Thinkpad T420 Owner's Thread

That's what I thought. Then again, I don't know how long the dude's had it before me and I don't know its lifespan. Power Manager says the battery is in good condition. How do you tell whether it is 6 or 9 cells? I looked up the part number (42T4793) but it seems like it comes in both 6 and 9 cells.

 

A 6 cell battery on the T420 should be flush with the system, the 9 cell battery on the other hand will protrude out slightly from the rear.

 

I bought an hdmi cable (first time) and just realized that my t420 has NO hdmi, but a display port. All t420 like that?

Whats your recommendation for a converter?

 

I bought this one for my T420s:

Newegg.com - Encore ENCA-DH DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter

 

So I guess I need a new battery. 3:58 on 100% charge with maximum battery life setting enabled. With maximum performance, this drops to 2:35. I guess that means I need a new battery, huh?

 

I usually buy from ebay. But after a search all of the result are targeting macbooks, would that work with thinkpad also?

 

If you have the Power Manager application check the values of Full Charge Capacity over the Design Capacity to calculate the wear rate. You can access this information by going to the Advanced option then choosing the Battery tab.

 

How many Wh do you have on your battery when fully charged?
How many cycles are there on your battery?

 

Would anybody be able to tell what clock speed the NVS 4200m runs at in the vanilla T420? I've seen 810MHz in the T520, and 740MHz in the T420s, but haven't been able to find a solid number on the regular T420. I would assume the slower speed since the regular T420's heatsink looks to be exactly the same as the T420s--that is, tiny--but I'd love for a pleasant surprise, as meager as that increase may be. Thanks.

 

Full charge capacity = 56.01 Wh
4 cycles

Design capacity = 56.16 Wh, so it seems like it hasn't degraded very much.

 

Yes, the battery is fine. You need to figure out what is using the power when you are running on battery. Start by using Task Manager to see what processes are using the CPU when you think the computer is idle. Animated Flash adverts can, for example, cause significant power consumption. Bluetooth, if enabled, can use power because it is continually looking for devices.

John

 

any recommendations from ebay or amazon, as I can't buy off newegg..?

 

How about this one as its confirmed to work wth the T420?

 

I'd go for this one from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-...6BDW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324528879&sr=8-1

But in all honesty just search for displayport to hdmi converter and you'll get tons of different options on Amazon or eBay.

Edit: Hurst beat me to it but we suggested the same Startech one.

 

First of all, this thread is one of the best threads I read, very detailed.

Has anyone put Windows 8 beta on T420? Thanks!

 

Lenovo have released an updated BIOS for the T420, it is now Version 1.37.

BIOS can be accessed using the BIOS Utility or Bootable CD format.

Thank you and welcome to the forum! Indeed one had tried using Windows 8 Developer Preview on the T420 which you can read here.

 

Thanks Hearst, do you still have Win8 on your T420?
Do you have any special custom setting, registary, battery setting, etc link? Thanks.

 

Unfortunately I reverted back to my Windows 7 setup for a while now due to my work. That said though, there is a thread on NBR made exclusively for the Windows 8 OS. You can view people's experiences, tweaks and fixes from this thread should you wish to experience the OS yourself.

 

You should wait for the first public beta for Windows 8. Supposedly it's just a few weeks off. January is rumored. Maybe they'll announce something at CES.

 

Do you think the Intel 310's are about as cheap as they will get? I see one at Newegg for $180 + free shipping. At least they are in-stock now compared to early in the year.

Unlike many of the people here, my T420 is just my second computer. It's main purpose is to be the "windows" supplement to my main Linux desktop. I also use this laptop in my shop and on the road. So it gets used, just not every day. This is why I've been holding-off on the SSD upgrade.

On the flip side, perhaps since Soda Creek is tied so closely to the Sandy Bridge motherboards, perhaps the 310 won't be produced much longer?

 

My T420 is one of five computers I have to use daily (the others are my desktop, T61, work issued ASUS and R61e server) but having a SSD is really one of the most significant performance upgrades you can do to any computer. So much that 3 out of 5 of my systems now have a SSD installed.

While you may use it infrequently, if you still do a lot of multitasking then you could still really benefit from the speed and energy efficiency of the device (thus meaning extra run time on the battery). At first I was skeptical of SSD's but once I used one I never turn back to spindle based disks as a boot drive since I find it quite slow! The Intel 310 is a solid choice and due its form factor you don't need to make sacrifices in terms of storage, you can pair it up with your HDD so you have the best of both worlds.

 

Hi everyone! I am a recently new t420 (i-5 2.3 Ghz 4GB) owner. This is my first windows computer--I've used mac my whole life. I was first estatic to find a new t420 for $700, but I've had a couple of issues.
My 6-cell battery usually only holds a charge for 3-4 hours. I read over this thread, and have stopped using chrome and itunes. My cpu clocks at 782 Mhz while on battery and I've disabled aero. Has anyone else had similar problems or know a solution?

My computer also has an unexpected shutdown almost every week, usually when I try to wake it from sleep. I checked the reliabiltity log and found the following message:
The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000009f (0x0000000000000004, 0x0000000000000258, 0xfffffa8003cb1680, 0xfffff80000b9c3d0).

I have dexpot and unix installed and am wondering if uninstalling them would help.

Finally, I've had issues with the connection from the monitor to the computer, and my screen will flicker off if I apply (light) pressure to the hinges.

 

Anyways, I'm glad to find such a great t420 community. Hopefully I'll save up money and use the great instructions to install a mSATA as a boot drive

 

3-4 hours is about right for a 6 cell battery so there shouldn't be anything you need to worry about on that part. Of course if it helps, you can try toggling the settings from the Power Manager such as turning down the LCD brightness and power down the hard drive earlier when not in use to extend the battery life a bit further.

Have you try looking at the Event Viewer to see what’s triggering the odd shutdown? Simply type in Event Viewer in the Search Bar on the Start Menu and try locate the time stamp of when the error occurred. Hopefully it brings up a more meaningful explanation of what’s causing the problem. For more info, use this guide as reference.

That shouldn't really happen, if you're confident enough you can try repositioning the LCD cable in hope it remedies the problem. You can use the Hardware Maintenance Manual as a guide on how to open your system, or use the Lenovo Training Videos as reference.

Alternatively if opening your notebook feels a bit scary then you can always contact Lenovo Support so they can assist you on the case.

 

Hi All,

I have a strange bug that happen to my 6 month old T420.

Apparently there is some issue with the intel 82579lm dropping packet that resulted in my attachment being corrupted. ( i have done testing including re-install outlook, clean re-install the drivers, used diff email clients but all pointing to the Intel NIC as when i used wireless, i didnt have the problem)


82579LM Drops connection repeatedly on 100Mbps Network

Intel 82579LM Gigabit Ethernet - UDP Packet Loss

I have also disabled power saving features and updated to version intel driver 16.7 and 16.8.

Has anyone came across any quick fixes? BTW, i am using Windows 7 SP1..

Oh yeah, i also tried thinkpad drivers and it didnt help...

 

What's the difference between SSD and mSATA drive? I have SSD on mine, is mSATA better than SSD?

I have used an external HDD for System Recovery, instead of the Hearst's Discs, is this fine? What's the advantage of doing a clean Win7 install (i.e. faster, etc)?

 

mSATA is also an SSD but uses the WWAN slot so that a user can keep the existing HDD for the bulk storage.

John

 

Hi,

I have to buy a laptop and was wondering if anyone here would be so kind to give me some advice.

For this machine I’m in the very lucky position to have a very large budget. That’s because I have some staff development money that I have accumulated over a few years, and I now have to spend or it will become very difficult for me to access it.

I have a 3 years old Dell E6400 which I have been very happy with. I don’t like the style of the E6420 so I have been looking at the Lenovo T420.
I need to run windows, and want a fast machine (will use it for Matlab and other similar software, plus extensive multitasking). I don't play games and don’t do anything that is graphics-intensive. Portability is relatively important but I don’t need an ultraportable machine. On the other hand, a quiet machine that does not overheat is very important. I don’t need a very long battery life as I’m most of the time close to a power supply. I’d like a machine that will last for at least 3 years without the need for upgrades if possible.

After some research on this forum, I went to the Lenovo UK website and chose the following:

ThinkPad T420
Processor: Intel Core i7-2640M Processor (2.80GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz)
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Display type: 14.0 HD+ (1600 x 900)
System graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Total memory: 8 GB
Pointing device: UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader
Hard drive: Intel 160 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 4 in 1 Card Reader
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN)
Accessories and options:3 year Onsite Next Business Day + 3 year ThinkPad Protection

Questions:

1) Is the i7 a good idea? As I said price is not important for this machine but I would not want to get something that is useless and increases noise/heat.

2) Any additional general advice, or advice on accessories that would be worth buying would be very welcome!

3) Where should I buy from? By calling a Lenovo rep, or are there better ways?

Many thanks

Fede

 

There's not much wrong doing a System Recovery, its generally the easiest option for most. However the factory setup does run a lot of processes in comparison to a clean installation (the last time I checked I shave around 40 processes) so if you prefer a much leaner system then a clean installation is a more preferable method.

The Core i7's dual cores are not that much significantly faster than its i5 sibling yet it costs considerably more. I personally would go for the Core i5 processor for a better balance of performance and value.

I would use the lowest memory configuration and buy your own set such as this one, you'll save £60 immediately in the process. If you're adept to performing your own clean installs of Windows then you can also save substantially from Lenovo's pricing on the Intel 320 160GB SSD by purchasing it separately. For accessories, if you don't often use your DVD drive how about a hard drive caddy to coincide with your SSD for storage purposes?

Do an online quote to see how much first, if you have a Quidco account then you can also grab an extra 3% cashback for your online purchase from Lenovo UK. Afterwards see if the rep can do you a deal based on your quote (+ cashback amount). If they can beat it then by all means go with them, otherwise you may as well stick with the online purchase method.

If you're not in a hurry you could also wait out for Lenovo's coupon codes that come out occasionally which can shed another 10% off the configuration price. Also if you choose to purchase the SSD and RAM from the links i've provided then you can use Quidco again for even more cashback goodness on those purchases.

 

You can do your price - performance calcs based on the data at notebookcheck.

Be aware that 1600MHz RAM works fine in this model and gives the integrated graphics a little boost. Either the Kingston HyperX (CL9) or the Crucial 1600MHz (CL11).

Is the 160GB plenty for your needs?

John

 

Hearst and John,

thanks a lot for the comments and links - much appreciated.

Concerning the choice between i7 and i5, is noise/heat something I should consider? If not I would go for the i7. As I said price is not too important for me for this machine.

Concerning the RAM, would installing the 1600MHz one provide a noticeable improvement on this machine?

Finally concerning the hard drive, how easy (and useful on this machine) it is nowdays to do a clean install of windows (I've never done one) if I were to buy a bigger SSD? I would not want to spend too much time with this and am slightly concerned something might go wrong. Are my worries justified?

Any further thoughts on accessories I may want to invest on, please let me know!

 

On paper, the i7's ability to run faster within the overall 35W thermal limit should mean that it is slightly more efficient and therefore produce less heat for a given workload. However, one may need good measuring equipment to see the difference.

See my table here for the likely effect on performance.

The first thing you should do on getting the computer is to run the utility to create the recovery media. You can then use those to install Lenovo's version of Windows on the new drive. Alternatively, if you don't have the SSD to hand when you start using the computer, you can clone the HDD to the SSD using software such as Acronis TrueImage. If you have an Intel SSD then you can download Intel's version of TrueImage from the Intel website. Other SSD manufacturers may offer something similar. You will need an external USB enclosure for the cloning operation and afterwards you can use this for your old HDD so it can be used as for backup storage.

John

 

Thanks a lot

do you happen to have a link where I can buy 2x4gb of the 1600MHz ram. I had a look around but would not want to pick an unreliable website

I realize this is a question that have probably been asked several times, but would anyone be able to suggest a good SSD (or brand of SSD) larger than 160GB for my future T420. At the moment I would not need more than 160GB but, after thought, I might well need them in the near future.

Also is a clean install of Windows 7 considerably more difficult, or time consuming, than installing Lenovo's version of Windows? I'm curious.

 

How about these?

Scan UK - Corsair Memory 8GB Vengeance Performance DDR3 SO-DIMM 1600 MHz 9 Dual Channel Laptop

Amazon UK - Kingston HyperX Plug in and Play DDR3 1600MHz CL9 8GB SODIMM Memory Module (Kit of 2)

 

Hi,

Is there anyone with 16 gig ram on their lappy? I know that Lenovo site only says 8 gig max but per Intel site the core i5 should be able to support 16 gig.

If yes, can you please share brand that you're using?

thanks.

 

See this thread. While the title says X220, it also applies to the current T series.

John

 

Yes, using 2x 8GB Corsair CMSO8GX3M1A1333C9 modules in my T420 and it works fine.

 

What are the options for HDMI on T420?

Is there an upgrade to BluRay disc?

 

There's no HDMI port on the T420, it uses a Displayport instead. But you can use a Displayport to HDMI converter, have a read on this thread for more info on adaptor compatibility.

I believe you can upgrade to a Lenovo Blu Ray Drive as the T420 shares the same 12.7mm Ultrabay fitment as the W701 which had them as an optional extra. Though they can be quite expensive from official sources so maybe look on sites such as eBay for a cheaper deal.

 

Thanks very much Hearst. I only have SSD on my main boot drive, but I want to add extra storage (500GB), what are my options?

I am going to do a clean Win7 boot; I am worried I would miss drivers..

 

If you have a SSD in the main HD bay then your option would be having an 12.7mm Ultrabay HDD Caddy in place of the DVD Drive. Here you can have any 9.5mm SATA hard drive in the caddy for additonal storage. There's no official adaptor from Lenovo that fits flush with the T420 so you'll need to source these from sites such as eBay.

From the factory installed OS, go to the C Drive, then the SWTOOLS folder and copy the DRIVERS folder to a USB stick and that will backup all the necessary drivers for your system.

 

Happened again: battery randomly goes to critical all of a sudden. It goes from 70% then to 5% after an hour of standby. I doubt an hour of standby will drain 65% battery. A couple seconds after resuming from standby, lenovo and windows battery meters shows the sudden drop. I get a warning of critical battery and the computer auto-shuts off.

I don't know why this happens. My drivers are all updated. I reset my battery last month. This battery only has 15 cycle count while my old t61's battery had over 200 and was 4 years old without problems. Could it be a possible defective battery? This doesn't happen often but when it happens once every 3 or so weeks, it's extremely annoying.

 

Hey guys, my girlfriend has this laptop.

Due to TERRBILE planning, the dvd drive popped open and I broke it. I've got it fixed and ready to go back in. But I popped out the bay lock latch out.

Its labeled one in this diagram.

How can I get it back in?

 

I'm almost set on the following configuration

ThinkPad T420
Processor: Intel Core i7-2640M Processor (2.80GHz, 4MB L3, 1333MHz)
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Display type: 14.0 HD+ (1600 x 900)
System graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000
Total memory: 8 GB
Pointing device: UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader
Hard drive: Intel 160 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 4 in 1 Card Reader
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (3x3 AGN)
Accessories and options:3 year Onsite Next Business Day + 3 year ThinkPad Protection

1) What are advantages/ disadvantages of the invidia option?
I need my laptop to run windows, and want a relatively fast machine (will use it for Matlab and other similar software, plus extensive multitasking). I don't play games and don’t do anything that is graphics-intensive. A quiet machine that does not overheat is very important to me. I don’t need a very long battery life as I’m most of the time close to a power supply. I’d like a machine that will last for at least 3 years without the need for upgrades if possible. I will probably connect the laptop to an external monitor occasionaly.

2) I've read somewhere on this forum that hybernating should not be used often with an SSD. Is this correct?? (I am used to always hybernating unless the OS slows down)

thanks

 

1) It sounds like your demands aren't very high, Intel 3000 GPU will do all of that. It will also run cooler and consume less power on load. Plus switchable graphics sometimes is a headache.

2) Personally I disable sleep and hibernate with SSDs. There are known issues with Windows 7 + Sleep/Hibernate with Intel low power states, as well as certain SandForce controllers with sleep/hibernate, though yours is an Intel SSD. I disable hibernate to save room on the SSD.

 

I always use hibernation and have had no compatibility problems with it and my Intel 320 SSD.

8GB RAM will need about a 6GB hibernation file. I actually use 6GB RAM out of choice - I occasionally need more thn 4 but never as much as 8 and I've found that, because Windows progressively fills the spare RAM, the hibernation and resume times increase with more RAM.

John

 

I noticed the brightness setting wouldn't change after I resume from sleep unless I close the lid again so the display turns off and on.

 

It's generally considered a bad plan to use hibernation with an SSD. You're causing it to do 6gb worth of writes to the drive every time it hibernates. Better to use standby or just a regular shutdown. Standby last for QUITE a while with a T420. And restarts from scratch are pretty fast on from an SSD. I'd argue nearly as fast has it takes for hibernation to reload that whole 6GB.

I was always a fan of using hibernation until I discovered how long the 420 handles being in standby. Now I never bother hibernating at all.

 

6GB of writes a couple of times per day isn't significant in the context of 158TB of writes that my Intel 320 has clocked up. The media wearout indicator is sitting at 95 on a scale that goes down from 100 to 1 so I expect the SSD to be pensioned off well before it is worn out.

And, while sleep is OK for a computer sitting on a desk, I will never use sleep whe putting a computer into a bag. There's a small, but horrible risk, of a wake-up + melt-down.

John

 

Given the power manager setups it's entirely unlikely, if not just plain impossible, for there to ever occur a wake-up & meltdown. I've traveled a lot, daily, domestically and internationally with it in standby and never ever had issues with it resuming from standby accidentally.

That and as I mentioned, boot time from scratch on the SSD is as fast (if not faster) than returning from hibernation on an 8GB machine.

To each their own, I suppose. I'm just one to prefer avoiding SSD write issues any sooner than necessary.