T520 vs T420?

So I was thinking about snagging a 2nd laptop as a back up, since I sold my E340 to a friend mainly because I didn't like it. Had been using this T420 for almost 4 years now, all day everyday, and saw how cheap they are, so was about to just order a spare one (or I guess a new one to use this current one as a backup......)

But then I saw the T520's, and from what I've researched so far, seems they are virtually the same other than a slightly bigger case and slightly bigger screen, and much better resolution? I see they go fairly cheap on ebay, so not a huge investment. If I got one i'd definitely go with at least hte 1600x900 screen, preferably with a finger print reader, the processor isn't that big of a deal as I already have a 2670qm i7 sitting in my T420 that i'd most likely swap over, and of course, upgrade ram to 16gB, and after seeing the prices of WD 7,200 rpm 1tB black drives today ($72 a piece?!?!) I'd probbably just go 2 1tB drives, and a 256-512gB msata

Do ALL of the t520's come with Nvidia discrete graphics or is it like the T420?? The Msata port I assume is also just sata II like the T420? Does anyone know if the batteries are the same size between the T420 and T520? Does the T520 handle heat any better than the T420? Mine runs toasty with my I7 in it, and I just have onboard intel 3000 graphics..... But it's taken a beatin and kept on tickin so far =P

 

I have a bunch of T510/T520/T530 and some of the T4xx equivalents at work that I buy off ebay...I use a

The screens on the T51x/T52x/T53x seem to be of much much nicer quality than that on the equivalent T41x/T42x/T43x series as in viewing angle, color etc. I'm speaking of only the 1600x900 and higher as I will not buy a T5xx with the 768 screen (well I admit that I have one, and yes it's a crappy screen).

I scored a T430 recently with 1600x900 but the screen which is a step up from base but it still isn't as nice as the T5xx screens. Also I thought it kinda flickered in a barely noticeable way.

The batteries and docking stations are interchangeable between them all.

NO, not all T520s come with Nvidia graphics, you will have to look up the Machine Type number to verify. It may be a lot easier to find a T5xx with Nvidia than a T4xx with it.

Also if you happen to look at T410, apparently early models with Nvidia do not have functioning Optimus (switchable graphics) due to it not being fully ready or something...maybe this is true of the T510 as well? (I'll have to very on mine)

As far as heat... maybe a T5xx has more cooling capacity. I've seen some T4xx run cool and hot. If you have a hot one, likely you need to re-apply the thermal grease. I've had to do this on a T510 that was running hot enough to trigger cpu throttle. Actually i swapped the whole cooler from a dead unit just in case. I believe on another one though I did re-apply thermal paste to cool it down.

 

Thanks for the info! I think I'm going to snag a T520 before long, they are cheap enough now, and I will definitely get one with Nvidia as well as a 1600x900 or better (although the highest end display seems to run almost $100 more on ebay, so not that important to me, just looking for a spare laptop!)

My T420 really only runs hot because I swapped in a I7 that is rated 10w higher than the factory cpu, I re-paste with AS5 (and some other paste i've tried one) many times. I mean for general use it doesn't overheat, but if I run prime95 on it, it quickly hits 95c+ and throttle lol.... Then again, I really don't need the I7, I got it thinking I'd "need" it, but I really only do very light gaming on it, and general internet usage for the most part, I guess the I7 was more for my "e penis" size lol

I just like the fact that now days the T420 and T520 are way down on price, I was shocked to see how cheap T420's were. My T420 does everything I need/want, just after selling my spare notebook to a friend, I've been wanting to pick up another spare, and I love how rugged the T420 is, and I like the fact that a lot of stuff interchanges between the T520 and T420. Having a slightly bigger and better quality screen, as well as Nvidia graphics will be nice, plus having a fresh looking notebook that hasn't had years of constant abuse on its casing will be nice.

 

I gotta say the 1920x1080 display is pretty awesome on the W510, and T530 that I have seen, harder to find though.

But yeah, i love the T510/T520/T530 and equivalent T4xx series. They are great and easy to work on.

I still use a T510 with 8gb ram and SSD and it runs awesome.

The only downside to T510/T410 is they only support up to 8gb of ram and don't support higher density memory modules. They also don't have Optimus (switchable graphics), batt life on my T510 with nvidia still seemed decent though.

The T520 Nvidia card got a nice pump in performance over the T510...which seems to have the same performance as my old T61p with Quadro FX 570M apparently...