My laptop is still chugging along since 2011, and I totally feel this comic.

It got an SSD to really boost performance.

It still runs Windows 7.

I can't create-react-app because I can't upgrade node to the version it requires.

Chrome doesn't update anymore.

This thing is robust and feels like I've had it forever.

I will be sad when it dies.

You got yourself a Batocera station there, mister.

I'm thinking of buying a Thinkpad w530 for such "geriatric" tasks

The magic of a ssd and a lightweight distro running xfce can even perk up an average system from 2010. Bonus points if you can upgrade the memory. You can probably still get to a login prompt in 20-30s, and cold boot to a link saved on the desktop playing music in under a minute.

That's about $30 USD in parts. You will probably struggle with more intense tasks. We just replaced desktops with similar specs that were just barely able to run optimized Minecraft a couple years ago.