T400 Configuration Help

Hey guys. I am a university student who has decided that the T400 is my best option for a notebook computer. I'd check like to check a couple of things before I finalize the order. All help is immensely appreciated.

This is the configuration I'm looking at.

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection

Does this look like a solid system? I know I could probably cut back on a few of the components, but I'd like this computer to last several years (thus the protection plan) and hold up relatively well.

Will mostly be used for schoolwork (writing, browsing, etc) but I also have a large collection of music and photos that I'd like to maintain. I also like to play around in learning editions of programs like Photoshop and XSI, which I'm hoping the 3470 is up to.

I have used Windows all my life and been quite happy with XP on my desktop machine at home, but moving up to Vista is daunting for some reason. Plus I hear that Lenovo's weak point is tech support and drivers. I used to enjoy reformatting my machines, hunting around for drivers and all that, but I really don't have time for it anymore. Is Vista easy to use / reinstall if necessary? Should I go 64 bit or stick with 32?

Lastly, is this a good machine for a student? The solid keyboard and battery life are what drew me to the T400. How does it rank in terms of performance and portability?

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for all responses.

 

It's a great machine for students. The 3470 should be fine for photoshop, I've been using it for the last month and haven't had problem yet. Some may complain about the keyboard, but I personally think it's a non issue. Performance wise, it's right up there with the best of them in terms of a portability and probably the best in terms of heat management in any notebook.

 

The t400 performs extremely well for its class =D

 

I just ordered a VERY similar system yesterday. Original ship date was 11/06/08, I called today to ask a question and they indicated ship date is now 11/17/08.

CSR seemed to indicate the 9 cell battery is the hold up. I was considering changing it to the 4 cell. I wasnt sure what that would do to the order????

Anyhow, expect some wait when you order your T400.

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone. The only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger is OS anxiousness. Which version of Vista would you guys recommend? 32 bit or 64 bit? I imagine that I should downgrade the RAM to 3GB if I go with the 32 bit edition. Also, I see these tremendously long threads about simple things like reformatting the computer. Are the drivers really so terrible that wiping the hard disk creates serious issues? I almost went out and bought a Macbook today just because the simplicity of OSX is tempting. Hardware-wise the Thinkpad seems a clear winner to me.

Superduty - How did your system differ from this one? Any significant changes I should consider? Thank you for sharing your shipping experiences. I might just have it delivered to my house and pick it up when I'm home for Thanksgiving. The battery life is top priority for me, so 4 cell is not really an option.

Edit - One last question. Is it easy to swap the HD down the road if I decide that 160GB is too small? Cheers.

 

a 64 bit OS is good if you want the 4GB of ram, but since you wanna keep updated, keep it how it is
I dont know too much about the driver problems, but i would take a thinkpad over a macbook anyday
hd swapping requires a quite a bit of steps
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=309522
youll have to look into hd swapping for the t400 more if you ever plan to, but you can always get an external hd

 

Thanks Rikimusha, but I don't quite follow your reasoning on the 64 bit OS. From my limited understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong), 64 bit is faster and supports 4+ GB of RAM but has some compatibility issues. What exactly does this entail? Do older peripherals like printers/cameras have issues interfacing with a 64 bit OS? Will older applications and games not work? Any reason NOT to order 64 bit?

Also, the thread you linked to doesn't address physically replacing the HD. Is it difficult? Will it void my warranty?

Sorry for all the questions. I just want to make sure I don't make any stupid mistakes.

 

Hi z.student,
Here are some of my opinions...

1.) The thinkpad is a solid machine, so I don't think you have to worry in that sense as to whether you ordered the right make or not.

2.) As to your config. It is very high end and maxed out. You might be able to save a little bit of money though. First I think you should order the cheapest harddrive Lenovo offers and then upgrade yourself. It is easy to do and you can get a much larger and faster drive after market. Second, your memory. Your machine is using the new DDR3 memory and prices are changing on these very quickly. You can also order the lowest amount of memory from Lenovo and upgrade yourself. Check out the 2 links below as examples. If you want to do 4GB of RAM you can save yourself like $50 or more going after market. Just be patient and shop around a little and you will do well. Make sure the memory you get has a lifetime warranty. Both the memory and harddrve are easy to upgrade and replacing them DOES NOT void the warranty.

Example #1
Example #2

3.) As far as Vista 64. I have Vista Business 64 and it works fine. Areas you might run into problems is with interfacing with old hardware that don't have drivers that a 64 bit compatible. Ask yourself how much old hardware do you use? If it is a lot you might want to stay with 32 bit Vista. As far as software, the areas you would run into problems with would be with 16 bit programs. Where would you run into these types of programs? Well they were used(are?) for installer/wizards of programs. I run 3+ year old games and they all, for the most part, run well. The 2 problems I ran into were with 2 games that were made in the early 90's that had 16 bit installers. I got around the installers(you might not be able to) and the actual games ran fine. But games like Warcraft III, Doom3, NWN 1 etc all work fine for me. I have also heard that Cisco's VPN software has issues with 64 bit, but I have never used it. So basically, many things work ok with Vista 64, but you might run into the odd thing that doesn't. I choose 64 bit since I wanted Windows to see all 4GB of my ram and I interface with all new hardware. All my new hardware, Vx Rev mouse, Thinkpad bluetooth mouse, flash drive all work perfectly in Vista 64.

4.) If battery life is top priority for you then a discrete graphics card will hurt you in that category but will help you with 3D graphics ofcourse. You will need to make a decision based on your usage.

 

I would consider to get bigger HDD like 320GB 500GB, since you are going to have many musics and pictures or even videos.

just my opinion. having just 100gb for me is very uncomfortable.
5400rpm and 7200rpm doesn't make much different but heat.

 

Thanks to both of you for the helpful replies.

Fire Snake - It seems for some reason or another that selecting the preconfigured "Elite" configuration and making modifications from there saves you a sizable amount of money. Just tried building the same system from the base one and it was almost $200 dollars more even without the webcam which I don't really need. This defaults you to the second tier of HD's which means either the 160 GB 7200rpm or the 250 GB 5400rpm. If zerosource is right about the speeds being very similar, then perhaps I should switch to the 250 GB which will be more than enough for me. Thanks for the tips on upgrading the RAM. I had heard that Lenovo DDR3 prices were pretty reasonable and so I didn't even bother to look around.

It sounds like 64 bit is the way to go. Some of my favorite games are oldies, but I don't really have the time to blow the dust off them anyways.

As for the discrete GPU, I'd like to keep it if I can. It's switchable, right? Can't I just leave it off all day unless I'm planning to kick the machine into high gear?

Lastly, are Lenovo drivers the dealbreaker that they seem to be? What sort of headaches am I looking at if I want to do a clean install and get rid of the factory default bloatware that comes with new computers?

Thanks all.

 

Intel Core 2 Duo processor T8600
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery

I was tempted to get the processor you wanted, but in the end opted for saving a few dollars.

I hesitantly went with Vista 64, but not before doing lots of reading online. I dont do any gaming, I cant really think of any old hardware I will use with this computer (printer?) In the end it seems that most of the initial 64 bit problems have been solved and it is truly the wave of the future. As far as drivers, I have to assume that since 64 bit is factory installed Lenovo has it all worked out.

To be honest with you, if given a choice I would have ordered it with XP Pro. But since that wasnt an option I went with 64. I am a little intimidated to do a clean XP install, so I will likely stick with 64 and be done with it. (Though I would love to do a clean 64 install without any bloatware).

As far as software, I looked at the software I use and it looks like I wont be able to use MS Office XP, so I will have to pony up for Office 2007, bummer, but I had to do it one day?

For the screen, I didnt see any good reason for me to get the camera.

I got discrete graphics, though I probably really DONT need it. It is cool to have though, I guess.

Ram I went with 2gb in one dimm and as suggested above, I will likely add 2gb in aftermarket.

HD, I went with the same as you. I just got done building a new desktop, and have plenty of HD, so I went with the 160GB and the faster 7200RPM.

Wifi I went with 5300 as it is suppose to be a little better and it was cheap enough to upgrade.

9 cell battery - I dont like the fact it sticks out, but it would be cool to have the kind of run time ppl are talking about. I am going to keep my eye out for a 4 cell to have when portability is more important.

I didnt upgrade the warranty....hopefully I wont need it.

FWIW - I am replacing a 3 yr old Toshiba Satellite. It has served me well for 3 yrs, but recently started having a problem with start up. I am not convinced it is a hardware problem, but I have yet to figure it out on the software side.

I need a computer that is reliable and am hoping this will fit the bill. I am also going from a 15.4 screen to 14.1 which hopefully I will like.

I bought MORE computer than I really need. I use it for word processing, powerpoint presentations, surfing, and watching DVDs on trips.

 

Thanks for your info, superduty.

I think I'll stick with the 2.53 processor for what it's worth. Not a very expensive upgrade and might make the machine a bit more future-proof (or just help me sleep better). I won't do much gaming either (this notebook is for school) so 64 bit should be the best option. The camera doesn't seem worth it, but the cheaper "elite" preconfig forces me to buy it. I like the idea of having a spare 4-cell battery for increased portability. I wouldn't buy this thing without a protection plan, as I'll be throwing it in my backpack every day.

The only remaining loose ends...

1. Should I opt for the larger, slower hard drive? Will this be a system bottleneck?

2. I expect that my computer will have all sorts of crapware on it when it arrives. I would normally just reformat the drive to wipe it clean, but this seems to be very difficult with the T400. Is this a legitimate concern?

Thanks again.

 

My T400 has yet to arrive, but for a compromise of portability, performance, and battery life, I went with the 64 bit Vista with XP Pro media, P8600 processor, the 4-cell battery and Ultrabay battery, 3GB of memory, and 5400RPM 320GB hard drive.

When the price comes down, I'll get myself some more memory and a fast SSD drive. By that time, I figure the Ultrabay battery won't be holding a charge very well anyway and I can throw the 320GB hard drive into the Ultrabay. You may wish to double-check, but I think that because of the density, the larger 5400RPM drive is similar in speed and, maybe, lower in energy usage, than the smaller 7200RPM drive. Yes, when you use the hard drive, the hard drive speed is a bottleneck, however your hard drive usage depends on how you use your computer (also you want to have sufficient memory so you are not hitting the page file on your hard disk so much.)

Btw, I'm not sure if a Vista SP will fix this, but Vista with over 4GB installed will not hibernate.

If I have problems with Vista at this time, I'll install the XP Pro. I think you can legally go down to XP and come back to Business Vista with the one license as long as you only have one of the OS on installed at a time (no dual boot.)

 

In my opinion the T9400 is NOT an upgrade from the P8600. It is 130MHz faster and has double the cache, but the TDP is 10W higher and it probably gets substantially worse battery life (very important if you are a student and want to use it in lecture halls).

The camera is of limited use at best. You can use it for Skype or other videoconferencing and possibly combine it with OCR for scanning business cards, but that is about all.

64 Bit Vista works very well. The only hardware issue I had was a 5 year old HP Laserjet (oddly enough a 10 year old HP Laserjet worked fine) I had on my network. There is little to no software incompatibility (only those that depend on 16 bit DLLs) and everything in the T400 will work fine.

If you want a big drive your best bet is aftermarket. Personally, I want an SSD but I can't justify the cost at present. I ordered a 160GB 5400 RPM to tide me over until good SSDs come down in price.

Thinkpad's actually have a relatively limited amount of bloatware pre-installed. I only had to remove Adobe Reader (I prefer Foxit) and tweak Vista (disable UAC) to get it to work well. There are installers for Norton AV, Office 2007 Trial, WinDVD, etc. but none of these were installed on my x200. There are several Thinkvantage tools, but I find many of them (Access Connections, Presentation Director, Power Manager) far better than the stock Windows software. I would say a clean install definitely is not worth the effort, especially because I have heard most people get WORSE battery life after doing a clean install (there are some special settings that only the factory install does).

 

Thank you, Lee. I think you made the right decision about the hard drive. I've spoken to several friends who also think that the tradeoff in data density makes the HD's comparable in speed. It sounds like a clean Vista install eats over 20GB, so I might need more storage than a 160GB drive can offer. Maybe down the line I'll swap it out for something fast.

Unless people have had serious issues with the 9-cell, I think it's the best option for me. I'd like to be able to move around campus all day without recharging. I don't mind a few extra ounces in my backpack. Any serious problems with battery wiggle or fit?

It looks like Lenovo just sweetened the deal and offered a 15% off coupon on the Tx00 laptops. Any reason not to pull the trigger right now? Halloween announcements? Should I just stop stalling and buy the **** thing?!

Edit - Just missed your reply, jonlumpkin. Thank you for sharing.

Do the T series processors really decrease battery life significantly? The guys at Notebookreview report that they got ~10 hours out of their system which had the T 9600 in it. To be honest, I do have access to AC power in most every library on campus, so I would favor increased performance over a small increase to what is already stellar battery life.

I agree with you on the HD. I'll go with the 250GB 5400rpm drive and wait for prices to come down on faster stuff.

It is good to know that Lenovo doesn't load their systems up with unnecessary software. No need for a clean install, then. Worst comes to worst I'll downgrade myself to XP Pro (is that 64 bit?). What is UAC?

Thanks all.

 

I will take your word for it. I haven't tried pricing out the systems recently. I think this whole "Elite" thing is a way for them to compete with Dell. Dell does a similiar thing with their machines. The most comprehensive way would be to price out each version and choose whatever one is cheaper. So it looks like you have to choose the 160GB 7200 or 250GB 5400. I honestly don't know which one is faster, not an expert in that area. People like Philflow, Andy or K-TRON would be the ones to PM, or post in the "Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades" forum. You might still want to get a faster aftermarket harddrive and use the one you have as an external backup or sell it if you find the one it comes with is too slow. As far as ram, Lenovo's prices looked good just 2 weeks ago and Newegg was expensive, but it looks like the tables are slowly turning.

Just an interesting piece of advice for you. If you decide that 64 bit Vista is causing you problems and you really need to go to 32 bit Vista you can for free. Your license key works for both Vista 32 and 64 business. You would just need to obtain the 32 bit media and reinstall if you wanted to go 32 bit.

You might be right, I am not sure.

I did a clean install of Vista Business 64 for my T61p following Stallen's clean install guide. Most of the drivers I downloaded were from Lenovo. I have had zero problems since the clean install and I like the results. In order to do a clean install you need to obtain the Vista media, your recovery discs will not work. Check out the link to Stallen's guide above. It was written for the T61 but the methodology should be the same for the T400.

 

I have the 9 cell and like it. Fit is perfect and I have no wiggle. I use my machine on the desk mostly and don't travel with it much though. One thing to keep in mind with the 9 cell is that it can change your sleeve and bag buying decisions, as it sticks out(as was mentioned). Unless you want to remove the battery each time, which I would hate to do. Just something to keep in mind, not a deal breaker.

 

Thanks again, Fire Snake. The "elite" pricing doesn't make sense to me either. I'll try all the base models again just to double-check, but they look cheaper for one reason or another. I don't want the webcam, but I'm not going to pay more to get rid of it! It's good to know that the 9-cell fits snugly. My bag should be able to accommodate it.

I guess I should double check the relative hard drive performances before I go through with the purchase.

Vista is sounding much less scary. Thanks so much.

 

FYI, I got a promo email about the T series from Lenovo about an hour ago. It included this code 'USPGO4SAVINGS' and said you can get an extra 10% off if you use it at checkout.

 

Thanks for the link, jon.

I think I'll order my machine tonight. Last minute tips still appreciated.

 

Is the Intel Turbo Memory worth it?

 

There really aren't any proven performance gains for the turbo memory. I would save your money or spend it on more RAM as that should have a larger impact on your performance. Also, if you ever plan to go to an SSD turbo memory will be essentially useless.

 

no wiggle! you lucky dog. my nine cell is quite loose, plenty of wiggle. just fyi- you might not be as lucky as the fire snake on battery snugness. i don't consider it a serious problem, though.