Thinkpads Forum

http://www.alza.cz/lenovo-thinkpad-t420 ... 324308.htm this is new,

http://www.alza.cz/lenovo-thinkpad-t430 ... 361239.htm
this is new but unpacked full warranty..which one would you recommend?
In fact, what is the difference between 420 and 430? thanks a lot

I'd go for the T420 since it looks less expensive. The main benefits for the T430 are USB 3.0 and the better GPU performance. If you need those, then perhaps the T430 is worth the added cost. The T420 also has the old style keyboard if you care.

Thanks. The price difference is not such a big deal for me. I would appreciate the USB 3 I often move data around. I just worry about the keyboard issue - what is wrong with the new one? I read reviews about chiclet keyboards I do not know what Is so bad about them or what the difference is supposed to be. I just tried out the keyboard on my old R500 it feels soft and kind of deeply sunk in. However I now use a dirt cheap ideapad netbook and I do not find the keyboard offensive.

It's not the chiclet aspect of the new keyboards that has many of us upset. It's that Lenovo went from their awarding-winning, longtime standard 7-row keyboard layout to a 6-row layout and moved all the keys around. Some are now combinations of keys where before they were dedicated keys.

If you don't mind learning to type all over again, it probably won't bother you.


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JaneL wrote:If you don't mind learning to type all over again, it probably won't bother you.

Perhaps if you're not used to the shortcuts you won't care. I've never used them much myself so the switch won't be a big deal to me when I get a more modern ThinkPad. The new chiclet keyboard is quite good in my opinion. It's firm and the pitch is excellent. If you're a long time ThinkPadder and heavy shortcut key user, you'll probably never be happy with it.

Thanks for your answers...I guess I would go for the 430. It is the haptic comfort I care about..I have not gotten used to any layout so much. And a can learn new ones reasonably fast, anyway I write in more than one language, so I had to learn to switch mentally among keyboards.
At work I got a very crappy HP laptop...I can hardly see the lines that separate Excel cells...
Often, I will load my entire work directory to a fast flash memory, reload it to my own |Thinkpad and work there.
|The USB3 will come useful...it will be faster to do this.

My R500 has been dead for a year now..I am starved for a proper computer...
what is a chiclet, anyway? thanks. Will report experience

PRAGUEGUY wrote:My R500 has been dead for a year now..I am starved for a proper computer...
what is a chiclet, anyway? thanks. Will report experience

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiclet_keyboard

http://blog.laptopmag.com/thinkpad-type ... r-or-worse

I went to look at a showroom and touched the new keyboard..
well I hate it much more than I would have guessed from your posts.
I dont care about the layout..but I really miss the old rubbery feel, and the soft but firm haptic response.

This new one feels plasticky and hard....
and, since I wrote the posts, like three weeks ago, the 420 and 420s have practically disappeared!
there are the last pieces in the more shady eshops, with Slovak or Polish keyboards and corresponding Slovak and Polish Windows versions!
I am very strongly considering the Slovak one..I live in the Czech Rep., but bilingual Slovak/Czech...

I know and feel exactly the same way as you do. That's why I just picked up a T420 recently. Not a big fan of the newer touchpad on the T420 vs the T61 but that's something I can live with. Around North America there's a decent supply of T420 available for significantly cheaper than T430. Once in a while there'll be some good one posted in the marketplace here. Good luck with your search.

They are available here, but mostly the last pieces, the most expensive i7 versions..and a couple pieces from neighbouring states, like Slovakia or Poland.
I will watch the larges stores - people sometimes make use of the statutory 2 week no questions asked return right..although, not with these beauties probably...

PRAGUEGUY wrote:They are available here, but mostly the last pieces, the most expensive i7 versions..and a couple pieces from neighbouring states, like Slovakia or Poland.

I'd jump on the strongest base configuration available (as in CPU/GPU) since the horrid new keyboard is not going anywhere, and you might have to hang onto that T420 longer than you had initially expected...

My $0.02 only...

Good luck.

http://www.edgeshop.cz/tp-t420s-i3-2350 ... /d-109700/

this is a very low specced model I know ...what is wrong with it? suspiciously cheap, thanks