Should I buy T420 or W520

Hi all,

I'm looking to replace my beloved T61 which died few months ago.

Ideally, I prefer the T420 because it's about the same size as my T61. However, now I'm torn between T420 and W520 because I could score a fully loaded W520 at a steep discount.

Pros of T420
-Smaller & Lighter
-Longer Battery Life

Pros of W520
-Good deal
-More Powerful

Here are the specs.

T420 - $848.88
Intel Core i5-2520M Processor (2.50GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.2GHz1
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)12
14.0" HD+ LED backlight Anti-Glare (1600 x 900), with Wireless WAN Antenna
Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor graphics with dynamic frequency
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) without Fingerprint Reader
250GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm4
DVD Recordable5
6 Cell 2.6Ah Li-Ion Battery60
None
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n10
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable65
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty7

W520 - $1,264.12
Intel Core i7-2720QM (Quad-Core) Processor (2.20GHz, 6MB L3,1333MHz FSB) with Intel Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.3GHz1
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)12
15.6" FHD (1920x1080) LED Backlit Anti-Glare display, with Wireless WAN Antenna
NVIDIA Quadro 1000M Optimus Graphics technology (2GB)
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) Fingerprint Reader, Smart Card Reader
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable5
9 Cell 2.8Ah Li-Ion Battery60
Broadcom Bluetooth 3.0 with antenna
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n10
Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable65
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty7

 

If portability is key then go for the T420, though if you plan to use it as a desktop replacement then the W520 is not a bad option. On the balance, unless you do a lot of intensive CAD work or scientific apps then the T420 will certainly be sufficient for most everyday tasks. Though it's hard to fully recommend without information on what you plan to use the system for!

 

It is a question of battery life vs. graphical power. Do you use cad/photoshop/games? If you don't need the discrete graphics card, I would go with the T420. Although that is a good price on the W520...

 

Honestly, for quad core and USB 3.0 alone I would get the W520, especially if you can get it at a "deep discount" like you say.

 

Thanks!

I used to be a major performance junkie back in Geforce 6800GT or Radeon 9700 PRO days but now I am not that intense anymore.

Primary usages:
1. Heavy Browsing
2. Heavy Word/Excel/Powerpoint
3. Light web development
4. Light photoshop and HD video editing
5. Light gaming

My main attraction to W520 is the good discount but the T420 is also $400 cheaper...

 

You could just barely justify the W520 with 4 and 5. It all depends on how quickly you will get over the buyer's remorse over that extra $400. In my case it would pass over quickly as I like shiny things.

 

I think with the Photoshop and Video editing use then you would probably benefit with the extra power of the W520. Not just with the power but also the screen as well, the screens aren't exactly stellar on the T420 but I think the W520 should fare better being a workstation class system.

 

is the w520 capable of running crysis?

 

nickia: Go with what you actually need and how much you want to spend to get the tool that serves your needs.

If you are fortunate enough to be flexible with dollars and cents, buy the biggest toy that makes you feel good. However, if we're talking practical sense, I'd recommend the T420. Even the two items at the bottom of your list can be handled with relative ease. (I have the feeling that only the first two items are real, on a daily basis. Also, your list can be handled by my "old" T43p. )

 

It's true. I'd love to stay with my T61 if it was not dead. It sucks because I just upgraded it with a Scorpio black HDD. The only thing that showed the age of my T61 was HD video. It couldn't play full HD video I filmed using my HD cam.

I'll probably go with the T420 and use the saving to buy a mSATA.

 

Whatever you do, pay the $25-30 to upgrade the 1-year warranty to onsite.

If anything happens, you have the advantage of being able to oversee the work.

 

thanks for the tip!

 

Your plan makes a lot of sense. Yes, mSATA for OS and apps. Main HDD becomes your data drive.

 

Nickia ... I am about to purchase a W520 with those same specs ... any chance you can tell me where I can get those prices from ? I would really appreciate that ... thanks in advance.

If you don't want to post that to the forum perhaps you could simply email to [email protected] - many thanks.

GB

 

One thing to note: With the addition of Intel's QuickSync technology, you may not need a dedicated GPU for video encoding. While I haven't seen it first-hand, it's supposed to be really decent. You just need to be using a program that supports it, and there are already some ready for it, and Intel has some plugins for others.

Intel Quick Sync Video

Anandtech notes on QuickSync

 

You want the truth?

The lowest i3 is fine for you. The only thing that would possibly be frequently CPU-bound would be your video editing -- but since you described that as light, I imagine it doesn't make up much of your workload. Tthe i3 can handle editing and playback just fine -- the only place where you'd really notice a difference would be encoding, but see above: since you described it as "light", I'm assuming you're not going to run the laptop as an encode box 24x7.

None of what you do pushes the CPU hard enough to warranty anything higher, especially considering that the money could be put towards a nice SSD which would produce a *much* more noticeable performance improvement.