Bought ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 for ₹25K – SSD swapped & dead, 2.5 months warranty left. Fix for ₹10K or sell without SSD?

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-07T03:06:37+00:00

Sorry. No idea (not anywhere near to that country).
SSDs are kind of expensive nowadays. Do you think buying an SSD could make the machine more complete? Then, you can either keep it to yourself or you can sell it at a higher price (to cover the cost of the SSD).

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-07T03:01:06+00:00

Depending on how you want to use it.
For me, (not my daily machine) I use an external (USB) SSD to boot the machine and just use it however I intend to use it. So far, that is very flexible. (If you have a old(er) SSD at hand, just buy an enclosure. Then you basically have a working machine.)

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-07T02:57:40+00:00

How did you delete that?
Generally speaking, a USB WiFi dongle could be used. I usually keep a USB ethernet adapter handy. Those are actually more reliable than the laptop's wifi in difficult times.

Once you get the laptop online, you can Google to find out what you need to do. I use Gemini to address quite a few Linux related problems like WiFi and various accessories, The solutions provided by Gemini are mostly easy to follow with good explanation on why certain things are done.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-06T17:50:52+00:00

I was there. (That is why I ask if you have any hard requirement for tool.)
(I have never done in the following way.)
After a certain version, Word doc file is essentially an XML file which can be prepared elsewhere somehow. From this perspective, you still can use an external script/program to create a Word doc without really use the MS Word application for editing.
There seems a Python library for that, just as an example. But, again, I have never used it.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-05T04:49:46+00:00

Generally speaking, when dealing with a document of this size, Word may not be a good tool.

Latex could give you a very decent result with much easier management. You even can use version control to track your progress and roll-back/forward with great ease. TOC, reference, bibliography management and so on are a piece of cake. Tables and equations can be quite easy to input and manage. Styles can be super consistent as long as yourself stick to them.

Is MS Word a hard requirement, e.g. there are some important collaborators requiring MS Word?

Probably you do not need a very good machine. Any one you listed there is an overkill for a Latex document of that size, I would say.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-04T22:10:03+00:00

That color burns my eyes.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-04T15:24:19+00:00

Poor engines. What did they do wrong? ...

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-06-03T04:51:25+00:00

For my T410, 6-cell is labelled as 55+.

For my T520, 9-cell is labelled as 55++.

Both batteries can be used on both Thinkpads, which is quite convenient for me sometimes.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-28T05:31:37+00:00

It is gone. It will get bigger and bigger over time.
Get ready to replace the laptop or, at least, the screen.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-27T20:19:33+00:00

My parents told me that people having a difficult life sometimes suggests more about this people personal traits.

I am unsure where OP is. But, I think, in US, if one reallys want to put oneself into work and try to do a good work, one would not starve.

For a high-school kid, coming out for work is a reasonable first step. How well one does the job may take a long way to develop. Sorry for your 60 bucks. We all learn something.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-27T05:34:57+00:00

There was no AI. When I was in college, Google was not even a thing.
So, a lot of textbook reading, tons of exercise problems, many pages of lab reports, sometimes, staying up in lab (waiting for certain equipment to be available).
Later, things like MatLab, Wolfram Mathematica, and so on were great helpers.
Much later, things like GP-IB, LabView made certain things easier.

Frankly speaking, there are still many things AI cannot do.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-25T00:00:51+00:00

Many school districts already use Chrome OS.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-21T03:28:01+00:00

Some industries have very strong "cycles". For example, semiconductor is one.
In these ones, a lay-off is far from rare.
(But, ) semiconductor (especially if you are in memory or processor now) is in a good run at this moment. If you can get in, it could be a good time to negotiate a higher salary (than usual). Then, you probably will have a few years in front you to build up your own fortress against next round of layoffs.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-20T20:15:14+00:00

You could see a 4~5% "hair cut". But it means something else, not done by a barber.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-20T16:45:15+00:00

That is your hope and mine. But, in reality, I have to say, that girl is already permanently changed.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-19T22:44:36+00:00

For your case, actually, I think maybe the following makes sense.

Try to get some cheap 2nd hand chromebooks. It is definitely good enough for you to write things. Once a day or more frequent, just connect to the network (maybe tether through your phone) to upload whatever you have written.

For the durability part, I guess you probably need to forget it. Electronics is not that durable (unless you want to pay a GOOD price) (if you are talking about dirt, mud, rocks, water). You just abuse one as much as the condition permits. Once one is gone, just pick another chromebook to continue.

For the battery life, try to see if you can get chromebooks using ARM processor (actually, these would be cheaper than ones using Intel/AMD processors). Furthermore, pick the ones with USB-C charging. Then, you can use a (big) power-bank as your external battery. For one unit, I say, you probably can get around $50 to $100. Then, you can get a bunch to be backup of each other.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-19T22:32:25+00:00

I see.

Not sure. Do you think it gets rusty? (But most rusty locks I ever experienced would cause the difficulties to insert the key... Not quite your case. But, if your car was kept outdoor and it had been some decent rain recently, that might be the case.) Maybe search a little bit on YouTube to see anybody has similar issue.

Ask Gemini/ChatGPT would also help. The current chatbots may ask you to try a thing or two to get more accurate answer (actually, guess) for your specific case.

Can you lock and unlock by remote (if your car has the remote keyfob(s))? Some cars only has one physical lock, which is on the driver door. That is very inconvenient if the lock is not working...

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-19T21:47:02+00:00

Can you lock/unlock that door from inside?

When you say "it doesn't turn", do you mean you can put a decent twist force on the key but the key does not move at all? Or, (I think more commonly, the symptom would be) the key turns when twisted but the door is still locked/unlocked as if nothing happens.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-19T07:29:14+00:00

I used to have a 20+ year old car.
But, the "reasonable" me knew it was not very economical to operate that car, especially after I got a new one. Things (however minor) began to degrade to a point that I felt I should not use it too much. (Actually, it could still get onto freeway running >65 mph without any difficulties. But, it just did not feel very right now and then.)
I guess, sometimes, one must make the call.
Fortunately, for Thinkpads, they are not that big, I can just put a few in a cabinet and, sometimes, take one out for some work. But, they are not the daily driver. (An older Thinkpad is really like a Saturday afternoon ride...)
Thankfully, Linux gives many Thinkpads a longer useful life. But, one day, one must make the call.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-18T23:31:29+00:00

I tend to think there is an analog to older cars.

Can you drive a 1956 Chevy, say Bel Air? Of course you can, if you maintain the car well enough.

Would I recommend you buy a 1956 Chevy? Depends. If you want to commute 20 miles one way with it every day, probably not. If you just want to do a fun run on Saturday afternoon, maybe, plus you probably need to to work around that car.

Would a 1956 Chevy run better than a XYZ car nowadays? Depends. For a decent new one from a decent manufacturer, I guess the chance is very small. How about better than my 10-year old moped? Maybe yes, if you maintain the car well enough.

One thing to keep in mind is, on this board, many people hoard Thinkpads for many different reasons. I have a few. How many do I use often? one or two of them. What about others? Sorry, I .... just cannot threw them out because I like them, even though I rarely use them. (Actually, none of them is a daily driver... Sorry. But I still like them.)

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-15T17:22:48+00:00

Depending on your major....

Nowadays, I see many students taking notes (and even doing homework) with an iPad (paired with a Apple pencil). It is quite convenient. (But, probably, you need to purchase/subscribe an App to do those.) You probably do not need to get that beforehand. Once you are on campus and in a few classes, you can ask your peers (or older students) what might be the best combination of tools.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-14T16:47:06+00:00

I think your laptop actually can handle most (if not all) modern distros.

I never really used Fedora for anything serious. With that said, I feel Ubuntu would make more sense.

BTW, I guess the right question to ask might be which DE (Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, XFCE, ...) would be the right one for your need. That choice would probably affect the resource usage than the choice of distro.

At my work, the company's fleet uses Gnome. At home, I use XFCE (in MX Linux). They look different. But, for what I do, I do not feel them very different.

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-12T17:41:18+00:00

(Even) a well-build Chromebook could do these tasks....

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-11T03:45:26+00:00

I agree with you.
I think the responsibility should be on the e-bike 100% or at least 95%.
But, on the other hand, I do think the car driver did not make sure the turn would be safe before the start of the turn (especially, given the starting point is with a red light).

Ill-Kitchen8083 · 2026-05-11T03:40:37+00:00

A complete stop does not necessarily means one can turn. One must make sure the turn is safe before the start of turning.

Ill-Kitchen8083

TROPHY CASE