Thinkpad T420s Owners' Thread

[Greenform]

Ok,
let say i put intel 320 160 gb, not 80 gb, in the main storage.
If that's the case, from your answer, i assume that there is not much difference in term of durability, etc between mSata and slim SSD. Only the price issue. Am i correct?
Also, can i put the provided 7 mm HDD in the optical drive slot with HDD bay? Will it fit?

Where would you put the Intel 320? In the main storage bay to replace the provided storage or into the bay instead of the optical drive? If it's to replace the main storage device then 80GB isn't much capacity. I think that's why people like the mSATA solution: Have a faster boot drive for Windows and programs while keeping the HDD for bulk storage. You alternative is more likely to replace the HDD with a 160GB Intel 320.

John

[Thors.Hammer]

Ok,
let say i put intel 320 160 gb, not 80 gb, in the main storage.
If that's the case, from your answer, i assume that there is not much difference in term of durability, etc between mSata and slim SSD. Only the price issue. Am i correct?
Also, can i put the provided 7 mm HDD in the optical drive slot with HDD bay? Will it fit?

There is a performance difference. See The Intel SSD 320 Review: 25nm G3 is Finally Here - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News for a good review. The also did a review of the 80GB mSATA but it was a pre-production unit in a sled. See http://www.intel.com/design/flash/na...s/overview.htm for the Series 310 specs.

You can use a variety of SSD and HDD devices in the T420s Ultrabay via the Lenovo - Laptop and desktop - Storage 43N3412 (US) adapter.

See http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820167053 for a good hard drive replacement.

[John Ratsey]

There is a performance difference.

Meaning that the 320 is faster. However, much of the performance boost from SSDs comes from the near-instant access times which almost every SSD offers. The 320 also has some potentially useful features such as encryption.

I've got this Ultrabay SATA caddy waiting to test with my T420s. It's the previous model so quite cheap on ebay. [I've also got a big Intel 320 waiting to be moved across from my Dell 6410. That SSD wasn't cheap but like to have a lot of onboard storage].

John

[bigbulus]

Hi all, can you post pic of your T420S? I'd like to know how thin it is and how far it's compared to Dell Latitude E6400, which I consider is acceptably thin. What about the weight? Is it really that light? If so, T420S could be my next laptop since I'm looking for 14" thinnest, lightest, and most durable laptop.

By the way, do the top rubber lid cover and keyboard absorb grease that came from our fingers?

[John Ratsey]

Hi all, can you post pic of your T420S? I'd like to know how thin it is and how far it's compared to Dell Latitude E6400, which I consider is acceptably thin.

Sometime on Tuesday I hope to be able to put a T420s on top of my Dell E6410 (which is essentially the same size as the E6400). I am expecting the T420s to be thinner and lighter.

John

[Thors.Hammer]

Hi all, can you post pic of your T420S? I'd like to know how thin it is and how far it's compared to Dell Latitude E6400, which I consider is acceptably thin. What about the weight? Is it really that light? If so, T420S could be my next laptop since I'm looking for 14" thinnest, lightest, and most durable laptop.

By the way, do the top rubber lid cover and keyboard absorb grease that came from our fingers?

See the pics at https://picasaweb.google.com/lenovob...ThinkPadT420s# There's a good shot comparing it to the T420.

The T420s is nearly the lightest ThinkPad made. I think the X1 will be slightly lighter so of that's a key criteria you might want to wait for it to release.

Regarding the 14", I actually prefer the T410s over the T420s due to the 1440x900 resolution screen.

Regarding the grease question, the answer is no. There's no way for the material to actually absorb anything. If it did, it would become a stinky sponge over time. I like the texture of the materials on the ThinkPads. Don't forget you can buy all sorts of cool lid covers and stickers for protection if desired.

[vasra]

I will be happy to answer questions about it, to the best of my abilities.

Could you be so kind as to test for the following:

1. Open a Firefox with 20+ tabs and different content/sites on each (to get some memory usage)

2. Open Word / Powerpoint with some document in it

3. Put the computer to Hibernate (not sleep) and time roughly they time it takes until all the lights have stopped blinking on the HD led (everything is written to disk)

4. Wake up the computer from hibernation and time how long it takes to get back to a useful desktop with input being recognized.

I use this on my comp a lot. Due to longer travel times I can't just put the computer to sleep (kills the battery). Hibernation on my current comp takes ages (2+ minutes) and the same for wake up from hibernation.

It would make my life so much easier if I had even a rough idea how fast this can be done on a modern T420s (assuming 4GB RAM and a 5400 or 7200RPM HD). Then I can more easily estimate the time it takes for a 8GB tweaked setup with an SSD installed.

Thanks in advance!

[Thors.Hammer]

You don't ask for much. I'll see what I can do.

[rubaiyan]

So I just received my T420s this morning and I have small annoying issuing with it. It seems that there's something wrong with the right touch pad button, it's a bit flimsy and makes a little crunching noise when it's pressed and it sticks a little. The left button is fine.

Has anyone had a similar issue with their unit?

It's really annoying when you pay ~2k $ for a unit that's supposed to have superior build quality and get something like this. Problem is, I'm not sure I want to go through the hassle of returning it over such a small issue.

*sigh*

[warmonked]

So I just received my T420s this morning and I have small annoying issuing with it. It seems that there's something wrong with the right touch pad button, it's a bit flimsy and makes a little crunching noise when it's pressed and it sticks a little. The left button is fine.

Has anyone had a similar issue with their unit?

It's really annoying when you pay ~2k $ for a unit that's supposed to have superior build quality and get something like this. Problem is, I'm not sure I want to go through the hassle of returning it over such a small issue.

*sigh*

That's unfortunate. Keep us updated if you do decide to call them.

Mine has finally shipped. Although, according to tracking, it went from Shanghai to Alaska then to Kentucky... I am in Seattle. Freak'n UPS.

Don't forget you can buy all sorts of cool lid covers and stickers for protection if desired.

Where does one get a cool lid cover?