# Lenovo ThinkPad 332 Hacker News commenters recommended Lenovo ThinkPad and 113 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (44 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Durable, easily repaired laptops with excellent Linux support, often bought cheaply used, though critics say build quality, keyboards and trackpoints have declined from the classic models. ## Why people recommend it - Repairable with available parts, manuals (7 comments): "Used thinkpads and the glut of EBay parts for them reach about 85% of what Framework does for me, and at half the price." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346295)) "An old Thinkpad I could self-insure for quite cheap because I had the ability to replace any component failure myself." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47577127)) "One thing in favour of Lenovo and Thinkpad then and now is that you can download all the field service guides" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45955544)) - Cheap used and refurbished units (7 comments): "Used thinkpads and the glut of EBay parts for them reach about 85% of what Framework does for me, and at half the price." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49346295)) "for the price I can get used thinkpads (and replace the battery if needed) and not have to deal with the crappy parts" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48358469)) "Get a used beaten down old Thinkpad that people on Reddit confirm to be working with Linux without any drivers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46386195)) - Excellent Linux support (5 comments): "Thinkpads have excellent Linux support, ludicrously bad color gamut, questionable build quality generation-to-generation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46643462)) "Get a used beaten down old Thinkpad that people on Reddit confirm to be working with Linux without any drivers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46386195)) "I've been using enterprise thinkpads for the past 15 years and never had issues with wifi, or suspend." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46475471)) - Solid build that lasts years (6 comments): "new ThinkPads, which are on sale pretty regularly, end up being much nicer, solidly built, more performant, and with an awesome warranty" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46396228)) "the hardware feels solid, the keyboard (while not one of the legendary classic Thinkpad keyboards) is nice to type on" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46414981)) "I used both my thinkpads for 8+ years, generating $$$ for me. Build quality matters a lot when it comes to longevity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47348173)) ## What people warn about - Quality not what it was (5 comments): "Thinkpads have excellent Linux support, ludicrously bad color gamut, questionable build quality generation-to-generation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46643462)) "They used to be genuinely great, now they coasting on brand name and simply not being as bad as most laptops." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46180777)) "Lenovo has set their part selection and engineering design to "best value for the company" rather than "best quality for the end user"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47272758)) - Keyboard and trackpoint downgrades (5 comments): "the Thinkpad trackpad really isn't that bad (the trackpoint getting randomly stuck in a non-neutral position is a common thing I've experienced though)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47343817)) "Lenovo's attempt to frog-boil its ThinkPad buyers until they're convinced that features like trackpoints and quality keyboards can be excluded" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45859570)) "It was Lenovo ditching the classic ThinkPad 7 row keyboard with the Ivy Bridge models c. 2012 that really pissed people off" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49348961)) - Buggy BIOS and firmware updates (3 comments): "a Thinkpad BIOS update ended up destroying both undervolting and overclocking, and required a "chip-clip" programmer to revert" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47242362)) "there was a BIOS bug where if you toggled two different settings without rebooting inbetween, it bricked the motherboard" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49356883)) "my work thinkpad would have completely broken speakers, mic, and webcam if I waited on updates too long" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46041539)) - Inconsistent between machines and generations (2 comments): "I have a couple lenovo's and its hit/miss, but my 'good' machine has an AMD which after a bit of tuning idles with the screen on at 2-3W" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46017766)) "Thinkpads have excellent Linux support, ludicrously bad color gamut, questionable build quality generation-to-generation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46643462)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [HP EliteBook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hp-elitebook.md): 26 recommend - [Dell Latitude 7490](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dell-latitude-7490.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Lenovo+ThinkPad+laptop&tag=YOURTAG-20) (affiliate link) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Lenovo ThinkPad", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lenovo-thinkpad/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).