Ordered a new T420s

T400/410/420 and T500/510/520 series specific matters only
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jayton4
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Ordered a new T420s

#1 Post by jayton4 » Tue Feb 19, 2013 12:04 am

Order placed from the outlet, 4174PPU. It was a good deal all things considered. I have a new Intel 520 Series 180GB SSD, 16GB Kingston DDR3, and Intel 6300 WiFi card to swap in before I ever power it on.


i7-2640M(2.8GHz)
4GB RAM
320GB 7200rpm HD
14in 1600x900 LCD
1GB Nvidia N12P-NS2
CDRW/DVDRW
Intel 6205 802.11agn wireless
WWAN option
Bluetooth
jayton4
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD w/ microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520-series 7mm 180GB SSD, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA SSD, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a few classics in storage

AIX
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Location: Bucharest, Romania, EU

Re: Ordered a new T420s

#2 Post by AIX » Tue Feb 19, 2013 2:47 am

Nice setup but I hope you're aware of these issues:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/827061
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/443569

Luck of the draw though.
T430 · i7-3632QM · 12GB RAM · 512GB SSD · HD+ · NVIDIA NVS 5400M · H5321gw
T420s · i5-2520M · 12GB RAM · 480GB SSD · HD+ · HD3000 · F5521gw
T60 · T2500 · 3GB RAM · 128GB SSD · 14.1 SXGA+ · 128MB ATI X1400
Past: T400, T41, T22, 600X, 390X

jayton4
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Re: Ordered a new T420s

#3 Post by jayton4 » Tue Feb 19, 2013 7:03 am

Thanks. I have read about the password issue on the Intel 520 drives, but I do not need full drive encryption, so I do not think it will effect me.

I have not read much about the fan issue, but can stand a little noise.

This laptop has everything I need. Power and lightweight, good resolution and pixel density, eSATA, USB 3.0, supports 16GB RAM for my VirtualBox stuff, and better battery life than my current T410s. I also will not have to deal with this issue any longer: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail. ... MIGR-76367
jayton4
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD w/ microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520-series 7mm 180GB SSD, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA SSD, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a few classics in storage

AIX
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Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:10 am
Location: Bucharest, Romania, EU

Re: Ordered a new T420s

#4 Post by AIX » Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:13 am

My first fan was really ok, no disturbing sound; now I'm on the second fan (my motherboard was replaced once because of this issue - http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/758605 ), this one is a little bit noisier, but nothing to bother me. Regarding the "crash to fuzzy screen" you should be safe, there were no reports that this is happening on the systems with discrete graphics. Otherwise is a really nice machine, better crafted than the regular T420 and its slimness it's just feels right.
T430 · i7-3632QM · 12GB RAM · 512GB SSD · HD+ · NVIDIA NVS 5400M · H5321gw
T420s · i5-2520M · 12GB RAM · 480GB SSD · HD+ · HD3000 · F5521gw
T60 · T2500 · 3GB RAM · 128GB SSD · 14.1 SXGA+ · 128MB ATI X1400
Past: T400, T41, T22, 600X, 390X

jayton4
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Posts: 618
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2011 9:00 am
Location: United States

Re: Ordered a new T420s

#5 Post by jayton4 » Fri Feb 22, 2013 6:07 pm

The first thing I noticed while taking it out of the box was there is no eSATA port. Bummer. I use the eSATA on my T410s quite a bit with imaging hard drives.

Looks like I will need to find a USB 3.0 to SATA adapter or an eSATA Expresscard.

I now see from the photos online that it is not supposed to have eSATA and I should have known better than to rely on the detailed specs page:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product ... D=PD015743

Overall, I am thrilled with the purchase. It is flawless out of the box. There are no creaks and the stickers for the Intel and Windows logos are not crooked.
jayton4
Current models/upgrades:
T410 2518X01- 8GB, Corsair Force GT 120GB
T410s 2901A3U- 8GB, Intel 6300 WiFi, Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB SSD w/ microSATA adapter
T420s 4174PPU- 16GB, Intel 520-series 7mm 180GB SSD, Crucial M550 512GB mSATA SSD, Intel 6300 WiFi
and a few classics in storage

wolfman
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Joined: Sat Jun 19, 2004 8:40 pm
Location: Pine Grove, PA

Re: Ordered a new T420s

#6 Post by wolfman » Fri Feb 22, 2013 7:18 pm

Congrats that looks like a sweet rig - there is (was a few minutes ago anyway) a nearly identical machine out there now if anyone is looking. T420 and T420s is a nice machine.
Thinkpad T420 | Core i-5 2520M | 16gb RAM | 120gb Intel 520 SSD + 750gb 7200 RPM | 6300 N | Ubuntu 12.04 x64
Desktop: AMD FX-8350 (8 cores) | 32gb ECC RAM | 240gb Intel 530 SSD + 1tb 7200 RPM | Ubuntu 14.04 x64 | HP ZR24w
Previous Thinkpads: A21m, R40, X61, T410

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