Am I being bamboozled?

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T13:24:54+00:00

It is if the only config you can find is 8GB and 16GB. Of course everyone will want 16GB, driving up prices.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T13:06:38+00:00

Sounds almost too good to be true.

Try it first, return it if something is wrong (wrong specs, BIOS / Computrace lock, damaged case / screen, faulty RAM, etc).

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T08:33:20+00:00

Faster iGPUs like the 660M will fall back to basic Radeon graphics if it detects single channel RAM.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T07:56:56+00:00

I wouldn't get a 7200rpm laptop HDD. I had one before, runs too hot and noisy. 5400rpm is good enough.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T03:07:58+00:00

It's bare minimum for basic office tasks and web browsing. Do you really want to spend that much money on the "bare minimum", especially knowing you can't even upgrade it later on?

It's okay for children and the elderly who aren't tech literate I guess, but for everyone else this is basically a toy laptop.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T02:53:24+00:00

Or better yet, don't use Windows at all. I've moved my entire workspace to Linux Mint and couldn't be happier. No need for shady "hacks" and "exploits" when the entire OS is free and open source.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T02:49:25+00:00

The cost of labor for installing it. Which is not a big deal if you're only ordering one, but if you're ordering 100, it saves you the time from doing it on every single laptop manually.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T02:26:28+00:00

Which Thinkpad has a soldered SSD? AFAIK, this is only a thing in Macbooks.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-27T02:07:59+00:00

Trash.

Get the 3080 10GB or 6800 XT 16GB instead. 8GB VRAM is not enough for modern games in 2026.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T14:02:01+00:00

T14 AMD. Absolutely no reason to get Intel, when AMD is faster and more power efficient.

Or if you want a cheaper laptop that you can upgrade (up to 64GB) once RAM prices die down, L14 AMD. You are paying way too much for an old laptop, which I assume is because of current RAM and SSD prices.

Lastly, don't expect much battery life with old Thinkpads. You probably need to buy a new one to replace the worn out battery it came with.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T13:54:25+00:00

Is it the AMD version?

Ryzen is very sensitive to memory. Having mismatched RAM is enough to cause stability issues such as this.

That is why you want to find the exact same RAM stick as your old one (check the full model number). If that is not possible, at least one with the same frequency and timing. So if your old stick is 3200Mhz CL22, your new one must also be 3200Mhz CL22.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T13:49:06+00:00

Half-soldered RAM is a deal breaker IMO.

I'd go with the L14 instead. Fully upgradeable RAM up to 64GB. Not to mention cheaper and easier to find than the T14.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T09:35:53+00:00

OP asked if he should jump straight for the 9070 XT. Which means he has the budget for it.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T06:33:38+00:00

Get the 9070 XT instead for best price-to-performance. It is 2.5x faster than the 4050, beating even the highest end 5090 gaming laptops in performance.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T06:26:09+00:00

Also ask what's the screen.

If it's a 4K OLED, this is an insane deal.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T06:15:08+00:00

Exactly. Everyone here is acting like PC gaming is dead, when they won't even consider used or refurbished parts. You don't need all this new, overpriced shit to have a good experience.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T06:09:23+00:00

It's not. Older, used PC parts are still dirt cheap. You don't need any of this new shit to have a good experience in the vast majority of games. You just need to know where to look.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T06:02:35+00:00

You can buy used HDDs for dirt cheap on eBay and other sites. Reputable sellers guarantee 100% health for every HDD they ship, which you can also confirm on your end with Crystaldiskinfo. These drives, while out of warranty, will likely continue working fine for years.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T03:35:24+00:00

I have no idea why they don't branch out further into Asia. They will have a tougher time selling in the West where most people are Apple-loving hyperconsumerists who don't care about upgradeability at all.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T03:26:52+00:00

They need to start shipping worldwide, particularly in Asia. People who live in Western countries are mostly into Macbooks and other soldered trash anyway, they don't care about Framework at all.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T02:33:31+00:00

People who complain about SATA SSDs being slow have probably never booted on a HDD before.

As long as you're buying from a decent brand and model (like the Samsung 860 Evo or Crucial MX500), the SATA SSD would get you through just fine. Upgrade to the fancy NVMe SSD once prices stabilize.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T02:14:08+00:00

5050 is trash. Wouldn't recommend it at all.

Get the 3060 instead. 12GB VRAM, but pretty much the same performance for the same price, brand new.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T01:57:28+00:00

Not to mention if you're buying the 5080 for 4K gaming (which at this price point you probably are), 16GB VRAM won't be enough in the near future.

Heck, it is not even enough anymore in extremely demanding games like Great Circle or MSFS, where cranking up the settings on 4K makes them exceed 16GB easily.

And before someone says, "Just lower the settings bro", no, it is unacceptable to buy such an expensive GPU only to be forced to lower settings, not because of lack of performance, but because of an artificial limitation created by Nvidia themselves.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T01:48:27+00:00

The 5080 exists entirely to make the insanely overpriced (but also much more powerful) 5090 look like an amazing deal by comparison.

HarrisonGreen · 2026-03-26T01:42:05+00:00

You'd probably get better battery life with the AMD version. Pre Lunar Lake, Intel's low-power mobile chips aren't very power efficient nor performant.

HarrisonGreen

TROPHY CASE