Linux runs on almost anything these days. I've installed Mint on Lenovos, Dells, and HPs without issue (even media keys all worked out of the box). As others have suggested, I'd probably look into used business workstations from the last five years to ensure you'll get a solid five to ten years out of it.

I don't think you need to limit yourself to a Thinkpad specifically. Linux should work on almost any laptop these days. I would look around for secondhand business laptops. They tend to be reasonably priced and often gently used when they are coming from business environments.

I can sell you a 15” dell with a quad core and 32gb of ram.

E: this is not a joke, I have a 3520 from a couple of years ago with an 11th gen i7, a 256gb nvme, the sata kit included and 32gb of ddr4. HMU.

I'd check Ebay for HP elite books, one gen old still has good performance, and fwupd pulls updates for them

If you want to go really cheap, you can get a used Chromebook for like 50€ and put PMOS on it for full blown Linux 😂

Last I checked the highest spec of thinkpad t480 only has i7 8th gen with 4c8t, if you do a lot of compiling you probably gonna have to wait for a long time for medium to larger size projects, get anything with ryzen 6 cores or more instead

For laptops, I've successfully run arch on dell, HP, Lenovo, and a Surfacebook, all within the last 3 years. The only issues I had were on one of the dells and the SB, the touchscreen didn't work, which I had no issues with. I did have intermittent issues with the Lenovo fingerprint reader, but that laptop was about 10 years old when I got it, so less surprising.

I wouldn't limit yourself to manufacturer at all, and I would recommend a business class model, but if you can get a consumer grade for stupid cheap, I wouldn't say no to that either.

When my company cycles out laptops, they pull hard drives and then send them to recycling. We are allowed to take them. I had an older 2018 Dell and got a 2023 Dell to replace it. I just moved the nvme from one to the other and everything just worked. I didn't expect it to be so smooth, but I literally didn't have to do anything. I say that just so you know it's simple to upgrade if you find a better option later.

Old Dells are cheaper and got great support

it's fine but honestly there's much better machines (performance wise) for better price these days, and the screen on T480 is usually pretty shit. i'd get something else if this is gonna be your primary machine.

What's your budget? T480/580 are still good but they're getting expensive.

Check if https://freegeek.org/ works for you, they also have an eBay store

Just picked up this Lenovo Ideapad for $640 for my kid . Nothing amazing, but I'm hoping it matches my previous Thinkpads in durability and longevity.

Basic detail - not great, but will probably suit your needs if you're not doing game development or high-end data analysis:

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Laptop 2025 15.6” FHD 1920 x 1080 Touchscreen, AMD Ryzen 7 5825U, 8-core, AMD Radeon Graphics, 16GB DDR4, 512GB SSD, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, 720p HD Camera, Windows 11 Home

does it still work for software development?

... Why wouldn't it? Like you could do other things but not write code?

Funny, I just posted about buying a t480. I wont lie and say its the latest and greatest, but its a good machine. My main reason was the Linux support, but as others mentioned, Linux runs on just about anything.

I think it would depend on the kind of software you're developing. If you're doing web development, I'd say you're good, game Dev, maybe not. There are also different models with diffrent specs. Some come with 8 gigs or sometimes more, some have a TN panel or an IPS, i7 vs i5 so just be on the lookout for what specs you want/need.

For development? I've been using old Dell Latitudes. They are easier to work on than HPs, generally sturdy, and Debian runs great on them. You can get a used E7440 for next to nothing, and old RAM is still cheap.

I'm personally on a refurb thinkpad t14. Works great

Gen 1 X13 currently go for 100-150 bucks, they are the best value but compiling time is gonna be pretty trash

Web Dev and JS Python then sure, t480 is fine. But t14 or something a bit faster for c++ or Rust etc with compiles.

Buy a different thinkpad (an older gen T/L/E 14) (but check the upgradability), there is too much demand for it for it to be normally priced.

I wanted one in ~2023 and couldn't find one under 300€, I then bought a Dell Latitude 5290 with the same CPU (i5-8350u) as the T480. The Latitude is working well enough, Dells (Latitudes and Precisions) are also a great thinkpad alternative - keep in mind they don't have a trackpoint (since 2018).

Framework is actually cheaper if you think long. I mean ownership cost