Thinkpad T420s Owners' Thread

@Display: Yeah, I was comparing everything while jumping from t410s to this one and forgot that physical size of the display will be different. Gotta hate that black empty space under bottom edge of display.
@GPU: Seems it's not possible to downclock.
@CPU whining: It was horrible in t410s, it's lower with default T420s and its completely gone with CPU Power Management turned OFF in BIOS. (Which probably kills the battery faster)
@CPU temp: It's around 50 IDLE for me, with TPFC so we are in same shoes here.

-- Attached the display shot. You can see that 'pixels matrix' which is not present in t410s. Thats the first thing I noticed after launching t420s.

 

Look under System Settings in the Advanced options for your power profile and see the effect of enabling / disabling the CPU deeper sleep.

That's the infamous griddiness. See here for some suggested remedial action.

John

 

Thanks. I thought I could run away from any issues with T420s. Damn you Lenovo.

@Whine: Deeper Sleep DISABLED helped a little I guess but need to work with it for a couple of hours to give a fair opinion.

Thanks for help.

 

Does anyone know how easy it is to transfer windows from a standard HD to the micro 80gb SSD that I would install on my T420s? I'm not too adept at this. Is there an imaging program that could do the transfer automatically for me? Thanks.

Also, would I be able to install lenovo rapid boot to support this config? Let me know if you think this is the best way to go, or else I would get the Intel 160gb SSD as the standard drive through lenovo.

 

I think you'll find the answers in this thread.

John

 

Thanks. I think it's still too complicated for me to transfer windows to the mSSD. I'm going to get the Intel 160gb x-25m SSD as the standard hd and maybe install a micro ssd later if i need more storage.

 

Does anyone think that the Intel X-25m 160gb SSD is worth the upgrade from the 320gb HD? Would the performance be that much better? The SSD costs $360 more than the HD on lenovo's site.

 

It's much faster, but it's hard to justify when the newer 160GB 320 series SSD is available on Newegg for even less. (and then throw in 20 bucks for a 2.5" hard drive enclosure, and you get a free portable hard drive.) Of course, you have to do the work yourself to configure everything...

I'm waiting for the RapidDrive Extreme models are available to see if that's something that can be manually configured. If so, I'll just buy the stuff myself and replace it.

 

SSDs provide a very noticeable boost to overall performance through the near-instant disk access and faster data transfer.

I prefer the route of buying a separate SSD. You know what you are getting and still have the original HDD as backup. See this thread about suitable SSDs (both the X220 and the T420s use 7mm thick drives). If you get the Intel 320 then you will need to remove the spacer and refix the cover using 4 No M2 x 3 screws.

If you buy the Intel SSD separately then you can download a copy of Acronis True Image from the Intel webside to clone your existing HDD onto the SSD. Alternatively, once you have made your set of recovery discs you can use those to install Windows onto the SSD.

John

 

Thanks, very helpful. So does installing the Intel 320 myself have any effect on the warranty? Also, are there any issues with fragmentation when using Arconis to transfer an image of windows from the HD to the SSD?

 

Unless of course you already have a fleet of unused hard drives and the gap between the SSD Lenovo offers and newegg.com isn't huge.

That and the SSD drive is warrantied with the system.

 

John, would that clone of the HDD image maintain all the Lenovo optimizations they've been bragging about? In a recent press release, they've claimed sub 10-second start up. The page for advertising these features is up, but the ordering page is not. (Mid-May, so they say.)

I'm really waiting to get my first thinkpad - a T420s - until it's confirmed that I can achieve those results using my own drives without needing it factory configured. (I don't feel like paying huge markups on my SSDs and RAM.)

 

Lenovo's warranty won't cover your new SSD. However, cover for the rest of your computer will continue. If you keep the original HDD then you can always put it back in if you encounter a problem (it also provides a check that a problem is caused by Windows getting corrupted).

John

 

From here and here (using 160GB models):

Read speeds:

• X-25M: 250 MB/s
  320 series: 270 MB/s

Write speeds:

• X-25M: 100 MB/s
  320 series: 165 MB/s

IOPS 4k reads:

• X-25M: 35,000 IOPS
  320 series: 39,000 IOPS

IOPS 4k writes:

• X-25M: 8,600 IOPS
  320 series:21,000 IOPS

It's a decent improvement. Really, each will be significantly better than any hard drive, and the 320 will be faster but not by too significant a margin. Still, the vastly improved 4k writes (much more important than sustained reads / writes) give me reason to say the 320 is a worthwhile improvement.

Honestly, I've never used an SSD with my desktop / laptop before, and while I know enough about SSD's to know that a lot of the benchmarks and specs listed are misleading, I don't know how exactly how significant that is in real world use.

 

That's a great question? If I use Arconis to transfer an image of the HD to the new SSD i would install, does it maintain all the lenovo optimizations? What about rapid boot? Would I have to add that later?

 

The cloning process copies over the whole software installation so settings get transferred. However, it is possible that optimizations for booting from an SSD may not be quite the same as those for booting for an HDD, but SSDs give much faster booting anyway.

John

 

Could anyone point me where to check the status of rapid boot? I have totally forgot about this improvement in t420s. Is it activated by default?

 

You can check if it is installed by looking at Control Panel > Programs and Features. However, I can't figure out how you can check if it is working.

John

 

Check out this page, which links to a non-functonal T420s product page. Offically, the fastest T420s hasn't been released yet. However, they did cover this in a press release.

 

Can't see anything RapidBoot related there. Will check out how W7 loads for me tho

EDIT: around 18SEC for me so dont think it's rapid ;-)

 

I'm not sure I'm getting this right. Is RapidBoot available on the T420s ordered today or not?

If not, do you believe it will be available as a software upgrade later on for those who ordered it without the feature?

Edit: Had a look at lenovo support page and if you ctrl+f search "rapidboot" on this page

It looks like the driver is only available for download for the T420 (non s)

Edit2: Now I noticied the arrows pointing to the left, silly me. Guess it is available for all new thinkpads here.

 

my t420s with a 160gb ssd boots within 20 seconds. i think rapidboot = ON

 

Blindzior, what drive do you have? I think the Rapidboot extreme only works with SSD.

 

I checked the link given by LevSer, downloaded and tried to install but system told me it's already there. I have 160GB SSD from intel.

 

I measured the following boot times for my T420s:

1. With supplied Seagate 7200rpm 320GB HDD: From pressing of on button to BIOS screen going off - 8 seconds; From pressing of on button to Windows passowrd prompt - 40 seconds.

2. With supplied Intel 320 SSD: From pressing of on button to BIOS screen going off - 8 seconds; From pressing of on button to Windows passowrd prompt - 22 seconds.

Those were with only a few programs installed and the SSD was a clone of the HDD. I expect the boot time to length as I get more software installed but the time illustrate that the SSD substantially speeds up the process.

John

 

I'm waiting till they release that model to see if there's any difference that I cannot make myself. Otherwise, I'll probably just order the better graphics and install my own 320 series SSD.

 

I'm ordering my T420s from a German reseller and because I'm ordering as a student my options are limited. I think I've found the right one for me, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the SSD.

The model I'm 99% sure I'm getting is a "4173W1J", I've mailed the reseller and the part number of the SSD suggests it's a 160GB X25-M.

They do, however, have a "4173W1J -320" model that comes with a 320GB 7200rpm which can later be upgraded with a 160GB 320 Series. The upgrade is done by the reseller and they put windows and all on the drive as well.

The difference ends up being €54 more for the 320 series vs. the older X25-M. I've read around on this forum about the different SSDs and their controllers and what not. But, I'm not getting any closer to a decision. Some say the X25 is more reliable, some say the performance increase in the 320S is worth it while some say you won't feel the difference in everyday usage.

Call me weak minded but I think I just need some other T420s user to tell me what to do. In the end the €54 difference is not much compared to full price of the laptop, but if the difference is minimal I might as well save the money...

Edit: Also, the reseller offers memory upgrades from Kingston and Lenovo and I assume that if you buy additional memory from Kingston I will end up with 4GB of each brand. Is this in any way worse than going all Lenovo? The ones from Lenovo are more expensive (not by a lot, but still). And last, who makes the Lenovo branded memories?

Sorry for being so bothersome

 

You may want to read this thread about SSD options for the X220. The same 7mm thick issue applies to the T420s. Personally, I would get the HDD version of the T420s and then do the SSD upgrade myself. That way you get to keep the original HDD for backup purposes.

John

 

Reposted from an earlier post I did, here are the specs for the X-25M and the 320 series:

From here and here (using 160GB models):

Read speeds:

• X-25M: 250 MB/s
  320 series: 270 MB/s

Write speeds:

• X-25M: 100 MB/s
  320 series: 165 MB/s

IOPS 4k reads:

• X-25M: 35,000 IOPS
  320 series: 39,000 IOPS

IOPS 4k writes:

• X-25M: 8,600 IOPS
  320 series:21,000 IOPS

Bottom line: The 320 is faster, and the IOPS increase is pretty significant. However, in day to day use, it probably will be marginally but not exceptionally faster. I'm not 100% sure if it's worth the extra 54 euros, but if you can afford it, I'd go for it.

Still, either will be significantly faster than any HDD. You'd be happy with either one.

 

Thank you for your help! I think I might go with the 320 Series from the reseller. It's actually going to turn out cheaper than buying it in my home town because of the currently favourable Euro exchange rate. Also, I get the Lenovo warranty on it if I do it this way, and since I'm getting 3 year on-site warranty I think that's another important factor to consider.

Thank you again!

 

I'm a new T420s owner who has been using the machine for about a week now: i7/8gb/128GB SSD/optimus configuration, upgrading from a Fujitsu Lifebook T4210 tablet/notebook. I must say so far I am really pumped about this machine. I consider myself a fairly saavy user (though I don't typically do things like read/write tests, battery life tests etc) and I've found this to be an excellent machine so far. Very fast, very light.

Had I not read about the screen issues some people have noted I probably would have made nothing of the screen (IMO it is less 'griddy' than the T4210). I can see the battery life issue being the only real concern with this machine but so far have taken it out for a day of moderate use (no video / intensive processing) with an ultrabay battery added in and had no problems.

My two cents, because I found other peoples' comments here useful when I was shopping / deciding.

 

Welcome. Which display do you have? The Lenovo parts lookup facility will tell you. Perhaps if you have skipped a generation or two of displays then what you have will look good, but the previous generation of 14.1" displays seem to be better than the new 14" ones.

John

 

Still no shipping announcement for my 420s yet (I placed the order on May 5th.) Getting a little impatient as my Dell's touchpad just died.

Has anyone placed an order on the 5th (or later) and gotten a shipping confirmation yet?

 

My display is: B140RW02 V1

 

That's the AUO panel (although that link says it is glossy. Perhaps V0 is glossy and V1 is matte).

John

 

Hi!

Is there anyone else than rubaiyan who have experienced overheating problems on the T420s with Optimus graphics?

Can we confirm wether or not this was just a defective unit or if the T420s simply is too cut down in the cooling for long-term 100% load?

I've been a ThinkPad user for the last 8 years or so and now it's about time to replace my faithful T61. As I tend to put my gear to alot of pressure (both physically and computationally) I'm concerned about these issues.

Any input is appreciated. My first post btw!

 

I have the i7/8gb/128GB SSD/optimus configuration. I don't run 3D games on my machine and so far haven't really tried to mess around with the optimus configurations or put it under strain.

I have not expect any overheating issues so far.

 

I have found all the detail in here valuable, but don't see my specific question covered, so apologize if I missed the answer.

We are planning on upgrading from our current T61 (discrete graphics)/T400 (switchable graphics) laptops to the T420s and am wondering if it is worth the extra money for the Optimus graphics and i7 processor. We do software development work as consultants and have one or two VMware virtual machines running at a time. We don't do any gaming, video or photoshop related tasks. I am inclined to save the money and get the Intel SSD instead of either of these, but appreciate any opinions out there. I am wondering if either are worth also considering in addition to the SSD. We all have docking stations and 24" monitors that we are connected to all the time when in the office.

Also, I didn't see it mentioned, but there is also a 9 cell battery slice available that is compatible with the T420s. Wondering if anyone got that and if it makes things too bulky as we are trying to lighten our bags. We currently have bay batteries in the T61/T400, so was planning on getting those as well.

Appreciate your insights.

Thanks,
-Bill

 

Hi Bill, I'd personally say that from the description of the work that you do, Optimus wouldn't help in any tangible way. As far as I know, the HD3000 should suffice for everything non-gaming related, including playing 1080p videos.

As for the i7, many people have commented that the price spread between the i5 2540m and the i7 2620m is far too much given the minuscule performance difference. I personally chose the i7 because I'm a stickler for getting things done quickly (heavy academic computations in MATLAB, frequently compiling large LaTeX documents which I have a bad habit of doing) so I reason that the little speed increase adds up to a little more productivity.

My personal opinion is that you can forgo the optimus and spend that money on a good SSD (you won't regret it - in fact you WILL regret it if you don't get an SSD in my opinion ). i7 or i5 can be a hit and miss depending on whether milliseconds matter that much to you.

As for the battery, I didn't realise they have the slice option for the T420s now, so I can't comment on that. Otherwise, if you guys are always on your desk with powerlines, then you may not find that the extra weight is worth the trouble.

All in my humble opinion.

 

anyone notice any popping or stuttering when playing something through the headphone jack? This is just playing an mp3 through windows media player.

 

Not for me, mate. Audio jack works fine.

 

Thank you for your reply!

That is nice to hear.

However, I wonder thou how it performs when the both the CPU and the GPU is working simultaneously. I'm thinking the typical 100% load you encounter while playing 3D games, such as Portal 2, as one mentioned.

May I ask how your T420s reacts upon a long run of, say, 3DMark or similar benchmarking tools? Or in other prolonged extreme load of the entire system (CPU, mem, GPU, disk, etc).

For me, being able to push my hardware to the maximum (even for hours non-stop) without the possibility of overheating, is not negotiable. I don't know how I manage, but I seem to do that quite often (MATLAB, sound- and image processing, large compilations, batch IO-operations, etc). And I consider to use the GPU for developing data-parallel algorithms (CUDA/OpenCL) and perhaps some occasional gaming in off-duty hours. Hence I'm asking.

Thank you!

 

Just make sure that your selected CPU has support for the VT-x and VT-d hardware accelerated virtualization features in that case. Both the i7-2620M and i5-2520M has this. You should be able to manage without the VT-d, but it may in some uses boost the performance of the guest OS IO-operations.

The Optimus technology enables you to use up to three external monitors using the docking station! More info on that: Lenovo Support - ThinkPad Multiple Monitor Configurations: NVIDIA Optimus technology

Really!? I think I can recall sources claiming that there is no battery slice for the T420s, but only for the T420.

However: Lenovo - Laptop and desktop - Batteries & Power 57Y4545 (US)

Check under "Technical Information", at the "Supported Platforms". The T420s is listed! But the slice battery is not listed as a compatible accessory when you select the T420s models under Lenovo - Accessories & upgrades (US)

Hope it helps your decision!

 

Thanks to both of you for the speedy replies. I think I will skip the i7. The multiple monitor item is tempting, but am curious with the Mini Dock 3 and the Intel standard graphics, can I not drive multiple external monitors?

I double checked with Lenovo Sales via chat session today and was told that it was compatible. Not sure I want the extra weight if I have the standard and bay batteries already. Might get the slice later on, but definitely a tempting option.

 

What part numbers do I need to setup the external monitors like mentioned in that link you provided? I went through the T420s ordering process, but none of the choices in monitor accessories seem to indicate that single stand with the panels connected to it.

 

Actually, the more important question is what type of connecters do you have on the monitors?

From the dock you can use either DVI (2) or DisplayPort (2) and the VGA port, plus the DisplayPort on the back of the T420s.

You can also use one DVI and one DisplayPort on the dock. In other words, you can use two digital and one analog on the dock plus the DisplayPort on the notebook.

 

I'm not convinced that the T420s would be the best choice for this type of usage. I recall that one of our members has returned his Optimus T420s after encountering temperatures into the 90s C during gaming.

I have the Intel graphics version and it manages the heat adequately (less heat to dispose of) but the fan is quite noticeable at full speed (but one CPU-intensive thread won't trigger this condition). For heavy usage the T420, with its thicker chassis enabling a bigger cooling system, may be a better choice.

John

 

Your'e welcome!

From what I know, it is only the Optimus options that supports more external monitors than one. In other words, you can connect one external monitor using just the standard Intel graphics, but not more. Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this.

EDIT: The tabook mentions that two monitors can be used simultaneously with the Intel graphics. I wonder if it is possible to shut down the internal monitor in order to use two external monitors (using either the bult-in VGA+DP or dock station connectors). Anyone feel like giving it a try?

So Lenovo support confirmed that the 9-cell battery slice option is in fact compatible with the T420s!? Not just the standard T420, but also the T420s? Can anyone confirm this? Is there any power connector on the bottom of the T420s? If so, that would be great news!

EDIT: The 9-cell slice battery is not listed for the T420s in the tabook or compatibility matrix..

You need any of the Mini Dock Plus Series 3 for the extra connectors. However, I know nothing about ThinkVision monitors or stands. I'd use any DVI/DisplayPort monitor of choice.

 

Yes, that is one of the reasons why I have not made my decision yet. I need the power, but desire the mobility. It's a tough compromise.

Yes, that is my concern. For me, this is an unacceptable property of a ThinkPad, or any other high-quality device.

Therefor I wish yo consult other members of this community for hands-on experiences. Can anyone confirm that the T420s with Optimus do overheat under prolonged 100% load (CPU+GPU+mem+IO, etc)?

Thank you for that feedback! It really helps!

//TT

 

I recall someone else saying that the T4xxs series are generally more premium products and incorporate more efficient colling systems into their diminulative size. Whether this actually makes up for the smaller area available for cooling, I don't know.

In addition, someone else mentioned cooling might be different between the Optimus systems and the integrated Intel systems.

I'm still waiting to buy my T420s so I'll have to leave it to someone who knows more!