Would you purchase a computer from a Linux system maker?

[MurphCID]

The replacement for the T480s looks to be the X1 Carbon, which other than having everything soldered onto the motherboard, looks like it has a reasonable selection of ports, and is fairly decent if expensive. Amazon has some for $1200-$2000 depending on what you want. The T480s was a nice machine but had a bad battery, and exact replacements were not exactly the same size. I took it to Geek Squad to put in, and they told me the "certified" replacement was shorter than the original. This was annoying, but it charged and worked so some sticky tape keeps it in place.

[TaterChip]

A friend has watched me using Linux Mint and I finally convinced him to take the plunge. He ordered from Dell with a Linux build. I saw the price tag and screamed "You Paid WHAT?!?!?!?" His price was $2600!

I would have yelled the same thing. In 2020 I bought a high spec MSI gaming laptop for $1800, no way I'd shell out that much for a Dell.

[AndyMH]

The replacement for the T480s looks to be the X1 Carbon, which other than having everything soldered onto the motherboard, looks like it has a reasonable selection of ports, and is fairly decent if expensive. Amazon has some for $1200-$2000 depending on what you want. The T480s was a nice machine but had a bad battery, and exact replacements were not exactly the same size.

Everything soldered would be a 'no-no'. One thing I like about my T430, a socketed CPU so you can change it (which I have). The last thinkpad with that was, I think, the T440p. As for battery life, I live with it. Probably get about an hour out of my T430s with third party batteries. The cause of that, a 35W TDP CPU, 15W TDP CPUs should be better.

[MurphCID]

Amazon has some T480s and t490 models with really decent pricing right now. Also some of the X1 Carbons for those who are interested. I might consider picking one up to play around with.