Why no thinkpad T420 reviews?

If the thinkpad T420 and X220 are being released at the same time why do we only have a review of the x220? I want to see a review of the T420 please????

 

actually the T series are coming out before the X220. Last time i checked was the 21st March.

 

exactly. that makes it even more weird...

 

Maybe because lenovo is focusing more on the X line and giving those out to reviewers?

 

or maybe they are just more confident with their x than with their t ?

 

Tablets are hot, and Lenovo definitely wants to capitalize on the new market trend with its ultraportables. Specific to the X220, IPS display option and impressive battery performance are two attention-getters. (I suspect the iPad display has prompted Lenovo to do something about the X screens.) Also, notice that Lenovo spells out "X220 Tablet" instead of "X220t" as in previous iterations.

 

I think it's mainly since the X-series was redesigned, whereas the T-series is a merely evolutionary change from a 16:10 chassis to a 16:9 size. The new X-series is, frankly, more exciting than the new T-series.

That may be the case, but I think the main reason why IPS screens are offered on the X220 instead of any other Thinkpad is that it's simply cheaper. A smaller display is, given everything else held constant, always cheaper than a larger one, and thus it will be a more affordable upgrade for consumers and also less of a financial risk for Lenovo to make the step of reintroducing IPS displays in mainstream laptops.

I think Lenovo has always been officially denoting the tablets as the X2xx Tablet models, including on their website. It's only sometimes shortened to make things easier.

 

Well, T420 was redesigned and you can tell the difference between T410 and T420 - different screen ratio, size, port layout, hdd placement, odd placement. Only the keyboard stayed the same and probably trackpad too, the rest seems fairly redesigned to me
Not complete revamp like in T400-T410 transition so not quite revolutionary, imo quite evolutionary, hopefully to be even better than T400/T410 were.

 

The T420 and T520 integrated graphics models will be up for order on Lenovo.com on March 18th in the U.S. (next Friday). Not sure when the Nvidia 4200M dedicated graphics versions will be available.

I'm sure we'll see T420 reviews appear next week on review sites, and then user reviews will appear towards the end of March as people start to receive shipments.

 

Is this also applied for the U.K?

 

Sorry but I have no information on the U.K. release date, but I would imagine the U.K. would be around the same time, within a week or so of the U.S.

 

cheers for the info anyway. at least its available to order a few days before comfirmed date. My only other wish is for the new e420s to come out around about the same time as the T series but it looks like that wont happen...

 

The same for t420s?

 

My understanding was that only the T520 would have an integrated graphics model, but above you said "...dedicated graphics versions" -- will the 4200M be an option for the T420 as well?

Thanks!

 

No, I believe that will come later.

Yes, the T420 will have a Nvidia 4200M option, you can see that in the specs sheet here: http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/ww/wci/us/ww/pdf/t420_t520_datasheet.pdf

 

Ah, thank you. I had actually seen that spec sheet a few days ago but I think my mind incorrectly inserted at | between the two graphics chips as one is on the left side and the other on the right.

 

Bumping this because... well... what the hell? The T420's been out for a couple days now (so I know it's not a case of reviews being embargoed), and orders have definitely started shipping... so how is it that seemingly nobody has gotten one and reviewed it?!?

 

Mine is on a plane from China right now.
Will be here in a few days and I'll get some pics and impressions up.

 

Excellent. I look forward to reading your review.

 

We all are!

 

I think most tech websites are bored/frustrated with the thinkpad design (u know, because it doesn't have an Apple logo on the back) so they do half-baked reviews (Cnets review of the x220) or they just don't review it at all unless there's some major redisign (T220). What these tech sites just don't understand about the Thinkpads is their simplistic beauty: they are tough as Hell and they just work!

 

And... uh... I'll be doing a review.

I ordered a T420 last night.

 

My dream machine would be a Thinkpad X420(14", 1440x900 IPS, SSD, i5 and 8 hours of battery), until they actually start making this I'm torn between the X220, T420 and T420s.

We know by now the X220 seems to be a winner, so how's the T420(s) gonna be in terms of screen, battery and durability?

Does any one here know how the reviewing sites work? Do they get a sample from the manufacturer and then do a review? Do they ask for a sample or do they even buy sample to review?

 

The T series will most likely be craptastic like previous few generations. It will be a 6-bit TN panel and far inferior to the X220's IPS panel. Most review sites get sent samples by the ODM or manufacturer depending on who makes the parts.

 

While I bet the T420's screen isn't gonna be great (since the choices are pretty much just 6-bit TN panel or... uh... Etch-a-Sketch?), I don't have any reason to believe that the rest of the laptop will be "craptastic like previous few generations". I've actually owned every one of the "previous few generations", going back to the early T4x series, and I like the most recent T-series machine that I've had (a T410) quite a bit.

 

Get a 1440x900 for your T410 (or a 1600x900, I can only assume at this point) and you should be adequately happy.

Just don't physically abuse the display or the notebook. please. No senseless drop tests in front of strangers, okay?

 

Yeah, as I said I try not to do that too often. I guess the glowing Apple logo raises my competitive ire...

And yes, I did order a 1600x900 display.

 

Got mine in today, pretty dang nice.
The screen is better than the one I remember in my old T61 (or was it a T60?, cant remember). Colors look good, plenty bright.
Speakers are also much louder, loud enough to actually make it useful for watching a stupid Youtube video during breaks between classes and actually hear it with my friends (couldnt do that with the old T61, it was quiet even at max).
Even when the fans spin up, its barely audible, very nice difference compared to my wind-tunnel XPS.
No glaring issues with mine, no loose pieces, everything fits together nice and tight (I remember some of the T60/T61's had bulges on the keyboard, palmrest, non of that here).
With the screen dimmed and nothing but office applications running the power meter does rate it at over 10 hours, I'll never have a need to carry an AC adapter ever again (why did I even bother buying the spare AC adapter??).

Anyways, just a quick overview of it, I'm slammed with homework, hopefully I can give more opinions later. Not a single complaint with it so far, money well spent.

 

Good to hear, sprtnbsblplya.

If I might pester you with a question: about how long did it take to get yours after ordering? Also, did you get a tracking number or did it just show up?

 

I ordered it on 3/19 and received it in the mail today.
Lenovo sent me a shipment confirmation email, which had a link to their invoice page which had the UPS shipping number in it. It went from Chep Lak Kok, HK to Anchorage, AK, then to Louisville, KY where it cleared customs and then to Baltimore, then delivery here in Arlington.
Everything was done by air as well, even though I picked the cheapest shipping option.

Had a new HDD and RAM installed in less than 5 minutes (Dell could use a lesson here, at least in their new XPS design where you have to dismantle the entire PC to change HDDs).

One quick note, I couldn't find Intel WiFi 6205n drivers anywhere (the Intel hosted ones on their own site weren't signed according to Win7 and it refused to install them even when I forced it), so I had to copy the drivers off the original HDD via an external SATA to USB reader.

 

Great, thanks. I ordered on the 25th, but my order is still listed as "In Process" (and IBM's order page doesn't offer any more detailed information either.)

I upgraded the shipping on mine, but I get the feeling I might have wasted $25 doing so...

 

C:\SWTOOLS is going to be your friend until the folks responsible for the download area wake up and realize the product launch happened.

 

SWTOOLS was my savior, it had everything I needed.
All the Think applications were there too.

 

This happens at every generation change.

Hey, does your T420 have a 1600x900 screen? If so, could you take a high quality pic and post it to give us some perspective?

I have a T420s coming but I don't think it will be here for a couple of weeks so I am curious.

 

I saw you ordered the t420 with the 9 cell. Could you also take a picture of how that looks please? Thank you !

 

I'll try to get some up this afternoon if I have time, physiology and pathophys exams next Monday are giving me the big time crunch right now.

 

Screen is 1600x900.

I also recall someone asking about the BIOS on the T420, it is UEFI (it also gave a legacy option or something like that, I didn't bother to look at it at all).

 

Looking forward to an in-depth battery life review

Oh and temps at full CPU + GFX load (like video encoding + FullHD Youtube at the same time)...

 

Are there any IPS screens (or something better than the current screen) that may fit into the T420/T420s ?

 

Nope.

 

YouTube - Unboxing the Lenovo ThinkPad T420

YouTube - Lenovo Thinkpad T420 HD Video-Preview

 

I was enquiring about after market, and that was all sorted

 

As promised: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/568081-my-t420-review.html