I have one and I would also recommend them but my T420 seems to shutdown after 6 weeks running without any issues... Happened twice now already and I haven't seen anything in the logs why it did shut down. I also watch CPU load, temperature, memory usage etc. all the time using Prometheus + Grafana. Everything looked fine.
Also, my setup is a bit awkward where I can't access it so easy. Have to move some stuff before I can open the lid to turn it back on. So I am looking into Mini-PCs now. Will use the thinkpad for access via SSH.
But nonetheless, I love thinkpads. Am buying more if I find them cheap on eBay, haha
load test the battery. its not uncommon for laptop batteries to prematurely fail when they're always energized. a faulty battery can cause some odd behavior. the laptop power adapters are another common failure point.
best practice is to routinely exercise the laptop battery by allowing it time to discharge, then recharge. this will help prolong the battery life.
also consider a cheap uninterruptable power supply (UPS) if you're using one as a node.
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Ah, nice hint! I will test it when I get home since the laptop is indeed always plugged it.
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