T420s short review and comparison to X220

Lenovo Thinkpad T420s Review and comparison to Lenovo Thinkpad X220

So after much consideration, I decided to get a T420s due to the great need for more screen real estate. The cyber monday deal appealed to me for the great deal on a 160gb SSD and with all of the upgrades I was able to snag one up for around $1,100.

Specs:
Core i5 2520 2.5ghz with turbo boost up to 3.2ghz
4GB RAm (1 DIMM)
1600x900 matte screen
160GB SSD
720p HD Webcam
Intel Centrino 6300 3x3 wireless card
6 cell battery + 3 cell ultra bay battery

Cost: $1,147, ordered during Cyber Monday deal

Unboxing: The T420s came in the standard Thinkpad packaging, so nothing unusual here. Also included in my box was the 3-cell 44wh battery that I purchased with it.



First Impressions: Upon unwrapping the T420s I was pleasantly faced with the familiar build quality and sleek black look that I have had on the past few Thinkpads that I have owned. Lifting it up the T420s feels extremely comparable in the weight to the X220, even with both the 6-cell and 3-cell ultrabay battery installed. Other than that I can’t comment on anything else that really shocked me.


Build Quality: The build quality on the T420s is superb, and on par with all other T-Series and X-Series laptops. There is absolutely no flex in the laptop or keyboard, and the palmrests are extremely durable. Compared with my X220 that has a bit of flex on the left palmrest due to the expresscard slot being placed under the palmrest.



Performance: Performance on the T420s is great and due to the same amount of RAM and same processor I can’t comment on any differences between that and my X220. I can run some benchmarks for you guys if you want but the fact that the Sandybridge i5’s have been out for awhile I think everyone knows what to expect.


Boot/Shutdown times: With the 160GB SSD my shutdown times were consistently around 9 seconds and my boot time around

Screen: So here is the big deal for most people. Coming from a X220 with IPS I was a bit nervous knowing that I am just possibly downgrading from the best screen out right now. However after using the T420s for about a day I can comment that the screen, while not amazing, is definitely usable and not a dealbreaker. It is by no means comparable to the IPS display but it is certainly on the same level as most other TN panels out there. I can’t notice any “Screen Door” effect on my screen, so either I got a good panel or the claims are a bit blown out of proportion. The viewing angles are of course not great but with the X220 I found that I was always looking straight on at the panel so the extreme viewing angles didn’t really mean a whole lot to me. I purchased the T420s for the extra screen real estate and I can say that it was definitely worth it. I normally have multiple windows open side by side and the 1600x900 screen allows that to work much better than the 1366x768.

Battery Life: Also coming from a X220 with 9-cell I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t be getting the battery life that I was used to. Due to my addition of the 3-cell ultra bay battery in place of the CD/DVD drive my battery life seems to be great. With light Internet/Microsoft Office usage I’m getting around 8-9 hours with the combo. I’ve yet to really put it through a strenuous test so these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.

Sound: Sound level is great on the T420s. One complaint I had with the X220 was the lack of sound due to the only speakers being underneath the palm rest. However the T420s can fill the room with sound. Quality isn’t amazing, and it is a bit tinny, but it is definitely adequate for a business level notebook. Being in college I’m always playing music or a video, and it is nice to be able to not have to plug in headphones just to hear the sound.

Negatives: With every machine there are a few things that aren’t perfect. Obviously the screen quality could be better, (yet it is still adequate). Battery life without the bay battery is pretty mediocre, at least by current gen laptop standards. Also there is a bit of movement of the bay battery in the ultra bay, it doesn’t seem to be a perfect fit.

Conclusion: All in all the T420s is going to be great for what I need it for. The extra screen real estate and audio will go a long way with me, yet the light weight still makes it easy to take to class and take notes. The X220 is by far the best ultraportable on the market right now, but if you need something a bit bigger yet very similar, then I’d suggest the T420s.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pictures. Also, if you guys have questions or want to see some tests or anything done, then let me know!

 

Thanks for the writeup. The T420s screen isn't captivating, but neither is it as horrible as some would say. The same panels are used on the T420: my girlfriend's T420 1600x900 panel is bright, sharp, with fairly okay colors. Contrast could be better, but out-of-the-box it already looks better than the X120e's (as it should be). Viewing angles are okay, definitely viewable by two people next to each other.

To me, the two greatest downsides of the T420s are the price premium over the T420 (and X220) and the mediocre battery life.

Speaking of battery: OP, are there any options for when to use the bay battery, ie charge thresholds? At least in the past, the bay battery would be entirely discharged before the main battery begins to discharge, which has a very negative effect on the UltraBay battery's lifespan.

 

Thanks for the review. It was finally good to get a comparison picture between the T420s (or T420) and X220. I've read that it's kinda weird typing on the X220 since the palms sit closer to the edge of the laptop. What's your experience typing on the X220? Also, what's your opinion on the price premium and thinner profile of the T420s compared to the T420? In other words, do you think it's worth it?

 

I'd have to agree that the price premium over the T420s is a bit absurd, the only reason I jumped on this was the fairly good deal that I got. I've searched through all of the power options and battery stuff and can't find anything that allows me to discharge the main battery before the bay battery, but I'll search the internet to see if there is someway to do that.

 

In regards to the typing on the X220: It is definitely different typing on the X220 due to the shorter palm rests, but like everything it is something you get used to. I had learned to not rest my palms on the rest while typing, (which is what you are really supposed to do). In the end typing on the X220 was fine, but if you need to rest your palms a lot then it might not be as comfortable for you to do so.

As far as the price premium goes: For me it was worth it due to being able to get a pretty nicely spec'd out machine for $1,100. If you can do that I'd say that it is worth it. It really is a light machine compared to the T420. My dad has a T410 for work and that thing is a beast compared to the T420s. Being a fairly mobile college student, weight matters to me. I wanted a laptop that I could be able to just pick up and throw in my bag or just carry with a textbook around town with me. In addition the thinner profile makes it more attractive in my opinion. It maintains that classic thinkpad sexiness yet its profile is pretty nice.

However battery life is one thing you are sacrificing. With a T420 and 9-cell battery you could get 9 hours of use. With my T420s and both batteries I'm looking at around 7 hours of light usage. keep in mind that 7 hours is a long time for a laptop. I hardly ever use my laptop at my desk and I can still find an outlet in about every classroom or coffee shop/library/building that I study in. For me I realized that I didn't need 12 hours of battery to really last me a whole day.

 

$11xx total?? Nice Deal for a T420s with SSD and bay battery.
Can you please tell me the performance of the intel SSD ? What's the model?

Thx!

 

I'm actually in the process of making the same switch, X220 to T420s. I should have it here Monday. The X220 is great but I'm really missing the higher resolution. Hope I'm as pleased as you sound. Thanks for the review!

 

I'm not sure if this is the correct model number but it comes up as Intel SSDA2BW160G3L

Here is the Crystal Disk Mark readings of the SSD, I ran the test while running on battery and not ac so I'm not sure if that would have an effect.

 

If your SSD is suppose to be SATA III, your numbers look low. If it's a SATA II drive numbers look good.

 

csclifford's Intel 160GB SSD is a SATA II SSD in a SATA III capable slot.

 

So is this performance better than the INTEL 310 msata series?

 

The Intel 310 mSATA drive is just a shrunk (uncased) version of the 320. Both uses the same chip so yes they perform very much the same.

 

Just a note for you guys.

I re-calibrated my screen today and after doing so am much more pleased with the color, clarity, and contrast. The screen came default with some pretty crappy settings so this definitely helped out a lot.

Just an idea for those who haven't done so.

 

@ csclifford, can you share you screen calibration adjustments?? I have a T420s which I sold an X220 for--would like the screen to be a bit better...many thanks!

 

I perfer the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 for it is an amazing piece of engineering when you factor in all the features it squeezed into a 12-inch frame, including best-in-class battery life and the new Intel Core i5 i5-2520M CPU.

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Another member came up with this profile: http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...n-problem-partially-solved-3.html#post7900430

 

I'd also like to know what screen you have and the calibrations you did to it. My biggest concern is with the screen's quality and if calibrating it will help, I'd love to know what you did or what equipment you used.

Thanks!

 

I just used the screen calibration tool in the control panel. However after turning off the system it seems to reset to what it was previously. Anyone have any idea about that?

I'm currently searching for some good freeware screen calibration software.

 

You need to disable the (Persistence) igfxpers.exe process to make the calibration stick because the intel graphics driver seems to override it.

If you get CCleaner and have a look at the startup items, you'll set it listed there.

 

Yeah, everyone just follow the instructions and install Mac's color profile.

After doing so it is pretty much like what I had when I calibrated it yet it was much easier to install.

You notice a huge difference right away!

 

Great review. Thanks!

 

No problems! If you guys have any questions or want me to run any other tests just let me know.

 

Thanks. Nice review. Now you've got me thinking about my next machine - sometime next year - to replace my X201 perhaps?

Maybe the T420s refresh will have improved battery life. If the weight is comparable to the X220/ X201, and I can have about 7-9 hrs of battery life (including the ultrabay battery), I'd be a happy camper.

 

I've really grown to like the T420s myself. If the 6-cell battery along could provide about 5 hours of battery life that would be great, then I could put another HD in the ultrabay as opposed to my 3-cell battery, or possibly just get rid of the ultrabay altogether and make an even slimmer machine.

Also if they could either move the USB 3.0 to the side or the USB 2.0 powered to the side that'd be nice. Only having 1 USB on the side of the machine is a bit inconvenient.

Lastly if the refresh had an HDMI port and an IPS or equally nice screen this laptop would be about perfect.