Ah, that brilliant T420 keyboard. Why Lenovo, why did you go to the chicklet? I've owned the T430s, for the last 8½ years, coming from a company-owned T420...and I've been a ThinkPad user since 1995. Switching from the T420 keyboard to the T430s chicklet was difficult for a few days. I eventually got used to it and now comfortably type. Three years ago I found a minty-mint T420 with 8gb of RAM and a 256gb SSD for $155. It looked and felt new. Whenever I need to do extensive word processing, that's my go-to. I also use it for all of my Internet and coffee shop needs...keeping my T430s away from all Internet virus and malware horrors. The T420 is still a fantastic notebook. Idiocy for Lenovo for changing the greatest keyboard design ever. It was the perfect keyboard.
"Let's Make Thinkpads Great Again!" Jokes aside, this was one of the best laptops ever released, and even for 2020 standards it still is a great machine. Great video btw.
Same, it is a bit heavy and when I first got it it had 1 hour of battery life on Windows 10 ( I was forced to upgrade). Upgraded the Ram to 8GB and it can play games like Portal 2 and CS:GO at an acceptable framerate at lowest settings.
@@baenbo3486 Thinkpads are not meant to be gaming rigs or run windows 10. Most people nowadays get thinkpads to boot linux on it and use it for casual, business, and programming purposes.
I've had a T420 since July 2015. I recently upgraded to WIN 10 and then made it Dual Boot with Linux Mint 19.3. With an original 500GB HDD it was slow. I did some research and a inexpensive upgrade was adding a mSATA used for caching for $20. After rebooting a few times and viewing frequently accessed websites, my laptop is now a lot faster and usable again.
Going on 4 years with my T420 (bought for 100 USD off Craigslist in 2016 with 8GB RAM and 512GB HDD). Adding an SSD made a huge difference as it was becoming unusable with the slow 5400 rpm HDD. Only thing lacking is resolution (1366x768) and GPU (integrated Intel HD 3000). Overall a great machine!
Love my T420 :). Had it going on 10 months. Has an SSD, 16gb of 1600mhz RAM (modded bios), nvidia NVS 4200M gfx card, i5-2640M CPU but soon to be swapped out for the I7-2640M because why not and swapped the original TN panel out for an alienware panel. The thing flies and is a fun bit of older tech that can keep up in the modern day.
After I received my thinkpad (right before hurricane Irma struck Miami, two days before expected delivery) I noticed that it was missing the trackpoint nub JustU.Faith/Think-padT I contacted microbee, and they sent one to me free of charge. The laptop itself arrived clean, with no physical imperfections and a perfect screen.
I gotta say, I think this laptop is better than most laptops today. There are obviously shortcomings, but hey, what _doesn't_ have them? At least people are able to _fix_ most of those issues. I personally use mine as a home laptop (and occasionally, even a DVD player).
Purchased a used Thinkpad T420 with 4GB of RAM and no hard drive last week for $ 93. Best computer I used. Love the feel and sound of the keyboard. It also has an Intel graphics card and a Nvidia NVS4200 graphics card. 1600x900 screen resolution.
As a child I had a Thinkpad T30 and I really loved it. A few months ago I decided to buy an office notebook in addition of my PC. And it is a T420. I bought it for basic uses such as surfing the web or watching videos. And the reason I bought a Thinkpad was really for nostalgic reason and because it's a good worth for price. I have added an 120 GB Intenso High Performance SSD and it's really fast. If I wouldn't have a PC, this notebook would be my daily driver. A friend bought a new notebook a few years ago and he wanted to upgrade the HDD to an SSD and he failed because of the way modern notebooks are build. His notebook has also the issue that the battery isn't removable. The Thinkpad T420 is much better for upgrading and you can even use a M.2-SSD and buy an express card with USB 3.0-ports. And maaan. The keyboard is just perfect.
Just one suggestion: The T420 will take a mSATA SSD right next to the memory (on bottom of unit). That location will not permit a m.2SATA SSD. The mSATA and m.2SATA are not the same size. I don't know about the side port, but I do not think it will accept a SSD card of any type. I have tested the mSATA slot with a 64GB and it works, so I plan to install a Samsung 850 SSD, using the mSATA SSD-card ($99.00 on Amazon, 12-17-18). I can transfer the system to the SSD and still keep the original 320GB HD.
That's a really cool video! A have an X220 myself, it's an awesome machine. Installed an SSD on it and flashed coreboot, blazing fast! Will definitely do a Full HD mod down the road.
I recently got super lucky when I got a w530 with 28gb of RAM, an i7 3720, Quadro k1000, 180gb SSD, and 500gb HDD for 80$, the deal of the century! I love ThinkPads
Great video! Love the T420, but personally I use a T430. Many people prefer the older-style keyboards but honestly I can use a chiclet keyboard just fine, I guess I'm just used to them! I thought your intro was pretty cool but I do have to say I noticed some similarities with a recent video of mine!
I do agree with you, the old IBM keyboards feel great and all but I guess I'm just used to the chiclet style and it doesn't bother me. I can use both with no problem. And with the T430 looking old, yes I get comments all the time of people saying it looks dated and everyone is always surprised that it's from 2012. Honestly though I could care less because it's still a very powerful and capable machine today.
I love my thinkpad T420. I paid like 100 bucks for it and it works great for old games and daily web browsing. This is a really nice vid. I made a list of why I like the Thinkpad T420 if anyone wants to check it out. The T420 is honestly one of the best laptops ever made imo.
Great video and great computer. I am watching this on my own T420 with a docking station. Funny you should mention an older Dell Precision and the end because I have this paired up with a Dell Precision T1600 workstation.
You know how you wanted detachable graphics cards for laptops? There's Thunderbolt GPU enclosures now yeah, but I recently heard about expresscard to PCI-E adapters. I know the T420 has expresscard: I own one! However, they're a bit out of my price range. It'd be awesome for you to look at it. Thanks!
There are Mini PCIE to PCIE adapters which you can plug into tge slot where the wifi card goes and then connect a full size graphics card to your laptop, check out the RU-vid channel DIYPerks, he did a review of one some time ago
I agree with the SSD drive. The stock drive made the machine sluggish, after installing a PNY 240gb SSD 2.5" x 9mm thick. Got the SSD for $28 on sale at Best Buy.. Really made my T420 fly. Also, installed samsung 4 gb of ddr3 1333Mhz sodimm ($14 from amazon) to the slot on the back to make 8gb total. Also picked up a new battery off amazon for $24. My original battery lost 1/2 of it's capacity. If you run the battery health program in windows 10. My original battery was like 24000mha. New should be close to 52000mha. The one for $24 was around 49000. Close enough to original battery capacity for 1/2 the price. Overall a solid machine..
Windows 10 works fine on the T420, but if want to play Minecraft for example, you can't because there aren't supported drivers for OpenGL. So you have to stick to Windows 7 or Linux.
As I might have mentioned on your channel, I just purchased a t430 the other day, a i5 3380m, 8 gb of ram Intel 280gb ssd with Nvidia 5400m graphics. I added a 64gb mSSD because I wanted to dual boot Mint linux. Out of the box it just works. With my 9 cell slice I get 6 hours or slightly less then my Latitude 7480, but with way more accessible umph. I wouldn't claim this was more built then my older e6530 that it competed with, but I can see the many points the purists make. like while I don't like chicklet keyboards the t430 isn't horrible, in fact while some might completely dismiss it, for coding it's not half bad, and over all it sure beats anything Walmart's selling. I really like the uhd+ screen to boot. Almost as nice as my Latitude 7480 but for thousands less and the dock is every bit as useful as my Dell e series. The grab and go feature really makes these things shine.
You fail to take into consideration that the main reason the 420 is so popular is that its chipset, as well as socketed cpu, allow for upgrade to up to an i7 quad core in the extreme flavor.. though most go with a qm. Which will beat the best of the 530 series, unless they are upgraded of course... as well as add higher memory support, and even 3rd gen with intel hd 4000 igp... it really goes well beyond the surface which you've skimmed here.
Bro i swear to GOD I've subscribed to this channel 3 times but when i watch a video from my feed, it says I'm not subbed the next time! Love the videos, just bought a 6410 for $50 and gonna upgrade it to quad core i7 and use expresscard eGPU. Thanks for the inspiration!
Got my t420 in 2011 and still use it as my daily . upgraded cpu to the 2 core i7 16gb ram also got the dvd hard drive caddy and installed 2 1tb ssds in raid along with a 480gb msata. This laptop is built like a tank and aside from gaming does it all no problems.
Just bought a W530 for around 450$ with i7, 500GB SSD and 16GB RAM. It replaced a desktop computer and I use it for productivity multitasking stuff and coding. Works like a charm even if it's 7 years old.
This is a great video. I'm sure you have more laptops lying around you can do something like this for. Not many channels out there are really going in-depth with used laptop recommendations, and there's a need for it.
I have a ThinkPad T420s that i purchased used about 4 months ago and upgraded the SSD / Ram to 16GB that i use as my daily PC. I absolutely love it - i must say that i appreciate the higher screen resolution of the T420s over the T420. It edits video (light editing), produces our podcast and is great for typing.
aldo s I'm living in China for now, and planning to buy some lenovo laptop, but I guess I have to buy it in an official lenovo store somewherw here. I rally hope new laptops are still good and not so pricey depending on the model
Be advised, the new one has astronomic price (matches Apple's pricing) and it's used value goes down quick. But I heard Lenovo has 3 years warranty and their aftersales support is great Good luck on your purchase And Lenovo is actually a Chinese company but you should order them on their site because I heard they don't have storefront (Even xiaomi had storefront)
The NICE thing about the T420, is you can upgrade to 16gb/RAM! I've had maybe 50 of these. Most with nVidia NVS 4200m, and i7-2640. Got most off a "fleet" deal for $40 each, no HDD, and 4, to 8gb/RAM each. I used one as a "Daily Driver", from 2012, to 2016. My oldest daughter, now has and uses it. All the others were sold as "Simming" machines, specifically tuned to play "The Sims 2". I sold all but 12 that I kept for family, special friends, and myself, within 2 weeks. All had a 240gb SSD, 8-12gb/RAM, and nVidia graphics, and Win7. I spread the "Love", and lots of people got decent ThinkPads, with warranties. EVERY one who bought one, was/is a Sims 2 player! i7-2640 16gb DDR3 PC3-1333 480gb SanDisk Ultra SSD 1600x900 display that was good enough. No, they're not the "End all/Be all", but they ARE good quality laptops, with the best laptop keyboard in the history of laptops, and with nVidia graphics, a decent enough gaming machine, if you like older titles. With 16gb/RAM, these things FLY on-line, and make short work of memory intensive tasks. Add a SSD, and you've got a machine that does typical tasks, as well as the newest "Ninja Nerd" hardware. Add a PCI Experss, with USB 3.0, and that takes care of the slow USB issue. Just a GREAT, all-around machine! Will get another when the opportunity presents itself.
Great video, really like the music and cinematography, especially when you show the Thinkpad upclose and the timelapse. Could probably do without the echo on your voiceover though. Also, at certain points you can see dust collecting ontop of the laptop, something that could be cleaned before shooting the video.
Linux user here (Mint 19 MATE). Can confirm, this Laptop was MADE to be used with Linux. My model uses an i7 with switchable GPU and the driver support is flawless under Linux. It detected my Nvidia chipset without issues. If you increase the RAM to 8GB or more you do yourself and the laptop a huge favor. You can also add an USB 3.0 Expresscard if the regular USB 2.0 ports aren't enough. The really only downside this model has is that it lacks the display rollcage (something the T410 still had).
I had a T450. Upgraded to a full HD IPS Panel. Was working really good and in a perfect condition. BUT I hate these ThinkPad touchpads. I prefer glass touchpads like my mid 2012 MacBook Pro has.
was looking for a cheap used replacement for my t420 with broken screen and finicky keyboard. I realized that i could replace the screen and keyboard for $100. it has 8gb of ram 128ssd and the 1600x900 screen. much better than buying a newer used budget HP or dell.
I have a T-410.....a T-420....a T-430.....and a T-530. I have tried using the sleeker "notebooks" (including a MacBook 13"!) but for my money?...the ThinkPad "T" series are the KINGS of laptops!....they come with enough ports to connect EVERYTHING!....and if there's something that it DOESN'T have a port for?....you can always buy a USB-To-Whatever-Kind-Of-Port-You-Need cable and connect it.....while STILL having other ports for other things! (Never understood why laptop manufacturers are insisting on REMOVING all the ports except for...like...TWO!?....and ONE of those ports is for POWERING the laptop..!!) Its got a great display, no....its not "Retina' class or anything that falls along those lines, but for writing, for sending/receiving emails, (Thunderbird baby Yeahh!) and for learning how to code?....these machines are the cream of the crop! I run Linux on all of the ones I have, Fedora......OpenSuSE....CEntOS and Debian!.....and I haven't had a problem since the installs, (I installed Fedora when it was version 12/13.....they're on release version 28 now!!! ) I highly recommend these laptops for both "standard" use and for specific tasks...they're TANKS and cannot be easily destroyed.....the one I have from 2012 (T-420) outlasted my friend's MacBook 15"...and his was more recent....seems the keyboard on his Macbook got full of dust or something.....all I know is he had a hell of a time trying to get it fixed....to the point where he got rid of it...and now uses...(you guessed it!..LoL!) a THINKPAD T-430 laptop!...even the newer ones aren't that bad either...the T-460......T-470...and T-480 are all top notch high quality, indestructible monsters!.... www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-i5-6300U-Dual-Core-Professional/dp/B01CJNRC3S www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Laptop-i5-7300U-Processor/dp/B071VD2YVS/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1526108336&sr=1-4&keywords=Lenovo+ThinkPad+T470 www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-14-Inch-Performance-20L5S02Y00/dp/B07BPQZ7L1/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1526108381&sr=1-9&keywords=ThinkPad+T480
Where I live there are multiple recycling centers that have multiple thinkpads on display and ready to go, many of them like new. I really wish I'd known about these laptops before buying my UX305LA
I have the Lenovo ThinkPad T520 that's like brand new even the battery is only showing a 5% wear level and I am upgrading as I can afford it. It's a great laptop so far. Spec's as of now Intel i7-2670QM 2.20GHz Quad core 16GB DDR3L 1600MHz Samsung EVO 860 1TB SSD Windows 10 Pro Creative Sound Blaster G3 Portable External USB DAC ASUS USB-BT400 USB Bluetooth Dongle Lenovo ThinkPad laptop bag
Nice video! I find myself working from home now as with half the world, and my x201 wasn't cutting it, far too small so I paid £110 uk for an i5 8gb ram 1600x900 t420 as my work device (so I don't have to cripple my main pc with the work vpn). Beet choice ever, it's such a lovely device! The mods have started too...
How does one like a video more than once? Because you deserve like 10 like per person! This is probably your best video yet! Great music choice, b-roll, and great audio! So nice and you clearly put a whole lot of effort into this! Great job man, you're killing it! :D
I bought a second hand T420 a few months ago in New Zealand for $250 (NZD). I'm quite happy with it, didnt want to spend 500 - 600 on a new machine with pretty much the same specs. The one thing I dont like is the screen - dim and washed out colours, and bad viewing angles. Battery only lasts about 2 hours so a new one will cost me close to $100. I saw a thinkpad x230 sell on Trademe in Auckland a few weeks ago for $130, that would've been a good buy.
$110 t440s gang, it keeps up surprisingly well with the new laptops. weighs virtually nothing and can last as long on a single charge as the others, very durable. obviously, though, its 8gb ddr3 and 4th gen i5 mean it can't do huge tasks like insane 3d rendering or gaming, but for everyday office use and light photo or video editing it is a solid choice. great buy.
Bought a T520 with 8GB memory, 500GB mechanical drive late 2017 to get used to linux work, added a $49 mSata 128GB. Dual booted the machine. For productivity, seriously, unbeatable value.
I recommend t420s since it is slimmer. I have had mine for 5 years and I love it. The screen could be better .... I like the old style keyboard. Typing is good on it. The parts are easier to replaced than on the new , slimmer laptops... The battery life on this laptop will be very short unless you buy a big battery pack.
What you said about deep learning and gaming is not all true, for another 80-100 bucks you can get an expresscard gpu dock+a gpu and a travel adapter, and you can do desktop grade work. It just its not portable, but it works. I use a gtx 650 with it for gaming and video editing, and it is plenty enough power. Also you can upgrade it to an i7 quad core- which you will need high quality thermal paste and a 90w charger, but it does work, and it is great. I use the i5-2520m tough because I need the good battery life. The hype is not all unfair tough because other than a few bugs here and there, this laptop is all around very developed. I had a fan issue, where the fan was cooling even when the cpu was at 40c so I used tpfc to program it properly, so it only comes on when actually needed, but other than that, I had zero issues and I bought this laptop 3 years ago. Still very good, and I will only change when its absolutely necessary, and even then I will keep it.
Just brought one for $100 on FB market place, Doesnt have a webcam, and they enter key takes up two rows, but its fine for me, Ill put 16gigs RAM a 1TB SSD and an I7 quad core processor and install CoreBoot then make it my daily linux box
What's the name of the soundtrack in the beginning ? Btw. I actualy own a Lenovo ThinkPad T430 and it is the best Laptop which I ever had.. Nope, I don't care that it doesn't have a nvidia gpu like meine msi cx 61 but the battery holds up to 6 Hours on Office stuff, low spec games and web browsing. I bought mine as a refurbished model on a German Laptop store at Hannover for 130$ worth in Euro and I even have a keyboard with back light. Overall for portable usage I would prefer a ThinkPad over a costumer market PC since they have always very short battery life :P THINKPAD IS LOVE, THINKPAD IS LIFE
The only bad thing about it would be the crappy integrated graphics, but every ThinkPad is a great machine, both in aesthetics and everyday performance (non-graphic tasks).
Watching on my Lenovo W520. Also, why didn't you dust the computer before shooting? Idk, I would think if it was clean it would be more aesthetically pleasing.
The T430 and the rest of the xx30 lineup of ThinkPads are still beasts. I have a lenovo u410 (basically identical to a T430) and it runs Fortnite at medium graphics settings like a champ! I would recommend!
"Early T series machines are nearly indestructible", just turn on a dGPU i7 T410s and you would destroy it. Not to mention a T500 can have it's display assembly destroyed by about anything. Should I continue?
I would personally love one of these if it had a MXM slot or at least a powerful GPU, but I'll stick to my $300 Alienware M17 R1 (2014) for now I guess
Each to their own, if I really wanted a workstation laptop, I would go with an older Clevo/Sager purely because alot of them have desktop grade CPU's and two MXM slots
Sadly we got issued T500 at work with the T9400 Core 2 Duo's and AMD Radeon graphics and they all lasted only a year and a bit ... the first thing that went was the backlight of the display. Switched to Dell Latitude E series.
I'm probably going to be getting a 420 or a 520 this summer. My back would prefer the 420 for portability, but my 64 year old eyes are telling me that the larger screen of the 520 is the better option. Either way it will be an upgrade from my 410 which I will give to my grandson for college to replace his way too long in the tooth T60. I had considered the 430 or 530 due to better graphics and slightly better cpu, but the keyboard on them is crap compared to the 420/520 and there is no guarantee that the classic keyboard will work on the 430/530.
I actually have a similar dilemma right now. I just bought a W541 and I like it for the most part (missing the old keyboard and media buttons :( ). However, due to its size I am hesitant to replace my T430 with it. The T430 fits easily into my backpack while the W541 is more difficult to haul around. The T420 keyboard does work in the T430, I was able to install it and reflash the firmware so that it works perfectly. One thing to note is that the screw holes on the keyboard next to the trackpad are placed in different areas on the T420 keyboad, so you will not be able to install those two screws.
I remember watching the video of yours where you installed the T420 KB on the T430. Not sure if I want to chance it as I went thru 3 keyboards on the T410 before I found one that works correctly. As for the size difference, my backpack can easily handle up to 17" laptops. I quite often carry one of my Toshiba 15.6" laptops in it with the extended life batteries so size isn't as much of an issue as the weight. Anyway, good to see you posting more videos.
I currently have a T440p that I use an external keyboard and mouse with and essentially use it as a desktop. Might upgrade to a T540p or a W540/W541 since those have an ExpressCard slot and can therefore in theory use an eGPU.
