[GTALUG] Lenovo Thinkpad T410

[John Moniz]

On 01/29/2015 12:13 PM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 03:21:41AM -0500, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
>> The T-series is appreciated in the Linux world.  (The W series is like
>> T, with a bit more capability).
> Certainly some W models can take a lot more ram than a T model, but that
> seems it might not be the case in the future.  Not sure, given so far
> only the slim version of the W550 (W550s) has been shown, and it is not
> looking good as far as a lot of W5xx fans are concerned.  Seems most
> W5xx users think slim is irrelevant compared to functional and trading
> features for light weight and slim is not something they are willing
> to do.  The difference between needing a 170W and a 65W power supply
> gives some idea how much was stripped out in the slim version.  The real
> W550 is apparently not happening until later this year when the next
> generation of mobile core i7s are ready.
>
>> If you are paying a store to do this, you are spending real money.
>> You might as well pay a bit more and get at least a T420 (in my
>> opinion).  A T430 is even better but I think that many are unhappy
>> with the T440's trackpad (I may be misremembering).
> Yeah people are not happy with the T440.
>
>> I'm more familiar with the T5x0 models, but they are very similar.
>> I care a lot about the screen resolution, and there are choices.
>> CPUs matter too.  In notebooks, I prefer recent CPUs for their lower
>> power consumption.
> T4xx and T5xx are essentially the same except screen size.
>
>> But of course I don't know what you value.
>>
>> There are a lot of resources about Linux on Thinkpads on the net.
>>
>> One source for old thinkpads is IBM itself.  Sometimes there are good
>> deals, sometimes not:
>> <http://www-304.ibm.com/shop/americas/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/default/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=2576396&storeId=1083996950&catalogId=-124&langId=124>
>> Right now, I consider these prices high.
I went back to the store to re-examine the T410 more closely and to look 
into the T420 as someone suggested. My attention switched to a T520 that 
he had available for $20 more than the T410. It has Intel wifi 
(Centrino) and switchable graphics (Intel & Nvidia). It presently has 
nvidia but he said I could get intel graphics instead. I don't know if 
this switchable thing means that I can swap graphics cards.

Unless someone sounds an alarm soon, I'll be buying the T520 later in 
the week.

Thanks,

John.