T420s or "T420 + X61"....HELP!!

I was in a dilemma between a t420 and a t420s for a while..

UNTIL I found a used X61 today which costs mere a little more than the price difference between a t420s and t420 (about $400)

IMO it was sooooo much more beautiful than the modern X series...Despite the heat problem of the palmset...

So I can get the X61 to carry around and maybe a powerful T420 which can also be portable when necessary...

I'm going to graduate school to learn computer science, so Programming may be a main task for me .

Anybody can give me a hint? Thank you so much!

EDWARD

 

$400 seems a bit on the high side for a X61 unless it's in pristine condition.

 

That's actually true. It's a T7500 model and it's in like-new condition. The warranty expires in Sept. 2011

 

I would just pick owning a single computer. Just make sure that whichever you pick meets your battery life requirement.

 

I'd still say it's high unless you're a devotee, which seems to be true.

I would agree one PC seem more logical. Then it becomes the old resolution vs portability debate. The X220 would give you a good screen and more portability while the T420 gives you WXGA+. You'll probably have to figure out which is more important and go with it.

 

Thx for the thought, Then I will go with the T420s, haha~

 

An ultraportable + a T420 doesn't really make sense in my eyes. It would make more sense to own an ultraportable + a W520 or something. That being said, the T420s doesn't really make sense to me either. You give up quite a bit of battery life, and add like another 50% of the cost, just to shave off like 1/4 an inch or something and <1lb.

I'd recommend just getting a T420, which probably portable enough to carry around anyways, and pocket the difference towards an earlier upgrade. In my opinion, earlier upgrade > higher specs, and in this case, the specs aren't even higher.

 

400 dollars for a T7xxx CPU X61? that seems on the high side. You can get a decent X200 for that.

I would not get a X61 with the T7xxx CPU, you should be looking for one with T8xxx or T9xxx Penryn CPU at that price.

 

Go with the T420s. One machine to rule them all. I find myself going through more chaos the more machines I have.

Also, $400 does sound a bit too high. I picked up my X61s for $150, in pretty much brand new condition, sans hard drive and battery. I still think I paid too much for it.

And to echo lead_org, if you're looking for something in the X-series, look for at least a Penryn CPU, like the X200. Those can be had for around $200-300 on eBay, from what I've seen.

 

I'm too having this dilemma t420 or t420s. I like design of t420s and USB 3.0 port but this notebook gets really different opinions people at lenovo forum say that's loud crap with overheating,short battery life issues when laptopmag says that's great cool business notebook with 5h battery life

Link to the review:
Lenovo ThinkPad T420s Laptop Review | Business Laptop Reviews | Laptop Reviews

 

LaptopMag's 5hrs probably translates into 4hrs for an average person using a laptop on battery like they would on AC. I personally think that 4hrs on battery is too short, and double that (i.e. 8hrs) is a good amount. The T420 can achieve that with a 9 cell battery (I'm fairly certain of that as my W520 can do that). I also don't see the point to having a thinner chassis, 1.5" is plenty thin in my opinion (and the T420 is like 1.25").

 

One thing i don't like about the T4x0s is that the lid is too flexible with the use composite reinforced polymer, hopefully that thinkpad would use magnesium top casing in their future T4x0s laptops.

 

I agree that a Dell Latitude E series feels more robust in that respect, but flexibility is not necessarily a weakness unless something breaks.

John

 

you mean the regular Tri-metal E series? they are better reinforced since they are less affected by weight constraint during the design stage.

 

I've only had experience of E4300, E6400 and E6410 which all have a lot of metal.

John

 

yes they are more like the T series regular model and not the slim model. I have had E4300 and E6400, they are my favourite Latitude in terms of design. But i dislike the E4300 for the fact that it only has WXGA LCD option.