T520 vs T420: Did I Choose the Right One?

[londonwhite]

Hi everyone, I’m currently using a ThinkPad T520 and overall I’m pretty happy with it, but I keep wondering how it compares to the T400/T410/T420 series, especially the T420. For daily tasks like writing, browsing, and general work, does the T420 feel noticeably more portable or efficient in terms of battery life, and are there any trade-offs in performance, thermals, or screen quality compared to the T520? I’d really like to hear from anyone who has used both and can share whether sticking with the T520 is the better long-term choice or if the T420 has some advantages I might be missing.

[dr_st]

Welcome to the forum.

T520 is the same thing as T420, only bigger.
Battery life will be essentially the same. The larger screen may consume slightly more battery, but other factors will have a bigger effect.
Stock T520 can be had with higher resolution (1920x1080 vs 1600x900 max for T420). To me it's quite meaningful.
Bigger screen may be more pleasant to use in general, but the machine is heavier, that might be the only downside.

[TPFanatic]

t520 is a higher quality product imo

[SAIYAN48]

T520 is made for quad core and has way better cooling than the T420.

[dcfbf]

If you need need to save ~1 pound and ~1 inch in width, ~0.5 inches in depth and ~0.25 inches in thickness, and you need a quad core, then yes the T420 is perfect.
But if you need need portability, an X220 will do that job much better.
You are loosing out on a socketed CPU, meaning you lose on a simple upgrade to a quad core, but the T420's heatsink can't handle a quad core anyways.

Other than portability, T520 wins out on every other metric: performance, thermals, screen quality, workmanship.
To prove my point:
My T430 has hinge issues which have damaged the screen, my W520 is perfectly fine.
My T430's screen literally needs me to tilt the screen back and forth to read down the screen properly, my W520's screen doesn't.
At full load, my W520 (basically a T520 with a quad core) tops out at 80C with a 2740QM and a quadro 2000m but my T430 (basically a T420 but actually even runs cooler) with a 3340M and a NVS 5400M reach upwards of 90C or even thermal throttle. (Yes they both have fresh thermal paste)
Mind you, this is with a dual core on the T430. I can only imagine what will happen if I did put a quad core in it.
Meanwhile, the W520 brushes off the heat from the quadcore without a sweat.

Now, this is only one data point. My W520 could just be above average and my T430 could be below average, but I'm certain that others will back me up on what I've experienced.

[TPFanatic]

i can back you up, ive always found the cooling in the T420, T430, also T410 to be awful, worse even than T500.

mind you most T520 and T530 were sold with a nerfed version of their heatsink good enough for the base spec dual core. you would have to upgrade to the better heatsink to get good enough cooling for the quad core. the W520/30 use an entirely different heatsink.