Lenovo ThinkPad T420
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 26 of 63 laptops by recommenders
Owners say it runs reliably for many years, is easy to repair and upgrade, and handles everyday work. Critics most often point to the weak screen.
Owners say it runs reliably for many years, is easy to repair and upgrade, and handles everyday work. Critics most often point to the weak screen.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 15 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs reliably for many years
“Does all the email, video, office stuff I need it to do effortlessly and just won't die”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Dell brings back XPS 13 as MacBook Neo competitor – with temporary price of $599” “still run perfectly fine after 15 years, the only complaint is the shitty screen”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads” “running 24/7 pegged as a multi-camera DVR since 2011, no issues whatsoever”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Old laptops in a colo as low cost servers” - Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “I wrote a batch script to keep my 2011 ThinkPad alive for 24/7 streaming”
Easy to repair and upgrade
“My ThinkPad t420 had a small built in battery so I could switch batteries without shutdown.”
Comment from 7 Sep 2026 in “Smartphone makers don't bother to comply with EU repairability requirements” “I think I've repaired or replaced every single swappable component aside from the display.”
Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “Spirit of ThinkPad” Solid, sturdy build
“they both feel as solid as anything I've had from Apple”
Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “Spirit of ThinkPad” “it seems very solid on the T420 so far”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “A love song for Linux gamers with old GPUs” Handles streaming, coding and office work
“The stream and code runs on a ThinkPad T420's smoothly after running the code in the background.”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “I wrote a batch script to keep my 2011 ThinkPad alive for 24/7 streaming” “Does all the email, video, office stuff I need it to do effortlessly and just won't die”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Dell brings back XPS 13 as MacBook Neo competitor – with temporary price of $599”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weak screen
“still run perfectly fine after 15 years, the only complaint is the shitty screen”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads”
Other laptops people recommend
The four most recommended other laptops, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple MacBook Pro | 928 | 688 | 57% | 13 | 5 yrs248 owners | — |
| Apple MacBook Neo | 707 | 355 | 66% | 9 | 1 mo8 owners | — |
| MacBook Air | 633 | 209 | 75% | 12 | 5 yrs130 owners | Approved |
| Apple MacBook | 499 | 348 | 59% | 12 | 9 yrs77 owners | — |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T420This page | 14 | 2 | 88% | 9 | 15 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Driving a higher resolution screen is both GPU and RAM intensive”
“still run perfectly fine after 15 years, the only complaint is the shitty screen”
“the T420 is particular has great battery life”
“My ThinkPad t420 had a small built in battery so I could switch batteries without shutdown.”
“my T420 and T480 being great, despite not having consumer “looks””
“I have maxed-out 16GB X220 and T420 machines”
“Does all the email, video, office stuff I need it to do effortlessly and just won't die”
“running 24/7 pegged as a multi-camera DVR since 2011, no issues whatsoever”
“Works surprisingly well with Wayland these days.”
“the T440p (my main machine for several years) and T420 run insanely hot”
“like the Thinkpad T420 used to be”
“I think I've repaired or replaced every single swappable component aside from the display.”
“they both feel as solid as anything I've had from Apple”
“Looks fantastic. Runs great.”
“golden age ThinkPads like my old T60, T420,x230t”
“Managed to complete the games with decent graphics and framerate at the time.”
“All are 100% stable and run for days on end without a problem”
“it seems very solid on the T420 so far”
“The stream and code runs on a ThinkPad T420's smoothly after running the code in the background.”
“The ?20 range was the last Thinkpad series with good keyboards.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.