Thinkpads Forum

What to buy? T450s, T460s, T460

I’m currently using a T420, but need to upgrade immediately. Which of the three models should I consider?

Screen – do not care if pixels are the max; rather, how bright a screen is (nits) matters most to me as the T420 is a bit dark
T450s (300 nits?)
T460s (300 nits)

Keyboard – unclear about the keyboard setup for the T460s and T460, but heard that the keyboard is worse than the T450s, and that a new manufacturer is making them. It was also concerning that there’s only 40g of actuation, whereas previous T-models were all 60g? How do the new keyboard compare to the T450s?

Chasis / materials – not a huge concern, but assume the T460s is the nicest model with the best materials. Have heard tha the T460 is not a huge upgrade from last year’s model.

At the end of the day, if I care most about the quality / brightness of the screen, and how good the keyboard is, should I also consider the x1 carbon?

Thanks!!!

the reviews for the T450s are actually much better than other reviews. I'm thinking of buying that...would that be too big of a step back from a performance perspective?

I would say unless you care about the extra half pound of weight on the T450s, that'd be my pick for the better utility being that it offers a SSD + HDD option and battery bridge. I can't imagine you'd notice a performance difference unless you're running the CPU at or near 100% of capacity all the time.

that's how i'm feeling. now where do i go about buying a t450s? OOS from lenovo.

I believe manufacturer refurbished T450s, which means it has a Lenovo warranty and should look new, start around $650 on eBay. That's where I'd start.

Depending on which sub type you are looking for, there are still plenty of T450s around. Like a low end T450s with I5 5200u with 500GB drive and the HD+ display or the higher end one with I7 5600U, 8GB ram/256GB SSD, FHD display. Both are very available, like hundreds of them.

Before you decide, have a look here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=120617