R400 Review

Hi All...

Been trying to check out reviews for the R400. Can't seem to find any on this site. Even through Google, there aren't too many extensive reviews (guess I have been spoilt by the detailed reviews I read here on NBR).

Is there any particular reason why this machine seems to lack detailed reviews?

Thanks

 

The T series has historically been the rock star of the ThinkPad line and as such gets most of the attention. I can also tell you the T400 and R400 are very similar. The R400 is slightly thicker and heavier than the T400, but they share many parts. You'd be hard pressed to tell them apart standing right next to them. The T series also has a few premium options that the R does not like the dedicated GPUs and WWAN to name a couple.

 

Just take a look at the T400 one here. The R400 is just slightly heavier and bulkier.

 

the R400 and the T400 use the same screen, while the R400 base is slightly thicker, but i think from an ergonomic perspective this is superior to that of the T400.

I love my R400 more than the T400, the only thing that appealed to me about the T400 is the hybrid graphics card.

The R400 is the exactly same as the R61 14.1 inch widescreen version, so just read the review on that and this should give you a good idea of what you are getting.

 

Thanks guys! I went ahead and bought the R400 today. Here are the rough specs:


It has a pretty basic config...

C2D P8600 (2.4Ghz)
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
X4500 IGP
Win 7 Professional
With Wifi/ Bluetooth/DVD-R
3-Year onsite warranty

With taxes (in India) it came to about INR 50,000 (just above USD 1000).

Feels like a sturdy machine. Keypad is very comfortable and I can sense no flex as of now.

The thing is that the machine came with something called Free DOS, which I replaced with a Win 7 Professional OEM version from the Lenovo reseller. So, in effect, what I have is a clean install. However, none of the ThinkPad system management software is on the machine and I am not sure also whether I should update the drivers.

Should I? If yes, is there a manual of sorts which I can follow?

Thanks.

 

You can download all the drivers/applications from Lenovo's website. I don't know that there's a manual. All the ThinkVantage Tools have their place, but no one uses them all. You may wish to pick the ones you want and leave the rest off. You can read up here. I only use power manager, ultranav and hard drive protection myself. Congrats on the machine.

 

I used R61 for about 2 years and I have to say it is a solid piece of machine. I did not get any more warranty option so my warranty was the standard 1 year. Currently I am dual-booting with windows 7 professional and ubuntu 9.10. I also installed an extra HDD from the drivebay, works like a charm.

I also had a chance to prove that spill-resistant keyboard is in fact spill resistant.

Below is the history of my R61 and its hardware changes.

About 1 year ago, just near the end of the warranty, I was evaluating windows 7 beta and I tried to use Lenovo BIOS updater from windows 7 to update my Bios. It successfully flashed my BIOS but failed to write the new BIOS. That led to completely dead motherboard, which I got replaced for free just 2 weeks before warranty ended. I got a new 9-cell battery while I was at it too cuz there was a crack on the battery casing. Also replaced the LCD screen, which at the time was almost perfect except a few white dots. (My original LCD was Sharp LCD screen). The one they replaced it with is not so good. about 2 months ago, under 50% or less brightness, the white colours on the LCD became red-dish. and This morning the screen is completely black. I would think the inverter or CCFL backlight is ed up.

 

@ZaZ: Thanks. I am doing precisely that now! It is indeed good to get back to a ThinkPad after a looong time!

@Myob: Gosh! I sure hope my experience does not go down that way!

Cheers!