Modern day "replacement" for the T520/T530 or T420/T430

[brandonkick]

So I'm wondering what you all may be using and or recommending for laptops, especially those of you who were big fans of the Lenovo T520/T530 and it's little buddy the T420/T430.

I have a T420 and T520 and love them, great machines... little work horses that are just wonderful. Running Windows 10 on them both, my mother uses the T420 for her college work and I use the T520 as a backup machine for my main software dev workstation. I have sold and "installed" about 6 to 8 of them as well to family members and friends with zero issues... I recommend them to anyone looking for a good machine or to anyone considering the $300 specials at walmart or best buy.


However now, they are starting to become a bit "long in the tooth" and I'm wondering if anyone has found the next "T520 / T530" that they are recommending to clients, friends or are using themselves.

Personally my machines are running fine for me needs, have no reason to replace them but I would like a bit newer of an option as some people are a bit skeptical of buying a machine this old. It would even be great if there were "new" business grade machines so they could get fully manufacturer warranty and support out of them as well.

 

[fincoder]

I'm wondering if anyone has found the next "T520 / T530"

You mean the T570/T470? That's Lenovo's current T-series.

Unfortunately my customers find the T-series laptops are a bit too expensive to buy new (home and small business). I usually recommend HP ProBook models instead, substantially cheaper than high-end business models like T570 but still much better than consumer models.

 

[SAFCasper]

You mean the T570/T470? That's Lenovo's current T-series.

Unfortunately my customers find the T-series laptops are a bit too expensive to buy new (home and small business). I usually recommend HP ProBook models instead, substantially cheaper than high-end business models like T570 but still much better than consumer models.

We also sell quite a few ProBook models. Haven't done many repairs on them as most are sold with 3-year warranty but they feel very well built and certainly perform well.

If I had to make a criticism - the battery not being user-removable. But unfortunately this is becoming standard for all manufacturers. Also, the lower models only have 1366x768 resolution.

 

[fencepost]

Hm, in theory my main laptop is a T430, but I have a T510 set up in a docking station and I've actually been using it far more in the last 6 months - to the extent that I was thinking my next option might actually be seeing if I can scare up a nice T420 or T520 with the NVidia graphics and a 1600x900 or 1920x1080 screen.

The only thing I've had any issues with on the 510 is that Minecraft is a bit of a struggle even with the NVidia card, but I've barely started it for more than quick check-ins in the last couple months anyway.

Note: both are on Samsung SSDs, 6GB in the T510 and 16GB in the T430.

 

[G8racingfool]

Still rockin' a T420 myself here with an i5/8gb/160gb ssd. The T series are still a solid lineup with the only slight against them nowdays being the keyboard. All the newer T series models (starting with the T430 I think?) use a different, newer keyboard which isn't as nice to most people.

Other than that, they're probably one of the best on the market still.

 

[fencepost]

Correct about the new keyboards starting with the Tx30. It's still a pretty good keyboard, but once I got really used to the T510 it's been hard to switch back.

Of course that may also relate to aging eyes and the larger screen (both 1600x900).....

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

The current versions of the T5xx/T4xx series of course. Which currently..is the 570/470 series. (whichever size/footprint the client wants)

My T431S...I decided to put her out to pasture last week. Lenovo had a good factory outlet clearance on some Carbons last week...I couldn't pass up on a Carbon X1 5th gen (current)....i7, 8 gigs, 256 gig sammy SSD. Was "brand new" still shrink wrapped, was a Win7Pro image. Letting go cheap for ~1200 bucks.

She's running right here next to me..updated to Win10. LOVE IT!

 

[brandonkick]

I guess to clarify, for me I don't really care for anything past the T430 / T530. I really don't like the keyboard / trackpad changes.

The carbons do look really nice, but are on the expensive end of things. My T520 / T420 are rockin along just fine so I guess if it
isn't broke, don't fix it! I don't do a ton of laptop sales anymore anyway.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

The keyboards have changed since I beat the heck out of the T21 and on up...yup I've been using Thinkpads since then!
Still darned good keyboards though. I love having the red nipple plus touchpad...can change up as I feel like.

To me, there are no replacements for the Thinkpad T, P, and X models...None! They're at the top.

 

[mikeroq]

I'm not really attached to the old keyboard style so the newer one works just fine for me. I would rather have better battery life, lighter weight, newer processors and more power than a 7 row keyboard. Sometimes you have to just go with the flow.

 

[fencepost]

If I had a couple thousand dollars to drop on a new laptop right now I'd probably be looking really hard at the ThinkPad Anniversary Edition, though I recall some disappointment with the details when it first came out. Looking at it again, it's interesting that they switched to HDMI instead of the Mini DisplayPort++, though perhaps the goal is that if you need more displays you work with a dock through the USB-C port..... Ah, "Plus, you can even output to two 4K displays with the Thunderbolt Dock."