ThnikPad T420s specs announced

Lenovo just announced today the specs for a few ThinkPad T420s models.


* 14.0" (355mm) HD+ ( 1600x900) color, anti-glare, LED backlight, 250 nits, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300:1 contrast ratio

* Weight: 6-cell: starting at 3.68 lb (1.67kg)

* Dimensions: (WxDxH): 13.5" x 9.1" x 0.83–1.02"; 343 x 230.1mm x 21.2–26.0mm

* 6-cell: up to 5.5 hr; 6-cell plus Ultrabay battery: up to 9.3 hr Battery - life

* Ports: Two USB 2.0 (one powered), one USB 3.0, external monitor (VGA DB-15, DisplayPort), ethernet (RJ-45), 4-in-1 card reader

* Intel Core i5-2540M processor (dual-core, 2.60GHz, 3MB Cache)
* Intel HD Graphics 3000
* Mobile Intel QM67 Express Chipset

* 8GB max / PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3, non-parity, dual-channel capable, two 204-pin SO-DIMM sockets

* Two PCI Express Mini Card slots and One ExpressCard/34

* WLAN: 11a/b/g/n, PCIe Half Mini Card, Intel Centrino® Advanced-N 6205, 2x2

* Bluetooth 3.0 wireless, LED indicator

* Optional camera: HD720p resolution, wider view angle, low light sensitive, fixed focus

* Optional fingerprint reader

* Maximum external resolution: 2560x1600 (DisplayPort)@60Hz; 2048x1536 (VGA)@75Hz; 1920x1200@60Hz (single-link DVI-D)


And I just ordered a Dell Latitude E6410 today. :-/ Buyer's remorse, or I hope the T420s has crappy sound and a loud fan.

 

in tabook no msata model.

* Two PCI Express Mini Card slots or One ExpressCard/34
in tabook: Two PCI Express Mini Card slots and One ExpressCard/34

 

Fixed, thanks.

 

T420s: 6-cell: up to 5.5 hr; 6-cell plus Ultrabay battery: up to 9.3 hr Battery - life

T410s: 6-cell: up to 4.8 hr; 6-cell plus Ultrabay battery: up to 7.9 hr

 

Apparently, the new T420s will have top notch speaker system.

 

Apparently it will still lack in battery life and looks like no optional slice battery unlike that on T410/T420 is available either.
Given that in real life it might turn out to be better with 6 cell than it looks now, I will reserve my "not worth the money for the starting price" comment for later
Why is it so hard to make it possible to attach the slice?

 

Do you think this config will be possible?

80gb msata ssd
160gb x25-m
bay battery

End result is a 240gb intel ssd plus 9 hours of battery and super silent operation?

 

Does Lenovo still use 1,8" drives in the T420S series?

 

Yes, the mSATA ssd is an option and will likely be a CTO option in most models. The setup you posted is the ideal that the msata drive makes possible although I'll probably go for a 5400rpm 750gb hdd for storage.

 

T420/T420s both use 2.5" main drives but the T420s is limited to 7mm height drives (such as SSDs).

 

The T420s uses 2.5" drives.

 

No, 2.5". But it looks like they're switching to 7mm drives.

 

Damn, it would be nice if they used 2,5" drives, but if it's 7mm it really doesn't matter.

 

The Tabook indicates that there is no msata SSD option, so my guess would be no. The good news is that the T420s does take a 2.5" drive unlike the T410s, so you should be able to use more SSDs with it (like the x25-m).

 

They do use 2.5" drives in the T420s. That means that at least the X25-m SSD will fit (it comes with a plastic spacer that you can remove to make it a 7mm drive).

 

It means msata ssd is not available in early preconfigured systems and/or it'll be available as CTO.

 

14.0" (355mm) HD+ (1600x900) color, anti-glare, LED backlight, 250 nits, 16:9 aspect ratio, 300:1 contrast ratio

The high resolution is nice, but that's a highly disappointing contrast ratio

 

I don't understand, how come the T420 has bettery battery life (per battery cell) than then T420s?

T420:
6-cell: up to 9.0 hr; 9-cell: up to 15.0 hr; 9-cell plus Slice battery: up to 30.0 hr

T420s:
6-cell: up to 5.5 hr; 6-cell plus Ultrabay battery: up to 9.3 hr

They all use the same standard voltage Core i5 CPU, although the lowest you can pick on the T420 is Core i5 2410M (2.3G), while the lowest on the T420s is Core i5 2520M (2.5G). That 0.2G difference in clock speed should not result in 3.5 hours of battery life difference on a 6-cell battery... if at all.

What components on the s model make it more energy consuming? Or just that the individual battery cell on the s model is much much smaller?

 

6 cell battery in T420s has lower capacity than 6 cell in regular T420.
Quite big watt hour difference between these two batteries.

 

Hard to actually determine how good a screen is from specs alone since manufacturers tend to ramp up figures. If you read good screen reviews, most notebook screens are far less than that for actual contrast, but you really don't need that much.

 

all 6 cell models:
T410/420

55+ 57Y4185 11.1 V dc, ~5.14 Ah 0.5 Kg 1.10 lbs ​

T410s

59+ 51J0497 11.1 V dc, 3.9 Ah 0.31 Kg 0.69 lbs​

T420s

66+ 0A36287 ​

Ultrabay battery identical.

Good Cylindrical 18650 LiIon element have capacity near 2.6-2.8 Ah.
Flat rectangle LiIon element no more than 2.0 Ah.

 

Yes, but for my use a SSD disk is to small and to my knowledge you can't get a 7mm 2,5" with for ex. 750 Gb capacity?

 

Will T420 be cooler and quieter than T410?
Any information about heat sink size and fan RPM?
Why does the battery last longer than T410?

 

is the eSATA port gone??

 

Actually, I believe Hitachi came out w/ a 7mm high 500GB drive, which is enough for most people. But users should stick with a SSD in that slot and replace their ODD w/ a normal height HDD.

Battery is longer because it is better optimized than the last generation CPUs (the first gen iX CPUs consumed more power than C2Ds, and even worse was that you couldn't undervolt them). As for cooling and noise, that will vary a lot between systems. You'll have to wait until actual reviewers come out for the results. I doubt you'll find any info on fan speed or heat sink size until users here take it apart (most reviewers get test systems from ODMs and cannot take it apart).

 

What is the thickness difference between the T420 and T420s?

Wait I noticed the mention of USB 3.0, I don't remember seeing that for the T420. So, does that mean the T420s is the only one that gets USB 3.0 or will both models get it?

 

Sadly, only the T420S gets usb 3.0.

 

:/ hmm better battery life at a possible lower cost or usb 3.0 and a thinner body. Kind of a touch choice for me.

Out of curiosity can some compare the dimensions of the T420(both S & non-S) vs the new 14in Elitebook? Thanks

 

As far as I understand the situation the T420s converted the former eSATAp port to an USB3. At least Addonics but I am sure others already have the adapter to convert back (pay attention to eSATA vs eSATAp) And you can do more with the USB3 port, after all.

 

T420 is almost exactly the same size as the new 8460p (EliteBook = 33.8 x 23.1 x 3.2cm, T420 = 34.0 x 23.3 x 3.1cm). T420s is quite a bit thinner (34.3 x 23.0 x 2.1-2.6cm).

The T420 is a bit lighter than the 8460p (EliteBook = 2.07kg, T420 = 1.96kg; both 6-cell and with no optical). T420s is of course a lot lighter (1.67kg).

 

Good to know. Thanks.

 

Gonna wait until users with an accurate scale reports back for the weights. The actual weights are usually significantly heavier than listed.

 

That's because people don't have the same configuration that the manufacturers use. Both the EliteBook and ThinkPad weights are without an optical drive (most people have one), an SSD (most people have an HDD), and with the smallest battery (many people get an extended battery).

Especially with something like the EliteBook it would be rare to see a no-optical configuration. HP does sell the machine that way, but I'm not sure anyone buys it that way since you can't swap in an optical drive without removing screws. On the ThinkPad line it would be much more common to see a no-optical configuration, but they're still pretty rare considering that Lenovo's website won't sell you a machine without an optical drive.

 

What is CTO

 

CTO = Configured-To-Order, the customer selects certain system components from a set of options (like choices of CPU, RAM and hard drive) and specifies a system configuration. Alternatively, the customer purchases a pre-configured system without waiting for it to be assembled.

 

Sligthly offtopic, do the T420 (Not s) support mSATA?