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I said this in the other thread.. I just bought a "new to me" laptop. Refurb Thinkpad T420s from 2011. I added 16G RAM, two Intel SSDs, an Ultrabay battery,

by mrbill 11y ago

I said this in the other thread.. I just bought a "new to me" laptop. Refurb Thinkpad T420s from 2011. I added 16G RAM, two Intel SSDs, an Ultrabay battery, and an 802.12ac wifi card. Grand total: less than $325. This will be my primary portable for at least 2-3 years, and it's already four years old. Just because I can afford Apple doesn't mean I can justify the 2x price premium, or that "old" hardware isn't capable.

kamaal 11y ago
May I ask from where you bought it and how did you upgrade it. Looks like a very interested configuration.
- e15ctr0n 11y ago
  There's a lot of good stuff on eBay and Craigslist.
- mrbill 11y ago
  I tend to get my refurb Thinkpads from arrowdirect.com. You can use the code ARROW for 20% off. I ordered this one as 4G/128SSD but already had the RAM on hand to upgrade it to 16G. Part sources: (if you want to upgrade from the 128G) Intel Pro 1500 180G: $55 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Pro-1500-180-GB-2-5-SSD-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-SSDSC2BF180A4H-/191728007943 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Pro-1500-180-GB-2-5-SSD-Intern... (optional) Intel 310 80G mSATA SSD: $30 http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-310-Series-80GB-mSATA-SSD-SSDMAEMC080G2-/231812886235 http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-310-Series-80GB-mSATA-SSD-SSDM... Ultrabay battery: $28 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Battery-43-3-Cell-Bay-Lenovo-Genuine-FRU-0A36310-NIB-/141898955475 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Battery-43-3-Cell-Ba... Intel 7260 802.11ac MiniPCIe wifi card: $28 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-7260-HMWG-R-Wireless-AC-Bluetooth-Mounting/dp/B00MY9S692 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-7260-HMWG-R-Wireless-AC-Bluetoot... An external USB3 enclosure for the Ultrabay DVDRW drive will run around $30 on Amazon. To install the Intel 7260 card, you will need to install a modified "whitelist removed" BIOS, as Lenovo restricts what MiniPCIe cards can go in their systems by default. The system comes with an 802.11n card (mine was an Intel Centrino 6205). My only complaint about ArrowDirect is that if they have a system model that could have different screen resolutions, you have no way of specifying / requesting certain specs; you get what they pull and send. Every system I've ordered from them (close to ten now) has arrived in near-mint condition; this t420s would be amazingly perfect if not for a scuff of the rubberized paint/coating on the top lid (which doesn't matter to me one bit).

by mrbill 11y ago

kamaal 11y ago

May I ask from where you bought it and how did you upgrade it. Looks like a very interested configuration.

e15ctr0n 11y ago
There's a lot of good stuff on eBay and Craigslist.
mrbill 11y ago
I tend to get my refurb Thinkpads from arrowdirect.com. You can use the code ARROW for 20% off. I ordered this one as 4G/128SSD but already had the RAM on hand to upgrade it to 16G. Part sources: (if you want to upgrade from the 128G) Intel Pro 1500 180G: $55 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Pro-1500-180-GB-2-5-SSD-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-SSDSC2BF180A4H-/191728007943 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Pro-1500-180-GB-2-5-SSD-Intern... (optional) Intel 310 80G mSATA SSD: $30 http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-310-Series-80GB-mSATA-SSD-SSDMAEMC080G2-/231812886235 http://www.ebay.com/itm/INTEL-310-Series-80GB-mSATA-SSD-SSDM... Ultrabay battery: $28 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Battery-43-3-Cell-Bay-Lenovo-Genuine-FRU-0A36310-NIB-/141898955475 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Battery-43-3-Cell-Ba... Intel 7260 802.11ac MiniPCIe wifi card: $28 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-7260-HMWG-R-Wireless-AC-Bluetooth-Mounting/dp/B00MY9S692 http://www.amazon.com/Intel-7260-HMWG-R-Wireless-AC-Bluetoot... An external USB3 enclosure for the Ultrabay DVDRW drive will run around $30 on Amazon. To install the Intel 7260 card, you will need to install a modified "whitelist removed" BIOS, as Lenovo restricts what MiniPCIe cards can go in their systems by default. The system comes with an 802.11n card (mine was an Intel Centrino 6205). My only complaint about ArrowDirect is that if they have a system model that could have different screen resolutions, you have no way of specifying / requesting certain specs; you get what they pull and send. Every system I've ordered from them (close to ten now) has arrived in near-mint condition; this t420s would be amazingly perfect if not for a scuff of the rubberized paint/coating on the top lid (which doesn't matter to me one bit).