Source
r/thinkpad•
EfficientBioWeapon

L380 vs X220

Buying Advice

I’ve been searching for a new laptop as my ASUS laptop is absolute shite. I’ve chosen a ThinkPad as 1) I like the look and 2) they’re workhorses that can be easily upgraded (unlike my ASUS with 4gb ram and 64gb eMMC) which I need as I need a lot of storage and RAM (doing programming on my laptop as I don’t have a desktop and so I need it to be fast). I narrowed my search down to an L380 and an X220. Anyone with either of them that can help me decide?

Posted Nov 4, 2022, 11:39 AM UTC

111
elegantbeigemetallicL380, X230•

I have an L380 and an X230 and use them both. At this point, between those 2 you're probably better off with the L380.

The L380 is trickier to open for upgrading, and limited to 500 GB NVMe SSD, but having the 8th gen CPU gives you a longer usable life and USB C is really nice to have. USB C for charging is also great.

3
eidragT480 i5-8350U, T440p i7-4712MQ•

I upgraded to 2tb nvme without problem

1
elegantbeigemetallicL380, X230•

Really? Good to know. I don't need more storage, but may give it a try someday. When it came out anything larger didn't work for the few people who reported trying it.

1
eidragT480 i5-8350U, T440p i7-4712MQ•

fun note, l380 support both sata and nvme

1
kitestramuortE14G3-R7(CZN)•

they’re workhorses that can be easily upgraded

They were..

Anyway, I would go for the L390 (not L380) as it supports up to 64Gb of RAM (L380 stops at 32). Should be able to find it for practically the same price as the L380

1
spxak1L420, T460p, T480s, L380, L380 Yoga•

The L380 works fine with 64GB, same as all 8th gen ThinkPads. Also the L380 has better battery life, and in addition can be upgraded to a Wifi6E card like the ax210, while the L390 is stuck with the CNVio cards, and won't go higher than the 9560ac (if that matters). They're also cheaper second hand.

2
WilliamWyattD•

I have used X220 and own and X230. I think at this point you only want them if you are going to do a lot of writing in various locations. The main advantage is the keyboard. I prefer the X230 kb but that is because I am not advanced enough to take advantage of the 7 row layout of the X220.

1
MagicBoyUKP50, T480, P50s, T590, T540p•

I'd avoid the X220, they're 11 years old now.

1
swollenbudz•

Meh, if you have the aptitude or desire, you can get an aftermarket mobo from china that supports newer cpus and more ram. I can't remember what they were called but it wasn't't really an economical option to take an x220 and gut it and replace everything on it. It was about the same price as a used x1c 1st gen. But if the person is dead set on the x220 then it's still an option to get that iconic chassis with modern hardware stuffed in it.

Edit: I totally agree with you though on avoiding a machine over 10 years old for the average user.

1
Sahin99pro•

L380 has only few problems: no thunderbolt (but USB-C is an advantage comparing to X220), weak cooling system, the main unit is not ressistant for twisting, poor screens.

However it is still really good device, almost 4 year unit with really good price, same keyboard as T480, 2 slots for RAM, decent battery life (if battery isn't worn out).

You should avoid Intel 7th gen variants of L380, unless they are really cheap.

X220 has better build quality, but this is not good daily driver for "normal" people in 2022. Buy it if you want to deal with 10 years-old piece of ThinkPad legend.

1
NozomiType-R•

But to be fair, your ASUS has really poor specs. Anyone would cry with those numbers and the brand doesn't matter. ;)

was yours something like a Transformer Book? I had the original one and the experience was incredibly painful, given its weak CPU and slow eMMC. But it's also an old tablet PC by now.... and I wouldn't consider it a real laptop.

1