Hey all. I've read through the buyer's guide on the sidebar, but still had some questions i was hoping you could help me out with. I'm looking to get a used thinkpad on eBay for less than $400USD. I don't plan on doing much gaming, though it would be nice to have the option, so a dedicated graphics card would be nice but not required. I mostly plan on doing the basic surfing, word processing, excel, PowerPoint, some coding, and maybe light graphic design. Mostly i want a machine that's going to handle these tasks, be durable/reliable, and still be usable specs wise for at least the next few years.

From the guide I've gathered i probably want a T or W series and I'll want to upgrade the ram and hard drive. I'm seeing some options in my price range ranging from an older gen (gen3 or thereabouts) i7 with graphics card, or a newer i5, no dedicated graphics. Not sure which would be the best way to go. I've also seen varying reports that certain models of the 400 & 500 series are great, and others not so much (reliability, upgradeability, etc).

Given all the above, could you give me some pointers on specific models to look for and some guidance on newer i5 vs older i7?