Edit: Jesus Christ, people. If you buy a $150 Thinkpad made by slave labor instead of a $1,200 MacBook made by slave labor, you're still supporting a capitalist economy based on slave labor. We all do. We have no choice. The number of smug liberals in the comments saying "well I buy a cheap used laptop" or "well I buy coffee beans and make my own coffee" are completely missing the fucking point.
Don't tell yourself your consumption is moral. All of us make unethical choices every day because there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Accept your shame and guilt and let it drive you to do better.
Got a refurbished $200 Thinkpad T460 on eBay. It's in really good condition. I installed Mint on it and it works great.
i did a display swap on my w520 last night, it's running a 1080p display now. Paired with my t520 with a 1366 display i've got a really good combination of mobile productivity machines. One for writing, one for work.
That is way beyond my abilities. I wish I knew enough to swap the speakers. They're shit.
it's all pretty easy stuff. Especially with the older modules. You just need to be somewhat careful and very organized lol. I'm not actually sure if there is a speaker swap you can do on these tbh. That would be fairly easy to do though.
As for the display swap, on the xx20 series you just remove the bottom plate, the keyboard, and then the top bezel, and then you can remove the screws that mount the display (the ones in the back) unroute all the wiring, and disconnect any connectors, and then do the same on another unit, and the reverse it. Twice. And boom, display swap. On the newer models i imagine it's harder to do though. Particularly the ones where the keyboard isn't removable from the top side.
And that's where I would fuck it up. Or wiring it back up again rather.
Edit: Looks like it can be done but fuck if I'm going to try.
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Lenovo+ThinkPad+T460+Speakers+Replacement/143405
yeah that can be a little rough, take a picture beforehand if you really care. That'll help. The older models are a little overwhelming with the amount of wires but entirely manageable.
I edited my post above. Looks like you can replace the speakers, but it's a lot more work and a lot more chance of fucking up than I'm willing to chance. Maybe I'll just get a bluetooth speaker.
if you ever have the money to spare, and want to fuck around, you can always buy another cheap thinkpad that doesn't work, and give it a shot, or buy a cheap working one that you don't particularly care for. There are options.
Oh, and LOTS of information online.
It might be fun to tinker with someday, but for now, I found a $10 bluetooth speaker that will work. Thanks though!
thats definitely a valid solution.