I'm on a thinkpad x230t from over a decade ago, running Linux. It is a bit less vintage than yours, but I can confirm that for the princely sum of £200 on ebay, I can run a window manager and pretty much any software I want.

It replaced a £1500 starbook, which stopped powering on about a month after the warranty expired.

Not quite the same point as you, but I'll agree on something: old hardware that lasts is miraculous.