Seeking opinions on model - T450s or T550, or other?

[slipnfall]

Hi Folks -

Long time Thinkpad owner (I've honestly lost track of the models, 760ED, 701C, T21, 560x come to mind, writing from my trusty T61P...), need some advice.

I'm about a year out from my EE degree - full time non-traditional student. For the past year I've been using a Yoga S1 Wacom i7, which has been amazing performance wise - has run all the SPICE simulation software and basic CAD packages with ease. However an opportunity to sell the Yoga easily (to a friend) presented itself, and so now I'm looking to move on. Turns out while the notetaking was great, I actually did better with pen/paper notes for studying.

My main sticking point (and reason I'm selling), is that I'm often setup in a library for many hours a day and I would like something with more screen real-estate. I also have my laptop with me all day in a backpack, so anything >5lbs would be too much (I have a good desktop at home so I don't necessarily need a 'desktop replacement).

So I'm stuck between a T450s and T550. I'm not worried at all about the performance - I think the i5-5300 and 8GB w/SSD (either I swap one in or comes with) will be perfectly fine. A good screen is important to me, so I certainly would want at least FHD IPS. I really like the idea of having a number pad, and the bigger screen on the T550 is a huge attraction. However there seems to be SO LITTLE T550 ownership information out there, that it makes me nervous. Would not hesitate a moment to pick up the 450s, just worried I might be missing out on more usability.

The hard part (as it always is) is that I have no way of getting 'hands on' with either of these models... you can only judge so much by the youtube videos of people handling them, and the cardboard footprint you cut out (I'm not the only one who does this, am I?...am I? )

What are your thoughts? Should I be looking at other W or Z lines? Really would like to stick to the 3.5-5lb mark... and 4th or 5th generation CPU. My budget is under $1000 - I'm seeing 450/550 refurbs (which I have zero hesitation about) on eBay for $800-900.

Suggestions?

Thanks for your time!

[hhhd1]

I think the T550 doesn't come with a descent screen, and the only good screen for the T450s is the FHD IPS one, so that pretty much narrow down the search.

Personally speaking, I am not a big fan of the newer thinkpad lines, different people may have different opinions though.

[slipnfall]

Yeah you know it's a tough call - the t550 has the 3k ips option, but I've always hated dealing with non-standard screen resolutions. If 1080 looks good to me on a 24", I didn't see the need for 3k on a 14". Bet it does look nice though.

In the end it came down to availability on eBay...plenty of t450s options, only two or three 550s with the 3k...the W550s was of interest at first, but the dedicated GPU would be wasted, and they fetched a higher premium.

Of course in a few months I'm sure I'll be regretting my timing, once the 460 and 560 variants are released, driving 450/550 prices down...

Jamie

[hhhd1]

Sorry I had totally forgotten about the 3k IPS option for the T550, but it is not bad, just require DPI scaling.

if you can live with a bit older generations, and you do not mind some minor modification to a laptop, consider the T430s/T420s, the can be "modded" with FHD IPS (similar to the screen used in the T450s).

This won't go above $600, probably under $500 total, but compared to newer generations, it will have less battery than newer generations, and a bit less graphics performance.

This probably would allow you in 6 months to sell it without loosing too much value, and replacing it with the newer generation.