What is the best laptop on the market, and why is it a used T420?

What is the best laptop on the market, and why is it a used T420?

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Its a good laptop, I guess. But it weighs so much that it's very uncomfortable to carry, which is the point of a laptop.

The 2015 Macbook Pro and it isn't even close.

>T420

DUDE

>pwm
>best laptop
))))

WEED

>But it weighs so much that it's very uncomfortable to carry,

>$CURRENTYEAR
>Being a weak nu-male

>buying a used laptop.
Enjoy your blue light disco

>used
enjoy your backdoored firmware, cuck

What?

>I can't carry 5 pounds

The display is absolutely terrible in almost every other regard also.

It's a shame because the T420 is a pretty good design otherwise, although in my opinion the 14.1" T60 was basically the peak of laptop design and perfect other than the usual poor TN display quality issues.

Werks for me. Got one two years ago, only switched hdd to ssd.
What is the normal capacity of new batteries? Mine last solid 4 hours. Also thinking about a docking station.

>tfw your T61p dies because of the faulty GPU

can I find or build a T420 for gaming?
nothing AAA just MMOs n shit

Nothing better. Best purchase I ever made. Ugly Lenovo logo already came pre-removed too.

>shitty TN panel

It should be fine for (((((most))))) non-AAA games. If you want to, you can buy a PCIE adapter and hook up a GPU externally if the game requires it.

>not X200 with hydis AFFS screen, LED backlight mod, 250GB SSD, and 9cell battery

might get this soon. the x220 is too small.

I've been looking for a new laptop and at first focused on the x220, but I've found out the t420 are actually cheaper while having better specs. What should I look for in one anyway? I've noticed there's different specs for the same model. I suppose i5 but what gen? 8GB RAM? 9 cell battery? Anything else?

(Your) comment doesn't even make sense

Not him but, when, you're carrying a shit ton of textbooks, any weight savings is welcome. I got a t420, but as much as I like it, I much rather get a newer lighter ThinkPad or latitude/XPS.

On another note, the t420 is not powerful enough for me, heavy and has shit battery life (4hr with medium usage). Not worth buying a 9 cell, it would cost me 80 CAD to get it here, nearly %40 of laptop worth.

Any new modern recommendations?
Looking at t460/p50/XPS 13.

>not powerful enough for me
elaborate

Yes I think a T420 is absolutely brilliant, for the money you cannot have a better computer. I have a T420s with the 14" 1600x900 screen and it's woeful but I don't care, I consider it useable. It has onboard HSDPA and it's 99% mint. Love it to death, Arch Linux made it perform super fast.

I also have a T61 with the novidya GPU, that's running the 14" 1440x900 screen and I like it even more than the T420 for some reason. I also had a T60 with the shittiest screen which started my Thinkpad hobby in the first place, but that one died when I tried to fit a T61 screen to it.

But here's the thing: They do show their age. Battery life isn't good, even with a new battery I'm struggling to get 3 hours of use. The ultrabay battery would help a little but I'm not going to pay $60 for one.

Instead my favorite laptop right now isn't a laptop. It's an iPad mini 3 I bought with a busted battery for $30. After a $20 replacement aliexpress battery, and this logitech keyboard case, I think it's my best laptop. It sucks DICK it doesn't support a mouse without jailbreaking but it makes up for it with that BEAUTIFUL high resolution screen and optimization. It's the most efficient thing I've ever seen, with a chink 6000mAh battery it simply will not run out of juice. Ever. I can use it for a full day and it will have battery by the end of the day. I can browse Sup Forums with it, watch movies, whatever I'd do with a laptop.

Now of course, it cannot replace a computer. Browsing the web isn't as fluent as it is with a computer. It lacks so many things a computer does have, even my T61. But on the go, it's just in another world of portable. That battery combined with that screen, it's tiny size and this keyboard case, I can use it anywhere without a hassle. It's small enough to fit my jacket's pocket and it's easy to lay on my lap.

An iPad mini has made my thinkpads redundant.

actually if you upgrade the cpu to a quad core and hook up an external gpu it'll even run some AAA gaymes.

t. fag with that setup

Any chance you'd be interested in a T560?

It's actually not too big or heavy. I was able to steal one from work stuffing it in the back of my 32" waist pants last week without anyone noticing (dead serious)

My current laptops are a Thinkpad T400 and a late 2011 MBP (non-retina). I'd like to get a new Chinkpad to replace my older one, since I would like to turn the T400 into a home server (specifically because it's Librebooted, meaning I can trust it for managing all of my information and whatever). I have a few questions about the T420.

How sturdy is it?
The T400 and Mac have been alright for day to day use but a lot of the T420 ebay pictures show that the top of the display near the corner, the frame is cracked.

How easy is to get genuine replacement parts?
I could replace cracked or old parts easily myself, but how hard is it to get parts that aren't chink trash? Specifically batteries. Every time I look for real Applel batteries, I get sup-par Indian garbage unless I fork out $100 for a genuine part. This pisses me off to no end.

Can I hackintosh it easily?
I use Linux for play, and Mac OS for work. Using Windows is an option, but I really don't want to install spyware. I'd rather use Mac OS and just disable Siri and Spotlight. I tried to hackintosh my T400 and it just doesn't work. I need something that works well with Clover and Mac OS Sierra, where I can simply boot to the installer, format the drive, install Mac OS, install some kernel extensions, and use it as a daily driver.

How hard is it to upgrade?
I only need to be able to replace the hard drive and RAM really. I'd also like to replace the disc drive with a bay for a second hard drive for backups and stuff. Also, what is the maximum RAM the motherboard supports? I have 16 in my Mac now, so I'll need at least that much in the T420.

Thanks in advance, guys!

It's going to struggle with WoW man, it's actually a hard game to run. It needs 4 physical cores to run it's best now, and something around a gtx 760/750ti to do 1080p. 900p 30 fps may be do able. I can do 1080p 45fps on a i3 6100u with i gpu on the lowest settings.

Lenovo self-maintainer here, p sure each refresh of the line only has one generation of the CPU. IE t410 is first gen Intel Core series, t420 is second gen, etc.

>What should I look for in one anyway?
The one with 1600x900 screen and avoid the nvidia dGPU version.

>I suppose i5 but what gen?
The cpu is socketed so you could upgrade to a quad core in the future like the 2630qm, 2670qm or 2720qm, nothing too high-end because by then temperature becomes an issue.
Also the T420 only uses Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge is possible with coreboot iirc.

>8GB RAM?
Doesn't matter since ram is dirt cheap anyway, it supports to 2x8gb sticks for a total of 16gb.

>9 cell battery?
It's a nice plus but not mandatory.

>Anything else?
SSD.
If possible an msata one so you can use the msata slot + main hdd/ssd slot + optical drive slot as hdd/ssd for a total of three drives at the same time.

>Battery life isn't good, even with a new battery I'm struggling to get 3 hours of use.
Bullshit, my non-genuine T420 9-cell does ~6h of 1080p chink cartoons.

I'm upgrading my T420 to an i7 tomorrow. I hope I don't break this damn thing.

I work with VMs quite often so there's that. But the main issue is when I'm on battery, I have my system be very conservative in using resources such as keeping it at 50 to 75% max usage in order to hit the 5 hours of operation. I multitask heavily and the t420 just doesn't keep up in certain cases. Point is I'm looking for 12 hour battery life, lightweight and relatively powerful.
Not really looking for less than 15 inch machine, the only reason why I'm even considering the p50 since for $100 it has considerably more value and the closest to the t420 in terms of design.

What's wrong with the DGPU one?

It breaks easily and most thinkpads with it won't last very long.

Fuck. Well, at least it won't set me back too much to replace it. I can always just bring over the memory, SSDs and i7 I bought.

Nothing really but it's barely better than the iGPU and shares the already small heatsink with the CPU so it makes everything hotter.

>LED backlight mod
Can you still adjust the brightness and if so does it go as dim as the original backlight?

You can't just replace the mobo with a standard intel one?

Can you please stop shilling?
We have reddit pajeets browsing here and they inflate the prices on ebay

LMAO

>How sturdy is it?
Compared to the T400 the base feels the same but the lid is weaker because no rollcage.

>How easy is to get genuine replacement parts?
Dunno about genuine but i buy parts from AliExpress by and they just work.

>Can I hackintosh it easily?
Yes, there's actually a detailed insanelymac thread about it if you google "t420 hackintosh"

>How hard is it to upgrade?
See Everything is upgradeable, supports 16gb ram and three drives simultaneously.

Just a heads up, the P50 is huge and all the ones we have at work are garbage. We purchased three of them to trial for Smartboard compatibility. Highest end models with Xeon's, etc.

Imaging them were a pain and the GPU's are the flakiest I've ever seen in a decade of working in IT. Screens consistently go blank, external output is nonexistent, and USB devices disappear on all of them after just a few hours of use. It's a known issue with the chipset and the only solution is to remove the battery and restart. Literally have to do it at least once a day on each machine. The department is dead-set on keeping them, for some reason.

what about the battery life ? need a laptop for college just for typing notes and essays. I have fairly long days so more than 12hours with wifi off and only microsoft words running would be perfect

Have fun with the Chinese government spying on all of your data.

My t420 rarely leaves the house. I use it x1 hybrid outside. Its battery life is godly when in Android mode.

this
i also have a t420 and i carry it to college. i regret not getting the x220.

It's better than the americucks anyway

>thinkpads are used almost exclusively by NASA and the ISS

>Yes, there's actually a detailed insanelymac thread about it if you google "t420 hackintosh"

That's good.

>Everything is upgradeable, supports 16gb ram and three drives simultaneously.

Also good, but does it support anything higher than 16GB? I at least need that to justify the purchase, as I use a few RAM intensive programs for work that often eat 10GB or more (because Pajeets can't optimize code).

>anything higher than 16GB?
No, 16gb (2x8gb) is the maximum amount of RAM the T420 supports.

The W520 supports up to 32gb.

>carrying more than 1 textbook with a laptop
What
Play an older version then. Lich king didn't need more than 2GB RAM and a dual core, I believe the same goes for cata. Unless you actually like anything post wotlk

Cmon man this is why you don't own a T61p. I remember being warned about that shit in 2012 when I first started buying thinkpads (and have never since bought anything else.)

>local shop is selling refurbished L412 for 99$ each
should I buy one? the ones they are selling have an i5, 4GB DDR3, and a 160 gig HDD.

>unwieldy form factor
>disappointing build quality
>shit hardware
>shit panel unless you want to swap it yourself
>that fucking bezel
>championed by an obnoxiously sheepish fanbase composed of tryhards who think they need a patented magnesium alloy roll cage™ to watch anime in bed
who's the biggest consumer of cocks in the market today and why is it OP's well-used asshole?

Well I personally play retail, have forever. I like the little dopamine hit of racing for a kill. I don't have enough time to go for region firsts though so I've only been playing in ~11th US guild. It's a very . different game to different people and that's it's appeal. Some people, like yourself I guess, can just chill on a wrath private server and enjoy it. Others need high . end 3v3 arena, yet others just play for gold.

Anyway, I think iGPUs will continue to improve and soon enough offer a pretty good experience. In the meantime . I think the gtx 1050(ti) laptops are perfect because it's not that demanding of a card. Like the zenbook pro and xps15.

You could probably play MMos at 1080p pretty well on a i7 7700hq.

Which is why the X220 with an IPS screen is the best laptop.

>postulating an initial open ended question then changing the question to one that seeks validation for your own opinionated answer to the initial question disregarding that the initial question is open ended and has no definitive correct answer

Since you cucks are fresh to Sup Forums let alone Sup Forums I recommend you stop posting and lurk more, for at least a couple of weeks to understand our culture here before you bring your reddit-tier filth into our corner of the internet.

stfu

Btw I found a cheap (around 120 bucks) 2007 macbook on ebay

Planned on adding more ram, replace the HDD with SSD and install ubuntu on it.

Basically I'm going to use it for some typing, shitposting and watching chinese cartoon on mcdonalds while waiting for the train or something.

Any reason why I shouldn't do it?

I thought x200 AFFS is only possible with CCFL-Backlight.
Do you have any guide or links for AFFS with LED-Backlight?

Screen tearing when using optimus on linux, unless you go with bumblebee.

You misspelled x220

is it worth to buy a used T410, T420 or T430 for less than 150 €?

>battery life and weight are unimportant
Of course there's creation but that can be better done on a desktop.

>thinkpads are used almost exclusively by NASA and the ISS
Do you know why this is?
It's probably a government deal, not something special about Thinkpads.

Because they're durable and manufactured to high standards.

yes

Eh. I used to like it, but after getting an X220T, I prefer it. IPS display, touchscreen, etc. I do sometimes miss the performance of the nvs 4200m, but I shouldn't be doing anything like games on a laptop anyway.

I have the docking station. It can be pretty useful.

>not getting a specced out W520 instead

support.lenovo.com/de/de/solutions/SF16-T0051

No, unless you really need one

>if youre mobile workstation is less than 20 lbs and can't raytrace 8K scenes in 5 seconds then you're just a limp dicked faggot and not a real Sup Forumstard

>10 year old core duo
>$120

It's not even a core2 duo. It's literally trash now

I fucked my lower back by carrying a T410 all semester in my backpack

you get the modded inverter and LED strip from www.iccfl.com/index.php?cPath=205
then you take out the ccfl tube from your AFFS screen (or any other screen)
and you can dim it as far as you'd like.

but you can disable it via bios, right?

so no real disadvantage?

It's still a unibody macbook which is great to show off if you're poor.

but it literally defines a poorfag. wasting money on trash

B-but muh successful life!

Brah
I have bunch of books and Getac S400 (which weight 3.6kg) and you dare complain about weight

I will say, your argument is invalid

>pic related

420 is worse than both t520 and x220
Worst compromise, easily

It's like people are talking about cars and you bring up cargo trucks.

So you don't believe me that I have been carrying this?

It would be like that if I brought 80's mobile computers to the discussion.

Those motherfuckers weight 7.5kg with 8mhz cpu and 640kt ram and yet it doesn't even include a battery.

tl;dr piss off
>pic related

this

got two a while back on ebay for $120 each. sold one for $250 and basically got the other for free.

the chinese are working on a 1440p ips mod for the t420 and i hope they release it soon.

Higher temps overall, since the heatsink is shared by the cpu and gpu. Last time I tested full load on both, after reapplying thermal paste, I got 90c for the cpu (2520m) and 95c for the gpu. Higher than I expected, I wonder if I applied too much paste.
Still, for Solidworks the quadro is a more than welcome boost, so I'm happy I went for a dgpu one.

Btw, did a quick test while playing New Vegas, and the temps on both settled on more manageable 70c.

The real answer is the glorious X220

>An iPad mini has made my thinkpads redundant.

of course it would, if "browse Sup Forums...um watch movies...." is what you use your computer for

the rest of us have work to do, kiddo

If you use Linux you arent working at all.

Who /hackintosh/ T420 here?

I find that the ~14" form factor is the best balance, personally. ~12" is a bit too small/cramped for a daily driver, and the ~15" is a bit large and heavy for portability or even just lap use.

>my use case requires a heavy laptop
>therefore you should also have a heavy laptop

Honestly I'm pretty happy with my "thinkpad" 13. Forgive me memepad autists but I just wanted a new laptop that was reasonably sturdy and reasonably thin and light laptop with a good keyboard.

you're grasping for straws, and bringing linux into where it wasn't even mentioned

its true whether you choose to realize it or not. I used to have a netbook in high school, I loved it. then I started college and had to start typing essays out of the ass - the tiny screen would give me horrible headaches when trying to make multiply page documents, I eventually switched to a full size laptop

my point is that if your needs are few, then you are able to get by on a sub-par device like a tablet or netbook

What is here to stop you?

Is it the weight? Get /fit/ fucc boi numale

I do this because I still have my conscription under way

>that fucking screen
Full HD T/W520 or bust

try not fill up ur hd to avoid additional weight

The T420 is good but definitely not the best

>that shitty display panel
>locked bios, can't swap wifi cards