My beloved T420’s bezels are coming apart at the hinge. This has already happened once—I glued the plastic back together—but now is a very inconvenient time for it to happen again. So I’m thinking of upgrading.
For me, the most important factors are:
- Portability - I have to carry my laptop with me on a nearly daily basis.
- Linux support.
- A good keyboard, preferably without the numpad.
- An HDMI port.
- Good battery life (~5 hours with active use should be plenty but more is welcome).
I’m thinking of going with the 8th generation X1 carbon but I’d like to hear your opinion.
The T14/P14s is so flimsy in build quality that I would skip the entire line. I would rather go through the annoying repair process to replace the keyboard on a T14s than actually own a T14 which flexes in your lap and in your hands.
X13/T14s are actually decent options due to choice of material. They’re hard to find because you have to find a configuration with a good display and 32GB. I still love my T480 though. I just can’t see why they chose such a light build with plastic to appeal to anyone besides their business customers.