Some T420 info (msata, weight, etc)

I had a chat with lenovo to answer some questions. I think many of those questions have already been answered on this forum but I thought I'd post it anyways.

To summarize for the T420:

Nvidia graphics option available 3/29
Should support mSATA 80Gb but won't sell the option
displayport outputs video AND audio
Weight: 4-cell: from 4.13 lb (1.87kg); 6-cell: from 4.31 lb (1.96kg); 9-cell: from 4.70 lb (2.13kg)

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no mSSD option for t420?

 

Hmm, so mSATA won't be an option? / Where does one install the mSATA hd? It also looks like Lenovo will also be updating its generic 128gb and Intel 160gb SSDs. They both have new model numbers. Not sure if the Intel drives will be the anticipated G3 SSDs or just a revision of their G2 drives.

Any ideas?

 

I believe the mSata or what Lenovo calls Rapid Drive is going to fit where the WWAN card would go. So it appears to be one or the other.

I think I may order mine with the WWAN card and a HDD and than move the HDD to the UltraBay Caddy and put a SSD in place of the HDD.

Does this seem like a potential solution to get a relatively small not too expensive solution for fast boot and fast access to regularly accessed data with lots of room for stuff in the HDD.

Hopefully that will work.

Perry

 

Perry,

That should work fine (going with an SSD that is, and adding in a spinning 2.5" drive to the ultra-bay). Also, if Sandy Bridge supports it, you might even be able to partition your large HD to work as part of a RAID 1 array to back up your SSD.

Good luck

-chips

 

So technically I can take a ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III 43N3412 and remove the dvddrive and put that thing inthere instead and use my old Vertex + the inbuild hdd?

Because when you say its either Wwan or mSata I suppose Wwan is the 3g modem?

 

The mSata works in the T420. I bought an 80GB Intel 310 drive separately and installed it over the weekend. The access port is on the bottom (same access as the RAM port), and just as easy to install.

The mSata does go into the WWAN pcIE slot, so you cannot have WWAN and mSata in the same machine.

My T420 current setup now is a 750GB hdd, 80GB mSata for Windows and apps, and still have the optical drive.

 

But I should be able to install a ssd in the ultrabay instead of the dvd drive and still use Wwan if I want ?

 

Yes, you'll have to buy the ultra bay adapter though. I think it's $60

Lenovo Support - ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III - Overview

 

Its 50euro in denmark, think I will just find one on ebay if I decide to get it

 

Can you do a short review for us all on the ThinkPad T420 Adam ?


What screen did you get ? Do you like it ? Processor ? Bloatware if any ? Etc.

 

fyi, Intel just announced the 320 SSD drive series. See Intel® Solid-State Drive 320 Series – Overview

 

So you have the OS on Windows?

I was thinking, is it better to have the OS on the mSATA, or to use the drive as "cache". Like another layer after RAM or like a HD cache. That way only the files that are used more often are on there, I would that that would be a more efficient usage of the space since lots of windows and program files dont get used very often.

My concern about putting windows and apps on is running out of space

 

OS = Windows

The OS is on the mSATA drive along with his applications.

 

I am still in the process of setting up the mSata. At this stage I have installed Windows 7, Office 2007, and web apps (Chrome, Skype, etc) onto the mSata drive. I was also concerned about only having 80GB, but felt that keeping the optical drive outweighs having more on a larger SSD drive. At this stage, 80GB looks like it is enough for windows and applications.

I upgraded my RAM to 8GB, hdd to 750GB, and the mSata myself. I upgraded the screen to the max resolution, added camera, bluetooth, Intel 6205 card, Processor to 2540M, and battery to 9 cell through Lenovo.
I am really liking the laptop so far, but haven't used it enough to give an in depth opinion. The mSata makes boot times faster, as well as applications are opening instantly.

I will write up a mini-review after I have used the laptop for a week. FYI, I am coming from using an Asus N81vp-D1 as my home laptop, and an Asus UL30VT as my travel laptop. The T420 is my attempt to consolidate into a single laptop, and thus far it blows both old laptops away.

 

I just ordered my T420 today, and I'm also planning to get an extra mSATA SSD for the OS(es) as well. How did you install Win7 on the SSD ? Using the recovery disks ?

Also - and sorry if this is a dumb question, my last Thinkpad was a T40 - how does the EE feature play into this ? Is it something installed automatically via the restore process or does it need special care ?

thanks for all the info!

 

In my googling of what Intel calls "Rapid Drive" that is exactly how they use the piggyback 80GB SSD. As a cache that the software algorithm moves data (and apps) to based on frequency of use.

The challenge I have read about is that unless you back up both often you don't know what is where. Several people backed up the larger HDD only and lost data when the HDD crashed and the data had been mixed up between the SSD and the HDD by the software changing locations.

So I would guess this is probably the fastest way to use it but we would need to take care with backups. (another question is why a Lenovo Ideapad HDD died in 3 months)

And Adam, thanks for the info. We are all interested in performance, battery life, et al.

Perry

 

So it looks like Lenovo will be updating its Intel 160GB SSD (the X25-M) with the new 320 series. It won't happen immediately, but soon. After a conversation with a Lenovo rep, this is what the verdict looks like...

…

Right now, T420's are getting the Intel 310 series SSDs (Lenovo Model: 43N3435).
Lenovo Support - ThinkPad 160GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive - Overview

They will, however, eventually update the T420's to have the Intel 320 series SSDs (Lenovo Model: 0A33983)
Lenovo Support - ThinkPad 160GB 2.5" Intel X25-M Solid State Drive II - Overview

Currently it looks like Lenovo's Intel 320 page is not updated. I did however get confirmation to expect them in a few weeks.

Considering the 320 series offers improved read/write speeds and reliability over the 310 series, it seems like it would be smart to wait. It also has built-in AES-128 encryption, and a price point that's a little less than 70% of the last generation. I would wait a few weeks to buy the T420 or T420s.

Good luck

-david

 

FYI, the first link is not the 310 model. The 310 model is a msata ssd, a much smaller version that fits into your pcie slot.

The 320 series is a replacement to the X25-M line, which is the first link on your post.

 

Without having a windows disk it will likely be a bit of a process. I suppose you can make the recovery disks and use them, but won't know until my machine gets in. I have never had to use the recovery disks on my T61.

My current plan is to use my copy of Acronis True Image. It has a utility that actually clones a disk byte by byte. So if the source disk used space is less than my SSD (I am not certain whether I will get the mSata 80GB SSD or a 256+ SSD as a main disk) than I simply will clone the OS as it comes from Lenovo to the SSD (either in the ultrabay caddy or in the mSata slot; again depending on what I get).

Once the clone is done (about an hour) I will move the disk or adjust the boot order in the bios and away we go. At that point the moved HDD can be formatted and either used as an additional disk in the caddy, put in an enclosure to use as an external disk or moved to my T61.


Probably easier than using the recovery disks

Perry

 

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Anyone else surprised by these numbers? They shaved off about half a pound from the T410 with 6 cell?

 

a couple of questions:

when you clone does the windows license get ported to the new drive automatically? how do you get them to send you the recovery cds?

also how will swapping the original hdd with an ssd in the regular hdd slot affect the warranty?

i'm thinking of getting a new intel 320 G3 online and save ~$200. lenovo's price markups are ridiculous.

 

That is an excellent question and one I can't answer. My base drive in the T61 is a 320 GB WD Scorpio Black that I upgraded. My Win 7 upgrade was installed on that. I have an additional 320 GB WD Scorpio Black in my caddy. And I know I can boot from either as I have done that by switching both drives physically as well as changing the boot order in the BIOS.

But can the cloned drive pass a Windows Authentic test? I truly don't know. Obviously I own the license so would think at most I would need to reenter the key, but I haven't tried loading anything on the cloned drive that would require the authentication test.

I will use this procedure as soon as my new W520 arrives (and as soon as I get an SSD for it) which might be several weeks out.

Perry

 

Yea, sorry about that, you're definitely correct. Odd nomenclature though. Isn't the X18-M line mSATA also?

 

I don't quite understand. Are you saying that the Rapid drive software continuously moves files between the SSD depending on usage? If the SSD us to be used as "cache", then the data on the SSD is already backed up because the original is on drive. Ofcourse, when a file is invalidated on the SSD, it would need to be written to disk. Like how you don't need to backup the data in the cache buffer on your HD or the data in the RAM.

I am curious if it is faster to use the SSD as cache or to install the OS on it. You can't put ALL of your data on the SSD and at the same time, there are prob lots of windows and program files that arent used very often. If the SSD is used as cache, then it only keeps a copy of the data that is used most often, but then you lose 80gb of storage. That also makes me wonder how large the cache would need to be. a regular HD only has a 32MB cache. I wonder what the minimum size of the cache needs to be so the HD stays off 90% of the time.