R400 Owners: A Few Questions

I'm researching the R400 in comparison with the T400, and can't find much info anywhere. If anyone owning the R400 could share their experiences, I'd much appreciate it.

-How much battery life can it achieve? Please mention P or T processor, LED/CCFL, and number of cells.

-Is the lid rubberized, as with T-series Thinkpads? I've read elsewhere that it's bare plastic, but only from non-owners.

Thank you for your input.

EDIT: Any opinions on the quality of the WXGA LED screens used on the R400? I assume that they're the same as those used on the T400, hence LG > Samsung.

 

Looks like R400 owners are typically the hardworking types who have no time for silly forums like this one :'c

 

Honestly in my time at this forum I don't see many threads om the R series in general and have almost never seen any threads on the R400, not sure why. Did you do a search of the forum threads? How about searching the reviews section? maybe that will help you a bit.

 

You got to give a little time. Also as per the forum rules, no bumps for 24 hours. My R60 has a plastic lid. I'm very happy with it.

 

Thanks for the heads up. From what I gathered, prior to the R400 all R-series Thinkpads had plastic, not rubberized lids.

I have scoured the internet for reviews, and turned up only one from PCPro and one from NBJ. I'm really hoping for feedback from longtime owners instead of first looks.

 

I'm using a 6-cell, P8600, LED-backlit R400 and I can get roughly 6 hours with lowest settings, wifi on, and 5/15 brightness.

I can't say for sure if the lid is rubberized, but what I can say is that it does feel more "rubbery" than the plastic of the palmrest area, which is undoubtedly bare, hard plastic. From what I read before purchasing my R400, the R400 and T400 are essentially the same in terms of materials used and the magnesium rollcage, but the R400 is thicker.

I've only been using my R400 for about a month and a half so you could say this is from a first look perspective, but thus far I'm very satisfied with the sturdiness and feel of this laptop.

 

That is very impressive. I've read that they have the same lid, screen, and even share the same motherboard, but can't figure out much beyond that. I suppose that they shouldn't separate much with battery life considering that they differ only with their ultrabays.

 

Not true, actually. My 14" R61 is made of the same materials as the 14" T61 (rubberized lid, magnesium roll-cage, etc; the 15" R61 has a plastic lid, like Zaz describes on his R60. In general, I think current R-series laptops are very similar to T-series. The main differences are: integrated graphics instead of dedicated or dual graphics options, and slightly thicker and heavier ( and I mean slightly). The T-series has always had panache, but for many of us the R-series has perhaps more bang for the buck. I'm very happy with my 14.1" R-61.

~john

 

From the Tabook (PDF), it seems like the R400 actually does have the rubber-like lid that the T400 and T4500 has (Super-Elastic PolyCarbonite [SEPC]), while the R500 does not.

 

Thanks for replying. I'm impressed with this machine, and a bit surprised that it seems hidden from discussion.

 

Yes, but still a Thinkpad. R series came as the precedessor of the old A series which I own one of them and still working and reliable as any other Thinkpads.

If I recall correctly motherboards are also interchangeable (T400/R400), in the past you could put a R60 motherboard on the 'faulty' GPU issue on a T4x chassis.

 

Edit to first post: The R400 comes with an LED screen, and given that it shares the same lid/screen as the T400, do I also have to watch out for the Samsung WXGA LED? I'd rather not go dice rolling.

 

I owned a R61 and had rubber on the lid. The R400 is pretty much the same as the T400. The T series is leaner and have better components for customization.

 

I owned R400 from my office and it has rubberized lid. The type is 7443-TGA with CCFL screen. With 6 cell, P8400 and 2GB RAM it lasts around 4 hours.

So far (3 months) it works well without any problems.

 

Thanks for the response, that's very encouraging. As far as cheap business 14-inchers with IGPs, I can find no better option as of now.