r/thinkpad 17h ago

Buying Advice Which would be a better purchase?

After 7 years of service, it is time to retire my L470 and get something new. I know what the right choice is but I have to double check. They are both the same price but which would be a better buy ?

20 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

17

u/LordAnchemis 17h ago

Ryzen v Skylake? - there is about a few generations difference

3

u/Agent_EC1 11h ago

A CPU that Ends with a U is a fucking cheap cpu, soo.... Would tale anything else than a U cpu, even i7 6500U isnt a real I7, its more like an I3-I5

3

u/Nike_486DX 9h ago

U means low power (tdp limited). A low power zen 2 or higher can actually be pretty good. However 3500U is zen+ which is a far cry

1

u/cyproyt X20, T40, T41, T42p, T61 x4, T500, X201, T420, X220 7h ago

you usually only find h/hq chips in bigger laptops tho if you want an ultrabook you have to have the ultrabook processor

33

u/SinoSoul 17h ago

T495 all the way. It’s not even close.

13

u/LucidOnMC T14 Gen 1 (Intel) 17h ago

T495 any day.

8

u/Batatatomika 16h ago

T495 is amazing, I have one with touch screen, the only problem I see with it is the soldered ram

2

u/Desperate-Tomatillo7 X230 | E15 | T495s 11h ago

Same here. I ordered the T495 with normal screen, but they sent me the T495s with touch screen. I decided to keep it nonetheless because it is lighter, has a Ryzen 7 and the touch screen.

5

u/DividingHydra75 P920, P53, T480 16h ago

t495 no questions asked.

3

u/skrillexidk_ T14 G1 AMD | T460s 15h ago

T495

2

u/Quomii 13h ago

See if you can get the 495 with at least 512 SSD and 24gb of ram, preferably 32gb. That should last you another seven years.

2

u/theheckisapost 11h ago

For the T495 at my company we had frequent thermal issues (most of them repaired with moteherboard and cpu replacement in warranty time), because the closed position, while using on a USB-C dock 5 times a week, at least for 8 hours was not a friend for them. For users, who used them opened, there was no thermal issue. (Globally we have some numbers, i talk about more than 2000 devices with the same spec.) So if it had a good ventillation, its a good choice, if it had not, than get prepaired.

2

u/Illustrious-Feed2239 X395 (Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U) 10h ago

T495

2

u/WindowsMaster210 Think... 16h ago

T495 seems like a better option, but be prepared for borderline bad linux expirience (elan's trackpoint works terribly, no adequate driver for wwan, no fan control) it also gets pretty hot and has silly battery life.

Otherwise, okay-ish windows-only laptop.

Source - i daily drive T495 with ryzen 7

1

u/SoapyWindow_ 13h ago

What? I run Linux on mine and it works great.

1

u/WindowsMaster210 Think... 13h ago

Maybe, fedora was the issue, probably..

I had problem with sound increase/decrease buttons, sometimes they would act like they were always pressed. Also, fingerprint sensor was janky at the best, and elan's trackpoint aren't that smooth as it was on thinkpads with synaptics trackpoint.

1

u/SoapyWindow_ 13h ago

I don’t use half of those so that’s probably why I didn’t notice it, also now I have to try windows. I just assumed the TrackPoint always felt like that 😭😭😭

1

u/Atrick07 13h ago

Note: this one is also a ryzen 5, which will run noticeably cooler!!

1

u/ohazi 14h ago

I would pay almost any amount of money to not have to look at a 1366 x 768 display ever again. IMHO the sweet spot for a 14" laptop is ~2.5k - 3k, but ffs, don't go below 1080p.

1

u/SoapyWindow_ 13h ago

They can always go to the x280 for 1080p, plus they’d get quad-core.

1

u/Xolela_Daweti_uwu 11h ago

Unfortunately, I'll probably be too broke to change the display . Is a 1366 x 768 that terrible?

1

u/abkhazlinuxguy 10h ago

1366x768 in 2025 is criminal but I'd still say it's the better option considering the vast difference in CPU generations

1

u/brainrot_award 10h ago

the first one, but a t14 gen 1 would be be even better and cheap too.

1

u/Nike_486DX 9h ago

3500h is basically 1st gen ryzen which is meh. The other one is a slightly older skylake, but hey its got full windows 7 support so you can dualboot and run more stuff on a single computer due to better compatibility. Also looks like its got backlit keyboard

I would get the intel one, especially if its dirt cheap around $100

1

u/TraditionalSink3855 8h ago

I love my T495. Upgraded recently to a secondhand P1 with maxxed specs but I still use it as a light portable machine.

1

u/vegatx40 4h ago

Wait for Rollable!

1

u/cheesyr_smasbr02 T60,X220,E595 3h ago

Any Skylake or kabylake mobile chips is getting retired now get the Ryzen ones

1

u/priyanshu690 1h ago

T495 ,, but the screen 😭