Differences in T420 vs T420s ?

[CheddarTrek]

Hey all, I was wondering what the differences are in the T420 and the T420s.

I have been intending to purchase an x220 with Ivy Bridge, but now with the newest delay to June (?) on those processors I am debating picking up a 14" instead of a 12" laptop (the nicer graphics coming from the Intel HD 4000 make it worth it to wait for Ivy Bridge if I am not getting a discrete option).

I configured both the T420 and the T420s with the following:

Intel Core i5-2520M Processor
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
14.0 HD+ (1600 x 900)
NVIDIA NVS 4200M Graphics with Optimus Technology, 1GB DDR3 Memory
4 GB DDR3 RAM (would upgrade to 8 GB myself)
Intel 160 GB Solid State Drive
6 Cell Battery
ThinkPad b/g/n
1 Year Warranty

...but the cost for the T420 is $1,142 compared to the T420s at $1,679...

What's so different about the S-version that makes it worth another $500? Or if there's a coupon or something that magically makes the prices similar, still I ask -- what is the difference in these two laptops to warrant the "s" suffix? Different screens? Differing build quality?

[ZaZ]

The T420s is about a pound lighter and thinner. If you're a road warrior those may be important. A couple other things to note is the T420s uses lower wattage batteries and there's no nine-cell on the T420s. The T420s does have a modular battery, which the T420 does not, but I would expect lower battery life on the T420s. The T420s like the X220 uses a 7mm drive for the main bay, which means your upgrade options will be more limited. 500GB are the largest 7mm drives right now. You might want to check the outlet too. I've seen T420s in there for less.

I see you're going with the 160GB Intel SSD, but I might suggest if you're not getting WWAN picking up a mSATA SSD, which all Sandy Bridge ThinkPads support. I would presume Ivy Bridge would as well. mSATA SSDs are small SSDs that plug into a miniPCI slot. The benefit of this would be it allows you to keep the platter drive in the bay where speed is not as important, but install the OS on the SSD. That's where you want the performance. I have this set up on my X220i. It's quite slick.

I'm just curious what you're doing that the Intel HD4000 would offer a significant difference? Ivy has already been delayed and I don't know anyone knows when it coming for sure. Ivy will offer probably a bit better battery life and some more performance. If you need top performance it may be worth the wait, but the X220 is still an excellent choice. Typical notebook usage isn't very CPU intensive. Ivy won't make a bit of difference for most users and Sandy Bridge equipped X220s already get boatloads of battery life. Also the difference between HD and HD+ resolution is so small because most of the extra space is on the side, which isn't as valuable, I'd take the better quality panel in the X220 over the small bump in resolution on the T420(s). Good luck and welcome to TPF.

[CheddarTrek]

First off -- Thanks for that awesome answer ZaZ! I can't imagine anything you didn't cover. Exactly what I wanted to know.

A couple other things to note is the T420s uses lower wattage batteries and there's no nine-cell on the T420s.

I'm not sure what it means in terms of performance / real-world use that it employs a lower wattage battery.

I see you're going with the 160GB Intel SSD, but I might suggest if you're not getting WWAN picking up a mSATA SSD, which all Sandy Bridge ThinkPads support. I would presume Ivy Bridge would as well.

That does sound like a great idea -- my only concern is that a friend had the set-up and had some difficulty with getting the Blue ThinkVantage button to work properly with the OS on the SSD and the recovery section on the original drive. Caused him all manner of problem, though I honestly would like to try it myself if I can be sure of avoiding the issues he had.

I'm just curious what you're doing that the Intel HD4000 would offer a significant difference? Ivy has already been delayed and I don't know anyone knows when it coming for sure.

Casual gaming. The notebook is primarily for work/travel (probably 75% of usage will be work-related, and 75% of that will be non-graphics intensive), but when I'm sitting around a hotel room with my work for the next day done I like to have the option of playing Starcraft or Oblivion, etc. casually on low settings. From all of the preliminary reports the graphics bump is the biggest bump that Ivy Bridge is bringing, and if I don't have a discrete option I think I might regret not waiting for it.

Good luck and welcome to TPF.

Thanks! And yes, what I really want is the x220. Especially if I could figure out a way of making sure that the SSD + HD option would out correctly. I just wish IB hadn't been delayed again.

Thanks once more -- that was an awesome answer. Much appreciated.

[ZaZ]

With lower wattage batteries you'll get less battery life. I guess that'd depend on your needs. I myself only need a couple of hours. I wish the four-cell was an option when I bought, but I can't complain about the six hours I get now.

I'm guessing to get the blue button to work you'll need to install Windows via the recovery discs, but I never use them myself as I don't use most of the ThinkVantage suite. The thing you have to be concerned about is whether the recovery discs align the partition properly. I don't know if the recovery discs do the correct alignment. If the partition is not properly aligned performance will suffer. From the factory it will. If you want to do a clean install, then it'll be aligned, but it's more work. You can download a Windows disc over at NotebookReview in the Windows forum if you're interested. I prefer a clean install. Then I make an image, which I can put back at any time, then just make any updates I need.

Gaming? That would certainly be significant.

[CheddarTrek]

Good info there on the hard drives and OS installation.

In my T61p I did a clean re-install as soon as I bought it but left the recovery section completely alone. Over the course of a few years I did have to use it a couple of times. Now I've got some new concerns about making sure that partitions are done properly so as not to hinder performance -- first I'd heard of that. Thanks again.

I might wait for Ivy Bridge and try to fix that T61p actually. It's been out of commission for a year and a half or so, but I think with a screen it might serve again as a stopgap to wait on Ivy Bridge.

[zern]

FWIW I was tossing up between the X220, T420 and T420s about 6 months ago.

I went with the T420s.

The higher res over the 1366x768 of the X220 plus the Optimus discrete graphics swung me in the end. With the 1600x900 I can easily run two windows side by side (and Win7's bump window management feature is perfect for this.)

I had a T60p and really wanted something smaller/lighter. Hence not the T420 despite the better price. The T420 is definitely lighter by a huge margin. The photos made the T420s look big but in reality it was pleasantly small.

The T420s battery is not brilliant (about 4-5 hours) but the light weight actually makes carrying the power brick a non-issue on those days when I needed it.

My old 160 Intel SSD slotted snugly into the 7mm bay after I removed the 2.5mm spacer.

All in all I am very happy with my choice.

[bmwman91]

I am in the exact same boat as the OP. My T60p has been a great companion, but the time to upgrade is coming. With Ivy Bridge on the horizon, I will most likely wait for Thinkpads with those to launch.

The appeal of the X220 is its IPS screen option, although the integrated graphics and low resolution are a big turn-off. The HD4000 graphics can probably handle CAD duty. According to notebookcheck.net, the HD4000 graphics should wipe the floor with the T60p's FireGL V5200, which still performs quite admirably, so I guess there isn't all that much room for worry.

If it wasn't for the annoyingly low resolution of 1366x768 on the X220, I'd say that it would be a no-brainer for me. Thin & light are huge pluses. Unfortunately, a screen with that resolution makes working with some development environments, and image processing a real pain when done on the laptop.

The T420s is pretty appealing, and I would go for that if it had an IPS screen option. I wonder if they will ever make that an option? A T420s with IB processor, discrete graphics and an IPS display would be amazing! Time will tell...

[bmwman91]

I also suspect that some of Lenovo's current (generous) discounts are aimed at enticing people into helping them clear out current models since lots of people are waiting for Ivy Bridge. My suspicion is that all of the same models will end up costing 20%+ more once they launch with IB.

[zern]

If the X220 had a high res IPS screen I would sacrifice the Optimus in the 420s and go for the X220.
Such is life - always a trade-off somewhere.

Now if the X1 hybrid had a high res IPS matt screen...

[wolfman]

I also suspect that some of Lenovo's current (generous) discounts are aimed at enticing people into helping them clear out current models since lots of people are waiting for Ivy Bridge. My suspicion is that all of the same models will end up costing 20%+ more once they launch with IB.

Agreed. I was more than happy to get my T420 and 16gb of RAM at the lower price about a month ago. Particularly since Ivy Bridge was delayed again.

[ZaZ]

If the X220 had a high res IPS screen I would sacrifice the Optimus in the 420s and go for the X220.

The place where I want more resolution is when browsing. Most browsers along with some other programs like office docs and PDFs allow you to control the size of text, which you can make smaller and it has the same effect as having a higher resolution.