Advice on upgrading from a T420.

Looking to upgrade to a current gen ThinkPad or rMBP from a T420. Is there any visually observable difference in performance (browsing, software dev work, some gaming)?

Benchmarks tell me that performance of the i5-4300U in T440s, i5-4300M in the T440p, or the i5-4258U in the 13" rMBP is within 10-20% of the i5-2540M in my T420. Am I mostly looking at improvements in battery life and screen quality?

The cost of upgrading to an equivalent current gen machine is $1500 - $2000 (including ram, ssd, dock upgrades). In terms of performance, would it make more sense to upgrade to a quad-core machine (say the i7-4700MQ in the T440p or the 15" rMBP) which end up being in the same price range but offer a more reasonable CPU and GPU upgrade.

Looking to hear from current gen upgraders and also those who are holding back on an upgrade this generation. Thanks!

 

You will see a jump for gaming on a T440p compared to the T420 based on their stock GPU's, possibly for software development work too depending on how strenuous your debugging sessions are but for casual forum browsing most likely you would notice little, if any difference at all.

The T440p is tempting with the optional IPS FHD screen which should easily be a step up from the mediocre panels on the T420 but other than that there’s not much else that really makes me want to jump from my T420. The T420 itself can handle (unofficially) Quad Core CPU’s and 16GB DDR3 RAM like the T440p, I mean for gaming you can always go with an eGPU setup to increase longevity (which is also good news for those who like the 7 Row keyboard).

Therefore I’m giving this generation a miss, particularly when DDR4 modules are about to appear rendering DDR3 obsolete (and expensive like the DDR2 modules before it) as well as rumours of NVIDIA Maxwell architecture appearing within the next year too.

 

My question would be along the lines of what exactly is prompting this urge to upgrade in your particular scenario. That type of info usually helps with providing the best available advice...

 

^ The want for something new And I'm tired of the T420 screen..

 

Understood. I'd honestly take my time and test out the new machines as they come out. The new keyboard/trackpoint setup on the *40 generation might or might not prove to be a dealbreaker for you. The same goes for the entire Mac/OSX experience.

I can relate. Those are rather atrocious, even by Lenovo's low standards...

With all of that said, T420 is still a powerful enough machine - lousy LCD or not - to give you time to properly evaluate your next move.

I'd be looking into new HPs as well as Dells if I were in a market for a new machine right now.

Happy shopping.

 

I would just point out if you're a stick user, perhaps you're a touch pad user and are ecstatic about the new larger touch pad, the pointstick setup is quite a bit different than your T420. Like the mouse buttons on the X220 and X230, the trackpoint buttons are now integrated into the touch pad at the top. I've heard and I have not seen it myself, that the buttons are clicky, which I personally hate. That was one of my favorite if not the favorite feature on ThinkPads, nice smooth mouse buttons. If you're going to give me clicky buttons I might as well be using a HP Pavilion and I'm not one of those who are fussed about new keyboard.

I was actually considering selling my desktop and laptop, then picking up a T440p to replace them both using a docking station. I'd get a IPS screen, modular drive and the 4700QM is quite a bit faster current desktop CPU, Phenom II x6, but clicky mouse buttons makes me think twice about doing it if at all. I still might do, but won't be near as happy. I'm hoping there's a store nearby where I can see the new setup on an Edge or something before I make my final decision.

 

Personally i would be patient and wait till next year, your machine is pretty good as is, if you are willing to do some DIY upgrading with the screen, it is cheap and effective, there is a lot left to be desired in the new series that just came out that they will hopefully fix next years series, it makes me feel better about my T430 when I look at price I paid and what i am getting, for me it comes down to paying double for a t440p just because it has a nicer screen than what I paid for my T430. however i might consider the L series if the screen is indeed IPS, but it doesn't state that anywhere because of the price point.

 

I think it is safe to assume that faster RAM does almost nothing to improve speed. Going from DDR3 1366 to 1866 showed no visual difference in performance whatsoever, no matter the task.

4700MQ is a nice CPU, though i found out it was a bit overkill for my needs, so i just shut off some cores.

To everyone saying upgrade next year: If you need a new laptop. Buy a new laptop. No matter when you buy, your new piece of tech will always be out of date on the next day, That's innovation and competition for ya.

 

I need a faster, quad-core machine and a better screen for photo/video work so am upgrading from a T420 to a T440p. But my dual-drive T420 is still plenty fast enough for most of the tasks I throw at it. If I didn't need quad-core or a half-decent GPU I'd probably just get a T440s at some point next year. YMMV.

The idea of "waiting for X" is kinda silly to me because there will always be something new and better over the horizon when it comes to technology. That said, I think upgrading a laptop should only be done if your current machine is lacking in some tangible way (as opposed to simply not being "new" or "cool" enough).

IMO a loaded T440p offers the best bang for the buck right now if you can get a decent discount, especially when compared to HP's Z-books or Dell's XPS15/M3800, which are both very expensive options.