Any reason NOT to get fingerprint & smart card reader?

I'm looking at getting a T420. I've never cared for fingerprint readers on desktops and I don't have a smart card. At $17 and $8.50 respectively to add these features, I am considering them, maybe I will find them useful in the future.

Are there any reasons NOT to get these features? Are there any annoying software or hardware nuances?

 

If you want to pay for it, then sure.

If you don't want to use them, disable them in BIOS and you're good to go.

My W520 came with FPR and Smart Card reader as base, but I don't use either, so I have them disabled and they don't have any effect on system operation.

 

I have a question about the fingerprint reader. If I use it to log into my Windows and I got a cut on my finger, will I be unable to log in?

 

Not that I want to have a conversation with myself p), but I do agree with the Colonel. I have nearly everything disabled in the BIOS (except USB ports), and it doesn't affect system operation/performance at all.

 

The question really is whether you going to be using them or not, I seldom use Fingerprint when I had it on my T61 system and later disabled the feature altogether as it adds up the booting process. Smart cards are typically used in corporate environments when they need authentication on certain applications, but for most people they probably won't ever need to this feature at all. Personally for my T420 I omitted both of them and spent elsewhere that I find useful such as a bigger battery or a better wireless card.

There's nothing wrong paying up for the two if you like but if you don't plan to use it at all then it's hard to justify the extra expense on things that probably doesn't give you any benefit at all.

In that scenario if say you have to put a plaster over your swiping finger, you still can alternatively use a password to access Windows if it needed to be.

 

You can use standard password authentication.

It's an either-or authentication: either you type your password, or you swipe your finger.

 

thanks, I thought the device converts your fingerprint into some kind of a unbreakable password.

 

Your password is stored, encrypted by your fingerprint. You can use your fingerprint to decrypt your password and then enter your system, or you can directly go the the password entry page.

 

Unless you know that you will need a smart card for corporate authentication, you probably won't be needing it. To me, a fingerprint reader is useless (and generally speaking for these laptop FPRs, it's easier to beat than a strong password), so I never opt for one.

 

I find the finger print useful as I do have a power-on password.

Simplifies the process. I also have a X220T, so the fact I can boot/login with a swipe in tablet mode is very appealing.

Though their software does need some work, sometimes the Fingerprint logon doesn't work right away when its at the Windows Logon screen

 

You can also register your other fingers as well, in case, like you mentioned if you got a cut on your "primary finger".

 

I would say why not get them. It would help resale value IMO if someone is looking to replace XX laptop for the government and they won't let XX employee get it. What I learned with my Vostro 1500 (the ONLY laptop I have ever bought new) was to get all the bells and whistles as you can regret it later. And it's not like a CPU or DGPU upgrade where it cost 100 dollars, it is 25 dollars tops for something you may potentially need down the road or a buyer could utilize/use.

 

My notebook came with an FPR by default, so I thought I would give it a try. I've found it horribly unreliable at getting a good read during login attempts, so I disabled it. I have no difficulty remembering passwords anyway.

 

Really? I found it amazingly easy to scan. Light pressure, quick swipe, I'm surprised if I don't get it on the first try.

I had a z61m, that thing was terrible. So difficult.

 

I agree with Tsunade_Hime. For the marginal cost, it will help resale value down the road.

 

How well it works depends on the accuracy of the initial scan. If you registered a slightly funny fingerprint then any attempts to use it may be troublesome. I'd try re-enrolling, and swiping the registration scans more carefully.

 

Maybe something is wrong with my fingers, but I've never had good luck with any fingerprint scanner. My laptops or my safes. I once spent several hours with a bedside safe only to return the unit as it wasn't anywhere near reliable. My laptops are the same, so I just never use the FPR anymore for anything.

Until they're 99.99999% reliable, they're not worth it in my opinion.

 

I've tried several fingers, to no consistent avail. Have you tried the Lenovo scanning software? It takes like 10 swipes to piece together a full record per finger. Surely that would negate the possibility of having "registered a slightly funny fingerprint".

 

I've found that when it takes more then 4 or 5 swipes, something is wrong. I've been able to register fingerprints in about that. When I've had to do more, it was because I was doing it at an angle so my full fingerprint wasn't going through I guess.

 

Fingerprint reader is a convenience feature. If a laptop has HDD encrypted with Bitlocker, FPR makes getting to OS a lot easier and faster as don't need to type preboot password, then wait, then Windows password. Just a single finger swipe is all it takes.

It's less secure than a strong password, as anyone with enough knowledge, determination and physical access to the laptop can recover fingerprint from the keyboard. But it does stop a casual user/thief/taxi driver from accessing data inside the lost/stolen/forgotten device, while not forcing its user to type long passwords many times a day.

There are people who can't get it to work though. With my fingers it's 95% success rate, even in "Secure" mode. Quite worth paying the +$10-15 Lenovo wants for it IMO. Would be nice, of course, to use it after boot for scrolling, as on some laptops from different brands.

 

I always thought that the FPR is quite accurate because I never had a "wrong" swipe... The only issue that I have is when I am on-site and my fingers are dirty and only then, the FPR could not register my swipe. After washing my hands, then the FPR works perfectly again.

I do agree that having a FPR does help with the resale value.

 

The scan will vary if your fingers are dry or damp. You can increase the tolerance range in the Lenovo fingerprint settings.

 

FPS all the way! It just makes logging in so easy that there is no excuse not to lock your system every time you leave it. IMO it has made laptop security a lot better.

The fact is, if someone(with tech skills/tools) has physical access to your computer they can overwrite the admin password and have access to everything.
Unless you have a 3rd party disk encryption program installed, your data is easily accessible, so really this is just about stopping the jealous ex and snooping bosses.

It's $20, and makes live much easier so get it and use it.

 

Looking at the pictures, it says Express Card/Smart Card option. Can anyone confirm that if I go with the Smart Card option if it will also include the Express Card slot or is it an either or type thing?

 

I don't see how it would help with resale either. Pretty much no corporate buyer is going to be buying individual laptops off of ebay, and I can't see how a FPR is going to be make or break for the vast majority of people.

You could also argue it would hurt with resale since most people don't need or want them and thus won't want to pay the extra $$$ for it.

 

I like the FPR, I haven't had any trouble with it. On the other hand, I have no idea what I'd ever use the Smart Card reader for, but it wasn't an option to not get it with my W520. What happens if I stick my debit or credit card which both have a chip in them in the card reader? Will it screw up the card? I don't want them to think I tried hacking my credit card or something, I'm just curious. I think it'd be cool if you could pay with credit or debit online by just putting it in the card reader! Or use an old debit card as a security device or something, like, it has to be inserted or the computer won't turn on.

 

I can't speak for all Thinkpad models (you could look in the service manuals if you really needed a solid answer) but on the T420s the Expresscard slot and Smartcard slot are completely separate and distinct physical features. All variants of the T420s come with the 34mm Expresscard slot with a multiformat flash card reader preinstalled (flush-mount facade to match the side panel is a nice touch). The smart card slot is actually a different FRU version of the HDD cover which has a cut out about the thickness of two credit cards for the insertion of a smart card. Again, this is all specific to the T420s and you should check for your specific model.

 

In the U.S., probably the most common usage of a smartcard reader is the Dept of Defense Common Access Card. Corporations may also employ smartcard based login systems for highly secured intranets or databases. Outside of the U.S., smartcards are commonly used in personal e-banking. I opted for the built-in smartcard reader for that purpose, to conduct e-banking for my international accounts without having to carry around a USB smartcard reader (which as you can expect can be near impossible to find in the U.S. if I were to lose it)

I did opt out of the fingerprint reader though. Not that the extra few bucks would have been an issue, but I never used the FP reader on my previous laptop, so it was just another physical point of failure I didn't need to have.