[ltp] Buying a New Thinkpad
Adrian Bastholm
linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Wed, 4 May 2011 12:24:23 +0200
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Since I've just bought the low-end T520 I thought I could add some value to
the discussion.
mSATA instead of WWAN:
True, but there's no need to remove the WWAN card (and thus unscrew a lot o=
f
pieces) since there's an ExpressCard slot at the right hand corner, which
takes SSD drives. Also you have the UltraBay, where you can have another
SATA drive, instead of the DVD-RAM drive which you don't use all the time.
The screen is good with good luminosity and colors. A bit too wide for my
taste, but that seems to be the standard these days, and it works with
IDE-s.
The panel surrounding the keyboard is a bit more plasticky than previous
models, I guess the Chinese are trying to save a buck.
The touchpad has a dotted grid which gives great feel, but is placed a bit
too low, so you end up touching the upper edge of the touchpad, the
non-sensitive plastic between the touchpad and the "mouse" keys. the Intel
HD video works great for less advanced gaming (for ex. Urban Terror).
The difference between the i5 and the i7 is that the i5 doesn't have
hyperthreading enabled, just to give the i7 an advantage, and to motivate
the higher price. Since my CPU is mostly on idle (surfing, coding) I'll
manage without the best CPU available right now.
4GB RAM is enough for now (4GB preinstalled in 2x2GB), and if next year or
so I need more, it's probably going to be cheaper than now, so I can buy a
4GB module. The Euro keyboard has a large 2 row enter button, and 2 row ESC
and DEL, which are great.
It doesn't get hot, and the only time it gets loud is when burning cd-s. So
far I'm extremely happy.
/adrian
|The Tx20 machines support mSATA via mini-PCIe, so if you're willing to
> live without WWAN you can get a small mSATA SSD to use for... uh...
> whatever you'd use a small, reasonably-good-performance SSD for. The
> mSATA drives aren't as fast as the current crop of 2.5" SSDs -- nowhere
> close from the numbers I've seen -- but they're still faster than
> traditional drives. (IMHO you're better ditching the spinning disk
> altogether... but that's another debate.)
>
> Cheers,
> Rob
>
> --
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>
--=20
V=E4nliga h=E4lsningar / Kind regards,
Adrian Bastholm
I would change the world, but they won't give me the sourcecode
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<br>Since I've just bought the low-end T520 I thought I could add some =
value to the discussion.<div>mSATA instead of WWAN:<br><div><div>True, but =
there's no need to remove the WWAN card (and thus unscrew a lot of piec=
es) since there's an ExpressCard slot at the right hand corner, which t=
akes SSD drives. Also you have the UltraBay, where you can have another SAT=
A drive, instead of the DVD-RAM drive which you don't use all the time.=
The screen is good with good luminosity and colors. A =A0bit too wide for =
my taste, but that seems to be the standard these days, and it works with I=
DE-s.</div>
<div>The panel surrounding the keyboard is a bit more plasticky than previo=
us models, I guess the Chinese are trying to save a buck.=A0</div><div>The =
touchpad has a dotted grid which gives great feel, but is placed a bit too =
low, so you end up =A0touching the upper edge of the touchpad, the non-sens=
itive plastic between the touchpad and the "mouse" keys. the Inte=
l HD video works great for less advanced gaming (for ex. Urban Terror).</di=
v>
<div>The difference between the i5 and the i7 is that the i5 doesn't ha=
ve hyperthreading enabled, just to give the i7 an advantage, and to motivat=
e the higher price. Since my CPU is mostly on idle (surfing, coding) I'=
ll manage without the best CPU available right now.</div>
<div>4GB RAM is enough for now (4GB preinstalled in 2x2GB), and if next yea=
r or so I need more, it's probably going to be cheaper than now, so I c=
an buy a 4GB module. The Euro keyboard has a large 2 row enter button, and =
2 row ESC and DEL, which are great.</div>
<div><br></div><div>It doesn't get hot, and the only time it gets loud =
is when burning cd-s. So far I'm extremely happy.</div><div><br></div><=
div>/adrian</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>|The Tx20 machines supp=
ort mSATA via mini-PCIe, so if you're willing to</div>
<div><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"=
margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
live without WWAN you can get a small mSATA SSD to use for... uh...<br>
whatever you'd use a small, reasonably-good-performance SSD for. =A0The=
<br>
mSATA drives aren't as fast as the current crop of 2.5" SSDs -- no=
where<br>
close from the numbers I've seen -- but they're still faster than<b=
r>
traditional drives. =A0(IMHO you're better ditching the spinning disk<b=
r>
altogether... but that's another debate.)<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
Rob<br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>
--<br>
The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:<br>
<a href=3D"http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpa=
d" target=3D"_blank">http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/lin=
ux-thinkpad</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>V=E4nliga h=
=E4lsningar / Kind regards,<br>Adrian Bastholm<br><br>I would change the wo=
rld, but they won't give me the sourcecode<br>
</div></div></div>
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