[reportgunner]

Any old laptop (especially thinkpad) can run linux well. If you want to use it it's not "trouble" per se because once you really know what you are doing there is no trouble(and you can't get to knowing what you're doing without finding out what is it you did that caused you the trouble).

If you just want to use linux so you can tell someone about it, don't bother using linux and stick to what works for you.