Do Lenovo ThinkPads run well with Linux Mint?

[KBD47]

Around 60 C. If it gets to 75 C that means there's a program that needs restarting.

That is a bit on the warm side. I'll probably stick to a lighter DE. But good to know it can run Cinnamon.

[Moem]

Around 60 C. If it gets to 75 C that means there's a program that needs restarting.

That is a bit on the warm side. I'll probably stick to a lighter DE. But good to know it can run Cinnamon.

It works for me. Right now, I have two browsers running, with all in all some 30 tabs open, a mail client, and Pidgin with six or so protocols connected. Temperature is 49 C. Not too bad, I'd say.

[KBD47]

It works for me. Right now, I have two browsers running, with all in all some 30 tabs open, a mail client, and Pidgin with six or so protocols connected. Temperature is 49 C. Not too bad, I'd say.

That is good. I have Mint Cinnamon on two desktops, it's a nice interface.

[hrmcrm]

I have heard you need to update the bios and remove a bunch of Lenovo programs and then reinstall them to upgrade to Windows 10. Did you run into issues upgrading the X201 to Windows 10?

My X201 has Bios: LENOVO v: 6QET70WW (1.40 ) date: 10/11/2012, which seems to be the latest. I installed the updated BIOS, available at https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/migr-74983, before upgrading to Win10.

I bought the X201 on e-bay, as one of a batch of about 30 probably being released by a business. The hard drive had been wiped and Windows 7 freshly installed, so none of the Lenovo software was on it. I have not installed any Lenovo programs, and Win10 runs fine without them.

I had no issues doing the upgrade from Win7 to Win10.

[KBD47]

My X201 has Bios: LENOVO v: 6QET70WW (1.40 ) date: 10/11/2012, which seems to be the latest. I installed the updated BIOS, available at https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/migr-74983, before upgrading to Win10.

I bought the X201 on e-bay, as one of a batch of about 30 probably being released by a business. The hard drive had been wiped and Windows 7 freshly installed, so none of the Lenovo software was on it. I have not installed any Lenovo programs, and Win10 runs fine without them.

I had no issues doing the upgrade from Win7 to Win10.

Thanks!
Curiosity got the best of me today and I went ahead and upgraded to Win10. I have no problems so far and did not need to do anything to the machine. Some of the hiccups I read about must have been issues early on and the bugs worked out because everything went smooth with the upgrade. Mine also had freshly install Win7 Pro so that may have helped me have no problem upgrading.
I'm going to be using Mint 18.2 Xfce on it as well. Mint is very light and fast on the machine.
I picked up a T420 earlier this summer. It was a Lenovo lease machine and it was in phenomenally good shape. Looks like it had been stuck in storage for some company and never used. I lucked out big time with it. The X201 was from a private seller but also in good shape. Now seems a great time to buy a used or refurbished Thinkpad as many are coming off of lease and they are great for Linux.

[Petermint]

Most new notebook computers run with Linux. Some brands of wireless chip and one brand of graphics chip create problems. Linux sometimes receives updated drivers about six months after the new models arrive.

For Windows heating up, you can switch off some special display effects to reduce the graphics workload. LM 18.3 should use slightly less resources for the GUI compared to LM 18.2.

The CPU should slow down when hot. Disks do not, disks burst into flames almost as bad as Apple earbuds. If you have overheating problems, check the disk temp. Then look at the fan. Is the fan clean? Is the fan air intake blocked by something on your desk?

[catweazel]

LM 18.3 should use slightly less resources for the GUI compared to LM 18.2.

There is no such thing as Linux Mint 18.3.

[kmb42vt]

LM 18.3 should use slightly less resources for the GUI compared to LM 18.2.

There is no such thing as Linux Mint 18.3.

Well, Petermint did say should be. Aside from that, the beta has been released and Clem has been posting about the upcoming 18.3 features and changes on the LM blog since the monthly news post for August. So yes, Petermint was correct. 18.3 should use slightly less resources for the GUI compared to 18.2.

[catweazel]

Petermint was correct.

That's now. Then was Sun Oct 15, over a month ago. 18.3 did not exist.

[kmb42vt]

That's now. Then was Sun Oct 15, over a month ago. 18.3 did not exist.

Right. What I meant was that the new features in 18.3 started being announced on the Linux Mint blog in September of this year. Perhaps that's where he got the idea from?

[mrmajik45]

I use a lenovo ideapad 110. No problems 1.6 GHZ dual-core 4 GIGS of RAM

[kmb42vt]

I have an old ThinkPad R61 (Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB DDR2 ram) that runs Mint/Cinnamon 18.3 just fine. Install and go installation, no fiddling needed. I did eventually replace the HDD with an SSD. Well worth it.

I have a newer (circa 2012) ThinkPad T430 (Intel Core i5 Dual core with hyper-threading, 8 GB DDR3 ram) coming so I'll repost here once it arrives and Mint is installed on it. I don't anticipate any problems.

[supergreg]

I just upgraded to a Lenovo Thinkpad P50 at work, from a Macbook Pro, and I'm running Mint. For the most part, everything works great. The only problem is external monitor support is extremely buggy. If I plug monitors directly into the laptop, I get different results each time and have to keep unplugging/plugging in until both my externals work. I just got a dock, and it's worse as trying to use monitors plugged into the dock makes the screen blink on and off and the system becomes unusable.

That's my only gripe, and unfortunately it's a big one as I take my laptop to meetings about 6 times a day.

[KBD47]

You guys doing anything to improve your battery life on your Thinkpad with Linux?

[Moem]

I installed TLP.

[KBD47]

I installed TLP.

Has it made much of a difference for you?

[Moem]

Yes, I do feel that it gives me more battery endurance, but I never tested, so I'm not sure. I used instructions found here. TLP itself is in the repos.

[KBD47]

Yes, I do feel that it gives me more battery endurance, but I never tested, so I'm not sure. I used instructions found here. TLP itself is in the repos.

Thanks!

[dave8671]

Does anyone have a thinkpad t520 I7 core 424066U with Mint 18? I am wondering I see one on ebay really nice unit.

[mrmajik45]

I have a Ideapad 1.6 GHZ dual core with 4 gigs of ram and it's good.