T490, Did I make a good investment in late 2025?

[Twarden]

I recently joined the lovely Lenovo ThinkPad cult. I made a purchase of an excellent condition refurbished T490 model. With taxes and shipping it was 451.98$CAD.

I am running: Intel Core i5-8265U, 24GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 14" (1920x1080) display. I use Win 11 Pro host OS and many different versions of linux via Virtualbox, no hiccups!

I just need to know if I quote unquote bought the meme by purchasing a more modern ThinkPad? There is no external battery to this model, so once the internal battery does not hold a charge any longer, how am I to continue to repair my ultrabook? I know that this model is out of warranty. Is Lenovo going to support the internal battery for the T490 for the forseeable future (time horizon 5+ years from late 2025)?

I puchased this ultrabook for business and for playing some Tabletop simulator and Entropia Universe (on lower settings, runs no problem).

[dcfbf]

Sorry, not sure what you mean by "bought the meme".

But if the battery dies on your T490, you can always buy a battery aftermarket, new old stock, or used, and install it yourself. (or by a technician if you're uncomfortable opening up a laptop)

The T490 is relatively easy to service and the battery, even though it's sealed in, is only held in by a couple of Phillips head screws.
If you ever need to service the battery, you can find a hardware maintenance manual for the T490 by Lenovo here: https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_p ... hmm_en.pdf

[axur-delmeria]

The "meme Thinkpad" of recent times is the T480, not your T490.

Given that the T490 shares the same chassis as the T14 Gen 1 and Gen 2, you may still be able to find batteries in the short term.

[Twarden]

I greatly appreciate both of your posts, especially the link to the hardward manual!