This simply isn't true. They are still cheap even for decent stuff. I got a T15 Gen 2 when it was 2.5yrs old for about $400 on eBay. You're not going to get an even remotely decent laptop in most cases for that kind of money. And to be clear, I love old Thinkpads. I have them going back to the IBM days.
Modern Thinkpads:
-easy to work on
-plenty fast for most things
-still made of the carbon composite and magnesium chassis we like
-hinges are beefy
-upgradeable ram
-available with GPU
-lighter and easier to daily than any of the old chonks
-replaceable keyboard, track pad and track point, and fingerprint
-dual thunderbolt connection (and docks are stupid cheap.. I find them for $30 sometimes)
Downsides exist but they're not the end of the world:
-one drive slot (drives are huge now, who cares)
-8gb of RAM is soldered but the rest is not (max 40gb)
-internal battery but laptop is faster and has better battery life than my maxed out T580
This simply isn't true. They are still cheap even for decent stuff. I got a T15 Gen 2 when it was 2.5yrs old for about $400 on eBay. You're not going to get an even remotely decent laptop in most cases for that kind of money. And to be clear, I love old Thinkpads. I have them going back to the IBM days.
Modern Thinkpads: -easy to work on -plenty fast for most things -still made of the carbon composite and magnesium chassis we like -hinges are beefy -upgradeable ram -available with GPU -lighter and easier to daily than any of the old chonks -replaceable keyboard, track pad and track point, and fingerprint -dual thunderbolt connection (and docks are stupid cheap.. I find them for $30 sometimes)
Downsides exist but they're not the end of the world: -one drive slot (drives are huge now, who cares) -8gb of RAM is soldered but the rest is not (max 40gb) -internal battery but laptop is faster and has better battery life than my maxed out T580