6 ms·

I have a T420s that really struggles with video e.g. Youtube. Watching any h.245 via VLC or mplayer is impossible. Also the battery is in a bad state and I have

I have a T420s that really struggles with video e.g. Youtube. Watching any h.245 via VLC or mplayer is impossible. Also the battery is in a bad state and I haven't been able to find a good replacement that isn't equally poor or worse right from the start. It actually has two batteries, one being in what used to be the cd tray. Still, usage time is 3 hours tops. It had been my daily driver for years, running Linux, but I had to replace it with something newer. How is your T420 doing with all this? Did you update the CPU? Does it still have the stock battery?

HlessClaudesman 3y ago
Yeah, I replaced the battery on my t540p but it's still sub 1 hour life. Replaced hard drive and upgraded the ram so now it works pretty well as a desktop PC running win 10. It was running super slow for ages, fixed after I banished Google drive backup. Maybe a compatibility issue with newest Google software thrashing constantly on older OS / hardware.
nython 3y ago
On aliexpress, there is an usbc adapter for the t420 power cable that will allow it to take charge from a 65w powerbank (maybe even 20w). No need to search for battery replacements anymore and can also throw away the original power brick.
NovaDudely 3y ago
It is still running a 2.4ghz 2nd gen i5. The battery is in decent condition but because it was a second hand machine, I am not sure what its life was like before it. I do find it odd that it is struggling with video content, it doesn't seem to really push this thing to the limit even at 1080p but it does drive the CPU's a fair bit. It is fun looking at the video state of video decoding on Intel chips during that time period. 2nd gen are still fairly CPU heavy. 3rd gen the load is cut in half. 4th Gen it almost looks like your system is idle running that stuff. I have a Dell Optiplex Mini that runs a 2Ghz 4th Gen i5 and you can barely tell the CPU is doing anything do the media acceleration. Cool to see in action.

HlessClaudesman 3y ago

Yeah, I replaced the battery on my t540p but it's still sub 1 hour life. Replaced hard drive and upgraded the ram so now it works pretty well as a desktop PC running win 10. It was running super slow for ages, fixed after I banished Google drive backup. Maybe a compatibility issue with newest Google software thrashing constantly on older OS / hardware.

nython 3y ago

On aliexpress, there is an usbc adapter for the t420 power cable that will allow it to take charge from a 65w powerbank (maybe even 20w). No need to search for battery replacements anymore and can also throw away the original power brick.

NovaDudely 3y ago

It is still running a 2.4ghz 2nd gen i5. The battery is in decent condition but because it was a second hand machine, I am not sure what its life was like before it. I do find it odd that it is struggling with video content, it doesn't seem to really push this thing to the limit even at 1080p but it does drive the CPU's a fair bit. It is fun looking at the video state of video decoding on Intel chips during that time period. 2nd gen are still fairly CPU heavy. 3rd gen the load is cut in half. 4th Gen it almost looks like your system is idle running that stuff. I have a Dell Optiplex Mini that runs a 2Ghz 4th Gen i5 and you can barely tell the CPU is doing anything do the media acceleration. Cool to see in action.