I am not especially tech-literate and very clumsy. I want to buy a thinkpad that I can set up as a privacy machine. I mostly use my computer for web browsing and messaging and don’t need something especially powerful, just something that can run bloated web pages easily and I won’t have to think about again for at least half a decade.
Ideally, I want something around $300. Does anyone have recommendations for models to shop for? Anything the size of the T-Series would be adequate. I’m not a gamer or do video editing so no graphics card requirements.
The older ThinkPads can go much further in the freedom/privacy realm than new ones. If you think you’d want to set up a custom BIOS etc., look at T440. There’s also T430 but it doesn’t support 4K output on external monitors. But you said you’re not “especially tech-literate”, so I assume you’re more towards the newer ones.
The video below makes the point “old but modifiable” vs “new and fast” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2OB6zfL904
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/watch?v=y2OB6zfL904
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.