Thinkpad Edge E420 owners.

Can anyone confirm that m-sata SSDs work at 6Gb/s speed? I mean, of course they work, but someone should test if they work at 6Gb/s.
Thanks

 

They do not. The Intel chipset only allows two SATA connections and Lenovo chose not to use one for the mSATA. It's very unlikely you'd notice a difference between SATA II and III for most uses.

 

In answer to the request I received above,
I posted the test results as my avatar and here is a link to that pic.


If anyone wants me to upload the results elsewhere,
please let me know.

Thanks.


I am still looking to do a clean install of Windows 7 on this Msata.
I own a license because Windows 7 was installed on this laptop when I bought it from Lenovo.

I followed the instructions from somewhere on this forum to install Windows 7 on the Msata.
It worked for a while, but now I keep getting MS pop-ups saying I have a unlicensed copy of Windows 7.

Can anyone post new step by step instructions for doing a clean install of Windows 7 for the Msata?
Or, how I can stop the pop-ups I am getting?

Thanks.

 

Thank you so much! That's sata 6Gb, indeed!
So we can say our laptop supports 6Gb in both ordinary HDD slot and mSata slot.

Installing the OS on the mSata should be identical to installing onto an ordinary HDD.
1) Did you submit the correct product key? Always better checking this first!
2) Are you sure the win7 version you're installing is the same you have the license for?
3) Did you do the "activation"? It needs to be done in 30 days since the installation, otherwise you get those pup-ups that you see. Did your pop-ups appear on the 31st day?
4) Did you change some other hardware (other than the mSata ssd)? If so, roll back to the same hardware configuration (other than the ssd) you used the license with.

 

I bring this up to announce a new bios version from Lenovo site, bringing updated cpu microcodes.
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/8huj17us.exe

From the changelog:

Will this bring ivy bridge support? I don't see what other microcode they could have added...

 

Does anyone know which is the best value/performance processor on this model?

Also, has anyone actually tried to install an Ivy Bridge CPU in the e420 with the latest bios?

Last question... I know some laptops support more memory than is stated on the official specs. Has anyone tried to add more than 8GB on this model?

Any help on these questions is very much appreciated.

 

Best value/performance would be the most affordable quad core sandy bridge cpu.

I would try the ivy bridge cpu, if I had it... You won't brake anything if you try.

You can go for 16GB. Maybe more.

 

Thanks, I'm keeping an eye out for a good price on a Sandy Bridge quad core. I currently have an i3-2350m. If I knew an Ivy Bridge would work, I'd spend a little extra just for the slightly lower power requirements and heat output, and the GPU bump as well. Though, I don't want to waste money on a IB CPU if it's not going to work on this laptop. I'm also considering ordering a better T420 1600x900 LCD to replace the standard E420 LCD. They are reportedly the identical in size and connections, but I've only seen one person say that they have done this successfully, so I'm not sure about it yet.

 

Same for me, about the ivy bridge cpu... Let's hope someone with a spare ivy bridge cpu tries out.



Where did you find that information about the screen? I would be very interested too, but I read some time ago that the E420/E520 screen cable is not suitable for 1600x900 and higher resolutions. Would be great if it worked!

 

I don't recall which forum it was. They are identical in size, mounting and connection. I saw someone who had claimed to have successfully swapped out the E420 stock 1366x768 matte panel for a 1600x900 T420 Glossy and someone else who complained about red lines on every other pixel row after doing so. Though, I believe the ribbon cable also has to be changed out too for one that is HD+ or you get the red lines or fuzzy picture. FRU: 04W1618 is the number for the cable.

 

Yes, the lcd cable needs to be swapped, for sure. Great news for E420 owners, however. I've been following this thread about screen upgrades for E520/E420, but they didn't come up with that solution.

 

Thanks for the link to that thread. It does seem that the main issue is that the webcam and mic are integrated into the e420 cable. So finding a ready made cable that will work for the camera, mic and video is difficult, if not impossible. Custom is the only choice, it seems. I suppose it might be easier to get an HD+ cable, like the one I linked to and then figure out how to run the mic and camera wiring separately.

I was also looking at the E420S lcd bezel... I really like the infinity glass look and protection that it offers too the panel. It looks like the E420S bezel would actually fit on the E420, though the webcam/led doesn't match up, but perhaps one could put in a E420S bezel and E420S webcam/keyboard light so it would fit. Also, one could swap out the entire display (provided it fits), though that still would not give any better resolution or solve the lcd cable issue if you want a higher resolution display.