Lenovo T400 (Buying in T-minus 24 hours)

After months of searching I think I am going to buy the following laptop, but I wanted to ask a couple of questions.

1. Should I buy/extend the warranty?
2. Is the Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 2GB worth the upgrade costs?
3. Would it be worth just getting the 80 gig standard and upgrading the hard drive to a 320 gig (7200 rpm) 16mb cache harddrive off newegg for about 170 including shipping?
4. Would the 2.4 Ghz 25 W processor increase my battery life substantially?
5. Is this Wireless card: Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) worth it?

Any other suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty-$1,347.02
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 [Same Price as Downgrade to Windows XP]
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 US English
Recovery DVD: Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD
Display type: 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
System graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
Total memory: 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) [[$70.12] over 1GB]
Keyboard: Keyboard US English
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
Hard drive: 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm [[$111.57] over 80 gb hard drive]
Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 2GB [[$31.87] over none]
Optical device: DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Wireless card: Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) [$38.25 over ThinkPad 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III ]
Wireless WAN: Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
Language pack: Language Pack US English

Warranty options
---------------------
Base warranty: 2764: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller Base warranty: 2764: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller
1 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day 1 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day [add $31.20]
2 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day 2 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day [add $55.20]
3 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day
1 Year ThinkPad Protection 1 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $35.60] Save 50% for a limited time.
1 Year On Site Upgrade with 1 Year ThinkPad Protection 1 Year On Site Upgrade with 1 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $95.20]
2 Year Depot Upgrade with 2 Year ThinkPad Protection 2 Year Depot Upgrade with 2 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $159.20]
3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection 3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection [add $167.40] [Lenovo recommended]

 

Glad you posted we have time to talk you out of it. Just kidding I think a good choice.

OK what is worth it and what is not.

HDD? I think Lenovo $131.25. Fair price, I would consider to save myself the trouble of swapping HDD's. Up and running out of the box. The only downside is you cannot be certain which 320GB you will get. To some that is well unacceptable.

DO NOT get 3GB of RAM from Lenovo. Get 1GB 1 DIMM and save $82.50 go to NewEgg and buy 2GB SODIMM for under $40.

CPU P8600 will improve battery life slightly. But save you $75. I don't know what you do but for 99% of users the difference between those CPU's not perceivable.

Wi-Fi? I know less about this than almost anything else. Do you make use of the N standard? Even if you do you transfer extremely large files on a regular basis? I think the default is fine for almost all users. Savings $45

Turbo memory worthless save $37.50

Savings:
RAM -$42.50
CPU -$75.00
Wi-Fi -$45.00
Turbo -$37.50
Total: $200.00
powerpack personally reviewing your purchase? Priceless!

OK I see you have different prices than I got off the site but point is the same. And with your prices 320GB from Lenovo is how I would go. 80GB HDD as external or selling is of no use to me.

Want to confirm you are aware 9 cell sticks out? Seems like a small notebook with larger battery is at odds with the "small" and "portable" concept. Unless very long battery life is critical for you (it is for some) you could save $74 getting 6 cell.

If I keep going I will get you down $800 and into a refurbished DeLL Vostro.

 

I agree everything with what PP said, except the WiFi. I'd go with the Intel WiFi Link 5300 for future-proof. The 5300 supports all four a/b/g/n networks, while the ThinkPad Wireless supports only b and g.

 

OK I am so wrong about the RAM forgot DDR3 get it from Lenovo. Opps.

But as mentioned I could get you a 2GB DIMM for a Vostro for under $40.

 

Speaking of warranty it sounds like you guys don't think I should get one.

 

I am not a fan of warranties I know it is opinion so do not try and push it on others. Most MFG defects and design flaws present in the 1st year. Extended warranties are a major money maker for the MFG or retailer. Why Best Buy pushes them.

Example of the danger of my thinking. Nvidia cards. Other danger if something does go wrong warranty is very nice.

If I bash warranties and 1,000 people decide to pass. I can guarantee some will have issues. I am playing a numbers game. Me, I am one person unlikely to have a failure. You increase the group size failure is all but guaranteed.

That is why I can't comment. Sorry.

 

Okay so I am about to hit the buy button on this

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Edit 2764CTO $1,251.40 1 $1,251.40
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W 1
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 1
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 US English 1
Recovery DVD: Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD 1
Display type: 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera 1
System graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB 1
Total memory: 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) 1
Keyboard: Keyboard US English 1
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) 1
Hard drive: 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm 1
Optical device: DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA) 1
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot 1
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN 1
Wireless card: Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) 1
Wireless WAN: Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable 1
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery 1
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter 1
Language pack: Language Pack US English

 

Looks good.

One more thing, do you have any old PC Cards? If no, then there is no point to have the PC Card slot. All the new card devices are being replaced by ExpressCard 34 and 54. The 7-1 card reader will be more useful.

 

Ok minor adjustment

now looks like this

Edit 2764CTO $1,257.77 1 $1,257.77
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W 1
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 1
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64 US English 1
Recovery DVD: Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD 1
Display type: 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera 1
System graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB 1
Total memory: 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) 1
Keyboard: Keyboard US English 1
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) 1
Hard drive: 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm 1
Optical device: DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA) 1
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 7-1 Media Card Reader 1
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN 1
Wireless card: Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) 1
Wireless WAN: Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable 1
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery 1
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter 1
Language pack: Language Pack US English 1



None of the ecodes I have seem to work, so I guess this is as good as it gets folks!

 

go for a 2 year warranty at least, if you drop it and break the screen say in 13 months, it will cost you aroun $400-500 for a new screen. Buying the cheap warranty upgrade now will save you if you ever get into a situation like this.

For example, on my system, my graphics card burned out just past the one year mark, and I needed to return it. I called dell and bam it was replaced. If I didnt get that warranty I would have had to have a lot of downtime, and I would have had to pay for and find a replacement card.

The warranty upgrade is not much more expensive, and to me its worth the piece of mind.

Otherwise its a nice system.

K-TRON

 

7 in 1 is a good choice. I have PCMCIA cards and I think I would still skip it.

Anyone know discounts? Have I heard American Express gets you a discount?

 

I would definitely consider the extended warranty along with accidental protection. You never know what you or someone else might accidently do to your laptop.

 

I like the extended warranty, but Lenovo allows people to renew/buy it later when the first year is about to be over. What if you decide to sell the notebook by the end of the first year?