Add: thinkpad T480

content/posts/thinkpad-t480-reconditionne.en.md

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+date = '2025-10-27T00:01:00+01:00'
+draft = false
+title = 'Refurbished Thinkpad T480'
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+
+I just wanted a machine to mess around with, test things, break things. Build and deconstruct — that’s how you learn. Basically, a computer for quiet evenings.
+Why not go for a refurbished one? I’d never tried that before, so I started browsing around.
+I quickly settled on Lenovo’s ThinkPad line: quality machines, easy to upgrade — RAM, drives, even the battery or screen.
+I didn’t need much power; I mostly wanted to test different tiling window managers at first.
+Even for RAM, 8 GB would be plenty.
+
+## The Purchase
+
+Then I found a gem: a ThinkPad T480, i5-8250U, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, a 14-inch 1920×1080 screen, and an Ethernet port — no Wi-Fi compatibility headaches to deal with or custom ISOs to build.
+And the price? Only €230.
+I hesitated… but not for long. Actually, I cracked pretty fast and ordered the beast.
+It was October 12.
+
+## The Beginning
+
+Two days later, the package arrived.
+No fancy packaging — just a box, the laptop, and a charger.
+I plugged it in, then spent way too much time trying to boot the NixOS ISO (don’t forget to disable Secure Boot and the other fun stuff).
+I installed NixOS in LUKS mode via the live USB, from the terminal instead of Calamares.
+After the base install (without X), I did a bunch of tweaks and finally launched X with bspwm in the early afternoon.
+
+That’s when something felt off — especially when I opened Firefox.
+A quick hwinfo --monitor later, and… the screen was running at 1366×768.
+What an idiot — I’d forgotten to double-check that detail in the specs before buying.
+
+## Doubts and Confusion
+
+Still, I went back to BackMarket’s site to look at the product page — it clearly said 1920×1080.
+So what now? Send it back or keep it?
+I checked around and found that a 1080p panel costs about €60.
+So I wrote them a nice message, attached a screenshot of hwinfo --monitor, and offered two options:
+either refund me the price of the panel so I could replace it myself, or take the machine back.
+
+They replied with a ridiculous compensation offer: €23.
+My guess? That’s probably their entire margin on a €230 sale.
+They also offered a return, with two possible outcomes:
+– the refurbisher has a proper model in stock and ships it;
+– or they don’t, and I get a full refund, plus a 5% discount on a replacement order (half their margin?).
+
+Except… I then got another message telling me to return the item immediately.
+So, was option 1 canceled? I didn’t quite get it.
+
+I decided to sleep on it, but when I powered on the ThinkPad the next morning, the screen looked truly awful.
+I had to head to work, so I planned to drop it off the next day — October 14.
+The locker refused the barcode (lots of beep-beep-beep, zero results), so I took it to the post office instead.
+
+## The Long Wait
+
+The refurbisher received the parcel on October 17.
+They warned me it might take several days to process.
+Four days later, they offered a replacement — same model, but with 16 GB RAM instead of 8.
+I replied that if the screen was truly 1080p, I’d take it.
+BackMarket confirmed they’d forward my response… then silence.
+
+Three more days passed.
+It had been a full week since the refurbisher got the laptop, and I still knew nothing.
+
+## Knock, Knock
+
+Around 1:30 PM on October 24, someone knocked on my door — a very pleasant delivery woman asking for a code.
+I told her I wasn’t expecting anything and hadn’t received a code.
+She said a signature would do. And there it was: the ThinkPad.
+I booted it right up and dove into the BIOS to check the specs.
+Everything matched — especially the 1080p display — and as a bonus, 16 GB of RAM.
+And honestly, the screen difference was night and day!
+
+## The Outcome
+
+I still reported the delivery, since no one on their side seemed to know it had shipped.
+My first refurbished purchase left me with mixed feelings.
+Would I do it again?
+Honestly… I’m not sure.