I have a t410 and can ditto this experience. You probably could get it for $70 from someone who doesn't know what they have.

I was running Lubuntu on a decently reliable PNY USB stick, but I would probably advise against this because my filesystem corrupted itself and I've since been wayyyy too lazy to reinstall and reformat everything.

I'm not a programmer by trade so I just use my LG Zone4 to do everything digital in my life currently.