Thinkpads Forum

I apologize if this is a newb question...

I am trying to determine the differences between the L420 and the E420s. As near as I can tell, both are aimed at small business/economy-minded enterprise; the Edge's physical design is a departure from the more iconic Lenovo Black Laptop and is perhaps not as physically robust as the L series??

Following is a screen cap from Lenovo's site (today) listing of two comparable machines. As you can see, the price difference is just $30:



My question is this: Which one should I buy and why? Does one of these machines offer considerably more value than the other? Do I care about the screens? The chips?

Thanks for any advice or insight you'd care to share.

If you want/need to carry your laptop around, any T-model is better.

I'd say ThinkPad E420 because it has lithium polymer battery, which is better than lithium ion, at least in the long run.

I think L420 was designed essentially for the underlings of the corporate ladder, vs. T, W, and X series.

ThinkPad Edge on the other hand may include personal and home users who want a more stylized ThinkPad, so I'd think it'd have better options in terms of quality of components and performance

This is an educated guess since I have not had the expected pleasure of holding an L-series machine yet. The L-series replaced the R-series, which was a notch below the T-series in finish materials.

I've had several Edge machines and their finish quality is several notches below the T-series, however, I do like their design and look.

I would expect the L-series to feel better and perhaps hold up better to general wear and abuse. Both will perform equally, since that is mostly a function of the specifications.

In order of quality, it's generally W or T or X > L > SL > Edge

underclocker wrote:In order of quality, it's generally W or T or X > L > SL > Edge

Don't know about the Edge, but generally L=SL in everything I saw (it's the same exact machine only that SL doesn't have a docking station connector).

ThinkPad quality formula revised; W, T, X > L, SL > Edge (although, I'd say the X100e & X120e are more in the L, SL range)

R50s and R60s were probably okay, near T series in terms of quality.
R40 that I had was several notches below... it made me want to get T or X series so bad, but they were unreasonably pricey for the models that include discrete graphics cards

My question is this: Which one should I buy and why? Does one of these machines offer considerably more value than the other? Do I care about the screens? The chips?

My vote is for neither. At almost $800 a piece I don't think they are good value. If you want a Thinkpad I'd go with the T410i. On sale you can get it for almost that price.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I decided that I needed a T420 instead. I stopped by a big-box store to put my hands on an Edge and found that I needed more durability (my current laptop has MB issues due to flex, and I don't want to deal with that again). By the time I'd spec'd out the T420, I'd spent more than I would've for an L420/E420s but I think I will be happier with the higher res. screen (looks like I can't run CS5 on a 1366x768 without occasional issues). Also, I get about 5-6 years per computer so the per-year cost difference isn't great.

Great call. You should have no regrets with that one.

The Edge is a fine 7th or 8th ThinkPad, but for a primary, only a T (or an X or W) will do!

BTW, welcome to the forum!

underclocker wrote:The Edge is a fine 7th or 8th ThinkPad, but for a primary, only a T (or an X or W) will do!

Or a Z! (until they were discontinued, LOL).