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Comment by pedrocr | Hacker News Reader

I recommend the T460s instead to anyone considering the X1. Very similar form factor and specs but the RAM and SSD are not soldered on so it's much more future proof. I run mine with 20GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD and I don't think you can even get that in the X1. It also has a better set of connectors, including an Ethernet port. Linux runs very well in it but I assume the X1 is similar.

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I was torn between the T470 series and the X1 a few weeks back. I ended up getting the X1 and have been liking it so far. Got it with 16 GB RAM and the upgraded screen. Personally the screen was enough for me to chose the X1 over the T4xx series. Also the SSD is not soldered in and can be replaced, the RAM is indeed soldered in. Linux does run very well on it, didn't have any problems out of the box.

Edit: Although I wouldn't mind the T470 since one of my previous laptops was a T430 and I love the accessibility of that series.

I have my T460s with the 2560x1440 screen. It's indeed great and I assume it's the same panel you get on the X1.

The X1 is the only one with OLED, isn't it?

You're thinking of X1 Yoga

I looked at the X1 very closely then went with the T470P (I wanted the 7700HQ) with the 2560x1440 screen, 16GB on one slot (so I can go to 32GB if I want).

Now if UPS could just hurry up and deliver the thing I'd be a happy bunny.

You got two facts wrong:

- The T460s (and T470s) only has one free RAM slot, the other is soldered on as well.

- You're implying that the X1 has a soldered on SSD, but that's not true, it has a standard M.2 connector for the SSD. Maybe you were thinking about the MacBook...

I knew about the RAM but the difference is still significant. In the X1 your max is 16GB and only if you decide on that upfront. On the T460s you can go up to 20GB at any time. Didn't know about the SSD, thought it was soldered on, thanks for the correction.

Let's not forget to mention a somewhat important detail: the T460 weights about 1.7 kg, while the X1 only weights about 1.1 kg. It's not a huge difference, but having a lightweight laptop is a big plus when carrying it around all day.

And it is MUCH thicker (or at least it seems so side-by-side)..

Which it has to be to have space for the ginourmous rj45 plug... (I can easily live with the small dongle to get native rj45 on the x1s)

The specs list it as 1 to 3mm thicker which doesn't seem like much.

This is because one (the X1) is tapered - you "experience" the thin side (keyboard) while the thick part is on the back.

The 450/60/70 is just a flat slab so it maintains its thickness along its whole surface (although the 460 and 70 cheat and they become thinner about 1 inch before the end, so they look a bit thinner when looked at from the front).

I have a 450 and don't mind it at all.

The T4[567]0s series are tapered at the edge as well. The -s suffix is the lighter version, basically similar to X1 series but with more ports/battery options/upgradability.

That's my pet peeve with my current (1st gen) X1 Carbon. I hate having to carry at least 3 dongles with me nearly everywhere. I usually travel with an mDP to VGA, mDP to HDMI, and a USB3 Ethernet adapter. I'd much rather have something like the T460s with two of those built in.

I don't have a scale with me but Lenovo lists the T460s at 1.4kg and the X1 at 1.13kg. So it's significant (~20%) but not that high. Note that the T460s is a different model to the normal T460.

Oh, I missed the "s" part and looked up the specs of the regular T460.

Agreed. Just switched from X1 Carbon to T460s. Got it with 4GB of RAM and stuck a 16GB stick in the slot (total: 20GB). It's hard to tell the difference with the X1 Carbon and the extra USBs, HDMI and such are welcome.

Seconding T460s as well. My company's dev team is mostly X1 Carbon, with some other T460s, and so far I'm having a great time with it. Maxed out specs (full mem, full SSD), running ArchLinux + Win10 dual boot. Arch has much better battery life than Win but it's good to cover all the bases when I need it for work. It's light, capable, good ports, and all. It's a real pleasure to use it every day. :)

I've been running the corporate Windows 7 install that came on the laptop inside VirtualBox with great results. Saves me from having to dual-boot and gives me nice extras like having the corporate VPN connected inside the Windows VM only for the things that need it while having the rest of the traffic on the normal network.

T460 is a fantastic machine. I have one with 32gb of ram and an i7 processor. It runs Debian like a champ and the keyboard is excellent.

That's a very different machine though. I'm talking about the T460s.

I have a T431s and I love it. It's been going strong for years now!

It's a nice compromise between an ultrabook and a massive brick of a laptop. It is 'cheap', powerfuland easily upgradable but still very portable.

I'm fairly happy with my t540p, even has a socketed CPU for replacement. They're fairly cheap on eBay right now because they just came off lease from some larger companies.

How does that work 20GB of ram? One of the slots isn't full? It's not multiples of 4/8 I mean 2 sure, just curious.

Edit: nvm saw below 14 + 6

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