posting this from a thinkpad instead of my main pc just for the meme

Laptops in 2023: Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me you want ports?
- or, more accurately,
  Laptops in 2023: If you want ports, use a USB hub.
  Laptops in 2000: Here's multiple USB ports, VGA, Mini Displayport, a fucking smartcard reader, SD card reader, ethernet port and docking port
  Edit: just as an FYI this is referring to the T450 (which is the one i have), also added docking port because those count.
  
  CompactFlash, two PC Card/PCMCIA slots, a Kensington lock port, parallel, 9 pin serial, and a docking station port, a removable optical drive...
  
  My t420 has ExpressCard and i just slapped a 2xUSB3 adapter in it.
  
  pre-dell alienwares had fricken digital clocks in the front
  
  I love that my T490 has all those things, except HDMi in place of VGA.
  
  Don't forget the DVD slot!
  
  They still exist
  https://lpc-digital.com/product/sager-np8855e-s-clevo-pd50sne-g/?ex=1
  1 HDMI output Port (with HDCP) 1 Mini DisplayPort 1.4 1 DisplayPort 1.4 over USB 3.2 Gen2 port (Type C) 1 Thunderbolt 4 Port with Power Delivery DC in (Type C) 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Ports (Type A, 1 x powered USB port, AC/DC) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Headphone / Microphone) 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Microphone / S/PDIF Optical output) 1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000/2500Mbps) Micro SD Push-Push Card reader
  
  Always used a hub even with my old T420, nothing changed for me. It's even better, cause I got two display outputs and multiple charging ports now 🤷
  
  Mini DisplayPort wasn't introduced until 2008 (by Apple), and the T450 wasn't introduced until 2015, so not exactly "Laptops in 2000." But I get the sentiment.

Framework trying their darnnest to harness (heh) this power
- I'm so damn happy they are. The closest thing I've been able to afford is a Dell Latitude 7490. Damn close, even has the mouse nub.
  
  Me too man, the prospect of laptop repairability on that level is really enticing. I love my surface pro 7, but if only one thing breaks it's out of warranty and thus toast. Looking at that Fairphone as well...
  
  Nubs need to make a come back. Ill take it over a trackpad any day.
- Love my framework! Got $300 off for installing the wifi card and ram myself lol

i have an ibm x40 from '03. upgraded the PATA HDD to an SSD, tricked the BIOS to not throw a fit after i installed a 2010s wifi card. it's okay for ssh, tmux, and watching 360p. a fun lil guy.
don't open a web browser tho
- My friend has a wifi 4 card in his Thinkpad and recommended to upgrade. Now you say there are difficulties in the Upgrade process, so I wanted to ask since you seem to have knowledge about it: What do I have to look for?
  
  in my case, the BIOS had a whitelist for pci devices and only OEM WiFi cards were on the whitelist. I was able to find a tool that tricked the BIOS into not caring that newer card wasn't listed.
  for you I'd say, check to see if there is a whitelist for your model TP and then reassess if upgrading is feasible.

+
Maybe not quite what you are driving at, but I lovingly caress my little Thinkpad every day.
4+ year old Yoga X380 - $1200 new (too much IMO), I picked it up refurbished for $200 (a mother effing bargain) a year ago.
I have an RTX2080 based Asus machine that's going to my son this weekend because I don't have time to game much these days, and this nice little Lenovo has gone from "use it in the kitchen or on the go" to my main computer in that time.
Gorgeous display, very comfortable keyboard, touchscreen, stylus, fingerprint reader, folds back for tablet mode (keyboard retracts for protection when you do), very portable, decent array of ports, and pretty damn good specs for two hundred bucks. Has been rocking Manjaro from the moment it came home. The only thing I haven't tested is the fingerprint reader, but I have no reason to think it wouldn't work.
My mom recently wanted a cheap laptop and sent me a list of two hundred dollar machines she was looking at from Walmart - not one was within miles of this thing, so now she's got one and loves it too. (It even performs pretty well with Windows, I must reluctantly admit.)
Asus and Lenovo are the first two brands I look for when I need anything they make - and generally I can always find something I'm happy with, at a good value, and often refurbished.
It's not a powerhouse, but it's perfect for what I'm doing with a computer at home most of the time these days, and it's truly a joy to use.
- Solid machine. I'd still be using mine if only the RAM was upgradable.
  
  Yeah, more RAM would be nice for sure.
- Does it run Coreboot though?

- I would make the "time to get off the internet" joke but then I remembered there isn't anywhere else left to go.

Flash libreboot and run a free distro and your in business
- My T450 has vpro
- Currently browsing from my Libreboot X60T with Debian GNU/Linux-libre and OpenRC
  
  How are you running OpenRC with Debian?

Earlier ThinkPads had the best keyboards IMO. I also really liked using the track point over a trackpad.
First one I had was a T61 and loved it. Later on had to get a newer one for school, a W541 but didn't enjoy the feel of it as much.

I love my MacBook but I respect the shit out of an old school ThinkyBoi.

I upgraded mine with a severed display cable :/

When I was looking for a gaming laptop 2 years ago, I couldn’t find any that didn’t have the graphics card soldered on. I looked into building a laptop myself, but I couldn’t even find cases to buy. Am I just the most dumbest Googler?
- Framework sells the individual parts to their systems, when I was looking into it there wasn’t really a cost benefit to doing it all by hand though.
  Their new 16 inch system has a modular GPU. Should be able to upgrade it in the future.
- MXM GPUs never really caught on, and nobody builds their own laptop, it's just not a thing like it is with desktops.
  Best option if you want upgradable graphics would be an external Thunderbolt dock, but even then there are plenty of caveats there.
  
  I looked into them, too. But at the time I wasn’t sure enough this would actually work well. If I’m buying a graphics card for , I don’t want 30% of the juice going down the drain because it’s external.
- Graphic cards are always soldered on in modern gaming laptop. The only way to upgrade the GPU is by using an external GPU, and making sure you only buy a laptop that support eGPU.
- The Sager laptops I’ve had all came with user-replaceable GPUs. Not sure if that’s still the case, but here’s one distributor, you can always contact them and ask:
  https://lpc-digital.com/contact-us/

I mrchromeboxed a lenovo chromebook with 8gb ram and have been using that as my daily blade with some bare metal ubuntu, then I sit down at the other more powerful lenovo some of the time.

My main desktop at work was used back in 2012 when I first had it assigned to me (officially we get laptops, desktops are by special request). It's still kicking to this day and still my preferred system for work. All I've upgraded was adding an SSD and some RAM. Asset management has lost track of it by now, lol. It might just end up at my house. Honestly, this is one of the most compelling reasons to use Linux.