New T400=Awesome.

Hi everyone, I've only been a member for a short while but I've learned a lot about Lenovo computers in that time. First, I'll give a little background info about my decision to buy a T400. This my 3rd notebook, my first was a Compaq; I had nothing but problems with it and ended up losing it in a fire. I replaced it with a Toshiba M-45 that has been almost flawless. It was perfect for college; schoolwork, photos, internet duties, etc. It has served me so well that I hadn't even thought of replacing it...until the T400 was released .

I ordered on 8/25 and received it on 9/8...the exact date that the Lenovo site estimated. I can honestly say that I have ZERO problems and ZERO complaints with this machine. Here is my take on the "issues" I have seen on this forum:

Screen - mine is Samsung w/ LED, I recalibrated it...looks perfect.
Thinklight - does not blind me
Keyboard flex - what keyboard flex? I love this keyboard, I have not noticed flex whatsoever.
Expresscard slot flex - doesn't flex with the blank inserted
Ultrabay flex - yeah, only if I push on it...duh.

I have had zero issue with Vista so far, although I did not perform a clean install (which seems to be a source of many people's problems), I uninstalled unwanted programs manually. I have also used some performance tweaks found on this forum, which has helped quite a bit. This thing will scoot, it's so quiet and it barely heats up in my lap. I'm not much of a gamer, but I do plan on playing WOW on it. I know everyone likes pictures so her she is:

Pardon the backdrop...construction office.














2.26 processor
3gb ram
250gb harddrive
discrete graphics
LED screen/no camera
DVD combo drive
bluetooth
fingerprint reader
4 in 1 card reader
4-cell battery
Intel 5100

I'm very thankful for this forum. I almost bought a Dell XPS 1330!!!

BTW, I think the keyboard is my favorite feature.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience! It's nice to hear a review from someone who is approaching the T400 from a perspective other than comparing it to previous Thinkpads - a rarity on this forum. Much appreciated, and very helpful.

 

Thanks alot for your little review, mongooztt!

 

thanks for sharing,enjoy

 

nice pictures! glad to see another person coming over to lenovo

 

looks familiar!

 

I really like it having a flush 4-cell battery. I don't know if it's to much to ask for an estimate on how much the battery lasts for non-intensive work?

 

mongooztt, congrats! I'm also very happy with my t400(also a panasonic toughbook owner).
It's also refreshing to see someone evaluates his screen after it's actually been calibrated.

 

Hey, great little review, I love my T400 too. I only got 1gb of ram on vista business 64 so it runs very slow when I just boot it up but once it gets warmed up it worked great. I had to use NBR vista tweaks + ready boost. Now everything is so great

 

Great review & great pics! There definitely needs to be more positive reviews.

At first I thought the keyboard wasn't as good as the old T42 so I ordered a T60 keyboard (arriving tom). But after using it a few days, it's actually pretty good. Probably don't even need the T60 replacement.

 

is it just me or is anyone else not feeling the 'lenovo' emblem on the top cover?

 

Ditto. Information on the battery life would be much appreciated. Share the good news!

 

First congrats on your T400! It's encouraging to see someone satisfied with their Samsung panel. I was hoping you could answer two questions about your screen since none of my changes have helped and I also have a Samsung panel.

1. What steps did you take to calibrate it (i.e. did you use a specific color profile, change gamma, brightness, repolarize, etc.)?

2. Is your display evenly lit? My screen fades drastically from bottom to top to the point that I can't tilt it to any angle where the screen is uniformly lit.

And I agree completely with the rest of your post. I LOVE this laptop for the build quality and feel, just wish I could get acceptable, uniform color out of the screen. I agree that the keyboard feels solid as ever with the same key travel and rigidity I expect from a thinkpad. Can I get the keyboard to flex? Sure I can get it to move a tiny bit but it hurts my fingers to push that hard and it feels no different than my old Z60m (loved that *******-child-of-a-thinkpad). The light doesn't blind at all unless you have it tilted way beyond normal viewing angles and the flex over the card reader is a little disconcerting, but with the insert in it's by no means a deal breaker.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you can give me and again congratulations on your T400!

 

Could you please tell us how you calibrate the panel?

What I found:
1)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=291679
2)
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
3)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=137017
4)
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=56169
5)
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=65232

Thanks.

 

1. I am doing a battery test right now, brighness @ 70%, running i-tunes, firefox, staying light duty. I will post the results when I'm done. Right now it says 2:10 remaining @ 89%.

2. I used Shinew's calibration profile from the first link in the previous post. It's a lot warmer and makes the white look whiter. My screen is evenly lit.

 

much appreciate it man, thx all for the great work

 

Thanks for the information! Hopefully I just got a lemon, but I'll keep everyone updated after the screen gets swapped out.

 

Another T400 admirer here… Thanks for the little write-up—with pics!

 

Seconded. Looks kind of poor.

 

I like it. Did you peel off the white plastic thing on it? It looks bad with it on, its just like a thin film

 

Yea, I took off the plastic. There just doesn’t seem to be anything redeeming about the logo. Then again, perhaps I should be happy with it—as it’s boring looking, just like this laptop .

 

I have T400 on my hand but still didnt get it. What is the "peel of white plastic" here?

 

Well, after being sociable (despite my new toy sitting in its box at home) I had the opportunity to do a full disk image, made some DVDs. Boot into vista, do the recovery disks from there and I'm using it. Awesome. This is an incredibly pleasant experience and I'm so pleased to have made the purchase. The wait was definitely worth it!

 

With the LCD closed, the lower left corner has the word “lenovo” listed—and there is a thin film of plastic protecting it.

 

HAHAH i didn't even notice the plastic thing. good eye. good call.

 

I have 2.26 processor, 2 GB 1 DIMM RAM, 100 GB 7200 HDD, Discrete, intel 5300, Bluetooth and 4 cell battery.

Scenario 1:
ATI graphics
screen at 60% brightness
Wireless ON
Light Browsing, preparing some excel sheets and word documents.

Battery Life: 2 hrs 40 mins

Scenario 2:
Intel graphics
screen at 60% brightness
Wireless ON
Light Browsing, preparing some excel sheets and word documents.

Battery Life: 3 hrs 20 mins

I am not a professional tester, but this will give an idea. I am very satisfied with the battery life as I use to get 1 hr with my HP.

 

Nice write up and thanks for the pictures. Cannot wait to get mine!

 

Thanks for the nice pics. They really show how sleek and slim that machine is.

(By "vista tweaks", are you guys referring to http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=166532 ?)

 

Have you had a chance to test out WoW? I too am planning on playing it on my new T400 once it arrives. I heard others were complaining that it was not running very smoothly on their systems. Have you had the same problem?

Thanks,

 

Dude, get off WoW, that game is nothing but trouble.

 

Never noticed it...lol.

Thanks. Looks better without the film.

 

I know... Huh... Its like crack for video gamers!

 

I actually played it for the first time on my T400 last night. It was a little choppy with the GFX settings maxed out, so I decreased some settings a notch and it ran fine (in game settings). I haven't messed with the ATI hardware settings yet.

 

Not run smoothly? Specwise the T400 should be able to handle WoW at maximum settings...

I am waiting for my own T400 to arrive. The anticipation is killing me.

 

I am starting to think it is my internet connection, I'm in corporate housing right now and they have one wi-fi antenna for the whole complex...it blows.

 

How does TrackPoint work in Tx00s?
Lenovo advertises it as a "TrackPoint® pointing device with “Press-to-Select”,".
Will I still have to punch the red nipple to select or it is now sufficient to press it gently (like in e.g. HP's nx/nc/nw8xx0 series)?

 

There is a utility that lets you adjust the sensitivity of the trackpoint to your personal preference. I like mine set with a light touch.

 

Thanks, I use this UltraNav applet and in both z60t and in T61p I have the 'light touch' option set.
And still e.g. dragging remains much less comfortable than in HP... but maybe it's only me :wink:

 

Is there a way to make the ultranav even more sensitive to tapping? Even the most sensitive setting makes you have to hit it too hard.