Trading my Y40-70 for a Thinkpad L520

Mobile Tech Laptops & Netbooks
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1

I have the opportunity to trade my Y40-70 for an L520 and I want some second opinions on if I should.

Since I have gotten my Y40 I have had nothing but problems in linux. If I use windows 8.1 then it works fine, but, I don't want to use 8.1, or windows at all. I like the 1080p screen, but at 14-17 inches the res doesn't really match the screen size at all so everything is just tiny. I don't have many USB slots, only one HDD bay, and it can only take one certain kind of ram. Also, BGA CPU.

The L520 is weaker specs wise. It has a dual core i5 vs the dual core i7, 3mb cache vs 4, an ati 565v dGPU (its basically a 4670) but it supposedly can be replaced with a 5770(???), can take whatever ram I put in it, it has a relatively good screen (I'm not picky about res and its 1366 X 768), solid construction, and the keyboard is to die for.

So I've thought about it and what I am losing with the y40 is a mobile 250X (same performance) and a 1080p screen, like a meg of CPU cache as well, but gaining clocks, better drivers, and better construction. So to me it seems worth it.

Does anyone have experience with an L520 and can tell me why this would be a bad idea?

2

The AMD graphics switching in linux is much more of a pain to use with the non open source drivers.

Not much else i cant think of unless you plan on running gentoo or LFS

3

The only argument I have is I'm trading specs for unit lifetime and useability. I'm gunna go fiddle with it here in a bit and see if I really wanna trade up.

4

bump n dump

5

I wouldn't trade.

You would be trading a halfway decent machine, for something with one foot in the grave.

6

Esplana?

The way I see it is I'm trading down a GPU for better useability over all.

7

Your going from a 4th gen i7 to a 2nd gen i5.

The laptop in question is also considerably older, so god only knows what the actual state of the machine is in.

8

Well I've fiddled with it. Its basically like new. The board is fine, keys aren't shiney or anything. The nub mouse is fucked up but find my an example of one that isn't tbh. Can just buy new rubber.

At that, yeah, ok, i7 to i5, few years diff. 2 GHZ i7 that boosts to 3.1 vs a 2.5 boost to like 3.3. The 1 meg of cache difference isn't really going to affect it with a clock difference that drastic. At that, with an SSD, that 520 will fly.

Bonus that I also found out, the 520 is bios! Thank fucking god! No UEFI to fuck up my day! I was very very happy to find that out. With that being said, I don't know if windows 10 can see the 565v or if its even in there. All 520's came with it so either this model was cut back or 10 can't see it. If it doesn't have it at all, then it might be MXM! I didn't open it up too far, only to see if the CPU is socketed or not, which it is.

I honestly think the 520 is a better deal for me in the long run. It has an upgrade path, its useable for what I want to do, better keyboard, better screen color wise... I'm dead set on it now. I'm just waiting for someone to say what faults it has. Can't really see anything online about it.

9

I wouldn't touch it.

And you are forgetting the architectural differences to the CPU. Its a much bigger difference than you give it credit for.

Also, how exactly does UEFI mess up your day?

Also something to keep in mind. Laptops like the 520 are a dime a dozen on craisglist and ebay. Why not simply keep your laptop and just pick up a cheap linux laptop on craigslist?

10

1: I don't know how it works
2: If I have to crack the bios open, I am comfortable doing that
3: The driver stack doesn't work for it in linux
4: I don't have money to throw around