New Laptop Decisions

[Savage_Hobo]

Hey guys,

So after 5 great years it's time to replace my current laptop (Dell Inspiron 6400). I've been looking around and am pretty sure that the Thinkpad T420s is the way to go for me. I'm working downtown at a technology company and need a machine that I can take with me to work (public transit) but that can still perform. I chose the T420s due to its light weight ( < 4 lbs) and high performance ( i5 or i7).

What I can't decide is whether it's worth paying the extra $$ for the NVIDIA NVS4200M or just save some money and go with the integrated graphics. I've pretty much moved entirely from PC gaming to my xbox 360, but having some extra power under the hood would be nice... What do you guys think?

Without the extra graphics I'd be paying about $1500 + tax and with would be about $1700-1800 + tax.

[mapes]

Hey I just bought one of these two months ago. I got a 4239CT. I forget all of the specs. I think I paid around 1k. i used to have a Dell XPS1530m. I hated that thing especially after the notorious dell charging issue showed up. So far I love it. It's very light. I picked it mostly for remote photo processing so I got 4GB ram the high rez screen 1400x1900. Also it has an intergrated card reader. I think it has a core i5 in it. I think I paid about 1k for the thing. Look around though you might be able to find some cheaper by up to 100 bucks off. If your not going to game on the laptop don't bother with nvidia graphic adapter

[Savage_Hobo]

Yeah, I was kind of leaning towards the integrated graphics. I'm probably going to buy it tonight because they have a 15% off deal that ends tonight and I'm going to use the VISA perks code and get another 12 % off. (it's $1500 because I'm opting for the 3-year ons site warranty). How do you find your battery life? Does it get very warm?

[mapes]

I have to say battery life is excellent. I may feel that way due to my last laptop having charging issues but, I don't think so. I've always like the IBM T series...err Lenvo T series. Through work I had 2 T21s and 1 T41. When the the LCD died in the T41 I was able to swap a T21 LCD into it. I got the T41 about 8 years ago. The now franken T41 is still in use. I gave it to one of my wifes friends who was a student. She loves that thing. Because the T21 LCD only had two of out four LCD mount holes line up she has apparently used packing tape to hold the LCD screen in. That laptop is almost 8 years old!

Anyways I will also say the T420 is super light. For example my wifes mac book pro feels twice as heavy. She was kinda shocked when I told her the price/specs/resolution and weight of the T laptop as compared to her Mac. then again she went out and bought another apple product...Well it's what she knows I suppose.