T420 or X220? Is the small display big enough?

Hi,

I am thinking of buying a new Thinkpad. I just can't decide whether its going to be a X220 or a T420. They have both about the same configuration and price (with i5 CPU, 4GB RAM and 1366x768 resolution). I want to change the HDD to a SSD and will use Ubuntu on it. I will mainly use a desktop system at home/work, but sometimes I have to work for a week or two for 8 hours a day on that laptop...

Pro x220:
smaller
lighter
even faster: i5-2540M (2.6GHz) vs. i5-2410M (2.3GHz) in the T420
sexier

Con X220:
no 9.5mm SSD possible, need to buy expensive 7mm one not true
only 12' display, is that enough? My 10' Netbook is too small...
quite high resolution for that small screen and I have bad eyes, will the text be too small?
no optical drive (doesn't really matter)
will take a week or two to ship

Pro T420:
bigger screen
cheap 9.5mm SSD possible same as in the x220
optical drive (doesn't really matter)
perfect resolution/screen size ratio for me
already in stock

Con T420:
heavier
bigger
less sexy

So my main problem with the X220 is the small screen and the issue with the SSD - but its so small, light and nice! What a dilemma... Any advice?

Thank you very much!

 

I had the same dilemma before I finally decided on the x201. As of now, I find no problems with the screen size.

 

Go to a store and see the difference in the size of the screen. Everyone is different and you need to see it in person for yourself.

 

If you would have given me this advice, I would have been hard-pressed to follow it simply because in my current neck of the woods it would be difficult to find one in a store. But yes, optimally, what you suggest is absolutely correct - nothing like personal first-hand impressions.

 

12.5 is not too small,

If you are wondering if the text will be too small, take a look at the 13" mba, the text size should be a bit bigger than the mba.

 

Until they offer the 1600x900 screen in the x220 its not even an option in my eyes. As for actual size the smaler x200s is great, so the 12.5in x220 would be more then fine.

 

Thank you very much for your advices!
The problem is that there is no store around here which sells Thinkpads. I already went to several tech stores which have 30-40 laptops on display, but mostly those 15.4 ones, so they don't work for a comparison. I looked at a MacBook Pro 13' with 1280x800 resolution, that looks great. Another friend of mine owns a 15' Sony laptop with a 1920x1080 resolution, which is definitely too small for me, I can't read the text comfortable. In a store I saw the IdeaPad U160 which has 11.6' and a 1366x768 resolution, is that comparable to the 12.5' X220? It looked more like a Netbook than a Notebook. Tomorrow I will take a look at that one again...

Am I right that standard 9.5mm SSDs won't fit in the X220? I've read about some SSDs where you can just remove the case in order to make it 7mm... I was thinking of a new generation 120GB SSD (Intel 320, OCZ Vertex 3 or Crucial M4). Does anyone knows more details on this?

Thanks!

 

I know for a fact that the G2 Intel drives have a spacer on them, so if you remove the spacer it becomes a 7mm drive. I think on Anandtech's 320 review the picture showed a spacer as well (but I could be wrong). Either way, you can get an Intel G2 for a pretty reasonable price.

 

Thanks amtbr! You are right, on the photo of Anandtech's review you see a spacer. And in Intels product specification for the 320 series one can also see that the difference between the 7mm and the 9.5mm version is just a spacer. Great, so I can strike that point out.

 

I highly recommend the 1600x900 screen on the T420 actually. 1600x900 in 14" (130 DPI) vs 1366x768 in 12.5" (125 DPI) will be similar in size.
It won't make things as small as on 1920x1080 in 15.6" (140 DPI)
1366x768 in 11.6" (135 DPI) will make stuff smaller than 1600x900 in 14", so if you can tolerate 1366x768 in 11.6" then the 1600x900 in 14" will be just fine for you.

DPI = "dots per inch"

Windows also has a setting that allows you to increase the size of fonts and UI elements if things ever feel a bit on the tiny side. (it's called the DPI setting)

 

The text should be larger than the U160, but smaller than the macbook. If you could find the new macbook air 13inch with 1600*900, the text should be slightly bigger than the mba, but not by a significant amount.