ajGoes

I've been a devoted ThinkPad user since I got the first Model 700 with a monochrome screen and OS/2. Build quality, ThinkPoint mouse, keyboard layout and quality, and the matte screen have been its most valuable features to me.

My T520 is bogging down lately so I'm reluctantly looking for its replacement. Lenovo dropped the old keyboard on new models before I got the T520, so I'm resigned to adapting to an inferior one.

Anyone who used ThinkPads until a few years ago is familiar with the excellent keyboard it had. I'm a developer and particularly appreciate the full-size keys and the function keys spaced in three groups so I can always tell where I am.

So, has anyone here migrated from the old-style ThinkPads? If so, what did you move to and how do you like it?

Many thanks for any guidance!

nkedel

A lot of developers at my last two companies did; I was the odd man out at the prior company, as hanging on to a desktop and using my personal Dell laptops.

Short of waiting for the "Retro Thinkpad" with a better keyboard (being teased, but not out for another year at the earliest; chx1975 mentions seeing something more definite than I have but didn't link to in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...rocessors.html ) there aren't any really good options now -- Dell, Lenovo, and HP on their business machines have all monkeyed with the layout and gone to Island/Chiclet-style keyboards.

The intermediate generations weren't as bad as the latest; I used a W530 at my last job, and found it still more than powerful enough for software development work, and while an island style keyboard it had full travel and some level of sculpting to the keycaps, plus a relatively decent size function row.

The Dell semi-island style on the E6420/E6430 was also an improvement over anyone's current keyboards.

That said, the T450s/X1 Carbon 3 generation of Lenovos were actually better than some of the T440/X1 Carbon 2 generation and I think they may be on a better track. I haven't tried any of the new Skylake ones yet from Dell or Lenovo, but I'd try to track down one of the T460p in person -- they seem like probably the safest choice for what you're looking for, at least if you need a relatively powerful machine.

DenverBrian

I've been on a T440s for a couple of years. No significant keyboard issues for touch typing; it feels very much like all my other ThinkPads going back years.

You might want to consider a T450/550 on clearance when they announce the T460/560.

(I downsized to a 14" screen with the T440s and, given today's resolutions, the reduction in size and weight is a great tradeoff for giving up 1.5 inches of diagonal screen size.)

ajGoes

Not for my eyes it isn't! I need a big screen to be able to display a reasonable amount of content with larger-than-normal fonts.

Thanks for the suggestions!

swanscn

Like you I have used ThinkPad's forever and I recently got a T50s and the keyboards while smaller (smaller machine I think is fine). I also have had the option of using a T550 and the results are similar. To give you a idea within arms reach of where I am typing I have a T500,T520 and T450s, and T440 guess you could say I like ThinkPad's. My 520 is still the primary machine with the 450s being the travel machine. My 520 is going strong, I replaced the HDD with a SSD (1TB when it was new) and upped the memory to the 32GB at that time. And the machine in this configuration runs great. Maybe instead of a new machine a upgrade to a SSD is order if you have not done so. I did try the Ideapad Yoga and hated the keyboard and mouse and just gave that machine away to my niece.

EmptyKim

T440S for me, but with a T450S touchpad replacement.

Another thing I do is use the old school ultranav keyboard: 02R0400. It works great and has the same feel as the old T42s.

chx1975

Pinged me? Click the link, I have included a timestamp where David Hill all but promises the retro thinkpad for the 25th anniversary, 2017.

nkedel

For the OP: One thing to be aware of coming from the T520 generation is that the Tx40 and Tx50 are a U-series ultrabook processor, not a full-power mobile processor like the Tx20/Tx30. Especially with the Tx40 and T440s, that may well actually be a touch slower than the T520. I'd recommend, given the mention of software development, and the T520 feeling a bit slow, sticking to the T440p/T540p or to the T460p.

If you want a 15" matte screen, you are going to either end up with an ultrabook CPU (T550/T560) or a workstation replacement (P50) or going to Dell/HP, or an older generation machine.

Take a look at the Dell E5570 (or its near-clone, the Precision M3510) -- it's the closest thing in the current generation from anyone to the T520. The T560 should be a good choice if you can live with the processor (if you have a dual core i5 or i7 in the T520, it should be enough of a generational jump to be slightly faster; if you have a quad-core i7, it would be a huge downgrade.)

Also take a look at the T540p -- it should be very affordable right now, as it's an outgoing model, sadly without a replacement, and while it's only a 2-generation CPU jump, they were pretty big generations.

Thanks for sharing the link!

superangrypenguin

Just got my 3rd gen X1 carbon - replaced my T430s. Loving every bit of it. That and my Surface Pro 4 hit my computing needs well.

pitz

When you say, "bogged down", is the laptop equipped with a SSD? Is it a reasonably modern SSD, or some first-generation model? What about RAM?

IIRC, the T520 is an Intel "Sandy Bridge" platform. While they've tweaked the power consumption and the physical design of laptops over the past few years, CPU-wise, there is very little difference between the a T520, and what available brand-new these days.

Perhaps all you need is a $100 SSD installed into the laptop instead of replacing the whole thing. If you're still using a HDD.

AltaBound

SAP which Surface 4 are you using? How are you finding the keyboard.

On another note what is involved in moving to a ssd drive?

superangrypenguin

SP4 pro on an i5. I don't mind the keyboard? Ssd is enough.

pitz

For most 'business' laptops, its just the matter of removing a few screws, swapping the HDD for a SSD, and then doing some magic with software and an appropriate USB (or E-SATA if applicable) cable to transfer the data from the old HDD to the SSD.

The big "snags" are finding you don't have the software to do such, or finding that the SSD you bought is insufficient to accommodate all of the data on your existing HDD + a reasonable amount of free space (generally SSDs, like HDDs, should not be overloaded).

nkedel

By "tweaked the power consumption" that would be more like "roughly doubled the typical battery life given a comparable size battery" but yes, the tradeoffs since then on mainstream laptops have mostly been for reducing power consumption and heat -- 4 generations newer and the "mainstream" chip is only about 20% faster, not a difference most people will notice.

On higher-power chips, the differences in speed are more dramatic, but of course those have not seen the improvements in battery life that the move from regular-power to ultra-low-voltage chips for the mainstream brought (although there's been some improvement in battery life from better idle/light load efficiency.)

It's often worth just reinstalling windows (+ apps) and copying your data over, but if the Windows install is recent and not full of manufacturer crudware, Clonezilla is a good free way to go.

Also, in case it's helpful, I posted this video here a couple years ago with the process of doing a hard drive to SSD swap in a W520; it's been a while since I've seen one of the 15" T-series (I've mostly used the T4x0s models and the W5x0 models) but my recollection is the T520 is fairly similar:

ajGoes

I use my ThinkPad's 2nd drive bay and an adapter. The process is remarkably painless.

I'm considering the upgrade suggestions upthread. I "upgraded" to a hybrid drive a year or so ago and didn't really notice much improvement. But the hybrid was an older style, and probably didn't offer SSD-level performance.