Searching for a "good" T520

[McQuad]

After getting my head spun around several times trying to figure out the TXX and RXX "Frankies," I think that I'm going to [hopefully] simplify things a bit and seriously consider a nice ThinkPad 15.6" T520, instead.

I've printed out the "Standard Features" from the ThinkWiki site and, like the TXX and RXX machines, it would seem that there were quite few options for this machine as well.

As our MacBook Pro 17 has the same CPU, which has proven to be very reliable, I'd like to find a T520 with [at least] the Intel Core-i7-2820QM installed. As we've never actually owned a ThinkPad - or any other PC laptop for that matter - and, in case we can't find the right CPU, I'd like to know if the CPUs in the T520s can be swapped out? If they can, I'd appreciate any thoughts (good or bad) on compatible Intel CPUs...

...Which brings me to GPUs. The MBP 17 I mentioned has given us great service for over 12 years now, but, a couple of years back, the dedicated AMD Radeon 6750M GPU on the motherboard decided to "end it all" and left us with a Pepto Bismol screen. In the end, this disaster was corrected via a console script patch that turned off the dedicated GPU and, instead, permanently activated the Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU that's integrated into the CPU. If anyone has any thoughts or experience with finding a T520 without dedicated graphics, I'd be much obliged to read about it.

During my FrankenPad research, I learned a lot about displays. The T520 Standard Features listing I've printed out lists three displays (all 15.6" TFT): a 1366 x 768 HD (230 NITS), 1600 x 900 HD+ (230 NITS) and the 1920 x 1080 FHD (270 NITS). My main question about these is if all three of the listed TFTs are the "wide screen" displays? If all three versions are the "wide screen" type that the majority of FrankenPad folks seem to hate, has anyone had any luck replacing the factory T520 display with something better?

In general, thoughts about what can and can't be done (in the way of mods) - including any pros and cons - regarding the ThinkPad T520 would be most sincerely appreciated.

[ZaZ]

This may be of interest. I think the problem you're likely to run into is if you have to upgrade the display, which is is a more complex upgrade and the cost involved, how much are you going to save, unless cost is paramount, on a 12 year old notebook? I'd be more inclined toward toward something like the T580, which come with a factory IPS FHD CLD and offers the much more power efficient quad core CPUs. Even in the Lenovo Outlet I've seen Gen 2 and 3 AMD Ryzen L series notebooks selling for less $500, though sometimes patience is required to snag one of those deals. The older L 80 and 90 series might be worth looking for as well. I think they came with FHD IPS screens too, though a little dimmer. Like the R series, a little thicker and heavier, and uses more plastic in the construction, but still a solid notebook.

[TPFanatic]

Get our your notebook, this is a long one.


Please don't worry about FrankenPads. There are no T520 FrankenPads. FrankenPads are really old, slow, and dated. I love using them but they're not for the general consumer.

The vast majority of T520 configurations have the basic HD 1366x768, i5 2520m Dual Core 2 core, 4 thread 35W CPU, and Integrated Graphics. Some have the better HD+ 1600x900 LCD. The FHD 1920x1080 configurations are rare.

There are more rare T520 configurations with Quad Core 4 core, 8 thread 45W CPUs. These also all came with Dedicated Graphics. This is actually a necessary pairing because all the Integrated Graphics heatsinks are purposely designed to only cool up to 35W.

Look at this image of a T520 integrated graphics heatsink:
https://download.lenovo.com/Images/Part ... 1580_B.jpg

Now look at this image of a T520 dedicated graphics heatsink:
https://download.lenovo.com/Images/Part ... 1578_A.jpg

Note how the Integrated graphics heatsink has a thin heatpipe that only goes to the side vent.
Note how the Dedicated graphics heatsink has a bigger heatpipe that goes to both the side and rear vents.




Let's explore going with a T520. There are two options to get a T520 with the configuration you want.

1. You buy a T520 already with the better LCD and a Quad Core.

2. You buy a basic configuration T520 or T520i and upgrade it to a better LCD and a Quad Core.

Be advised that before ever disconnecting a ThinkPad's LCD or LCD cable, you must ensure AC Power and Battery are DISCONNECTED and you should press the power button multiple times to drain the capacitors.


Back in 2016 I have personally upgraded a basic configuration T520 from i5 2520m, HD 1366x768, and Integrated Graphics to an i7 2720QM and FHD 1920x1080. I used the N156HGE-L11 display. And I upgraded to a Dedicated Graphics heatsink.

The Dedicated Graphics heatsinks FRUs (part numbers) are:
FRU FAN Hybrid Furukawa 75Y5790
FRU FAN Hybrid Delta 04W1578
FRU FAN Hybrid AVC 04W1579 or 75Y5782

Back in 2016 I paid $50 for the T520, $30 for the FHD 1920x1080 LCD, $25 for the Heatsink, and $60 for the i7 2720QM. Also you must budget for thermal paste. I recently paid $13 for Arctic MX-6 thermal paste. So this amounted to $178 to acquire and upgrade a T520 to my desired configuration.

Nowadays the average price for a used Heatsink has gone UP and the price for a used CPU has come DOWN. But in any case, the cost of upgrades gets really close to just buying the desired configuration.

Last year I paid $150 for a top of the line W530.



There is a third option.

3. You buy a W520, the vast majority of these laptops already have a better LCD and a Quad Core. But confirm with the seller both aspects, as there are rare configurations with the HD display and/or a dual core.



You should also consider T530 and W530. Again, like T520 and W520, most T530 are basic configurations with HD LCD and dual core.

But if you decide to upgrade a T530, it has two 35W quad core upgrade options, i7 3612QM or i7 3632QM, which the basic Integrated Graphics cooler is sufficient for.

W530, like W520, most already have the better display and a Quad Core.

There is one more really good reason to look for a W520, T530, or W530: all three of these laptops have USB 3.0 ports, while T520 only has USB 2.0.



With all this in mind, I close off with this:
The nicer CPU and LCD are not NECESSARY to run Windows XP, 7, or 10.

If you want to save the most money, buy the lowest price basic configuration T520 or T530 laptop and enjoy it AS IS.

A better configuration, either preconfigured or upgraded, will get expensive quickly, to the point it no longer makes sense from a price/performance standpoint. Again, I paid $150 for a W530, which is BELOW AVERAGE for W530 listings, and it IS overpriced for a 10 year old laptop. Especially because you can buy the superior ThinkPad P50 for the $200 price range.

Here's a few reasons P50 is better than W530:

All P50 have superior displays to W530. P50 has Thunderbolt 3 for high speed expansion (W530 does not). And since P50 has official driver support for Windows 7, it can do W530's job better than W530.

So consider a P50 as well.

PS. Also consider P70, the 17" version of P50.

[kfzhu1229]

As our MacBook Pro 17 has the same CPU, which has proven to be very reliable, I'd like to find a T520 with [at least] the Intel Core-i7-2820QM installed. As we've never actually owned a ThinkPad - or any other PC laptop for that matter - and, in case we can't find the right CPU, I'd like to know if the CPUs in the T520s can be swapped out? If they can, I'd appreciate any thoughts (good or bad) on compatible Intel CPUs...

I have a broken ThinkPad T520 (fried charging IC) with previously an i7-2860QM and the NVS 4200M graphics and now extensive experience with Sandy bridge laptop hardware from other brands like Dell and Acer.
So far my opinion is that the i7-2860QM is not worth it. a CPU + GPU combined load easily overwhelms the cooling solution on those things (and even worse thermals on T530), so a lower tier i7-2670QM is plenty if you really desperately want quad cores. An i5-2520M will still zip through daily browsing tasks and so on with relative ease and gives much better battery life.

...Which brings me to GPUs. The MBP 17 I mentioned has given us great service for over 12 years now, but, a couple of years back, the dedicated AMD Radeon 6750M GPU on the motherboard decided to "end it all" and left us with a Pepto Bismol screen. In the end, this disaster was corrected via a console script patch that turned off the dedicated GPU and, instead, permanently activated the Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU that's integrated into the CPU. If anyone has any thoughts or experience with finding a T520 without dedicated graphics, I'd be much obliged to read about it.

I have again that ThinkPad T520 and even some Acer laptops with GT 540M switchable graphics - they all seem to behave fine as long as you keep the thermals in check, though some of those motherboards will then develop other problems like one of mine with an i7-2670QM and GT 540M suffered from Vcore capacitor problems (solid screen and freezing sometimes when turbo boosting), don't think you will find that on a ThinkPad.
Thermals wise these would still be leaps and bounds better than the thermals on the Macbook Pro 2011 13 and 15 inch models (idk about the 17 inch model). Even my 13 inch Acer TimelineX has better thermals than the Macbook pro 13 even with a GT 540M switchable graphics

In general, thoughts about what can and can't be done (in the way of mods) - including any pros and cons - regarding the ThinkPad T520 would be most sincerely appreciated.

Then it brings me to the mods. Other than the Ivy bridge mods, One thing I have noticed with these Sandy bridge laptops is that the early BIOS revisions paired with an i5 or i7 are in fact capable of unofficially supporting 1600Mhz RAM speed. This is the case on my Latitude E6420, E6520 as well as the Acer laptops that got custom BIOSes flashed where it can force RAM speed to 1600.
And also, the speakers are crap on these ThinkPad models. Getting the Dolby home theatre to work on these may help some, but some ppl just resorted to sticking in ipad speakers.

[McQuad]

Get our your notebook, this is a long one.

You should also consider T530 and W530. Again, like T520 and W520, most T530 are basic configurations with HD LCD and dual core.

But if you decide to upgrade a T530, it has two 35W quad core upgrade options, i7 3612QM or i7 3632QM, which the basic Integrated Graphics cooler is sufficient for.

W530, like W520, most already have the better display and a Quad Core.

There is one more really good reason to look for a W520, T530, or W530: all three of these laptops have USB 3.0 ports, while T520 only has USB 2.0.

With all this in mind, I close off with this:
The nicer CPU and LCD are not NECESSARY to run Windows XP, 7, or 10.

If you want to save the most money, buy the lowest price basic configuration T520 or T530 laptop and enjoy it AS IS.

A better configuration, either preconfigured or upgraded, will get expensive quickly, to the point it no longer makes sense from a price/performance standpoint. Again, I paid $150 for a W530, which is BELOW AVERAGE for W530 listings, and it IS overpriced for a 10 year old laptop. Especially because you can buy the superior ThinkPad P50 for the $200 price range.

Here's a few reasons P50 is better than W530:

All P50 have superior displays to W530. P50 has Thunderbolt 3 for high speed expansion (W530 does not). And since P50 has official driver support for Windows 7, it can do W530's job better than W530.

So consider a P50 as well.

PS. Also consider P70, the 17" version of P50.

I'll get into the main options that I see as being for us ... When it comes to the new PXX laptops, I have to ask the same question that I asked about the T530: Can it [initially] be set up for a dual-drive, dual-boot setup that can handle 32-bit versions [plural] of Win X and Win 7 and, afterword, be used with newer software? I also really liked the idea of room for three internal drives in the T530, so is that possible with the P50 and/or the P70?

In keeping with the general theme of this thread, which is the ability to upgrade, can the PXX machines be upgraded as much as the TXXX machines?

Although our Mac stuff has been very good to us, the main thing that bugs me about our MBP 15 "retina" laptop, specifically, is the inability to make changes. Conversely, being able to work on the ThinkPads is the main reason I'm typing this ... so long story long, I'm not interested in a PC that I can't work on. Thanks for the great post!

[TPFanatic]

P50 can fit three drives (1x 2.5" and 2x M2 SSD). P70 can fit four drives (1x 2.5" in main bay, 1x 2.5" in place of Optical bay, and 2x M2 SSD).

They do not support XP. They do support Windows 7, which has the virtualized XP Mode.

T530 is actually of the last Intel chipset, Ivy Bridge, with support for real Windows XP.

Looking like T530 will be your winner!

[McQuad]

P50 can fit three drives (1x 2.5" and 2x M2 SSD). P70 can fit four drives (1x 2.5" in main bay, 1x 2.5" in place of Optical bay, and 2x M2 SSD).

They do not support XP. They do support Windows 7, which has the virtualized XP Mode.

T530 is actually of the last Intel chipset, Ivy Bridge, with support for real Windows XP.

Looking like T530 will be your winner!

Can you one do all of the mod's we've been discussing - CPU change, RAM change, (3) 2.5" SATA Drives, Display change, etc - with a W530?

Is there any reason to believe that a dual-drive dual-boot 32-bit Win XP & 32-bit Win 7 setup can't be my first W530 project?

Knowing the pros and cons between the T530 vs the W530, in general, would be extremely useful.

Thank you for all of the great information! I'm slowly gettin' there.

[TPFanatic]

W530 has the same drive configuration as T530. Main bay 2.5" SATA, ultrabay 2.5" SATA caddy, and MSATA.

W530 has socketed CPU and RAM. The display is replaceable.

Most, as in the very mass majority of W530 have 4 RAM slots, whereas T530 only has 2 RAM slots. This is tied to the CPU ordered at configuration. The Quad Cores can use 4 RAM slots while the Dual Cores can only use 2 RAM slots. A very few rare configurations of W530 were configured with Dual Cores and have only 2 RAM slots. All T530 only have 2 RAM slots regardless of CPU configured.

The W530 with Quad Core and 4 slots can address up to 32GB of RAM. The T530 with only 2 slots can only fit 16GB of RAM. *32 bit Windows will only use 3GB.

All W530 have a Quadro Nvidia graphics chip using Optimus Hybrid Graphics technology. The entire GPU can be disabled in BIOS for maximum power savings. But on machines with the GPU you need the GPU enabled for Digital Video Out through the Displayport or Dock DVI to work.

W530 commands a price premium over a basic T530. Last year I paid $90 for a broken W530 with a broken 1600x900 display. While I paid $40 for a little fire damaged T530 with a melted keyboard. Even broken W530 is more expensive than working T530.

[kfzhu1229]

Can you one do all of the mod's we've been discussing - CPU change, RAM change, (3) 2.5" SATA Drives, Display change, etc - with a W530?
Is there any reason to believe that a dual-drive dual-boot 32-bit Win XP & 32-bit Win 7 setup can't be my first W530 project?
Knowing the pros and cons between the T530 vs the W530, in general, would be extremely useful.
Thank you for all of the great information! I'm slowly gettin' there.

You can do all that on W530. But, if you are only running 32 bit Windows XP and 7, what is the point of having 4 RAM slots... Unless you are somehow using 1GB DDR3 sticks? And as far as I know you can't use switchable graphics under Windows XP - you have to make it discrete GPU only under Windows XP.
Personally I would be a bit careful with the spending on upgrades - considering a ThinkPad T580 is only worth about 200 bucks nowadays, and a Dell Precision M4700 is a little more than 100 bucks - which has everything W530 has plus upgradable MxM slotted graphics (and better keyboard too if you don't fit a xx20 gen keyboard). It is beefier and heavier though.

[McQuad]

Can you one do all of the mod's we've been discussing - CPU change, RAM change, (3) 2.5" SATA Drives, Display change, etc - with a W530?
Is there any reason to believe that a dual-drive dual-boot 32-bit Win XP & 32-bit Win 7 setup can't be my first W530 project?
Knowing the pros and cons between the T530 vs the W530, in general, would be extremely useful.
Thank you for all of the great information! I'm slowly gettin' there.

You can do all that on W530. But, if you are only running 32 bit Windows XP and 7, what is the point of having 4 RAM slots... Unless you are somehow using 1GB DDR3 sticks? And as far as I know you can't use switchable graphics under Windows XP - you have to make it discrete GPU only under Windows XP.
Personally I would be a bit careful with the spending on upgrades - considering a ThinkPad T580 is only worth about 200 bucks nowadays, and a Dell Precision M4700 is a little more than 100 bucks - which has everything W530 has plus upgradable MxM slotted graphics (and better keyboard too if you don't fit a xx20 gen keyboard). It is beefier and heavier though.

I'm sure that most of the folks here would agree that, generally speaking, a computer owner should have the ability to make as many changes as possible to their own system. As I mentioned in a previous post, the MBP 15 Core-i7 2.8 Ghz "Retina" laptop that I'm typing on right now is a very nice machine, but the thing that has bothered me about it since Day 1 is the fact that you can't make changes to it. The point here is that I used to build PCs - way back in the Win XP days - and I miss having the ability to work on my own machine; therefore, I would really like it if our very first PC laptop can be worked on. Thankfully, both the T530 and the W530 both seem to fit that basic description.

I'm only finding out now that the W530 [usually] comes with more RAM slots than the T530 ThinkPad. Needless to say, this gives the "tinkerer" more options, but it's not something that would make me choose one over the other ... unless, of course, I found both models available at the same price.

No, the thing that got me thinking about the W530 has to do with the display that it typically comes with. According to the "long one" I received in this thread (Post No. 3), the W530 generally comes with the best screen option available (at the time of manufacture) and a relatively powerful CPU. As I'm used to how they perform, I'd really like to find a ThinkPad with [at least] a 2nd gen Core-I7 CPU, which doesn't seem unreasonable for either the T530 or a W530, considering that both came out in 2012 ... but I digress. The point is that, if I can find a W530 that came with a relatively good display and a CPU that fits my basic description - at a decent price - why not, right? If I can't find a decent affordable W530, I suppose that it's back to searching for a decent T530.

By the way, the 32-bit Win XP and 32-bit Win 7 requirements are only temporary. Considering that most of the ThinkPads we've been discussing (on this thread and the others I've participated on) - including the T6X models - running via Windows 10, it also makes sense to me to think seriously about how the PC laptops I'm considering can be used after I've finished the 32-bit Win XP and 32-bit Win 7 projects that brought me to ThinkPads (and this forum) in the first place, right?

I'm clearly still in learning mode, but, at this point, the T530 or [possibly] the W530 options are still looking pretty good to me.

[ZaZ]

I think argument against a 12 year old notebook is there's a ceiling to what it can offer you. For not much more money, perhaps none if you have to pay out to upgrade it, you can get a more powerful and lighter machine with a better screen.

Depending on your preferences you don't really need a better screen. The last notebook I bought with a TN panel was my SXGA+ R60, which offered a high resolution screen, but was contrast and viewing angle challenged. I was willing to modify a R60e and later a X200 to get a notebook with a good screen, which was hard to find for some time after the T60 was discontinued, but given the choice I would have rather bought it and be done. The only things I want to upgrade are the storage and maybe the memory.

[kfzhu1229]

I'm sure that most of the folks here would agree that, generally speaking, a computer owner should have the ability to make as many changes as possible to their own system. As I mentioned in a previous post, the MBP 15 Core-i7 2.8 Ghz "Retina" laptop that I'm typing on right now is a very nice machine, but the thing that has bothered me about it since Day 1 is the fact that you can't make changes to it. The point here is that I used to build PCs - way back in the Win XP days - and I miss having the ability to work on my own machine; therefore, I would really like it if our very first PC laptop can be worked on. Thankfully, both the T530 and the W530 both seem to fit that basic description.
No, the thing that got me thinking about the W530 has to do with the display that it typically comes with. According to the "long one" I received in this thread (Post No. 3), the W530 generally comes with the best screen option available (at the time of manufacture) and a relatively powerful CPU. As I'm used to how they perform, I'd really like to find a ThinkPad with [at least] a 2nd gen Core-I7 CPU, which doesn't seem unreasonable for either the T530 or a W530, considering that both came out in 2012 ... but I digress. The point is that, if I can find a W530 that came with a relatively good display and a CPU that fits my basic description - at a decent price - why not, right? If I can't find a decent affordable W530, I suppose that it's back to searching for a decent T530.

yeah indeed 4 RAM slots are nice, but it is really more of a nice to have if you are barely spending any extra to get it. I think 32GB on these machines is total overkill and locks you to only the i7 quad core processors, and 8GB DDR3 RAM sticks are absolutely dirt cheap these days in North America if you know where to look for them.
So yeah in my opinion the conclusion really is given like a 100 USD price ceiling (excluding cost of SSD and battery) what is the best configured ThinkPad T/W520/530 you can get. If you have to pay 150USD and up, unless you truly want the ThinkPad branding, a Dell Precision M4700/M4800 will serve you much better, also almost always coming with FHD screens, always coming with 4 RAM slots and gives the flexibility of a graphics card upgrade (though that can be quirky). Not to mention the fact that their docks give you all the legacy ports you want still. It's a bit bigger but then you get a 9 cell battery that does not protrude.

[McQuad]

I hate to do it on a ThinkPad forum, but what's the difference between a Dell Precision M4700 and an M4800?

[kfzhu1229]

I hate to do it on a ThinkPad forum, but what's the difference between a Dell Precision M4700 and an M4800?

Precision M4700 is the competitor of ThinkPad W530, and M4800 is the competitor of W540 (4th gen haswell). Similarly, M4600 is sandy bridge.
While the ThinkPad W5x0 series are souped up T series with quadro graphics and 4 RAM slots, those Precisions are designed as mobile workstations from ground up and are never meant to be portable - all of them want minimum 180W chargers!
But in exchange, the cooling on them is far and wide more capable (dual separate heatsinks and dual fans on all of these), and on top of socketed CPU and 4 RAM slots (every motherboard comes with them), these have modular graphics that can technically be upgraded. the M4800 is capable of upgrading to a GTX 1050, but it is of course beyond any single bit of financial sense as those MxM modules cost about 300 dollars.
Besides the weight difference and maybe the ability to swap in a classic T520/W520 keyboard, I really don't think there is anything the W530 can do that the M4700 couldn't do.
Tables turn with the T series vs the Latitudes though, where the T520/T530 actually both have more powerful nvidia dGPU offerings than the Latitude counterparts.
My point here is you should look at what is the best and cheapest option for you without overspending, and overspending is fairly easy these days when newer and higher end laptops pricing came crashing down.

[merc908]

What's more, the M4700 is based on 3rd generation Intel processors and the M4800 is based on 4th generation Intel processors. The M4800 also has more powerful graphics and longer battery life.

[McQuad]

I hate to do it on a ThinkPad forum, but what's the difference between a Dell Precision M4700 and an M4800?

Precision M4700 is the competitor of ThinkPad W530, and M4800 is the competitor of W540 (4th gen haswell). Similarly, M4600 is sandy bridge.
While the ThinkPad W5x0 series are souped up T series with quadro graphics and 4 RAM slots, those Precisions are designed as mobile workstations from ground up and are never meant to be portable - all of them want minimum 180W chargers!
But in exchange, the cooling on them is far and wide more capable (dual separate heatsinks and dual fans on all of these), and on top of socketed CPU and 4 RAM slots (every motherboard comes with them), these have modular graphics that can technically be upgraded. the M4800 is capable of upgrading to a GTX 1050, but it is of course beyond any single bit of financial sense as those MxM modules cost about 300 dollars.
Besides the weight difference and maybe the ability to swap in a classic T520/W520 keyboard, I really don't think there is anything the W530 can do that the M4700 couldn't do.
Tables turn with the T series vs the Latitudes though, where the T520/T530 actually both have more powerful nvidia dGPU offerings than the Latitude counterparts.
My point here is you should look at what is the best and cheapest option for you without overspending, and overspending is fairly easy these days when newer and higher end laptops pricing came crashing down.

Quote from merc908 Aug 7, 2023 0727 EDT: What's more, the M4700 is based on 3rd generation Intel processors and the M4800 is based on 4th generation Intel processors. The M4800 also has more powerful graphics and longer battery life.

Information for others:

As soon as member kfzhu1229 suggested it, I began looking into two good alternatives to a ThinkPad W530: the Dell Precision M4700 and the [newer] M4800. The M4800 looks very nice, but, if your project includes 32-bit Win XP software - like ours does - there are no drivers readily available for this machine! As I write this (on 08/07/23), there are still Win XP drivers available for the M4700.

Thank you for the suggestions and the useful information!

[kfzhu1229]

Also if you look for these machines on ebay, on ThinkPads there is the type number you can run on the MTM section; On Dells there is the service tag you can enter on Dell's support website and it will tell you the exact components used. On HP Elitebooks there is the HP Partsurfer website, where you enter your serial number and it will also tell you the exact components used. This gives you more clarity of what you can expect on that laptop, and if seller doesn't have that much idea on the detailed specs it's also less likely they will go and swap out the screen or CPU GPU or something
Again, all these workstations (ThinkPad W series included) require big chargers, make sure you get the right charger purchased along with it. Dell and HP big barrel chargers do NOT mix in situations like this!

[TPFanatic]

I notice u/theterminator93 is selling some laptops including T520, with OS, battery, and charger.

I also look on eBay and see lots of T520 in the United States under $100, some under $70. It looks like T530 are a little pricier.

My takeaway is that T520 is a great budget laptop.

I want to add that we use a T420 (14" counterpart of T520) as a media streaming computer plugged into our TV. We stream Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome; and we play local DVDs and Blu Rays with VLC Media Player. We also still run Windows 7 64 bit on it. We run dual drives in the laptop: mSATA SSD with the Windows OS, and a 2.5" 500GB Spinner with local media. The third possible drive storage, the UltraBay, contains the optical drive. There is actually a fourth internal storage option that we don't use: that is an "Expresscard to NVME SSD" adapter from aliexpress, but the ThinkPad BIOS does not support booting from Expresscard devices, so it is suitable only for storage. T420 has an eSATA port for external SATA that is bootable, but at this time we don't use it either.

[kfzhu1229]

I notice u/theterminator93 is selling some laptops including T520, with OS, battery, and charger.

I also look on eBay and see lots of T520 in the United States under $100, some under $70. It looks like T530 are a little pricier.

My takeaway is that T520 is a great budget laptop.

Yeah with the prices of T520 nowadays come crashing down it is quite a compelling option if you want one for its classic IBM style keyboard, and it's not too heavy for a 15.6" (And I am finally looking to repair my absolutely botched T520).
But, then the issue is if OP wants full load of upgrades to the hottest quad cores, Full HD screens and fast discrete graphics options, unless OP's super lucky with looking up the Type numbers and get one already loaded, upgrading a normal T520 to all those components (which are still overpriced for sale individually, especially the Full HD screens) may not make the best financial sense anymore.
My sweet spot for a T520 specs would be like an i5-2520M 8/12/16GB of RAM and maybe an HD+ screen and/or NVS 4200M graphics if it came with one, that's where I think one gets the best bang for the buck.