Thinkpad T420 + T420s Owner's Thread

My 6 cell battery lasts about 5 hours, thats with integrated graphic card.

 

Unless I get some responses back telling me that buzzing is normal in regards to the video card and playing games, I think I am going to press the seller for a refund and just order a new T420 directly from lenovo. I might also just drop the dedicated graphics as I honestly don't need it. This laptop is being used 99% of the time as a desktop replacement not a game machine. I thought about asking the seller to just swap one of the integrated video T420's he has but they don't have the config I want (1600X900 screen, 9 cell battery, etc) and I don't want to ask them to order that specific config when we are already having words in emails. Let's just say they were friendly at first and understandable but are giving me problems about the second one. I figure I should just wash my hands of them and start over. It will cost a little bit more as they were a good $100 less than lenovo plus I had a $100 coupon at the time but I don't think it is worth it at this point.

Any comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully someone with dedicated graphics will chime in if they hear the same buzzing. It does't seem to get quieter when plugged into the wall either. Once I put my ear towards the keyboard (or at laptop level with head), I can hear the buzzing coming from underneath the keyboard.

 

Well the seller and I decided to parts ways and he has agreed to refund the full amount. I went ahead and covered shipping back as I honestly didn't want to push it. This has been a huge ordeal and I definitely won't be going through this seller again nor can I recommend them to anyone. Let's just say that customer service went out the door once I started having issues that were clearly no fault of my own.

I did the right thing sending it back because the issues I had were not normal. I can deal with a few things (including the cpu whine to be honest) but not the buzzing video card. I have decided to just order one from Lenovo themselves. I know it will take a couple of weeks but I am not in a hurry. I think I am going to go with the integrated video card this time. I always regretted going with the nvidia option because I have had two integrated video thinkpads and never felt the need for anything else. I do play games occasionally but I am pretty sure the intel graphics can handle half life 2 or portal. The one bummer is that I won't be able to run Amnesia as of right now because of an intel issue.

If anyone else can comment on the buzzing with the nvidia video card, I would appreciate it. Again I highly doubt I am going to go back to the nvidia option but I would like to get some opinions.

Thanks!

 

Hearst's early impressions of the T420 is dropping out of sight. It's here if anyone hasn't read it.

Two other first impression threads are here and here.

John

(Expecting to receive a T420s on 3rd May and I can then create my own first impressions thread).

 

Maybe you should start a T420s Owners thread.

 

Also bumping sprtnbsblplya's review of the T420 as well since it was one of the early reviews for the system. I think the OP should sticky these links on the first post to make it easier for prospective T420 to have a view on what its like.

 

Mine (finally) shipped today! Hopefully I'll have it late next week.

 

I also think that is a good idea. There are enough differences between the two models to make discussion in one thread confusing.

John

 

call it blasphemy but i changed the title of this thread and removed "T420s" so john can start one specifically for that model.

 

Am I confused, or didn't we already have that discussion at some point? Not that I have any strong feelings on it myself, mind you (if anything, I think splitting may actually be better). Just wondering.

 

you're right.   after looking back through the thread, there's enough T420s info interspersed that it would be difficult breaking it up at this point.

thread title reset.   carry on.

 

ABSOLUTELY. One is not a derivative or variant of the other! Merging the originally separate threads was a big mistake!

There is no point in prolonging the confusion. Renaming the thread this way or that way does not help.

I recommend we freeze this thread, then link/highlight/sticky certain representative posts in two new SEPARATE threads: one for T420, another for T420s.

 

The history is that this thread was originally for the T420s only, I created a T420 owners thread since there wasn't one around which was closed by ZaZ who merged the T420s thread to also include discussions of the T420 which is what you see now. Looking back at it does cause some confusion since the first 5 pages or so were discussions about the T420s and not the T420.

I also wouldn't mind seeing a new separate T420 and T420s thread as it would be a lot easier for people to refer to their specific models, as John said there are enough differences for the T420s to warrant its own section compared to the T420.

EDIT: Bumping ThinkRob's review of the T420 for others to view.

 

Which screen do the majority dislike?

I'm thinking about purchasing a T420 with 14.1" WXGA+ LED 1440x900 which is the upgrade, how does it compare to the standard resolution?

or are both styles bad?

 

I didn't think that was offered on the T420.

 

There's nothing preventing the creation of a new thread. It's not like the same questions won't be asked a million times between now and the t430s anyway.

 

Jeff70hem you can't have a WXGA+ screen on a T420, T420 screens uses aspect ratios of 16:9 so its either HD (1366x768) or HD+ (1600x900). Some people find the standard HD resolution a bit restrictive due to limited screen space, using the HD+ resolution certainly makes handling of documents and large image files easier as it means less scrolling though the downside is that it can look dense (small) for some eyes.

Which of these provides the better panel however can be subjective in opinions. There are threads which can help make your mind up on which one:

T420 standard (HD 1366x768) display - thoughts?

T420 Screen - How is it?

 

Sorry wrong spec., I'm looking at one on Ebay with a max resolution: 1600 x 900 ( WXGA++ ), I can't imagine that any screen would be bad with that resolution

 

It's not really a question of resolution, it's one of aspect ratio.

Going from 1440x900 to 1600x900 isn't a big deal, but in the process of the aspect ratio change, the height of the display is decreased, and the width is increased. This is worth very little for business users, who want the height more than the width, so that they can see more of their document or web page.

LCD panel vendors are far more interested in selling panels for televisions than they are laptops, so they are forcing laptop vendors to go with 16:9 screens, the same aspect used in today's TV sets, and largely doing away with the 16:10 format favored by business laptop users. At this point, there's little we can do.

 

So has anyone tried gaming on the intel hd 3000. Games like World of Warcraft, Half Life 2, F.E.A.R, Source games etc..??

 

Casting history aside, I would suggest that we start new threads for both the T420 and the T420s where the first post links to both this thread and the other relevant threads. Another benefit of separate threads is that each won't lengthen quite as quickly. However, I won't take any action until there is a consensus (or at least a majority vote).

There's a lot of gaming performance data for the HD 3000 at notebookcheck.

John

 

In that case you can add a vote for me to separate the threads into two. You could probably revive my old T420 thread since it hardly started and the foundations are already in place for a few edits of updated information such as peoples reviews and support pages, though I would be happy to start another new thread again if it helps (just waiting for majority vote before doing anything).

 

I'm sort of two minds about this. I think there are people who are considering both the T420 and T420s, and having all the information in one place can be helpful, but I can also see how having one post about the T420 while the next concerns the T420s makes finding information more difficult. I will bow to popular opinion. I will reopen the T420 owner's thread and close this one. If an owner or someone who's ordered a T420s want to start a new thread, I would not oppose it.

T420 Owner's Thread
T420s Owners' Thread