T420 or T420s

[Kaso]

Because they did change it to 2.5", but like he said it's not standard height (7 vs 9.5 mm)

That's right. The situation is similar to X220: 2.5" drive, 7mm height. This bay height limits the HDD to smaller-capacity platter configurations and the SSD to certain models that provide a removable plastic spacer. So, for example, the Intel X25-M is fine, but the recent Intel 510 is not.

[Ryxmd]

My fault. I misread the post. LOL. So 7mm height.....

[chx1975]

Erm, read the tabook, the T420 is only a hair heavier now than the T420s... I ordered a T420 despite having a T400s (and a Panasonic Y5 before). The T420, however, has standard height HDD and slice battery. I am obsessed with the slice battery. Hop on a transatlantic flight and you'll know why

[Ryxmd]

T420s - Hybrid Carbon-fiber reinforced plastic Cover and Magnesium alloy Bottom

T420 - Carbon-fiber/Glass fiber hybrid Cover and Carbon-fiber reinforced plastic Bottom

Based on the tabook, which is more durable?

[chx1975]

Both of them also have ThinkPad Roll Cage (one-piece magnesium frame) and so I suspect the durability is the same.

[bsoft]

Erm, read the tabook, the T420 is only a hair heavier now than the T420s... I ordered a T420 despite having a T400s (and a Panasonic Y5 before). The T420, however, has standard height HDD and slice battery. I am obsessed with the slice battery. Hop on a transatlantic flight and you'll know why

The 6-cell the T420 is 4.3lbs (without optical drive), the 6-cell T420s is 3.7lbs (without optical drive). Keep in mind that the 6-cell for the T420s has less capacity than the 6-cell for the T420 (44Wh vs 57Wh). So, yeah, 0.6lbs isn't a lot of difference.

For me the major advantages of the T420s are USB 3.0 and the option to use a bay battery (I don't use my optical drive much). With the bay battery and the 6-cell the T420s is 4.2lbs, which is only 0.1lbs lighter than the T420 (6-cell, no optical). But the 6-cell plus bay battery on the T420s gives you 76Wh, which is 25% more than the 6-cell on the T420 and should be good for at least 8 hours. You need to go to the 9-cell or the slice battery on the T420 to get that kind of battery life, both of which are considerably heavier and also stick out.

Obviously for most people the T420s doesn't make sense. It's around $250 more and the weight is not significantly different. And most people don't need 8 hours of battery life, or if they do they're OK with a battery that sticks out slightly.

[Ryxmd]

So T420 doesn't have the bay battery option.

[abachofner]

So T420 doesn't have the bay battery option.

Well, it's doesn't show up as an option for the T420, it does show up for the T420s when ordering. Looking at accessories based on the specific models, again it's there for the T420s, not for the T420.

But the ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III (43N3412) does shows up for both models, so that would imply that both drive bay's are at least the same size.

The bay battery itself (57Y4536) doesn't list T420 or T420s specifically as being compatible yet. But it did seem to work on both T400/T410 and T400s/T410s

[Kaso]

I haven't come across any definitive statement confirming that the Ultrabay battery also works on T410/T420. Aside from mechanical and interface compatibilities, there is the question of BIOS support. On the T410s, the BIOS detects the Ultrabay battery, draws power from it first, then switches to the main battery.

[lead_org]

T410 and T420 don't support ultrabay battery, there is no ultrabay battery connector in these machines.