T420 comments and T420 vs E420s
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:22 am
I bought an E420s a month ago, but ended up sending it back due a several issues, but mainly that I couldn't live with the low-resolution glossy screen, and the non-replaceable battery. I have now bought a T420 instead. I would like to make a few comments on both.
The two machines are almost identical. The T420 costs only 10% more, the CPU is the same, E420s had switchable AMD GPU, T420 switchable NVidia GPU, same WiFi, both had camera and fingerprint reader, the T420 has GPS and 3G for some reason. The main difference is the screen for E420s is a infinite glass netbook-screen of 1366x768, the T420 has a 1600x900 anti-glare screen. Neither is available with a good screen, but at least the T420 ships with an acceptable screen as an option.
First of all, I actually like the Thinkpad Edge hardware design. It only weighed 1.6kg vs the T420 2.2kg. The Edge was also thinner. The DVD-drive on the Edge was integrated, this means it can not be replaced, but it had a nice fixed slot to put DVDs in instead of a tray. This means the DVD-tray won't shoot out when you pick up the laptop from a bag and randomly touch the eject button, something that normally annoys me with Thinkpads. I also like the way the lid on the Edge closed, it doesn't have a plastic lock like thinkpads, and can be opened much easier. The only bad think about the Edge design was the cheap-looking chrome-plastic running around the edge, which is just begging to break.
So far the Edge sounds better right? But now the [censored] parts.
I already mentioned the screen. I personally do not like glossy screen, but your millage might wary, much worse is the odd decision to ship the 14" and 15" Edge models with screens with netbook resolution. What are they thinking???
Second critical flaw is the battery. It is amazingly only a 4 cell battery, vs the T420 6 cell, and much worse: It is NOT replaceable, this apparently a new thing only tried with E420s series. With the integrated DVD-tray as nice as it might be, you can not expand the battery that way either. So the E420s is forever tied to a small low-capacity battery.
Touchpad. It is bigger on the E420s, this is a problem. You can not touch type with such a big touch-pad, and the way Lenovo has tried to compensate just means the touchpad is generally unresponsive. Additional the trackpoint has some issues with being detected in Linux for some reason.
Heat and noise. The E420s is a lot noisier than the T420. I am guessing it would work better with a less powerful CPU, it seemed whenever the CPU was pressed the Edge would lose its breath and starting whining loudly. The T420 is much more quiet. Both machines are obviously hot to touch when working, not on the bottom like many laptop, but on the keyboard(!). Your can feel they are working from the burning sensation in your fingers, and the heat radiating up from the keyboard.
GPUs. The E420s wins here. They are both [censored]. I have a few games that I haven't be able to get to work in either, but the E420s was a lot less confusing to configure. The T420 has separate video settings for both Intel and NVidia graphics, it is really confusing, and so far (2 weeks of trying), I have not been able to make the T420 output 1920x1080 to an external monitor, for some reason it sends the entire picture but does something that makes the external monitor detect it as 1680x1050 losing part of the screen. There was no such problem with the E420s.
Summary:
E420s:
* Nice looking
* Good effective physical design (lid, DVD-slot)
* Only ships with a crappy screen.
* Built-in low-capacity battery, that can not be replaced or expanded.
* Can not handle the highest-end CPUs available for it.
* Switchable GPU is problematic, but well-integrated
T420:
* Classic looking
* Solid, but clunky physical design
* A decent screen available as an option.
* Good battery, and even replaceable and upgradable
* Quiet, works with the high end CPUs
* Switchable GPU is very problematic, and seems duck-taped together software-wise
I really hope they get the software for GPUs sorted out soon, and I wish Lenovo would have the guts to make a nice modern machines like the Thinkpad Edges but with half-way decent hardware.
The two machines are almost identical. The T420 costs only 10% more, the CPU is the same, E420s had switchable AMD GPU, T420 switchable NVidia GPU, same WiFi, both had camera and fingerprint reader, the T420 has GPS and 3G for some reason. The main difference is the screen for E420s is a infinite glass netbook-screen of 1366x768, the T420 has a 1600x900 anti-glare screen. Neither is available with a good screen, but at least the T420 ships with an acceptable screen as an option.
First of all, I actually like the Thinkpad Edge hardware design. It only weighed 1.6kg vs the T420 2.2kg. The Edge was also thinner. The DVD-drive on the Edge was integrated, this means it can not be replaced, but it had a nice fixed slot to put DVDs in instead of a tray. This means the DVD-tray won't shoot out when you pick up the laptop from a bag and randomly touch the eject button, something that normally annoys me with Thinkpads. I also like the way the lid on the Edge closed, it doesn't have a plastic lock like thinkpads, and can be opened much easier. The only bad think about the Edge design was the cheap-looking chrome-plastic running around the edge, which is just begging to break.
So far the Edge sounds better right? But now the [censored] parts.
I already mentioned the screen. I personally do not like glossy screen, but your millage might wary, much worse is the odd decision to ship the 14" and 15" Edge models with screens with netbook resolution. What are they thinking???
Second critical flaw is the battery. It is amazingly only a 4 cell battery, vs the T420 6 cell, and much worse: It is NOT replaceable, this apparently a new thing only tried with E420s series. With the integrated DVD-tray as nice as it might be, you can not expand the battery that way either. So the E420s is forever tied to a small low-capacity battery.
Touchpad. It is bigger on the E420s, this is a problem. You can not touch type with such a big touch-pad, and the way Lenovo has tried to compensate just means the touchpad is generally unresponsive. Additional the trackpoint has some issues with being detected in Linux for some reason.
Heat and noise. The E420s is a lot noisier than the T420. I am guessing it would work better with a less powerful CPU, it seemed whenever the CPU was pressed the Edge would lose its breath and starting whining loudly. The T420 is much more quiet. Both machines are obviously hot to touch when working, not on the bottom like many laptop, but on the keyboard(!). Your can feel they are working from the burning sensation in your fingers, and the heat radiating up from the keyboard.
GPUs. The E420s wins here. They are both [censored]. I have a few games that I haven't be able to get to work in either, but the E420s was a lot less confusing to configure. The T420 has separate video settings for both Intel and NVidia graphics, it is really confusing, and so far (2 weeks of trying), I have not been able to make the T420 output 1920x1080 to an external monitor, for some reason it sends the entire picture but does something that makes the external monitor detect it as 1680x1050 losing part of the screen. There was no such problem with the E420s.
Summary:
E420s:
* Nice looking
* Good effective physical design (lid, DVD-slot)
* Only ships with a crappy screen.
* Built-in low-capacity battery, that can not be replaced or expanded.
* Can not handle the highest-end CPUs available for it.
* Switchable GPU is problematic, but well-integrated
T420:
* Classic looking
* Solid, but clunky physical design
* A decent screen available as an option.
* Good battery, and even replaceable and upgradable
* Quiet, works with the high end CPUs
* Switchable GPU is very problematic, and seems duck-taped together software-wise
I really hope they get the software for GPUs sorted out soon, and I wish Lenovo would have the guts to make a nice modern machines like the Thinkpad Edges but with half-way decent hardware.