T520 VS T420s confused which one to get

I am looking at both laptops and do not know what to get..

The problem with the T520 is it doesn't support USB 3.0 but it has the FHD on the other hand the T420s has USB 3 but doesn't have 1080 FHD screen so I am not sure if the 1080 will make a difference on the t420s since it is a 14inch display.. also from my understanding that none of them have HDMI ports.. correct me if I am wrong.. can you guys give me some advice..

 

There are plenty of cheap usb 3.0 expresscard adapters that work fine. So get the T520. The main advantage of the T420s is the very low weight, not usb 3.0.

 

Get the W520.

 

And yes, they do not have HDMI port but you can get a DisplayPort->HDMI adapter.

 

Thank you guys! I wanted to get the W520 but I am worried that it will clock at 0.8ghz and turbo boost doesnt work on battery .. Does the T520 have the same issue? I need to know asap as I am going to order tomorrow.

 

Get the T420s. It's thin and light and performs similarly as the T520. You won't regret.

 

I had a W520 before I returned it for the T420s. It was fully loaded, though the baseline quad processor (2720). I had no throttling issues with it.

That said, I feel like the 15" laptops are too big, bulky and heavy. Hence why I went to the T420s.

The display on it sucks compared to the FHD - looks washed out in comparison. I got used to it though and the T420s is a damn fine laptop. But so is the W520.

The only performance benefit the W520 had was when I ran virtual machines as it had 4 cores and 16GB of memory. But everyday computing - no difference.

I would look more at weight/size than at USB3 or resolution. Also minimum of i5 if you want FDE.

 

Thanks, you mean the display on the T420s ? that is one of the reasons that I don't want to get the T420s because it only comes with HD+ .. also some users noted that I can buy a usb3 expresscard adapter..but I don't know if that is possible and do I need to order the i7 to get the usb3 support or it can be i5 ?

 

You can use whatever processor with the usb 3.0 expresscard, even a Core2Duo.

 

but does it function as usb 3.0 ? sorry if my questions seem dumb lol but I have never seen a usb 3.0 express card.. how do I install it on my laptop?

 

Yes, the display on the T420s. Though not because of the resolution (1600x900 is plenty on 14" screens), it's the quality of the panel. You can find many complaints about it on the forum and I just kind of shrugged it off but it's really... really bad.

And as vinuneuro stated, the processor doesn't come into play when it comes to the ExpressCard USB3.0 modules. You can also find some that are flush with the laptop too.

 

All Thinkpads have expresscard slots. Just slide the card in. This is a popular one, flush mount and cheap. There are others. If you're using it to connect a hard drive, esata would be even better.

http://www.amazon.com/Express-card-...UMDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317821857&sr=8-1

You should prioritize whether you want a better screen or significantly smaller and lighter machine. The T520 is quite chunky with a fantastic screen. T420s is unbelievably small for the screen size and resolution but the screen isn't great.

 

ohhh ! I didn't know that.. thanks.. btw the T420 screen is same as the T420s?

 

They look the same to me, but I've never pulled them apart to verify part numbers. You can probably check the HMM for both to verify.

 

Yes they are identical. If you look at the 14.0-inch WXGA+ (1440x900) LED backlight LCD Service Parts website, both the T420 and the T420s list the same partnumbers, hence they are identical

 

There are multiple LCD part numbers.

In my university bookstore, there is a T420 and a T420s next to each other. At first, I thought the displays were identical. Then, I realized one has a less-ugly type of matte finish on it, but image quality is still poor.

 

How is the quality of the 1600x900 screens on the T420/s ?

 

I would have gotten the T420s when I was looking at Thinkpads last August, but the T420 was 50% cheaper.

 

About what you'd expect from a non-consumer laptop: bright, but not terribly great blacks, limited viewing angles, and a matte finish. In other words: perfectly fine for office work, not designed for multimedia.