Advice needed on very first laptop to own

[susubantal]

Greetings! I am new to this world of Thinkpad and very happy to find this awesome forum!
There are so many informative topics and posts that are fun to read here.
Oh and please excuse any errors in my writing, for English is not my mother tongue.

So I have set my choice to buy Thinkpad as my first owned laptop, however I am still confused about what model.
Fortunately, this confusion grows when I accidentally visited Frankenpad threads.

The Thinkpad is going to be main laptop that I will use mostly for 2D CAD and Office documents.
I also look forward to learn basic photo/video editing and some 3D CAD in the future.
Should I walk the Frankenpad's path, and will Him meet my needs? I have found one T60 as a candidate, at local store.
Or should I just buy T420/W520, and call it a day?

Please give some insight into this.

[TankPad]

I wouldn't go the Frankenpad route as a first computer, maybe as a side project when you have another machine to rely on too.

I suppose a budget is the first place to start. Then ideally what screen size you like and after that it'll be easier to list what suits you. For the uses you described, onboard graphics is more than capable. If you wanna jump deeper into serious CAD or video editing later then dedicated graphics would be beneficial.

For reference, I've done all the things you list on 6-7 year old X220's, T420's etc and they can be bought for very little money. I've actually got a lot of them for free in the past.

[teamde78]

Hi there, welcome to the forums!

I would second TankPad's suggestion and not recommend a Frankenpad. I would definitely recommend the W520 or T420 (again depending on the screen you want).

[susubantal]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, TankPad and teamde78!

I will spend USD600 max to get my first Thinkpad.
My preference on screen size is >=14". Mobility is to be considered because I will carry laptop in backpack while travelling by motorcycle. Is W520 too much to carry around?

How about the resolution, how will the HD+ T420 compare to the FHD W520?

[brchan]

W530 with classic keybaord mod, K2000M and 15.6" FHD screen will serve you well. A Frankenpad, as nice a project it is, won't cut it for CAD, and you might want something a bit faster for everyday use.

[teamde78]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience, TankPad and teamde78!

I will spend USD600 max to get my first Thinkpad.
My preference on screen size is >=14". Mobility is to be considered because I will carry laptop in backpack while travelling by motorcycle. Is W520 too much to carry around?

How about the resolution, how will the HD+ T420 compare to the FHD W520?

Both the T420 and W520 are bulkier compared to some of the smaller models, however the performance of these machines definitely outweigh the little extra weight. Both should fit fine in a backpack if you are going that route.