IBM ThinkPad T60 sitting open. Source: IBM Official Website
The best computer is a lot older than you think.
By Nate Carr
When we think of the peak of modern computing we tend to think of high budget beasts, CPU’s with 64 cores, graphics cards capable of advanced artificial intelligence and 8k at a stable 60 frames per second, along with RAM so fast and vast it’s incomprehensible, and SSD’s in the dozens of terabytes. But what if I were to tell you that the best of the best isn’t to be found in this consumeristic market focused solely on specs but rather in the past well over a decade ago. Before planned obsolescence became the norm and proprietary spyware infested it’s tendrils deep into every device. Back when buying a machine gave you real ownership of it. I’m talking about the original line of business class IBM Thinkpads from the mid 2000s, specifically the IBM Thinkpad T60.
Having initially released in February 2006 the T60 is one of the last great 32-bit machines and predates the aforementioned pitfalls of modern computing. It’s high quality form factor and non-existent spyware is unrivaled in its contemporary competition. Since it was released so long ago it predates the Intel Management Engine which was rolled out in 2008. The Intel Management Engine is a separate, irremovable CPU which manages the users CPU with an ironfist and therefore deprives the user of ownership of their device. The admittedly ancient hardware may not perform well at a glance but if a new bios is flashed and a lightweight operating system is installed on a modern SSD, performance is decent. This $50 paperweight on ebay turns into a dream for those on a budget, or with privacy in mind, or tinkers and power users.
This setup process may seem daunting to the uninitiated but it’s one with ample documentation online and it enables the user to develop a deep understanding of their computer. With this knowledge the user can customize all aspects of it to their liking and be empowered to make truly informed decisions. My experience setting up this device was time consuming but extraordinarily cheap. I bought one of these laptops that already had a freedom respecting bios, libreboot, flashed on it on ebay for $79. I got a dirt cheap, compatible charger on ebay for $10 and I “splurged” and got a modern 480G Crucial BX500 SSD, since it has a SATA interface, for $50. With shipping included my total price was $146 but it could have been slightly higher if I didn’t already have a USB drive on hand.
Once everything arrived it was easy to insert the SSD since the T60 features an open harddrive bay because these devices were built with repairability in mind. They were intended to be used in the enterprise space where IT departments would repair these at the time high end machines dozens of times before ordering a replacement. Next, on a different computer, I downloaded the free ISO of the operating system I wanted to use on this laptop, parabola linux, a branch of 32-bit arch linux. Once downloaded I copied it onto a USB drive and used a free software to make the USB drive live bootable. Then I inserted the USB drive into the laptop and went through the installation process following the Parabola Wiki documentation. Once the installation was complete I needed to set the computer’s clock in order to connect to the internet since my router relies on it as part of WPA2 authentication. So I set the software clock and synced the hardware clock to it and then wrote a bash script to connect to my wireless internet. Once connected to the internet I updated to the most recent stable build and set up the graphical environment by installing the correct graphics driver, xserver, and dmw which is a free window tiler with a slick look. Finally I installed Icecat, a fork of firefox since it’s the only truly secure browser besides tor browser. At this point my initial setup was complete with a few packages I still had to install like neovim.
I’ve been using this computer for about half a year now and have had no issues besides the battery often causing the kernel to panic on startup. I may need to get a replacement battery but thankfully it’s cheap on ebay and the battery is removable so it’s easy to replace since it just pops out the back unlike modern computers where the repair would be much more difficult and require a professional. So far my time on the IBM Thinkpad T60 with the 480G Crucial BX500 SSD has been wonderful, it’s pushed me to really understand my computer and break through abstraction to the point where I’m now learning 32-bit assembly. I’d highly recommend this device to anyone wanting to use linux on hardware since it’s not tainted by Nvidia hardware or drivers which are designed to be unusable on linux. I’d also highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in computer science as it’s an extremely empowering endeavor to be fully incontrol of your computer and free of incessant hand holding. Even for more typical users the T60 or any IBM Thinkpad made before 2008 can be a great, cheap experience.