Goodbye X230, Hello X220

Give me screwdriver, and I become machine that turns laptops into parts.

The X230 sold while I was having Christmas dinner at a Chinese/Thai combination restaurant with family, watching a large silver fish stare at me while swimming sideways. That was a huge relief! Not only will that be cut out a large chunk of my surmounting ThinkBalance, but it's also made some decisions a lot easier. I will no longer have to worry about flashing the bios, replacing the keyboard, paste, etc., and I can ship it off to a happy customer.

As it stands, my ThinkBalance is -$262 (actually made some purchases while writing this, it's now -$350,) having spent $29 on on 24gb (3 x 8gb) of ddr3 sodimm ram, and $32 on 3x pack of of duster, a screen safe cloth and screen cleaner. I'd like to pick up a small air compressor eventually so I'm not buying dust-off cans in the future. The X230 sold for $220 in its current condition (no repaste, no classic keyboard swap, nothing) which means the X220 has survived becoming a parts machine, and I will now be refurbishing it. You can see it in parts in the picture above. There's not way I'm getting all of that $220, so until I get paid by eBay, the ThinkBalance stays where it is, but it should knock a sizeable chunk off of my ThinkBalance while leaving me with 2 cool ThinkPads and a lot of cleaning materials. Heck, if I weren't counting the cleaning products, I might be in the green. I've probably spent about $80 in materials and tools just for refurbishing and programming, but the good thing is that the cost will spread across one or two dozen machines.

The Thinkpad Journey is far from over. Here's what I've learned along the way:

1.) I don't want the tablet variant. It's really cool, but it's not for me.

2.) The perfect ThinkPad can come in different cuts and sizes.

3.) I absolutely prefer to have a ThinkLight.

4.) Some variants come without a webcam, and you can desolder the microphones, for peace of mind. An old thinkpad could be great for a privacy oriented person.

5.) Replacing the LCD panel is really, really easy.

6.) Replacing the back cover of the LCD is not really, really easy, but it's far less impossible than I thought.

7.) I like Chicony variant of the classic keyboard, still need to try NMB (regarded as best) and ALPS (regarded as worst.)

8.) X220+X230 palmrests/trackpads DO NOT fit the X220T+X230T models.

9.) Installing Libreboot is not as difficult as the guide makes it seem.

10.) The T430 (not the T430s, T430u, etc) has a cpu socket, so you can upgrade the lowest specced T430 to a quad-core i7 of that generation.

11.) They have a wifi/bluetooth cut-off switch which kills power to wireless, and they removed this feature I believe around the X250, t450 generation.

12.) My perfect ThinkPad is definitely going to be privacy focused, but I'm unsure whether I will aim for size (X230) or power (T430).

The X220 is going to be my first privacy focused machine. It's really in very good condition, but since it's the i5 variant and not the i7 variant, I don't feel like it's worth building into the ultimate X220. Instead, I'm going to complete a few modifications and market it as a privacy/peace of mind web browsing machine. The following will be done:

1.) Libreboot to neuter Intel ME and whitelist an open-source WiFi card to replace the Intel wifi card (this is important to some people, apparently.)

2.) It doesn't come with a webcam, so I'm going to double down and try to desolder the microphones from the LED board that is placed inside the display assembly.

3.) Remove the bluetooth daughter board (easy and reversible) to reduce threats/detection when using in public (I will advertise this in listing and offer to reinstall it if desired.)

4.) I will also highlight the fact that this has a WiFi kill switch.

5.) I'm also considering adding a privacy screen to reduce viewing angles? Good idea? I'm not sure.

Again, this X220 build is a bit of an experiment, and it won't be my laptop, but it will be the ultimate privacy peace-of-mind build LOL. Using this along with a hardened distro of Linux and a VPN would definitely help me rest at night. "In an age where digital privacy has become a luxury, this ThinkPad won't spy on you!".

I still need to order a battery, charger, a heat gun to desolder the microphones, and the new back cover (might as well do it, it'll make the product feel premium and enjoyable, especially with the near perfect condition of the keyboard, trackpad, and palmrest.) All of that is going to cost me another $85, bringing my running ThinkBalance tally to -$350 (*gulp*) and the total cost of the X220 to $142, and I think I'm going to list it for $350 as an experiment. Without the new back cover, I'd probably list it for $300, but I think it has a higher chance of selling at $400 with a new back cover than at $300 with chips and scratches on the top of the machine. There's another X220 on ebay right now that's slightly better specced and going for $270~, but I think the premium look and the desoldered mics will appeal to the right niche customer. It's just going to take a couple of weeks to sell XD Since the back cover doesn't arrive until January 10th or 11th, I'm going to list it for $300 with the all the other mods at $300 and 8gb in the meantime, and if it sells before then, I'll just build another X220. If it doesn't sell by the time I get the cover, I'll take down the listing, add a second 8gb to the device and put the new cover on. I'm excited to build the ultra privacy ThinkPad, I think it goes a step further and offers a particular setup I don't see anyone else offering right now.

Am I worried about how much I've spent on ThinkPads? Well, again, when the payment for the X230 is cleared to me by eBay, we'll be looking at more around -$170, and if the X220 sells for $300, we're looking at +$80, and if the 760XL sells, we'll be sitting around +$300, in addition to a new heat gun, magic eraser, rubbing alcohol, duster, clothe+screen cleaner, new thermal paste, a pi pico for programming, and some new wires. That's not bad momentum. If we can get these sold, we'll be in setting ourselves up to make some really cool ThinkPad builds. I really want to do an IPS replacement screen in an X220 or X230 at some point, and eventually we'll be able to make the ultimate ThinkPad :D

-Onio