thinkpad e490 as a personal developer laptop
I've recently been sharing with others my opinions on the Thinkpad E490 laptops that my partner and I have been using for a few years now and decided it may be best to write down some of the things I've been sharing.
The primary appeal of this laptop is the performance that we get running Ubuntu (it can also handle Windows 10 just fine). While also having an exceptionally low cost and great repairability it stands out as a solid workstation.
I've purchased 2 of these laptops at around ~$280-300 each, with about $150 in upgrades.
General specs
The specifications for this model are great out of the box, as of 2022 the i5-85xxU intel processor is still going strong!
- Manual with specifications
- The processor is an i3/5/7 model from the 8th generation
- There are 2 hard drive slots:
- 1x PCIE
- 1x SATA
- RAM support up to 32gb 2666MHz (runs at 2400MHz due to motherboard limitation)
- USB-C for charging with docking station support
Overall modifications I've done
For each of the E490 series laptops I've purchased I've modified them with the following:
Peripherals that I run
Each of the laptops are set up with identical peripherals, while these aren't necessary they do work well with the laptop.
The idea with these is that we're able to run the laptop on the docking station at each desk with just 1 cord to unplug when we move to a different work area (counch, other desk, etc.).