mSata, harddisk and ram on T420

Hi,

I have decided on the following configuration ($1089). I will buy a 40gb mSata ($100), a 500gb 7200rpm harddisk ($55) and a 4gb Ram ($40), as follows.

Newegg.com - Intel 310 Series (Soda Creek) SSDMAEMC040G2C1 mSATA 40GB mSATA (mini PCIe form factor) MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD
Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Amazon.com: Corsair 4 GB DDR3 Laptop Memory CMSO4GX3M1A1333C9: Electronics

My questions are:
1) Is the hard-disk compatible with the model? Does the brand of the hard-disk matter? (Seagate, Samsung, WD, any differences?)
2) I can only afford 40gb version of mSata. I check my previous laptop in which I created a partition for programs, the size that I used is ~35gb. So, if I install all my programs in the mSata and it is almost full, will it slow down the application?
3) Any comments on my overall configuration? (I will only use the laptop for surfing, documents (including ppt), Civilization IV, any maybe a bit of photo viewing and editing.

Thanks a lot for your help!! Appreciate it!!

Yee Kan

ThinkPad T420 - 1 Yr Depot Topseller Warranty Edit
Processor: Intel Core i5-2520M Processor (2.50GHz, 3MB L3) Edit
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Edit
Operating system language: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 US English
Display type: 14.0 HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready Edit
System graphics: Intel HD Graphics 3000 Edit
Total memory: 2 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) Edit
Keyboard: Keyboard US English
Pointing device: UltraNav with TrackPoint & touchpad plus Fingerprint reader Edit
Camera: 720p HD Camera Edit
Hard drive: 250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm Edit
Optical device: DVD recordable multiburner Edit
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 4 in 1 Card Reader Edit
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery - 55++ Edit
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter Edit
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 3.0 Edit
PCI adapter: IEEE 1394a port
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (2x2 AGN) Edit
Integrated mobile broadband: Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable Edit
Language pack: Language Pack US English

 

The Seagate 7200.4 is by far the slowest 2.5" 7200 rpm drive, slower than the WD Scorpio Blue in some cases. Pick any other drive. A lot of people don't like the Scorpio Black because it's pretty loud, but it's very fast. Hitachi 7K500 is a good quiet drive, the Samsung 7200 500gb is as well.

 

Thanks!! You meant this right? Anyway, do you know which drive Lenovo is using if I configurate 500gb 7200rpm through the Lenovo website?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...p_hard_drive_sata_7200-_-22-152-236-_-Product

 

Yep, that's the one. I have no idea what 500gb drives Lenovo uses. It's not economical to upgrade through them though. When you factor in that you can sell whatever 250gb standard drive that comes with the machine on ebay for at least $25-30, upgrading yourself is only $25-30 compared to $110 from Lenovo! Memory and hard drive upgrades always make sense to do yourself.

 

Also you may want to wait for the Intel 310 80gb to come back to stock even if you don't need that capacity. The 40gb is rather slow in writes (random and sequential).

 

THanks a lot for the comments. May i know whether i can read some tests on the Intel 310 80gb and 40gb (that you mentioned about differences in speed...)

 

40gb is too small if you are going to install program on it. The extra 40gb us worth it.

 

Depends on a user's usage. I've been using a 32GB HDD for my Win7 64-bit installation w/ several programs and games just fine (and lots of room to spare).

 

Same here. Not even half this 64gb ssd is full using the ultrabay Scorpio Black for media files. It's too bad the Intel 310 40gb isn't faster, 80gb is too big for my usage.

 

Yes, for the laptop that I am using, all the programs (and quite a lot of junks) only take up 35gb. It should be enough. However, someone told me that the 80gb version is faster. Need to read more about this... Any comemnts?

 

Yes, the bigger the SSD, the faster it is (even when everything else is the same). The reason why is that there are more NAND chips adding concurrent channels and hence improved write speeds.

 

Personally I like some overhead room from my main hdd, it is pain in the neck when you are decompressing a file halfway and the hdd drive become full. Which mean you have to clean up all the temp file and decompresses the file all over again. To me 60gb-80gb is perfect for a boot drive, anything smaller it's a pain in the neck, anything bigger is a waste of expensive storage medium.

 

Dear All,

Thanks for your previous advices on the 80gb mSATA. After taking into account the budget I have, I can have 2 options, either to have 80gb mSATA + 6gb RAM, or to have 40gb mSATA + 4gb RAM + NVS 4200M + 3 year depot warranty. Details below. Everything else (i5-2520M, HD+, 9-cell batteries), including the price, are the same. What should I choose?

Option A:
80gb Intel 310 mSATA + 6gb RAM
1 year depot warranty
Windows 7 Premium

Option B:
40gb Intel 310 mSATA + 4gb RAM (1 DIMM)
NVS 4200M Graphics
3 year depot warranty
Windows 7 Professional

My current size for all programs and system files is ~35gb.

Thanks.

Yee Kan

 

Forget to mention that the hard drive is 500gb 7200 rpm drive.

The original post of my request for help is here.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/567306-configuration-choose-lenovo-t420.html

 

Tough choice. From your OP, I'd go with the 2nd one though. You can always easily upgrade memory and HDD/SSD in the future, but GPU you cannot. More warranty might be worth it if you travel, though your OS upgrade might not be necessary (if it's CTO and you want to save a little bit of money). The only reason to get Win 7 Pro is if you need remote desktop to your laptop, use XP mode or want to join a work domain.

 

Thanks Sgogeta4. Yup, it is a very tough choice. Option B is a preconfigured system. So, Win 7 Pro is a free upgrade. I will travel (fly cross-continently) a few times per year.

Yup, I am a bit inclined towards Option B now. I probably can install all the programs I need in the 40gb mSATA and I can upgrade them in the future when the price of mSATA drops. The 3-year warranty will be invaluable if I really need it sometimes later...

Thanks again!!

Yee Kan