
I think the point is to do these sort of upgrades as-needed, as you did. When you do them all in a short period, your money is probably better spent on a "new" thinkpad from ebay. Just a few months back I picked up a T470s (i5-6500u) with 20G ram for $130 shipped. It has usb-c (data+charging). It was missing a power-brick and I wanted to upgrade the small+slow nvme it came with, so that was another $70 shipped.
I did many years of corporate IT support and the Thinkpad is the best you can get. You do have to get corporate Thinkpad, not retail systems. The x220 is corporate. I’m a solo circumnavigator now and still use an x240 with solid state drive for pulling down HF radio weather, email underway. I use a Raspberry Pi for navigation computer too. Cheers A SV Soy Libre Vuda, Fiji
These now rather old machines are still amazing value today. I still have a Thinkpad X201 tablet from 2011 and use it occasionally, especially when I am traveling. I did the same upgrades as you did to your X220, it really is a big upgrade. My X201 has major limitations compared to the X220 however. For example, adding a USB 3 Expresscard only bumps the speed to about 40-45 MB/s because the bus speed is low. Not worth the upgrade. The only really weak point is the battery. I am also on my third battery, and for the X201 it is really hard to find a good and inexpensive original. I have to stick to third party batteries which are expensive too, and not as good. I get maybe 90 minutes of battery life right now... Overall, I am still really happy with it, and do not know what to buy as a replacement. I am really happy that I upgraded my X201 to its limits (SSD, 8GB RAM), the newest Thinkpad has only an upgradable SSD. RAM and even the USB C charging port is soldered on the motherboard, where those are separate parts on both the X201 and X220.
Totally agree that it's still an awesome computer, and yeah, batteries are the weakest point on the X220 in 2024...It's tough to find high-quality ones from third-party sellers. Still getting 2 hours or so though, and with USB-C, it's a little easier to charge anywhere!
Cool video. I am still rocking my 2013 Sony Vaio, but sad that the brand no longer exists. Has your 2011 Thinkpad suffered any cracks on the laptop body?
@@hello838 Nice! Yeah, the ThinkPad has some small cracks that I repaired with super glue 😓...but still going strong in 2024 as my everyday computer! 💪 -Lauren
Great video. I recently bought a Lenovo 480s from Amazon Renew for $200. I highly recommend it fot anyone looking to buy a laptop you can still modify. Ive only added a second ssd and installed linux on it so far but you can do everything else in this video when needed.
The X220 was my first ThinkPad, but I replaced it with the X390. Wish I could do the same upgrades, but I think what I need first of all is a new battery for the former.
been doing whats in the video for some time,just a well upgraded old laptop,,,for like 10+years,,BUT there are new hardware ,software requirements finally showing up that is forcing me to upgrade the laptop itself.
Totally agree; I love Linux. If you clean the fan, place something to keep the fan from moving e.g. toothpick, then blow air. Use a cloud drive to backup files so no need very expensive high capacity drive; additional benefits from cloud drive, backup when laptop drive fails.
@@algavone You're not actually upgrading any of the existing USB ports. You're ADDING 2 extra USB 3 ports via the ExpressCard slot. The card needed to do this is linked in the video description! 😊
Nice video. It shows we can update old computers in many ways. Many things can be repaired if we make an effort. I was watching this video on an old I-mac from late 2006 with Linux Elementry. Many thanks to those people who make this possible, they are great.
I've been terrified to open my computer. are there any tips about doing that? By the way, TH-cam recommended this video and I have subscribed. I have a 9-year old ASUS that I'd like to keep running as a backup (I just bought a new HP) but I need a new keyboard. Thanks for the tips!
if its an old computer that you dont use anymore, you dont have much to lose by opening it. Id look up a "teardown" of your model number. the model number is in small text on the bottom of you laptop. Don't tighten the screws hard, and make sure the screwdriver is the right size (you dont want to strip the screws). Always unplug the battery first after taking off the bottom. Most importantly, if you are ever unsure about something, google what youre unsure about.
I have made a bit of a hobby of rescuing old Dell and Lenovo laptops at the surplus department of the local university. I, personally, have four Dell laptops about 12 years old. With a little elbow grease to clean them up and some relatively minor hardware updates, they are perfectly reliable workhorses for genral purpose. I install some flavor of Linux on them and they just work. I love the older laptops because of the modular batteries. Newer ones start integrating the batteries which increases the complexity when you need to change them.
@abdul-kabiralegbe5660 I usually find them on Amazon or eBay. Typically they are an aftermarket battery that is almost as good as a factory battery, but good enough for my old laptops.
How is that barrel to USB C power working out for you? People I talk to say it is not as sturdy as the original barrel, so they go with the adapter, i.e. USB C to barrel adapter. Plus, taking everything out to access the motherboard is pretty nerve wracking.
Zero problems so far with daily use for nearly 2 years! Really nice because we just carry one 200 W USB charger now that handles 2 laptops and 2 phones all at the same time! Affiliate link: amzn.to/4bBPEy1
This content is so interesting and I really want to watch it, however, with the music/noise/effects/etc... I struggle to hear what you are saying. Is there any way you can take out these noises? Thanks for this valuable clip.
This is so cool, I wonder if I could do this with my current laptop in the future I'm guessing probably not considering it's a newer model, I already own 2 laptops! My old laptop and my current one
I think it's important to recognise that this has been the ethos of Thinkpads for a long time, and why they have such a fanatic following. More recent models have for the sake of a slick thin chassis dropped some of this upgradability unfortunately. Not sure how many other brands can boast this, but it's something that many people prefer; rather opting for more ports and upgradability over the super sleek limited bodies of other popular brands. Let's hope it can continue
As an old pc upgrader/refurbisher however you want to call it, i lik the effort you took to keep the old laptop going. I kept my old hp 8730w quad core till last year just because of the 17" it was a good old gal but had to be replaced ofc, changed 3 battery's i think, and bought an extended battery in the end. Bought a 2nd hand dell last (8th gen i7) year to replace let's see if it can also keep up for 10+ years (in desktops i'm a bit more wasteful as i change every 3-4y) .But still nice to see that old hw can still be upgraded unlike new all soldered down hardware even the RAM..
My laptop is 12 to 14 years old now and I was thinking of getting a new one. I too have upgraded the disk, doubled the memory, tricked out and expanded the usb. Given my frustration with windows, the OS upgrade and the USBc charging port might be all I need to do to get more life out of it. Thank you!!
Very good. I agree. But some older laptops do not support significant upgrades. For example, you cannot install more than 3 gigabytes of memory. This is sad. Because even they are still usable for certain purposes.
Thank you for the excellent video, I will definitely use some suggestions on my X220T. Quick question though, is it really necessary to replace the charging port in order to use a GaN charger? I am in the market for one to save me the hassle of taking several chargers when travelling but I would rather just get a 2$ type-c to barrel port adapter, the reason being that I also have a slice battery and can't replace the port on that, being a sealed unit. So is the port replacement really necessary, as in, will it tell the charger what is the correct wattage and voltage in order for everything to work as supposed, or can I safely connect a type-c cable to the stock port using an adapter dongle?
What happens when windows 11 has officially taken over? Would love to know if there was a way to change the cpu/gpu. That's excellent that you mentioned the thermal paste. Not many know of that one. That would be a great follow-up maintenance video.
It's not practical to change out the CPU or GPU in the ThinkPad X220, but it is possible in some laptops! However, using Linux instead of Windows can greatly increase the lifespan of a PC.
Nice video! My needs are fewer than yours but I use my old x220 (I have an i5 processor)that I bought from my employer after carrying around for 3 years;) My used machine cost me $45.00 I have given it more memory and an SSD. Running windows 11. It’s a lovely machine!
Can anyone recommend a good book that explains the DETAIL of exactly how to install all these hardware & software upgrades please. I have several oldie but goodie laptops & I would dearly love to upgrade at least one of my 10 - 15 year old machines, to be faster & play some of my olde DOS games again. I cannot work out how the install old dos games onto my win10 laptop, even using DosBox (eg. X-Wing). PS. I'm not a computer-wiz. Thank you.
I bought my X220 as a scratch and dent for less than $200 from Lenovo Outlet. 12 years ago. Returned it to get the screen replaced as part of the warranty. Upgrades: 512 SSD, 8GB Ram. Replaced fan with CPU heat sink. Replaced red rubber pointer. Batteries are the most expensive maintenance for me.
How do you solve the software compatibility problem with Linux? I use an Intuit rental property program for my business but it is not Linux compatible. I do love Linux and would like to use it for everything.
@@camelotenglishtuition6394 The exact WiFi card is linked in the video description! Not entirely sure about compatibility with the X201, but it may require killing the BIOS hardware whitelist as it does with the X220.
Hi, Lauren. Thanks for this. I have an old ASUS laptop I would like to do this to, but I have very limited computer knowledge and am afraid I might mess it up. Do you know of any step-by-step videos that I could watch? JD
The most and only bad upgrade is to use type c port for charging. İt can not handle ongoing energy it will create throttle neck for charging and supply circuit.
UPDATE, October 2024: This 13-year-old ThinkPad X220 is still my main computer! I use it every day for blogging, shopping, photo editing, business stuff, and even writing this comment. 😊
I also did one more mod since creating this video. I added an additional internal USB 2.0 port (weird, right?) using the laptop's vacant Bluetooth card port and this custom chip: ebay.us/dqV6bG (affiliate link).
That brings the total number of USB-A ports to 6 and allows me to hide a small USB device inside the computer (like an additional Bluetooth adapter, wireless mouse dongle, or flash drive).
For more frugal tips, be sure to subscribe to our channel and read the blog at www.tripofalifestyle.com
Thanks for watching!
- Lauren
@TripOfALifestyle I have a Dell Latitude E6530. Upgraded with 16 gig RAM, bigger battery, 2TB SSD, BD-RE drive, USB 3.0 ExpressCard. It has 2 USB 3.0 ports built in plus a USB 2.0 and an eSATA USB 2.0 combo port. It has 1080p display and nVidia GPU with dedicated RAM. I got it cheap because it had an i3 CPU. It was easy to swap in an i7. One puzzler is why DELL won't do a TPM 2.0 firmware update for it when they have for lesser models of the same era.
@greggv8 👏
I am writing this on a x220 i got 2nd hand in 2014. It has an i5. I upped it to 16GB RAM and a Sata SSD. Still going strong! (Got it for 150 bucks lol)
Do you use Arch, by the way?
@@vijaynatrajan1887 Nicely done!
That just shows how most people's needs in terms of technology were met 10-15 years ago already and all the fancy new tech is just satisfying consumerism.
@@attilaszovan Some truth to that!
Try running some of the latest games and software on a 15 year old laptop (if at all)
@emperorarasaka Depends from settings and GPU, but it's possible to game on i7 from 2009. But most people aren't gaming anyway, for browsing, office and movies it's perfectly fine.
@@emperorarasaka
Pixel shader was not even a thing, and now all games require the latest version. This video is misleading
@@MikeTMikeyou're misleading.
Great job, i'm 79 and still do all my own repairs thanks to youtube. Replace batteries in cell phones ( which they say can't be replaced) to replacing screens on laptops. You go girl!
Pro tip for anyone wanting to do this sort of thing: be cautious when blowing out any PC fans. It's best to either hold the blades still, or disconnect the fan(s) from the motherboard. Otherwise, you run the risk of generating an electrical current with the fan motor strong enough to short the motherboard when you spin the blades up with air pressure, because you're effectively turning it into an electic generator and that power is going to go somewhere if it's still connected to a circuit.
But this was a great video and I really enjoyed the premise and end result data.
For every Muppet who says this is fine and you can ignore the comment above... That is BS! Listen to This man, hold them or disconnect them. I myself Fried two Motherboards with this (one as accident, the other to prove it can happen with a spare board) Don't be stupid me! :D
@@Phil-9h You guys are idiots if you believe this advice. You may be "pros", but you are not engineers.
Thanks. This is one of those things that seem obvious in retrospect but which almost everyone forgets.
@@abdul-kabiralegbe5660 Yes, this & working on an open computer while on carpet flooring, especially in winter! That spark felt will likely surely damage something, why I don't do this, plus wear a $5 wrist strap touching a metal part of the unit. Some components, especially GPU's, doesn't always like the blasts of cold air to blow out dust either. Better to tear down to the point of removing the heatsink & then, if possible, wash it after allowing to sock to loosen the dust & pick as much of the rest out as one can. It's much safer, have seen many on Tech forums reporting this, in particular those who has MSI brand models. A GPU not torn down likely won't dry as much as an open motherboard & any trapped liquid can (& will likely) short the GPU as soon as booted.
Late to the party, but here goes. I used to work at a recycling/waste transfer site where we would get discarded laptops. I, being an old tech head, would enjoy taking them home and refurbishing them. Most often it was a plugged cooling fan. Was given a HP Pavilion with a busted 17" screen. Worked on an external monitor so ordered a new screen for $110.00 Cdn. Later installed a 512 Gb SSD, 16Gb RAM a cooling stand and after 10 years, still runs great. Now, if Microsoft would work on a lean mean OS like XP, I'd be thrilled. There's still Linux that I'm learning at 72 on another salvaged laptop. Too many people buy a new phone because it has a larger number after the fruit for which it was named. If it works, I'm using it.
Search for "Live" linux distributions you can run off a thumb drive. That allows you to try before you decide. Linux Mint may as well be a GUI like MacOS or Windows. You can get by without terminal for 90% of it.
You can also run versions of Linux in a virtual machine on Windows, but it works much better the other way around, using Windows on a virtual machine via Ubuntu or Debian distros. With VMware being free, you even get pass through hardware functionality in many cases for Windows.
Godspeed young man! 🍻
Btw, 128GB is plenty of space for a Linux Distro if you just decide to dual boot the machine.
Realistically, RAM usage on windows will be the real bottleneck soon enough at 16GB.
No need to throw it out so it doesn't have all the newest bangs and whistles or super fast I still keep and use 8 to 10 yr old laptops to this day and I upgraded my acer 2010 network too.
Plus the fruit company intentionally designs it so that it will look bad after a few years of use. I mean, if it can't stand a few years of use, why buy it in the first place?
@2:03.. Those are not SODIMM
Guilty! We pulled some random old desktop memory out of the closet as a prop for the video. 😂
When it comes to USB ports, please keep in mind that USB 3.0 is available only in i7 version of X220. If you get i5 or i3, you will only get USB 2 ports.
Correct! But you can still get some level of USB 3 support through an ExpressCard!
Doesn't really matter imo.😊
Get the x230, it has the USB 3 ports at any level
True, but for all practical purposes it doesn't matter unless you are transferring mega amounts of data. For day to day use USB2 is fine, esp. if you are just connecting peripherals like a printer, mouse, keyboard etc.
@@Fred-g2k True, yet USB 3.0 does make backups, restores & clones many times faster!💪
I’m totally on board with this. So many wasted older computers that have plenty of life in them. In fact most people think they need to upgrade a pc just because the OS gets a little sluggish but I do a clean install of Windows every 2 years or so. I also built a home server and have a dedicated Linux laptop. For me computers are a hobby but I can build most people a great computer for a few hundred dollars. My Lenovo ThinkStation server has a Xeon 8 core/16 thread processor, 96Gb RAM, 1Tb NVMe SSD and 16Tb of HD storage and it cost me about $750. I just laugh when people buy $2500 Macs that they don’t need with the exception being video/music editors. You don’t need a MacBook Pro to be a college student or surf the web.
Fresh OS install solves so many problems...and costs nothing!
@@TripOfALifestyle also you mentioned that you don’t use your second drive bay. I always do because I keep my OS on one drive and my data on the other. Makes things easier when it comes to refreshing the OS or if it dies but I also know you mentioned your husband backs up the data. I just like the compartmentalization.
You don't NEED a MacBook Pro for ANYTHING. The Air will meet 100% of your computing needs.
I must say I love how the barrel charging port works and feels.
Thanks for making this video. I looked up at least 3-4 videos about repasting an x230T and yours is the only one that mentions that the Thermal Pads also need replacement. Everyone else just glosses over it, and only mention how to apply the thermal paste.
Glad you liked it! Please feel free to share in any communities you think would benefit from it. 😊
Thermal pads need no replacement. They usually are grey and paddy like. However Thermal Paste sometimes can dry out and needs replacement.
as a thinkpad enthusiast I love this video! you were really committed to that X220 -- the newer models just aren't as easily upgradeable, so I get it. I'm still in love with the T480 I bought in 2019 and have kept upgrading, even though I now daily drive an X1 Carbon 9th Gen.
The X1 Carbon is very cool looking. How upgradeable do you think it is?
I only have ever bought 1 laptop ever. Every single laptop after that shitty gateway I bought in like 1998 I have gotten for free from places that I have worked. Companies throw away computers like crazy and all of my laptops after that have been from these throw away machines. If you work somewhere get to know your IT staff and more then likely they have a bunch of old stuff laying around that they would be happy to let you have.... just don't steal stuff tho :P
This is so true! Really good tip. Pinning and sharing to our Instagram story (@tripofalifestyle).
TH-cam just recommended this video to me. Well done. Clear and concise. I'm a tech of 25+ years and learned even something today! Thank you for that.
@@dominicene3647 Awesome! Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!
@@TripOfALifestyle You are very welcome. I love discovering new content creators like yourself and your hubby on this platform. It's like Christmas everyday.
Got a 2010 macbook white. With ssd, new battery and extra ram. Used opencore to load a more recent mac operating system. Everything still works. Good for general use.
Thank you, I’ve been wondering how to get my used old MacBook a bit newer. Now the certificates or so old it won’t load webpages.
These old ThinkPads are something else. I've received old X200 for free (4 GB of RAM, no hard drive and Core 2 Duo P8600). Over the years I've upgraded the RAM to 8 GB, threw in a 120 GB SSD, USB 3.0 Express Card, new battery, swapped motherboard from X200 to X201 one with i3 CPU and installed modded BIOS without WiFi whitelist. Right now, I'm waiting for two adapters, which will allow me to install small NVMe drive and two additional SD cards (internally) for storage boost. I have plans for upgrading WiFi card in the future. Also, this unit (even with X200 motherboard) runs Windows 11 just fine.
👏
how that cpu run win 11 just fine?
but a bit slower right?
@@arikowidtrash7074 It runs Windows 11 fine. It's a little bit slower than modern Intel Pentium laptops but otherwise pretty snappy for it's age. It does all the office work fast enough. TH-cam FullHD playback works. For 1200 frames it will drop about 5.
You are lucky that your laptop on Core 2 Duo recognizes 8Gb RAM. I have a Samsung (also on Core 2 Duo) and it refuses to see more than 3G RAM. No matter what I tried, even upgrading the latest BIOS version did not help.
By the way, I also installed Win 11 on this laptop (need to change 2 keys in the registry during installation) and it works fine, but it takes a long time to load. That's why I use Win 8.1 - it is much lighter, loads faster and uses fewer resources.
@@Вася-ш3щ My X200 recognised 8 GB of RAM because it was Core 2 Duo P-series working on DDR3 memory. If you have Core 2 Duo T-series the chances are that it will only support only 4 GB of RAM and most likely only DDR2. Oh, and the newest version of Windows 11 (24H2) requires SSE 4.2 CPU instructions so old Core 2 Duo systems will not get past 23H2. You have to have at least 1st generation of Intel Core CPUs.
I do a very similar thing! As a cyber security engineer, my company supplies me with a laptop for work. But, for college and all personal use after college I have been using/upgrading a Lenovo Thinkpad E580 that I bought in high school. It didn't have a windows license when I bought it so I've been running Ubuntu natively since day 1 (I prefer standard Ubuntu to Xubuntu even though standard Ubuntu is slightly more resource heavy).
Cool! We were on regular Ubuntu until they switched to Unity. 🐧
@@TripOfALifestyle FYI: Ubuntu has gone back to using GNOME since 18.04 LTS. I also prefer GNOME over Unity.
@@andylightfoot7508 Loved GNOME 2. Not quite as fond of GNOME 3 and onward. Just personal taste though!
@@TripOfALifestyle Fair enough. The most important thing is that they are all free! Thanks so much for interacting! I love y’all’s content! Keep it up!
An excellent idea to continue using a perfectly adequate laptop. I have done almost all of the same mods with my X220 and it’s still going strong. The nice thing about Thinkpad laptops is that there were so many leased to corporations that there is a huge pool of used units for parts available. Because they were built for business use, the components were reliable and not necessarily leading edge so they last a long time. The old Thinkpad in particular are highly modularized so it’s easy to swap out certain components rather than having to replace the entire main board for everything. Thanks for the tip on the USB-C power inlet replacement!
I got my upgraded WiFi module long ago as a Lenovo branded unit out of a newer parts Thinkpad found on eBay. I’ve been through 4 batteries and finally landed one that seems to be built less cheaply and that has lasted well. Because the “hard disk” SSD is so easy to swap I run Debian most of the time and can swap to Windows 10 for one specialized application that requires a direct hardware interface and won’t work with a virtual machine. The SSD and memory upgrades really give new life to the old X220. I also have an even older X200 that’s still in use and even an ancient X40 with a rare tiny replacement SSD and running 32-bit Debian that I keep around as a novelty.
after watching this and a few other videos i got a thinkpad x220 in crappy condition for 40 dollars and fixed it up. Im a lot into it and it still has some minor issues but i like it a lot. one of my favorite laptops i have
Super cool. It's a great computer, still today!
Foreign countries have such nice prices for used laptops. Here in Italy it's impossibile to find a Thinkpad under 100/150€!
The question is where do you find new quality batteries for the X220? I have a x230 which I love, but original batteries are not available now.
Got my Lenovo workstation laptop. Did most of the upgrades and now it's fast as hell.
Major kudos for getting your laptop for an average investment of less than $100 / year. I think not every brand would upgrade as well as the one you have, a testament to the wise choice you made in the beginning. Thanks for sharing your experience. Happy travels, and Happy Holidays!
@@truthseeker9454 Thanks so much!
Awesome video, so many great ideas for my old pads I had not thought of and probably wouldn't have without this video. Top notch info. The overall video presentation was generally easy on the eyes too (:
The X220 was also the last laptop they made with that particular keyboard. For that reason alone, it's great. On mine, the fan stopped working -- IDK if it's a hardware or software problem. I will try to replace the fan. And thanks for a very pleasant and helpful video.
@@dipierro4 It's such a nice keyboard!
Got an old x220t which I've only now replaced with a newer laptop for its intended function. Two tips I can mention:
-Get H264ify plugin for your browsers. YT and other streaming sites are starting to use H265 encoding, which is great if you have hardware that can handle it (anything after around 2016). Anything older can request the older codec instead which these laptops can handle. That should stop stuttering or fan spinup on higher definition screens.
-Consider getting the dock. Most of the business line have/had docking stations you could buy. They'll perform better than 3rd party USB docks and can keep your setup cleaner at home
-If yours has a low resolution display, you may be able to upgrade to 1920x1080. Check the original specifications and models available for your laptop, many came with higher resolution options. If you can get either the model number it refers to or the panel number you can upgrade it. This isn't super hard to do on older systems, but one side effect is that some of the feature buttons may not longer match up correctly. All of the features are there, you just need to figure them out for yourself.
Thank you for the tips on the plugins, I just got my x220 and keeps on wondering with its so laggy when I tried to listen to YT video :)
This is what I LOVE to see. Reusing old stuff. Well done!
@@jasonp3484 Thanks! ☺️
These are great for running Mac OS as well.
Always impressed people when I boot it up at college!
Your video is inspring as I have a few retired laptops sitting at my storage room collecting dust and these retured laptops are actually younger than your Thinkpad. I think I am trying to do some refurblishing work to rejunvenile them.
Awesome! They probably have plenty of good years left.
You've pretty much pushed it to the max! I like it. I've got same X220 with i7. Where did you get the USB-C charging port? Was unaware of that, so appreciate it. I'm checking Aliexpress but haven't seen one.
If you wanted to squeeze every bit of performance out of it, you could look at compiling with Gentoo but I doubt it'd be worth it + you'd have days of compiling ahead of you.
Think if you wanted to go further mods, you'd have to go X230 but I appreciate this is your original laptop so likely quite attached to it
Thanks! There are links to every mod in the video description, including the USB-C power port.
@@TripOfALifestyle Winner, thank you. I often forget to look there. I've read that Kingsener batteries on a Aliexpress are generally quite good, that's my next stop. I'm mostly plugged in each day, so I've used TLP to set my battery thresholds to 40-50% charge, i.e. extending the lifetime of the battery before it degrades. I'm also interested in recelling the battery but just don't have the time or equipment just yet. I'd definitely watch a video on that if you're looking for another challenge
Barrel to USB-C is a great mod! If you forget your charger, you can almost always find a USB-C cable nearby. The i7's have had an amazing run, almost any of those 2+GHz i7's from 2012 or later are still very useful today (and many can be found with native HDMI out, but an onboard SD-card reader can be hit or miss-- that's handy for xfer drone or camera images). Around $300 for a (second hand) daily driver (non-gaming) system is very do-able (i7 because 2+ row taskbars is how we roll, 14-16" screen, SATA/mSATA/NVM, 16GB and good to go). Old MacBook Pro's from that era (which are also i7's) are also still decent (but kind of heavy) or older Razer Blade's. Modern laptop does offer the higher speed USB-C 3.2 (where you can attach external GPUs, which is a lot more practical than using those external riser adapters). Even if not gaming, doing some Google Earth or faster video editing/effects preview is always good (for me a GPU helps with astronomy imaging, stacking/stretching images). // You can also find old laptops at Vintage Computer Festivals around the country throughout the year (the one in Chicago being probably the best for laptops).
Amazing! First time I see a barrel charging to usb c charging upgrade. I didn’t think that was possible. Can you share more details about that? What parts to look for and how to make the replacement?
There's a link in the video description for every upgrade, including the USB-C port!
I’ve got a 2008 MBP 15” with maxed out RAM. Still works great.
I've also the same machine! X220 has THE most incredible keyboard, it's a pleasure to use. On a side note does your Thinklight work with the hotkey? I can't find a fix for that on Linux? :-)
Keyboard is great! ThinkLight has always worked without any extra configuration on Xubuntu Linux. 🤔
I'm been using an old DEll 1545 from 2008 for nearly 15 years. Recently upgraded the ram, upgraded the CPU, added an SSD and even brought a replacement battery (holds a decent charge now). Gave it a good clean too. Total cost around £25 :) Purrs like a kitten and does everything I need.
My MacBook is 12 years old. It was unused for over 3 years until I finally installed Ubuntu 24.04 on it a few months ago. I procrastinated a long time because I already had another desktop pc with Linux on it, but the MacBook now gives me the option of doing work from my own room if I suddenly have brain storms in the middle of the night and don't feel like leaving my room. Linux is great for breathing life back into old hardware that is no longer supported by commercial software.
My X220 is still kicking hard! I have Arch on it and sometimes I can feel it's kind of slow for some modern tasks, but for what I'm using it, it performs brilliantly. The most "annoying" thing is that it chugs on 4K video, especially if it's a higher bit rate. I mainly use it for Internet radio, personal e-mailing, organizing and listening to music. I love how portable and durable it is.
I have a HP Elitebook 8460p from December 2011 with an I5-2520M; 8 GB DDR3 and a 2 TB HDD. I have a desktop and I'm retired, so I don't really need a laptop anymore. Only once in 2 years, when I go back to my country to visit family for 1 or 2 months. Mostly I use my laptop as backup server and that is why it has a 2 TB HDD, because my desktop has 2.5 TB storage. Desktop and Laptop run Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and for storage I use OpenZFS and all my apps run in Virtualbox VMs (Linux and Windows). So I have exactly the same VMs and Data on Desktop and Laptop. I bought the off-lease laptop in 2017 for ~$200 and only replaced the HDD.
My $349 desktop is a Ryzen 3 2200G (4C4T; 3.7 GHz) from April 2019; 16GB DDR4; a 512 GB NVME and a brand new 2 TB HDD for speed supported by a 128GB SSD cache. Begin of this year my 2 reused HDDs (1 TB + 500 GB) died after 10 power on years. I intend to upgrade to a Ryzen 5 5500GT or 5600GT (6C12T; ~4.5GHz) and 32GB of DDR4. The Ryzen 3 2200G still runs fine, but for the next 5 to 6 years I will need somewhat more power and space :) Besides I'm almost 80 and I don't like to continuously estimate in my head the required free memory for VMs I want to start.
I work at a company with a mobile workforce and the workload demands that we replace aging computers with new ones because motherboards are dying from fans giving out (non-replaceable) and heat issues, as well as terrible slowdown as Windows gets more bloated.
The most important upgrade is replace HDD with SSD and the most important setting change is TURN OFF TURBO BOOST in the BIOS. It makes it run hot, increases power consumption, and greatly increases fan noise.
I did pretty much all the updates to my x220 you did -- SSD, 16gb, I've replaced the keyboard twice, WLAN card. I also replaced the fan though it was fine. Thought about the USB 3.0 PC card.
I see it on AliExpress for $8 so maybe just for fun. I do have a new thinkpad as well
Good advice if you already have an oldpad from way back and you want to upgrade it. Picking one up today expecting it to go another 12 years would be weird though (where are you getting the Thunderbolt port from? Like actual Thunderbolt with charging and DisplayPort?). For such a purpose I'd probably get a Framework (if I weren't so married to the ThinkPad TrackPoint).
yeah i don't think spending money to keep it going it actually worth already not using windows had to spend 100 on batteries alone along with all the other stuff at that point just buying knew is the way to go. just like computer maybe every 5 years make some type of upgrade move by then your couple generation into new tech and it is well worth the jump to new hardware keep something for ten years ago going isn't worth it. unless your to retro type of videos. but most of those is about showing things at their stock or close to stock specks so upgrading kills that type of video.
I got x230 which is similar. great laptop. my only problem is getting a good battery since lenovo has long stopped producing battery for this series. after bought 3 batteries that each only lasted for one year I got sicked of it so I uninstalled the battery. to power the laptop I use power bank 65 W which has type C port that can deliver 20V 3,25A. the good thing is you can get much bigger capacity with powerbank. the battery capacity is only 5300mah but you can buy powerbank 20000 mah that will give you longer usage time.
Cool idea!
Here i'd add that if you will change the thermal paste again maybe look in to PTM 7950. That i7 likes to run hot so excellent heat transfer and life-time longevity are quite usefull. You also might want to do an IPS mod if not done already. Your X220 has lived a wonderfull life :D
Thanks!
I'm a Thinkpad fanboy. My wife and I each have a Thinkpad T520 in addition to our desktops. In addition I'm using a T420 as a poor man's server mainly for automated backups and personal web server. It has an SSD as the main drive and a 2TB HDD in a caddy replacing the DVD drive.
We have had good luck buying off lease PCs and laptops on eBay. Normally use recyclers rather then one-offers trying to sell their old computer.
The used market/eBay is great for ThinkPads!
I'm rehabbing an early 2011 MacBook Pro that belonged to my wife. So far, I've replaced the battery, a broken touchpad, and the SSD, and installed Ubuntu 24.04. I could have kept the old SSD in service, but replacing it was the easiest way to back up its contents. The MagSafe charger failed yesterday; one of its power pins stuck. A couple of pokes with a thin probe put everything right. One more task remains: upgrading the memory. I'll do that later this week.
Update:
One of the pins in the power supply's MagSafe connector stuck yesterday, which caused charging to fail. A couple of pokes with a mechanical pencil put things right.
Just upgraded memory to 16 gigs and the machine just cooks. Love it!
@@ericmintz8305 Awesome!
Whoa, hold the phone...you went from a Barrel Charging port to a USB C Charging port??? Can I please see the explainer vid on how you did that? I thought I was good until I came to this channel. You've got some nice mods.
Thanks! There's a link in the video description to all the mods used in this video!
Great tutorial. Hard to retire a good running laptop. My 2010 Asus ROG laptop's screen went out as a result of short caused by the faulty power supply. It's a power house of a gaming laptop but unfortunately, the backlight harness is a rare commodity. Thanks for the inspiration.
unfortunately the USB3-Port is ONLY AVAILABLE if the I7 is installed on the X220 the I5 and the I3 has only USB2. If this is an issue go for the X230 this has an USB3 on each version.
You can also get limited USB 3 support with the ExpressCard mod mentioned in the video.
The happiest part is considering how much e-waste you haven't created, as a lot of people treat a laptop as a throwaway item and renew when the next fastest thing comes along. For myself I've never bought new, just by used and upgrade what you can😊😊
I buy new, but I use them until they're dead. Old laptops make pretty decent home servers.
This is kind of girl I love to be with. Not a girl that spoiled with her latest MacBook Pro. I also now focusing on buying a futureproof laptop so that they can last 10+ years. I would have been happy with a Lenovo Thinkpad W520 but my 4K video editing work requires like a Pascal Quadro GPU so Fujitsu Celsius H780 is perfect.
I think the point is to do these sort of upgrades as-needed, as you did. When you do them all in a short period, your money is probably better spent on a "new" thinkpad from ebay.
Just a few months back I picked up a T470s (i5-6500u) with 20G ram for $130 shipped. It has usb-c (data+charging). It was missing a power-brick and I wanted to upgrade the small+slow nvme it came with, so that was another $70 shipped.
Buying used, upgradeable laptops is great too!
I did many years of corporate IT support and the Thinkpad is the best you can get. You do have to get corporate Thinkpad, not retail systems. The x220 is corporate. I’m a solo circumnavigator now and still use an x240 with solid state drive for pulling down HF radio weather, email underway. I use a Raspberry Pi for navigation computer too.
Cheers
A
SV Soy Libre
Vuda, Fiji
Typing this in a Lenovo ThinkPad X230, I bought refurbished. My most beloved computer!
I've just done the same with a t480s. Will see how long it lasts
These now rather old machines are still amazing value today. I still have a Thinkpad X201 tablet from 2011 and use it occasionally, especially when I am traveling. I did the same upgrades as you did to your X220, it really is a big upgrade. My X201 has major limitations compared to the X220 however. For example, adding a USB 3 Expresscard only bumps the speed to about 40-45 MB/s because the bus speed is low. Not worth the upgrade. The only really weak point is the battery. I am also on my third battery, and for the X201 it is really hard to find a good and inexpensive original. I have to stick to third party batteries which are expensive too, and not as good. I get maybe 90 minutes of battery life right now... Overall, I am still really happy with it, and do not know what to buy as a replacement. I am really happy that I upgraded my X201 to its limits (SSD, 8GB RAM), the newest Thinkpad has only an upgradable SSD. RAM and even the USB C charging port is soldered on the motherboard, where those are separate parts on both the X201 and X220.
Totally agree that it's still an awesome computer, and yeah, batteries are the weakest point on the X220 in 2024...It's tough to find high-quality ones from third-party sellers. Still getting 2 hours or so though, and with USB-C, it's a little easier to charge anywhere!
Cool video. I am still rocking my 2013 Sony Vaio, but sad that the brand no longer exists. Has your 2011 Thinkpad suffered any cracks on the laptop body?
@@hello838 Nice! Yeah, the ThinkPad has some small cracks that I repaired with super glue 😓...but still going strong in 2024 as my everyday computer! 💪
-Lauren
Great video. I recently bought a Lenovo 480s from Amazon Renew for $200. I highly recommend it fot anyone looking to buy a laptop you can still modify. Ive only added a second ssd and installed linux on it so far but you can do everything else in this video when needed.
Cool thanks! I like the light reflection off your glasses.
Need to look into this express card thing. Didn't know such a thing existed. Two extra usb3 would be great.
@@killpop8255 There's a link in the video description!
I have a X201 and it is still my travel companion installed with W11 and upgraded RAM.
The X220 was my first ThinkPad, but I replaced it with the X390. Wish I could do the same upgrades, but I think what I need first of all is a new battery for the former.
I recently picked up a x250 for €20 (no drive, ram or charger lol). Interested to see what upgrades she does.
@@jaqian Nice! Have fun!
been doing whats in the video for some time,just a well upgraded old laptop,,,for like 10+years,,BUT there are new hardware ,software requirements finally showing up that is forcing me to upgrade the laptop itself.
Totally agree; I love Linux. If you clean the fan, place something to keep the fan from moving e.g. toothpick, then blow air. Use a cloud drive to backup files so no need very expensive high capacity drive; additional benefits from cloud drive, backup when laptop drive fails.
Is upgrading the USB from USB 2 to USB 3 simply a matter of changing a USB card, or do you have to change the connectors as well?
@@algavone You're not actually upgrading any of the existing USB ports. You're ADDING 2 extra USB 3 ports via the ExpressCard slot. The card needed to do this is linked in the video description! 😊
Nice video. It shows we can update old computers in many ways. Many things can be repaired if we make an effort. I was watching this video on an old I-mac from late 2006 with Linux Elementry. Many thanks to those people who make this possible, they are great.
@@peterbos2998 Thanks! 😊
I have the x240 and I bought it a long time ago I still use it and absolutely love it I also did a few upgrades😊
Had my Lenovo y510p 12 years. 4th gen i7 held up till now.
About the type C charger, do you need to adapt the power input? Don't you use any kind of resistors or something?
The modded port (which is linked in the video description) has all that stuff built in!
200 views? I think yt meant to say 200k views 😂. The video is really high quality. I wish y'all the best
Haha, thanks! 😊
I've been terrified to open my computer. are there any tips about doing that?
By the way, TH-cam recommended this video and I have subscribed. I have a 9-year old ASUS that I'd like to keep running as a backup (I just bought a new HP) but I need a new keyboard. Thanks for the tips!
if its an old computer that you dont use anymore, you dont have much to lose by opening it. Id look up a "teardown" of your model number. the model number is in small text on the bottom of you laptop. Don't tighten the screws hard, and make sure the screwdriver is the right size (you dont want to strip the screws). Always unplug the battery first after taking off the bottom. Most importantly, if you are ever unsure about something, google what youre unsure about.
I have made a bit of a hobby of rescuing old Dell and Lenovo laptops at the surplus department of the local university. I, personally, have four Dell laptops about 12 years old. With a little elbow grease to clean them up and some relatively minor hardware updates, they are perfectly reliable workhorses for genral purpose. I install some flavor of Linux on them and they just work. I love the older laptops because of the modular batteries. Newer ones start integrating the batteries which increases the complexity when you need to change them.
How do you get batteries?
@abdul-kabiralegbe5660 I usually find them on Amazon or eBay. Typically they are an aftermarket battery that is almost as good as a factory battery, but good enough for my old laptops.
doesn't x220 came with fingerprint scanner I'm bit confused have some had fingerprint scanner and some don't
@@shadowx5985 It's an optional feature! Some don't have them.
How did you procure an OEM battery? I need to replace the batteries of T475 and T480.
How is that barrel to USB C power working out for you? People I talk to say it is not as sturdy as the original barrel, so they go with the adapter, i.e. USB C to barrel adapter. Plus, taking everything out to access the motherboard is pretty nerve wracking.
Zero problems so far with daily use for nearly 2 years! Really nice because we just carry one 200 W USB charger now that handles 2 laptops and 2 phones all at the same time!
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This content is so interesting and I really want to watch it, however, with the music/noise/effects/etc... I struggle to hear what you are saying. Is there any way you can take out these noises? Thanks for this valuable clip.
This is so cool, I wonder if I could do this with my current laptop in the future
I'm guessing probably not considering it's a newer model, I already own 2 laptops! My old laptop and my current one
Curious why Steven didn't show ya the KVM VMs
Thanks, I had forgotten about Ubuntu. Are there similar replacements for a MacBook Pro?
@@Bob626A Macs are a little harder to work on generally, but depending on which model you have, there may be upgrades available!
I think it's important to recognise that this has been the ethos of Thinkpads for a long time, and why they have such a fanatic following. More recent models have for the sake of a slick thin chassis dropped some of this upgradability unfortunately. Not sure how many other brands can boast this, but it's something that many people prefer; rather opting for more ports and upgradability over the super sleek limited bodies of other popular brands. Let's hope it can continue
As an old pc upgrader/refurbisher however you want to call it, i lik the effort you took to keep the old laptop going. I kept my old hp 8730w quad core till last year just because of the 17" it was a good old gal but had to be replaced ofc, changed 3 battery's i think, and bought an extended battery in the end. Bought a 2nd hand dell last (8th gen i7) year to replace let's see if it can also keep up for 10+ years (in desktops i'm a bit more wasteful as i change every 3-4y) .But still nice to see that old hw can still be upgraded unlike new all soldered down hardware even the RAM..
My laptop is 12 to 14 years old now and I was thinking of getting a new one. I too have upgraded the disk, doubled the memory, tricked out and expanded the usb. Given my frustration with windows, the OS upgrade and the USBc charging port might be all I need to do to get more life out of it. Thank you!!
@@MadScientistGuitarLab Switching to Linux can be a massive performance boost. Xubuntu is very light. Thanks for watching! 😊
Can I do this with an old Acer laptop?
X230 is awesome as well. 11+ years, alive and kicking. On Linux, without a doubt.
Very good. I agree. But some older laptops do not support significant upgrades. For example, you cannot install more than 3 gigabytes of memory. This is sad. Because even they are still usable for certain purposes.
Thank you for the excellent video, I will definitely use some suggestions on my X220T. Quick question though, is it really necessary to replace the charging port in order to use a GaN charger? I am in the market for one to save me the hassle of taking several chargers when travelling but I would rather just get a 2$ type-c to barrel port adapter, the reason being that I also have a slice battery and can't replace the port on that, being a sealed unit. So is the port replacement really necessary, as in, will it tell the charger what is the correct wattage and voltage in order for everything to work as supposed, or can I safely connect a type-c cable to the stock port using an adapter dongle?
@@davidcarreira536 Never used a C-to-barrel adapter before, but it should work fine if properly manufactured!
I’ve got a 15 year old HP 6005 that been running Linux Mint. Added memory and SSD; still chugging.
What happens when windows 11 has officially taken over? Would love to know if there was a way to change the cpu/gpu. That's excellent that you mentioned the thermal paste. Not many know of that one. That would be a great follow-up maintenance video.
It's not practical to change out the CPU or GPU in the ThinkPad X220, but it is possible in some laptops! However, using Linux instead of Windows can greatly increase the lifespan of a PC.
Nice video!
My needs are fewer than yours but I use my old x220 (I have an i5 processor)that I bought from my employer after carrying around for 3 years;)
My used machine cost me $45.00 I have given it more memory and an SSD. Running windows 11. It’s a lovely machine!
@@BlasphemousBill2023 Great!
Still using x220 as secondary PC， glade to learn some new tricks from this video
@@jiasunzhang8001 Glad you're here! 😊
To change your power port from barrel port to usb-c did you have to do some direct soldering on the motherboard?
No soldering required!
Hi. USB-A to USB-C adapter can be used to usb-c headphones?
@@ogdan1173 Most likely yes!
@@TripOfALifestyle Thank you.
Currently doing up an Eee PC 900 and bunging Debian on it. Did the same with a Eee 4G.
Can anyone recommend a good book that explains the DETAIL of exactly how to install all these hardware & software upgrades please. I have several oldie but goodie laptops & I would dearly love to upgrade at least one of my 10 - 15 year old machines, to be faster & play some of my olde DOS games again. I cannot work out how the install old dos games onto my win10 laptop, even using DosBox (eg. X-Wing).
PS. I'm not a computer-wiz. Thank you.
I bought my X220 as a scratch and dent for less than $200 from Lenovo Outlet. 12 years ago. Returned it to get the screen replaced as part of the warranty. Upgrades: 512 SSD, 8GB Ram. Replaced fan with CPU heat sink. Replaced red rubber pointer. Batteries are the most expensive maintenance for me.
@@turtle522 Awesome!
ey, I Also but this laptop X220 and X230 for my family. 7 years and it still rocks
How do you solve the software compatibility problem with Linux? I use an Intuit rental property program for my business but it is not Linux compatible. I do love Linux and would like to use it for everything.
@@JohnT-x3k Try VirtualBox or Wine!
Great video, I'm just wondering what wifi card you bought was exactly and is it compatible with the x201? Thanks so much ^^
@@camelotenglishtuition6394 The exact WiFi card is linked in the video description! Not entirely sure about compatibility with the X201, but it may require killing the BIOS hardware whitelist as it does with the X220.
Hi, Lauren. Thanks for this. I have an old ASUS laptop I would like to do this to, but I have very limited computer knowledge and am afraid I might mess it up. Do you know of any step-by-step videos that I could watch? JD
Try looking up a TH-cam video or iFixit tutorial for your specific device and the upgrade you're looking to do.
@@TripOfALifestyle Thank you
The most and only bad upgrade is to use type c port for charging. İt can not handle ongoing energy it will create throttle neck for charging and supply circuit.
I am truly impressed how much you got out of this laptop! Great video!
@@RandyHanley Thank you! It's still going!
@@TripOfALifestyleamazing!
another thinkpad couple user. mine still daily use t440p and x230T
both maxed out
Awesome! 🤓
What about i3 laptops ? What easily and cheaply can be done and is it worth it?
It really depends on the specific computer you're talking about! But a lot of these upgrades can be done to many different machines.