Thinkpad T420(si) vs T520

Hello everyone!

I currently own a Dell Studio 1555. But I had to send it to service about 3-4 times already, and the most I hate about that model, is that it doesn't have VT-X for hardware virtualization.

I'd like to buy a new notebook this month or the following 2-3. I thought that Lenovo should be by new brand. ( At first I wanted DELL because it has 3 yrs warranty, but I've discovered some models from lenovo that offer the same warranty period). All in all, I told myself: "you're a programmer, you should buy a business model to represent you". So, I decided a business notebook.

I've looked over on Lenovo's website and saw that the T series is the most awesome of all. Note: I don't want a desktop replacement, as I get the notebook with me at school and other places when it's needed. That means I don't want anything more than 15.6".

Ok, now trimming more, from Lenovo I've seen that the T420s is the best, it has all cool stuff. So, I went to check some models. I still need to decide if ThinkPad rocks over Latitude - although I'm more for ThinkPad ( any opinions about this "ThinkPad" vs "Latitude" thingy? ).

Good, so I was settled that T420 are the best, and it achieved some certifications, all in all - the best. However, I should note that I want a *dedicated* video card, not that stupid Intels.

I've found currently some models that I think suit me, but I have a though way deciding on them. My main concern, and the main question idea for this thread is: Is there a quality/building process difference between the T420 and T520, besides the screen size?. That is, I've seen some tests that showed how sturdy is the T420, but I don't know about the 520. Also, the first 2 models, are almost the same, except that the T420 is more *expensive* than the T520 even though it has a weaker processor. How comes that? The same happens with the 3rd vs 4rd. Does T420 has something special that is expensiver than the T520?

The notebooks are here:

1) t520-nw64fri-core-i5 - Google Translate

2) t420si-nv56rri-core-i3 - Google Translate

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3) t520-nw64hri-core-i7 - Google Translate

4) t420-nw1a9ri-core-i5 - Google Translate

The price is in RON (Romanian Ron). 3 RON = aprox. 1$ . That means that between the first 2 models, there is a difference about 350$ - which is pretty big

What one would you buy from those 4?

Also, as a final note, what does the "s" and "i" postfixes mean?

Thanks a lot ( An sorry for the long post )

 

The T420 is not more expensive than the T520. The T420s is more expensive than the T420/ T520 (despite the weaker processor) because it is much lighter and thinner and you'll notice the difference if you see a comaparison in real life.

The 'S' suffix means 'slim', 'i' means elementary, and i models usually come with the lowest possible configurations (i3 processor, etc.)

Another advice I would give is to consider the older T410/T410s series. The new 16:9 aspect ratio isn't that great for coding, considering that you're a programmer. In return, you will lose some functionality like USB 3 and less powerful graphics card. But the screen is more important in my opinion.

When deciding between the T420/T520 and the T420s, another consideration is the battery life. The normal T series have a pretty terrific battery life, and you can always give yourself up to 15-20 hours of battery life by adding a slice/ 9 cell battery. But the T420s only has 2 types of battery, the 6 cell and 3 cell ultrabay. The max you can get from the two (combined) is only about 7 hours.

Hope this helps.

 

Since you want some mobility, I'd suggest two or four since they're smaller. The T420si is the cheapest and lightest. I'm not super familiar with VMs, but I think the i5 has better support for it. Perhaps someone can chime in here.

I like Latitudes. They're probably not quite as well built as ThinkPads, but in the US they've got a better warranty and the US Dell at times offers very good pricing.

 

with the T420 being 1600x900 and T410 being 1440x900, there is no loss of vertical resolution with 16:9 yet a gain of 160 pixels on the side.   in this case i don't see how the aspect ratio alone would be a detriment to programming efficiency.