Which Intel SSD actually comes with the ThinkPad T420

[_Sam_]

I'm looking at buying a ThinkPad 420 but cannot find out which model Intel SSD it comes with when you choose the Intel SSD option. The Lenovo site just says "Intel 160 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA".

I asked a salesperson in the online chat and they didn't know. I called Tech Support and they said it was "04W" which doesn't match with any Intel SSD model.

So which Intel SSD is it exactly?

[Q-Ball]

I'm looking at buying a ThinkPad 420 but cannot find out which model Intel SSD it comes with when you choose the Intel SSD option. The Lenovo site just says "Intel 160 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA".

I asked a salesperson in the online chat and they didn't know. I called Tech Support and they said it was "04W" which doesn't match with any Intel SSD model.

So which Intel SSD is it exactly?

Alright: let's do some deduction.

It probably isn't the Intel 510 (the fastest one) since there isn't a 160GB model in existence (only 250 and 120).

It might be the X25-M G2 or 320 and here's why:
The T420s has a certain type of drive bay that only takes drives 7mm thick.
The X25-M/320 is 7mm thick (plastic spacer gives it 9.5mm height suitable for the T420).
So using only one model makes sense since they can use it in all their models.


But if you're thinking about getting an SSD straight from Lenovo you're making a mistake. Neither the X25-M nor the newer 320 have performance that SandForce SATA II drives had a year ago.
For the same price you can get an OCZ Vertex 2 (which blows any not-the-510 Intel drives out of the water), which has 250GB of space, for the same price as you'd get a slower 160GB from Lenovo.
Also, if you do this, you get a 250GB (320GB) hard drive that you can use in an external enclosure/Ultrabay when you replace the hard drive that comes with the computer with your SSD- the UltraBay slot costs about 60 bucks but then you can get even more storage in case 250GB isn't enough.

So it isn't all that relevant as to what SSD Lenovo puts in since you can get a better cost/benefit (speed, size) ratio by installing your own.

EDIT: You can also get a firmware upgrade as soon as the manufacturer releases it: Lenovo takes a LONG time to issue these upgrades.

[_Sam_]

Thanks, good points all around.