T420S, X220, or?

Well, I don't know about that...

However, I just have a hard time understanding what is the selling point of the t420s? With that battery life, you'd need to carry around a charger all day, which totally defeats the purpose of having an under 4lb laptop.

When my sony TZ's battery was brand new, I could take day trips, or work in the field all day, and not worry once about need to recharge. It seems to me, at least, that that's the segment that Lenovo was trying to sell the t420s to... They just failed to deliver on the battery (and terrible T-series lcd's.)

Instead of the T420s, they should have taken the effort for producing and designing that laptop, and placed the effort into giving us a higher resolution screen option for the X220. That would make the X220 an almost perfect laptop for people who move around a lot, and require serious computing power on the go.

I mean, with 8gb of ram, and the i7 processor and usb3, the x220 can easily edit HD video... It's just the low res screen... [SIGH]

 

Hehe. =)

Would you reason the same way if the cost was the same (and, no, the question is not hypothetical with the German student discount prices)?

 

^^^ No. Same price, less performance, less convenience? No. T420 still.

(The T410s/420s is an ego trip carried over from the X300/301. And we know what ego trip leads to...)

 

Think you guys are selling it short for whatever reason. It's still 2.7 hours while doing the whole max brightness/XVid thing. Also how is it less performance? T420/T420s use the exact same parts. Unless you mean price/performance?

It boils down to:
420s:
77% battery life of T420 (based on 6 cells)
Thinner
Lighter
More expensive
Hard drive non standard
Made of different materials.
Has USB 3.0
Can have 9 cells (albeit less than T420 9 cell) w/out sticking out the back.

 

For me I think it boils down to weight versus battery life. The T420s I'm looking at has a somewhat slower CPU and a bit less disk space, but neither that nor the other factors you mention matter that much. Also, I'd probably use the T420s with an Ultrabay battery and the T420 with a 9-cell and a travel bezel in the Ultrabay. I'm starting to once again lean towards the T420, but am still not sure.

 

Is there a 9-cell battery for t420s?

 

No, only a 3-cell ultrabay battery. Bring the total to a 9-cell.

 

It's not simple arithmetic: 6 + 3 = 9. Nine cells of what? There are big cells and there are small cells. There are strong chemicals and there are weak chemicals.

A weaker 6-cell battery plus a separate still weaker 3-cell battery (in a T420s) do not perform as well as a 9-cell battery (in a T420).

Also, that puny 3-cell Ultrabay battery is always drained completely first before power is switched to the main 6-cell battery. The 3-cell is bound to wear out much quicker.

 

fwiw, Lenovo says 10hours for a T420s with a bay battery:

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/ww/pdf/t420s_datasheet.pdf

 

I currenlty have a X200 and I am also in the same boat:

should I get the X220 or the T420s? The only reason I want to get the T420s is for

-bigger higher resolution screen (although most of the time it will be docked to my 24" monitor)
-thinner!
-option for dedicated gpu! I do some photography as a hobby and the X200 gets pushed to the limit when converting RAW images to JPEG and often the computer temporary stalls due to 100% cpu usage. I also do some HD video editing and the X200 barely handles it and takes forever to encode. Hopefully the dedicated GPU will do better.
-similar weight (x220 with 9 cell)

 

I saw them next to each other a couple of days ago and the difference in thickness between those two is truly negligible. The difference between those two on the one hand, and the T420 on the other, however, is clearly noticeable (though still not that big).

When holding one machine in each hand, the weight difference is perceivable, both between the X220 and the T420s and between the T420s and the T420. Also, they're all clearly lighter than what I had last (a T61) and, with the exception of the X220, clearly heavier than what I had before that (an X40).

 

True.
The 6 cell in my T410s gives me around 3 hrs with regular use.
Plus the 3 cell gives me a total of 7 hrs.

So it's not as simple as adding up the cells.
And since the T420s ought to be more power efficient it should yield better battery performance altogether. And even with the 3 cell it's still lighter as the T420.

So in my opinon the choice is clear: T420s! Lighter, thinner, same performance. I can definitely feel and see the difference.

But it really comes done to personal preference. I work a lot in my university's library and the +x" in screen size and the higher res is just way better than the lousy res of the X220. But if you mostly use your machine with an external display you may not need the 14" screen.

 

^^^ When I was still using a T410s, the main 6-cell battery plus the Ultrabay 3-cell battery gave me around 4.5 hours. (And I did not do "anything heavy." ) As they say, YMMV.

 

Does anyone know how much difference the power consumption is between the i5 and i7 core for T420s/X220?

Maybe that would justify whether extra batteries are needed and how many more hours you gain?

Thanks.

 

YouTube - Lenovo ThinkPad T420s Review

user review of the t410s

 

According to Intel, they are both 35W.

 

t420s looks pretty slim

 

The s-models are a bit strange to me. They are thinner but from that video it doesn't look more portable (smaller) than my T410.

 

Back on topic of my original post, there is a new interesting contender: http://hpfansite.com/hp-elitebook/hp-elitebook-8460w/

Quad-core i7, powerful graphics, nicer screen and same form factor. Hmm, opinions?

 

One thing I like the new Hp is there is a latch to open the cover to service the laptop. I not sure how durable it is compare to the screw compartment door, but it does look so cool and very user friendly. However I am little concern about the hinge on it, it does not look at reliable as the Thinkpad or the HP's bigger brothers. The keyboard and the trackpoint is also a major drawback, even if they slightly curve the key, I would bet that it is not as good as Thinkpad's keyboard (both the edge and the classic). However the trackpad is made of chemical enhanced glass, I hope that translate into great trackpad.


I love the red dot on the HP. lol.

 

That's a W520 competitor from what I see.

 

I wish Lenovo would scrap the "s" version of the T series and replace it with a 13" model (T or X does not matter). But then again, I am just dreaming!

 

It's my opinion you'll get better information in the HP forum. But on paper I wouldn't buy the HP. I don't like the stainless finish. I looks like a Mac. If I want a Mac, I'll buy one.

The link is a paper review and says nothing about the quality of the HP panels offered. When I reviewed last years HP Elitebooks, I found their panels to be inferior. The notable exceptions are the IPS Dreamcolor panels.

Does the HP support three drive bay options like the ThinkPad? It's a nice feature for people that want it.

I don't like the keyboard offset in the frame of the notebook on the HP. It looks like they adjusted it a little more to the right but it's still pretty far to the left.

The Elitebooks offer some interesting GPU choices and give you a little more flexibility that the ThinkPads.

If HP continues to improve reliability and build quality, they may be up to ThinkPad standards soon. So far Dell and HP aren't there but it seems the other OEMs are getting better and Lenovo has eroded slightly.

My money is on the ThinkPad line right now.

 

You're absolutely right and awakened, not dreaming! BTW, did you notice that every time someone types X301 in this forum, it is automatically hyperlinked?! There! See that blue, underlined word? So sick.

 

I know that the new HP you could replace the optical drive with a cradle, not sure about if there's an option for a mSata SSD.



As for the 13" form-factor, hopefully the X1 is a 13" thinkpad and not a slate tablet. IPS screen please.