looking for a windows laptop...

[Dragunov]

Well I looked last night and had time to do it. I found that what I want is the T430. The T430 will take up to 16GB of DDR3, comes with USB 3.0 and Nvidia 5400 option (gotta hunt one down though) not to mention a 1600x900 or so screen, PLUS it has the room for two hard drives or one hdd and an SSD or yeah any combos prolly, plus the wifi and addon cards PLUS it can use a SLICE battery for another 6 or so hours.

On top of that it also can take an i7.

The T420 is a decent platform and cheaper then my current one, but it IS essentially the same platform as the Dell Latitude E6400. If I had to do it again I would strongly consider the Lenovo. I just never liked Lenovo because it reminds me of Lenox and I can not take a Lenox computer seriously if I ever find one...

But I think on my next jump I will shoot for a $250 Lenovo platform in the flavor of the T430 or T430i.

Good looking stuff.

Other than a little better video, the T430 is the same machine as the T420. However, the T430 is a good choice also.

:Area51:

There is absolutely no reason to "upgrade" to WinX, if Win7 is working fine.

Just my opinion.

[Snuffleupagus]

I'm using a Thinkpad 13. I upgraded to 16GB RAM and removed Windows. I dual boot Arch and Mint Linux. It works very fast.

Before I removed Windows it was very fast with the RAM upgrade. It's just a basic laptop, no gaming or photo/video editing.

[area51]

looking for a windows laptop...

I'm using a Thinkpad 13. I upgraded to 16GB RAM and removed Windows. I dual boot Arch and Mint Linux. It works very fast.

Before I removed Windows it was very fast with the RAM upgrade. It's just a basic laptop, no gaming or photo/video editing.

Funny you mentioned this. I will partition the drive, install win7 on one partition and mint on the second

[stilly]

Funny you mentioned this. I will partition the drive, install win7 on one partition and mint on the second

Careful with that.

One of the guys in ops told me that after he put Linux on his system, Windows did NOT like the comp at all.

Oh wait, he had windows installed, then he put on Linux as a dual boot, but then when he went back to windows, it hated the system and refused to work, so he decided to just wipe and reinstall both, but on seperate partitions and winblows then was telling him things like it could not find the partition and it could not be installed on a GPT partition and it failed to even touch the SSD.

I asked him if it was an EVO 850 SSD and he said yes so that might have been the problem, but just do a little extra research on having a dual boot with a nux and a blows os to make sure they play nice. PERSONALLY speaking, I am thinking a third party boot commander if I were to do that, but he was going to go as far as using the BIOS to choose different partitions to boot from. He is still struggling with it I think. This was also on a laptop.

[bigbossman]

I would recommend upgrading your T420 to 16gb/ram and be done with it. DDR3 1333 (Sandy Bridge) is what it takes. The faster DDR3 12800 is cheaper, and works at the same clock rate.

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, so usually rely on the manufacturer's published specs. They say the max memory for the t420 is 8gb...... are you saying 16gb works ok? This is good to know!

Well I looked last night and had time to do it. I found that what I want is the T430. The T430 will take up to 16GB of DDR3, comes with USB 3.0 and Nvidia 5400 option (gotta hunt one down though) not to mention a 1600x900 or so screen, PLUS it has the room for two hard drives or one hdd and an SSD or yeah any combos prolly, plus the wifi and addon cards PLUS it can use a SLICE battery for another 6 or so hours.

On top of that it also can take an i7.

The T420 accepts slice batteries, has room for two hard drives, can be upgraded with an i7, and apparently can take up to 16gb of memory. Max resolution is 1366x768 though

I was able to score a t420 on eBay for 140 shipped... i5, 8 gig ram. 120gb ssd
with win 7. Should I upgrade to 10 or just leave it alone? I hear win 10 is full of unwanted spyware and bugs...

Stick with Win 7, it works fine. That 120gb HD is on the small side - you can replace it with a 500gb one for $20 - $30, or you can buy a $7 drive caddy and another hard drive and install it in the optical drive bay.

[BuddyBoy]

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, so usually rely on the manufacturer's published specs. They say the max memory for the t420 is 8gb...... are you saying 16gb works ok? This is good to know!

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/T420-maximum-supported-memory-size/td-p/587217

Stick with Win 7, it works fine. That 120gb HD is on the small side - you can replace it with a 500gb one for $20 - $30, or you can buy a $7 drive caddy and another hard drive and install it in the optical drive bay.

SSD makes the system so much nicer to use, and you don't have to worry about shocks and impacts possibly taking out the hard drive, shock sensing notwithstanding. I think you can get 240GB for around $80 these days.

[bigbossman]

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPa...ze/td-p/587217



SSD makes the system so much nicer to use, and you don't have to worry about shocks and impacts possibly taking out the hard drive, shock sensing notwithstanding. I think you can get 240GB for around $80 these days.

D'oh! Makes sense, 8gb sticks weren't available yet when this laptop hit the market......... I wish I'd known this last week. Anyway, it's got 8gb now, and seems to be running pretty nice.

If this were to be my laptop, I'd spring for a SDD. But - it is going to be used my my wife's employee's, AND I have three 500gb SATA drives sitting around doing nothing. For $7.99 I can get a drive caddy for the optical bay, upgrade the system drive to 500gb, and install a 500gb drive in the optical drive bay. That'll give them 1TB of data storage to play with, for less than $10 and a few hours labor.

If it works well, maybe I'll hunt down a T420 (or T430) for myself and have at it.

[Dragunov]

I'm far from an expert on this stuff, so usually rely on the manufacturer's published specs. They say the max memory for the t420 is 8gb...... are you saying 16gb works ok? This is good to know!



The T420 accepts slice batteries, has room for two hard drives, can be upgraded with an i7, and apparently can take up to 16gb of memory. Max resolution is 1366x768 though



Stick with Win 7, it works fine. That 120gb HD is on the small side - you can replace it with a 500gb one for $20 - $30, or you can buy a $7 drive caddy and another hard drive and install it in the optical drive bay.

The computer I'm on right now, is a T420. I've had it for three years. It has had 16gb/ram in it from the first day I got it home. NEVER had any problems with it. They run 16gb just fine. I've been rebuilding laptops, since the first portable computers were available. Trust me, it's ok.

I'm getting ready to upgrade it to an i7 very soon. I just got the new CPU in the mail, day before yesterday.

If you get the nVidia graphics, your resolution is 1600x900.

Get Macrium reflect (free)
Buy a 1TB 7200rpm SATA III HDD ($45 on Ebay, if you look around)
Clone your current drive to the new one, and install it. VERY easy!

You should also invest in an external, USB HDD so you can image your drive with both Windows native imaging tool, and Macrium Reflect.

Upgradable to i7 2640, or, if you use a cooler, and don't mind only 8gb/ram, you can put an i7 2670QM (true quad core) in it. To me, it's not worth it though.

Macrium will also clone from HDD to SSD, so that could be another option for you. I'm actually considering a 1tb SSD for mine.

Keep your DVD for something else.
Some came with Blue Ray.

[bigbossman]

The computer I'm on right now, is a T420. I've had it for three years. It has had 16gb/ram in it from the first day I got it home. NEVER had any problems with it. They run 16gb just fine. I've been rebuilding laptops, since the first portable computers were available. Trust me, it's ok.

I'm getting ready to upgrade it to an i7 very soon. I just got the new CPU in the mail, day before yesterday.

If you get the nVidia graphics, your resolution is 1600x900.

Get Macrium reflect (free)
Buy a 1TB 7200rpm SATA III HDD ($45 on Ebay, if you look around)
Clone your current drive to the new one, and install it. VERY easy!

You should also invest in an external, USB HDD so you can image your drive with both Windows native imaging tool, and Macrium Reflect.

Upgradable to i7 2640, or, if you use a cooler, and don't mind only 8gb/ram, you can put an i7 2670QM (true quad core) in it. To me, it's not worth it though.

Macrium will also clone from HDD to SSD, so that could be another option for you. I'm actually considering a 1tb SSD for mine.

Keep your DVD for something else.
Some came with Blue Ray.

Thanks for the informative reply. I believe you about the 16gb, just wish I'd known before I bought the 8gb.

As it happens, I'm looking at 1TB drives on eBay right now. I'll give the two 500gb drives a chance and see what they do first, but it would be nice to keep the dvd internal to the unit. We have an exteral USB one in the house, so I'm not pinched for it.

Also - we have a couple 1TB external drives here, and use them for picture, movie, music, and backup storage.... so that's covered.

Macrium..... free for home use, or just free trial? Can't tell from their website. I'll download it in any case, and give it a whirl.

And lastly - nVidia graphics. Not sure how I'd do the upgrade. Isn't the chip set soldered onto the mother board?

[Jim2017]

can someone recommend a sturdy windows laptop ? looks with something that would handle windows 7 with at least 4gb memory. Are the lenovos ok ? don't want to spend more than 50 bucks.... ok ok maybe 100

Want to install the bmw inpa software which works only on windows

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking for a laptop in order to practice in web design. I've been learning through building websites using mostly 12 Creative Digital Agency WordPress Themes 2017 from https://www.templatemonster.com/blog...s-themes-2017/ and I want to start working using laptop. Actually, I don't know if there exists such a device that I can use for this purpose at a reasonable price. But I think there is no need to buy an expensive laptop as I'm not a professional. Though I've found some useful information here, any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Dragunov]

Thanks for the informative reply. I believe you about the 16gb, just wish I'd known before I bought the 8gb.

As it happens, I'm looking at 1TB drives on eBay right now. I'll give the two 500gb drives a chance and see what they do first, but it would be nice to keep the dvd internal to the unit. We have an exteral USB one in the house, so I'm not pinched for it.

Also - we have a couple 1TB external drives here, and use them for picture, movie, music, and backup storage.... so that's covered.

Macrium..... free for home use, or just free trial? Can't tell from their website. I'll download it in any case, and give it a whirl.

And lastly - nVidia graphics. Not sure how I'd do the upgrade. Isn't the chip set soldered onto the mother board?

Macrium Reflect has a free version missing some features, but perfectly functional for cloning, and imaging.

You can't upgrade the video. You must find one with the appropriate video to buy.

I'm very particular. I buy only laptops with "dedicated" or "hybrid" graphics. I've gotten one that was advertised as "dedicated" video, that actually had "on-board" graphics. I complained, and got half my money back (could've gotten a full refund, but it was a good computer otherwise). Fixed it, then sold it for a tidy profit. NOT what I wanted to do with it, but that's what happens when you don't get clear answers!

[Dragunov]

I'm in the same boat. I'm looking for a laptop in order to practice in web design. I've been learning through building websites using mostly 12 Creative Digital Agency WordPress Themes 2017 from https://www.templatemonster.com/blog...s-themes-2017/ and I want to start working using laptop. Actually, I don't know if there exists such a device that I can use for this purpose at a reasonable price. But I think there is no need to buy an expensive laptop as I'm not a professional. Though I've found some useful information here, any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Once again, I recommend Lenovo T420/430 with "Dedicated" or "Hybrid" graphics. These are fantastic machines, tough as nails, and upgradable.
If you buy from Ebay, you need to make SURE the one you want does NOT have "on-board" graphics. The HD3000 graphics are not very good, and will fall short in graphics applications.

Make SURE you get clear answers from the seller on what graphics chipset is on the machine.

[stilly]

Once again, I recommend Lenovo T420/430 with "Dedicated" or "Hybrid" graphics. These are fantastic machines, tough as nails, and upgradable.
If you buy from Ebay, you need to make SURE the one you want does NOT have "on-board" graphics. The HD3000 graphics are not very good, and will fall short in graphics applications.

Make SURE you get clear answers from the seller on what graphics chipset is on the machine.

So many idiots sell laptops and know nothing about them on Fleabay and they do not even think to post the video on the things...

I did not see that the T420 can take a slice battery, so I will look around more for one, but I LIKE that it can take 16GB of RAM. THAT is refreshing. Hmm, can it go higher? Maybe 32GB? Would be really cool.

So then I can live without the Native USB 3.0 since it can be an addon card. That means the T420 is possibly back to being a decent upgrade and not a lateral transfer.

HOWEVER, I think there is a potato/potato debate about to start here.

To me, ALL graphics on a laptop are ONBOARD. The only difference is whether or not the ONBOARD are the INTEL 3000 or the Nvidia. Nvidia can not be upgraded. They are still a part of the mobo on the laptop.

Now if I could take out the NVIDIA carb and put in a 6600 or whatever instead of the 4200 or whatever comes with the T420- now THAT would be cool, but my guess is that they are all built into the mobo. Just gotta look for that OPTION. Unlike more expensive gamer class laptops where the mobo has an upgradable graphics card on it and is meant to do so.

[bigbossman]

I did not see that the T420 can take a slice battery, so I will look around more for one.....

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Battery-Models-0A36304/dp/B0085MPGZY

https://www.ebay.com/i/132140057112?chn=ps&dispItem=1

[BuddyBoy]

We're talking a SIX year old used laptop here (T420). Up your budget so you can buy a T440 (four years old) and you can get one with Nvidia 730m graphics instead of the 4200m graphics.