Lenovo T420s or HP 450 G1 for Ubuntu/University?

[Nick Powell]

I'm struggling to decide which of these two laptops I should purchase with the goal of using them for a journalism course with ubuntu installed, and possibly a Kali distro later on.

The t420s I'm looking at has the following specs:
- Intel i5 2520M 2.5GHZ
- 8GB DDR3 RAM
- 80GB SSD + 320GB SATA HDD
- 1600x900 Widescreen
Price - $350 AUD

Alternatively, the HP Probook 450 G1 has:
- Intel i5 4200M
- 8GB RAM
- 750GB HDD
- LED 1366x768 screen
Price - $550 AUD

I've been using a C720 Chromebook with 1366x768 resolution, so that hasn't phased me too much with the lower quality screen. Which do you think is the better choice?

 

[metalicgeek]

The T420s may prove to be a better deal, as the performance difference between the i5 2520M and the i5 4200M is not extremely large. The 80GB SSD may be helpful as well. The only concern is if the T420s, being relatively old, has a limited warranty compared to the HP Probook. If the warranty is fine, then get the T420s.