Why buy a t420/t520 over the upcoming E420/E520???

[Getit25]

I personally cant find a reason i would purchase the T series over the upcoming edges's. Hoping someone on here who is more technical could explain.

they appears to have all the same internals but the edges look 100 years newer and costs less? doesnt really make sense to me so obvious im missing something.

[underclocker]

Design, materials, workmanship.

A BMW 5-series and a Nissan Maxima look nearly the same on paper, too.

[Getit25]

Design, materials, workmanship.

This is along the lines of what i am looking for.

as far as design goes i can understand people who have owned thinkpads before would want to keep with the style that hasnt changed much at all in recent years for a comfort thing.

for someone like me who comes from liking cutting edge styled business computers (sony vaio S, and Z) i had a difficult time hitting the 'pay' button in my shopping cart when it came to the t420 and W520 machines.

I have decided to leave sony behind and not purchase the newly released vaio sb because of the lack of upgradeability of the machines, my computer geek friends have turned me on to thinkpads as my next choice but like i said the designs of them really put me off.

thats when i saw these new Edge models that are coming out soon, so going with you 'materials' line this is what im interested in. as far as i can tell they use the same cpu,motherboard,graphics cards, ram, ssds, usb 3.0 etc. So what materials are of cheaper quality in the Edge's

also how is the workmanship of poorer quality.

I need specifics please so i can make an informed to decision to pass up certain qualitys for styling or not.

[ThinkRob]

as far as design goes i can understand people who have owned thinkpads before would want to keep with the style that hasnt changed much at all in recent years for a comfort thing.

I don't like the "classic" ThinkPad styling for reasons of comfort. I like it because it I like having a computer that looks more like a work tool than something marketed to college kids. I like having a computer that doesn't look out of place in a serious meeting; one that doesn't distract with shiny, flashy, gaudy trim.

thats when i saw these new Edge models that are coming out soon, so going with you 'materials' line this is what im interested in. as far as i can tell they use the same cpu,motherboard,graphics cards, ram, ssds, usb 3.0 etc. So what materials are of cheaper quality in the Edge's

The chassis. Look, here's the long and short: ThinkPads have a good rep for durability and reliability due to things like the use of high-grade composite materials and the inclusion of an internal magnesium alloy skeleton. They're designed with business use in mind, and are well-equipped to the rough handling that a laptop can get when, say, it's taken on flights all over the country and around the world.

The "ThinkPad" Edge series has none of that. No advanced materials. No "reliability first, looks second" design. No internal support frame. Just the usual malleable plastic and chrome-like trim. It's designed to look "cool" (i.e. the same as other gaudy, shiny consumer laptops) and be cheap.

Now if you don't care about durability or professional appearance that's OK. In that case, the Edge might be fine for you (as would any random ODM box). But if you want a ThinkPad for all the reasons that makes geeks recommend them, you don't want an Edge.

Finally, since car analogies are all but required:

A real ThinkPad is like a classic black sedan. Reliable, safe in a crash, powerful engine, etc. It's a serious car, but not a terribly show-worthy one.

The Edge series is a Honda Civic painted red with a plastic spolier and "carbon fiber" decals driven by a 17 year-old with a "Thug 4 Life" T-shirt.

[sarbin]

thinkpad t/x... accept no substitute. (for me, at least )

[pianowizard]

I personally cant find a reason i would purchase the T series over the upcoming edges's.

Doesn't the Edge only have 1366x768 resolution, even for the E520? That's very low for a 15.6" screen and for that reason alone I would never buy the E520. The T520 offers up to 1920x1080.

[Getit25]

Doesn't the Edge only have 1366x768 resolution, even for the E520? That's very low for a 15.6" screen and for that reason alone I would never buy the E520. The T520 offers up to 1920x1080.

come release time if this ends up being the case that would be the deal breaker for me as minimum i want the 16x9 in the t420/420s