Thinkpads Forum

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).

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

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.

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