+++
date = '2025-10-27T00:01:00+01:00'
draft = false
title = 'Refurbished Thinkpad T480'
+++

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.