Using ThinkPad T480 as a mobile phone

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https://grego.site/blog/thinkphone

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If only they didn’t weigh more than a car….

True, but I do like the idea of having laptop as main device and for calls just a smart enough input device/extension with a screen that connects to the laptop wirelessly. For instance foldables are just an attempt to find middle ground between phones, tablets and laptops. Sometimes worth it, but thinkpad is always cheaper and more serviceable.



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This is ridiculous, I love it.


The word “mobile” is really doing some heavy lifting here 😆

You don’t have a T480 belt holster???

Just imagining pulling it out, opening it, typing in a secure password and answering the phone call with mouse.



you laugh, but this is seriously inticiing to people like who only have their phones out of necessity like a wallet and have to no clue where they are most of the time if not in my pocket.

i make over 99% of my calls; text messages; and social media on my laptop so this would eliminate the need for the phone all together.



Indian guys and doing ridiculous shit with older hardware. Its gonna be sad when a whole generation of techies grows up talking to AI instead of listening to Indian dudes on YouTube.

“older hardware”

The T480 can’t be older than from 2018.

That’s only 8 years, we are no longer in the 90s, computers can last much longer than that now. :D

My main laptop is a T495s, just slightly newer and I have no desire to upgrade. The thing even plays quite a few games decently


Bought an Asus TUF laptop back in 2020? Maybe 2021, had a Ryzen 3750H and a 1660ti, at first it was great and was an improvement from my previous laptop but unfortunately barely lasted a year before the fan bearings started to give out and made terrible sounds, even after replacing the fans they barely lasted a month before going back to the horrid noises.

The thing struggles to keep itself cool. Doesn’t matter if it’s running Debian or Windows it was horrible to do literally anything without getting frustrated.

Eventually upgraded and gave it to a buddy who didn’t have a computer, thing still sucks as a daily driver and I definitely wouldn’t trust it in a server environment. The sounds of those fans still haunt me to this day.

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“Therefore, you can now throw away your mobile phone and use a laptop only!”

Lmao

We are bringing clamshell phones back one way or a other


Lmao

In what way? To me, this seems viable.
Hell, really any laptop with 4G/5G modem. Internet connectivity anywhere is mostly my concern. A pocket-sized computer is still fairly convenient, but it doesn’t provide me with anything unique a laptop can’t replace.

It was mostly a quip about replacing the convenience of something that fits in your pocket and is handheld. I like the idea, it could work for some people. Definitely not me, I’m not in front of a screen / PC for almost all of my day. I do stay in touch with people via texts / calls throughout the day however.


I guess it can have its uses, but it would definitely not replace a mobile phone for me. It may be good in an office where you get your calls by the computer and indeed for internet connection on a laptop, but it will not replace the ease of going somewhere and calling your friend to say “I’m in the square, I don’t see you let’s meet at this bar”.




Now i’m imagining some dude holding a thinkpad up to his ear

HELLO?! IM AT THE CINEMA! NO, IT’S RUBBISH! Edit: not the exact skit, but close

lol, there was a Trigger Happy TV post earlier today! I’ve mentioned thar skit before to people. Great show!


DO NOT TRUST THIS MAN



Don’t be ridiculous, I would never make the phone call directly from the Thinkpad. I would just install Asterisk on the Thinkpad and then use it as a PBX where the cell module acts as the voice gateway. And then make the call via Linphone on my mobile device connected to the Thinkpad over WiFi.



Woah a huge flip phone!

Cool pairing of hardware in all seriousness. I too used to laugh at the inclusion of 3G/4G in select iPad models.


My dad is thinking of ditching his smartphone for a flip … he also has a T480. No way am i putting this idea in his head.



Yeah, I will be putting it in my pocket.


At this point, we’re getting closer into bringing PDAs back


Have an X1 Carbon with SIM slot. Been meaning for ages to do something with that. This gave me nudge. :-)



most Android phones1 standalone modems have an Android system running in the modem

Seriously? I thought it was something more stable and mimimal, like Minix or whatever.

It’s probably a very trimmed down android. I’m assuming it has to do with drivers, since these modem chips go in phones anyway.



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Why destroy the security of your device like that?

The only thing worse than IME is giving it cell tower access. Yikes.


My p14s has a sim slot, I wonder if it can do that (linux mint)…




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