Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

154 reviews

May, 2013

Positive
Performance (37)
Build quality (31)
Battery (30)
Design (11)
Reliability (5)

Negative
Screen (1)

General overview
Price comparison
Product Specifications

alaTest has collected and analyzed 154 reviews from magazines and websites. Comments about the reliability and design are overall positive. The battery and build quality are also mentioned favorably. Comments are divided on the value for money. Many are critical about the screen.

performance, build quality, battery, design, reliability

screen

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other Laptops the Lenovo ThinkPad T420s is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 90/100 = Excellent quality.

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Review analysis

(Based on 154 reviews)

Expert Reviews

User Reviews

Review Ratings

(42% of reviews)
Show all 5 star reviews (36% of reviews)
Show all 4 star reviews (7% of reviews)
Show all 3 star reviews (5% of reviews)
Show all 2 star reviews (10% of reviews)
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Features

Performance
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Value for money
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Build quality
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Battery
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Design
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Showing 141 review(s)

Expert Reviews User Reviews

Showing 1 - 10 of 141 Show Reviews: in English | in other languages (15)

Expert review by: Till Sch?nborn (notebookcheck.net)

Review Lenovo ThinkPad T420s 4174-PEG Notebook

Business class. The ThinkPad T420s is mainly to convince business customers of its advantages as a powerful and yet portable companion. Equipped with a Core i7-2640M and a fast SSD from Intel as well as built-in UMTS, Lenovo has created good...

Good manufacturing quality and case stability ; Great connectivity ; High-end inputs ; Matt screen surface ; SSD ; Optimus support

Contrast weak screen with high viewing angle dependency ; Very high temperature in full load ; High price

That cutbacks have to be made on the screen in a laptop of almost 1800?

Dec, 2011

Partner Source

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EDITORS' CHOICE

Expert review by: Matt Smith (digitaltrends.com)

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

The ThinkPad T Series is an elder among laptops. IBM introduced the first laptop in the line, the T20, about 12 years ago. Since then the series has been consistently updated and has never once been removed from the market. Only the ThinkPad X Series...

Durable construction ; High-resolution display ; Excellent performance ; Reasonable price

Not particularly thin or light ; Lackluster battery life ; Display isn’t great for multimedia

The LenovoT420s is an excellent laptop for business users, and also well worth the consideration of consumers who prefer an excellent keyboard and durable design to flashy aesthetics.

Feb, 2012

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Editor's Choice!

Expert review by: Avram Piltch (laptopmag.com)

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

The ThinkPad T420s combines speedy performance, a great keyboard, and a hi-res screen in the lightest 14-inch laptop money can buy.

The lightest 14-inch notebook on the market, the Lenovo ThinkPad T420s remains a truly compelling choice for business users looking for the optimum combination of power and portability. The HP EliteBook 8460p has a more attractive design, and the Dell...

Jul, 2011

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Expert review by: John Ratsey (NotebookReview.com)

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s User Review

If you're looking for a thin and light 14-inch business notebook, what better person to ask about it than someone who owns several? Keep reading to find out what one of our regular contributors has to say about the ThinkPad T420s

Light weight for display size ; ThinkPad classic looks and build quality ; ThinkPad keyboard ; Full feature set including USB 3.0 ; Good pointing device options

Poor quality display for price range ; Low capacity battery ; Most ports are at the back ; Uses 7mm storage devices with capacity limit

So, am I happy with my purchase? Overall, yes. I’ll get used to the clattery keyboard because it is otherwise pleasant to use. I’ll rarely be needing sustained CPU usage that makes the fan scream (and I can turn on some music to drown the keyboard and...

May, 2011

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Editor's Choice!

Expert review by: (pcmag.com)

Lenovo Thinkpad T420s

The full size keyboard is what keeps Lenovo customers coming back year after year. It's a traditional-looking keyboard and arguably the best one in the business, despite so many other laptops moving to a chiclet-style keyboard. Dual pointing devices...

One of the lightest 14-inch business laptops. 1-inch thick with optical drive. Optical drive can be substituted with an additional battery. High screen resolution. Tough as nails. Phenomenal typing experience. Excellent battery life. Speedy

A backlit-keyboard would be nice

The Lenovo ThinkPad T420s is an amazing device when you realize that its power, feature set, and battery yields are usually found in much heavier laptops.

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COMPUTER SHOPPER - BUSINESS READY

Expert review by: Jamie Bsales (computershopper.com)

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

While laptop buyers have been flocking to 13-inch platforms for portability or 15-inch models for mainstream affordability, the happy-medium 14-inch thin-and-light has been all but forgotten. But Lenovo continues to update its venerable T-series in...

Very thin and light ; Strong performance ; Durable design ; Very good audio reproduction ; Perfect keyboard

Poor battery life ; Mediocre graphics performance ; Narrow viewing angle for video ; Pricey

The Lenovo ThinkPad T420s delivers better performance than its predecessor thanks to Intel’s latest Core i5 platform, but the thin machine skimps on battery life.

Jun, 2011

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Expert review by: Keith Combs (technet.com)

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s - mini review

Last year I bought the ThinkPad T410s when the model with the Optimus graphics became available. It's a great little machine so I was anxious to try the ThinkPad T420s with Optimus and compare the two. I've done that now and I thought you would be...

For most people the big brother T420 is a better fit. The T420 adds IEEE 1394 Firewire, eSATA, standard sized bays, longer battery life, etc. The T420 is a little heavier and thicker but I think it offers the best combination of features. If you...

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Consumer review by: Sunnyways (digitaltrends.com)

Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

The pros always overtake the cons with Lenovo! Best laptop I've ever owned!

Feb, 2012

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Consumer review by: rogerting (cnet.com)

Product may be good but you cannot trust their prices

Bought a Lenovo ThinkPad T-420s laptop with a docking station earlier this month and then they brought down the price by $340+!! Now wrestling with them to give me the price difference / store credit - as I believe they should honor their price once it...

Light and powerful ; Possible multi-screen support with docking station

Expansive SSD. T520 is slightly cheaper with a SSD option

Sep, 2011

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Consumer review by: (amazon.com)

Amazon review summary for the Lenovo ThinkPad T420s

alaTest has collected and analyzed 32 user reviews of the Lenovo ThinkPad T420s from Amazon.com. The average user rating for this product is 3.0/5, compared to an average user rating of 4.0/5 for other products on Amazon.com.

value for money, performance, build quality, screen, portability

34% of reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

May, 2013