You’re comparing a ThinkPad X280 with an IdeaPad S540, which is not even half the price of the same device - which is not fair, but that’s just part of the entire assumption, that is, good, reliable technicians and spare parts availability.

The laptop crashes 1 2, if I carry it with my palm on the left side - because apparently, the memory shorts itself to the aluminum case.

The repair experience was so frustrating, because just after one year of use, the system board was damaged, and when I repaired it, not only did the Lenovo authorized technician lose a few screws, but also busted the right speaker. I would be without a laptop for almost two to three months.

I rarely close the laptop lid, as I used to leave it on an empty, clean dining table, so there should be no hinge issues, but it broke down one day, and ripped the entire bottom shell. That was when I had to pay to replace the palm-rest, but this new technician from a Lenovo authorized center destroyed the DC jack. Also, my left speaker blew off, and soon the slightly degraded battery died suddenly, leaving me with no device.

For the last six months (starting from December), I’ve not had a laptop to use, and obviously, I couldn’t work on software projects, learn LeetCode or apply to jobs. Just recently, I got a spare battery to use this device, but the DC jack blew again. For the DC jack alone, I had to go thrice, and finally, when I inspected the repair myself yesterday after buying a multi-head screw driver kit, it turns out that the technician never replaced it to begin with, and used a solder to complete a brittle, makeshift circuit.

It did not ‘just’ break after three years. The device was a pile of smoldered shit, and the repair experience was even more horrible, with lost and damaged parts - most of which were M2.0 x 3.0mm Philip screws 6 out of 22 missing, and the essential M2.0 x 5.0mm Torx T5 screw for the base plate - 2 of the 9 missing. I did not play games or run highly demanding applications or LLMs - maybe a little bit of ‘Battle for Wesnoth’ and ‘Final Fantasy 6’ here and there. When not in use, my device stayed in the laptop bag, or the dining table.

It is my first laptop btw, and my experience with it was simply terrible. There’s barely any CRUs or FRUs available, and I’ll have to order from China to India, which would be quite expensive as they’re not bulk orders. My main idea was to look for refurbished laptops that matched the description in the post. I’ll probably never be able to buy a new device, given my present circumstances.