Lenovo ThinkPad T420S and W520 on sale now

By Geoff Duncan Published March 30, 2011

Lenovo’s ThinkPad line—which it inherited from IBM all those years ago—has always been designed to appeal to enterprise and corporate buyers rather than consumers: big accounts look for uniformity, ease of management, and the ability to buy in bulk, while consumers tend to look for the best tradeoff between price, performance, and looks on a single machine. Lenovo’s new ThinkPad T420s and ThinkPad W502 are definitely made for the enterprise crowd…but they have features that may turn a few consumers’ heads.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

First up, the ThinkPad T420S features a 14-inch 1,600 by 900 LED-backlit display, powered by the Intel HD graphics built into the second-generation Core i5-2520 processor running at 2.5 GHz. The system sports 2 GB of RAM out of the box (up to 8 GB supported), a 250 GB hard drive, DVD±RW burner, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless networking, and a total weight of just four pounds. Configurations start at $1,199, with a 4 GB version starting at $1,399 and a 2.6 GHz processor available. All versions ship with Windows 7 and a number of storage options are available, along with an integrated webcam, Bluetooth, and mobile broadband options.

Lenovo ThinkPad W520 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The ThinkPad W520, however, gives some serious competition to Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pros, sporting a 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7-2620 CPU and Nvidia Quadro 1000M mobile graphics with power-saving Optimus technology that enables users to run on integrated graphics to save power. The W520 is available with 15 inch screen offering either a standard 1,366 by 768 resolution or a 1,600 by 900-pixel display. Other capabilities include 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi networking, RAM and storage starting at 4 GB and 320 GB (respectively), a DVD±RW burner, an integrated 720p webcam, with options for Bluetooth, up to 8 GB of RAM, and mobile broadband options. The systems don’t offer Blu-ray or USB 3.0…but the W520 starts at just $1,449.99.

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