T400 arrived

I really hope I can have money to buy your T400..I don't have so much money to buy a vista ultimate and T9600...

 

forgot to mention..I'm in NY

 

That screen looks great! By the way, does the T400 have HDMI?

 

That screen looks really nice! Great photos!

 

Nope, no HDMI or Display Port, just VGA.

 

Thy 1 upped the old R61. I like it alot.

I'm jealous.



Hey do a 3dMark06 benchmark when you can and post the results.

 

I was going to originally get the 9400 but they went on sale when i changed my battery option so i decided to upgrade the processor as well. I think it ended up being around 1500 with EPP discount.

 

Back from the missing in action, I just checked in to my hotel for the weekend long of photoshoots. I had a chance to install windows XP and was able to get the ATI card to work. The only drivers that didn't work is the sound card/chip and the ones I used are from Lenovo.com. No sound is coming out. It's okay for now as I just run photoshop.

Now more thoughts. XP "feels" a lot faster than Vista. I always like IBM/Lenovo notebooks as they are a lot more solid and can stand up to more abuses than the Apple MBPs. Now with the beautiful LED screen, it's just perfect. The 4-in-1 reader is just a fancy name for their SD reader. If you are ordering a new T400/500, don't get it and just get the PC card option.

Here are more photos of the system as requested:

 

hey s2000hku, could you tell us the exactly measure of the T400?
Do you feel it more thick than other laptops? Heavier?

BTW, I believed that T400 is the best 14.1" laptop around. Gotta ask Kevin!

 

Sexy! Lenovo should hire you!

 

I don't have a ruler with me, so I took a quick one with the newsweek magazine on top. The T400 feels 1.3"ish

 

Great pictures. I can definitely tell you're a photographer.

That LED screen is so bright!

 

um.. how much does it weigh w/ the 9celly?

 

great post !

could you put up a photo of a close up of the screen, the LED is great but I'm wondering just how small the font looks at 1440 X 900 on a 14" too me that sounds a little small ... I have 1200 x 800 on my IBM Z61t and I wouldn't want it much smaller.

I'm guessing the difference in size from one resolution to the other would be about 20% ?

Thanks.

 

Ordered the following T400 on 08/17 and thus far, my ship date is still 9/1.

If they change it, I'll definitely call and cancel. Need to have it ASAP and if there is a delay, I'll switch to a Dell M2400. I've already got one of those on order too. The review on CNET sounds very good (on the E6400 which is almost the same), and it appears that while Lenovo is making their keyboard cheaper, Dell has improved theirs.

1 SYS.2764CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
09/01/08 $1,801.32 $1,801.32
2764CTO THINKPAD T400
42X6338 SBB INT.CORE2DUOPROCT9400
42V8010 VBB MS WIN VISTA BUSINESS
44C1128 SBB GWIN VISBUS 32 US ENG
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42X6315 SBB AMD M82XT HYBRID 256MB
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62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
42X6325 SBB INT.WIFI LINK5300
42X6328 SBB INTG.WIR.WIDENET UPGRAD.
42X6334 SBB 9CELL LI-ION BATTERY
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42V9428 SBB PACKAGING US
44C1347 SBB 14.1"WXGA+LEDB/L BTCAMWWAN
44C1325 SBB LCDCOVBEZLEDB/L14.1"W/CAM
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42X2659 SBB ENERGY STAR 4.0 PACK
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42X1702 SBB BLUETOOTH SCREW
44C1318 SBB INTEG.WLESSANTENNA
44C1356 SBB CL.PLATET400WLAN+BLUETWWAN
44C1320 SBB UWB MISC PARTS-NO CARD(H1
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44C1352 SBB EXP.CARDSLOTN4-1MEDIACREAD
43Y4470 SBB AMD M82XT HYBRID256MB FRU
43Y4025 SBB BASE 2ND TOUCH FOR HYBRID
44C1410 SBB MECH MISC PARTS
43Y3961 SBB NEWINTLBL 2008 CENT 2 VPRO
42V7972 SBB MS LABEL (VISTA PREMIUM)
44C1386 SBB GEOLBL.US,WLAN,BLUET.
42W7002 SBB FCC-ID/LABEL FOR WWAN
42V9665 SBB FCC, LABEL
41C9170 THKPLUS TP 3YR PICKUP DEPOT
1 41N8460 LENOVO 90W SLIM AC/DC COMBO ADAPTER + US LINE CORD
09/01/08 $76.77 $76.77
1 41R4318 L10 TIP FOR APPLE IPOD AND IPHONE
09/01/08 $7.96 $7.96

 

Sorry, I don't have a scale inside the hotel, thus I won't able to weight the system for you. (...unless I bring it to the fitness room...)

 

Thanks for the photos and the advice on the 4-in-1 reader.

Would you mind posting the spec for your T400 and any other suggestions of pros and cons of various options.

I see that you moved from a MBP. Do you find working with photos on the T400 is as easy or better than MBP?

 

Did you buy two laptops or just one? Mine order doesn't contain so many things..

 

Sorry for my poor common sense, what is EPP?

 

T400, T9600, 14.1 WXGA+ LED no camera, AMD Hybird card, 2gb 1 dimm memory, no fingerprint reader, 5300 wifi, DVD-R, standard warranty, vista basic, 80gb hd (changed out to 200gb 7200rpm).

The mbp I got was a 2.4ghz. It's still a very fast machine. But since we travel a lot, we wanted something smaller but still have the oomph to process images.

 

HDMI is just a gimmick. It's in fact DVI + audio with an inferior connector. Also, royalties need to be payed for every HDMI device.

 

s2000hku, was the battery life really as long as Kevin said? 9 hours just appeared too good to be real.

 

How do the photos on the screen compare with the MBP?

Was there are reason for leaving out the web cam?

So you changed the HD yourself to a 200GB 7200rpm?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=288262

 

thanks, I googled and found the definition. I found the reason mine one is so expensive is that I've bought the three year warranty. Without it I might be able to buy 9600..

 

I kept the notebook charged and did not have a chance to test the battery. Judging by the huge size of the battery, I wouldn't doubt that it will last 8-9hrs. I left the webcam b/c I don't used it. Yes, the 200gb was a previous upgrade I did on the mbp and now migrated to the T400. It's an easy swap. For those wanting to upgrade, you may want to check out newegg.com for the 320gb 7200rpm drive from Seagate or WD. Ok checking out. Nite

 

I really have a feeling that these new batteries are somehow different in chemical composition to the ones supplied with T61/R61s. Even on other Montevina based notebooks, ones with LED screens, SSD, or integrated graphics, the power savings just can't possibly be that much. In the T500 review, Kevin cites 5 hrs. and 6 mins in dedicated graphics mode while my T61p would be lucky to eek out 3 and a half hours. I guess a call to Lenovo on Monday will answer my questions.

 

I fully agree with you. It's not just the new platform.
Actually I'm going to be "that" guy who states that when others start getting their T400 and T500s, the battery life will fly all over the map again and in the end the battery life on average stated by all comers will increase by 30 minutes.

I'm simply a believer that you can't use a notebook in comfort with it at 1/3 brightness and doing nothing with it. I'm a 75% brightness guy. It's the main culprit, but I literally half the battery estimates that manufacturers get and that's right. I had an Inspiron 5000 way back in the day with a 9 cell and that gave me about 4.5 hours. I expect the 9 cell for the T400 is going to give about 5.5 hrs, not 9! I have the latest Macbook Pro right now, they say it's like 5.5 hours with just a six cell battery, and I'm realistically at about 3 to maybe 3.5 hours. It is better than other brands, but that's b/c of the OS, not the juice in the battery or the parts. But the point is that I'm still halving to 60% of it. Flamesuit is on.

 

Yes I'm sure, I used it until it had 8% left. Lasted me about 3 hours and 45 mins or so.

 

I would be happy if the six cell lasted 3:45. Didn't the 6 cell on the T61 last something like 3 hours (if all usage conditions are the same).

 

hey s2000hku,

I will be having the same problems with the XP pro and the discrete drivers issue. Did you get the sound to work? Can you link me for the video drivers...I can't seem to find it either

 

well i just dont get it. kevin reported 7 to 8 hours with the 9 cell, so how is he getting so much...

 

Maybe he has some tips to share... I don't really know how he got so much either, I wish mine lasted so long!

 

It's just one laptop but I bought a few extras... mostly cables.

 

Sound still did not work. For the video driver, I googled ATI 3470 mobility and one of the forums was saying to download the desktop driver and mods it to work with the notebook. It worked.

 

Kevin mentioned that his thinklight points more at his face instead of at the keyboard. Do you find this to be true with your T400 too??

 

Yeah I've been doing some research, it doesn't seem like the T400 with the discrete option can be fully run on windows XP pro, theres always some type of error. You have to use some sort of Vista

 

hey,s2000hku,
nice pictures of your new baby!
T500 or the Latitude E6500 will probably be my next laptop.
Can I ask you two things:
1. - apart from the flex of the keyboard of your T400,how do you compare the feeling of typing on it compared to the T41 that you also have with you? Is it tuned nice? Are the overall response and comfort the same or...?
2. - considering that you are a photographer and the natural colours are important to you, how do you find the colours of the LED display compared to the LCD? No doubt that is has much greater contrast and better viewing angles, but from the photos Kevin has posted,comparing the Led T400 and the LCD T500,it seems to me that the colours of the LCD,even dimmer, are a bit more real.Well,at least from what I can see...What do you think? Have you compared them both to the output of a good desktop monitor,for example?
thank you!

 

I believe he wrote " No, you won't able to notice the keyboard flexing under normal typing. I even tried to push my palm down and see if I could take a photo of it but cannot be done." -- doesn't sound like an issue.

 

hey,s2000hku,

I'd also like to hear your thoughts as a photographer on the colors on the T400 LED versus non-LED display versus good desktop monitor.

Thanks.

 

Hi,

Is it possible to change the main HDD? My father's Bullman (Clevo) Notebook has a real HDD-Dock (like the slimbay-HDD-adapter) to change the HDD very easy. Does the T400/T500 have this option?

Thanks Chrissy

 

yes. .

 

@s2000hku: regarding the sound problem, do you have XP SP3 installed? It includes KB888111 which is the UAA HDA driver necessary for HD audio to work in Windows 2000, XP and 2003. If you have SP2 though, you can install KB888111 separately.

just a suggestion.

 

haha you took the vista and C2D stickers off...

 

whats the part number for LED backlit
because my order status has 42X6321 ** SBB 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, W/ CAMERA

Doesn't mention LED????

 

WOW! I ordered my t400 on the 8/5 and it has not been shipped yet. I ordered it with the bluetooth and 4 cell battery. Any backorder problems with these parts? I'm really worried right now.

 

Does this mean that Lenovo no longer has the best keyboard anymore? That was one of their trademarks. That's actually one of the things I was looking forward to the most.

 

yes,I got that.I was not asking s2000hku about the flex,but the overall typing experience compared to the T42 - keyboard feedback,key travel and comfort. I know that this things vary depending on the specific keyboard manufacturer,but still...if the keyboard base itself is so different than the base of the previous models-who knows...

 

To update:

Keyboard: Flex is not really an issue. Normal typing has great feedback.
Battery: 6hrs with 9 cell. This is with a 2.8ghz running XP. WIFI on. I was editing photos, surfing the web, emails...
Display: The matted screen offers outstanding colors and anti-glare. I can work with the sun behind me inside a room. The brightness is more than anyone needed. I actually has to turn it down.
Speakers: not good. The sound is very small compare to Macbook Pro. No low/high/mids. It just sound. Use headphones. I also don't like the headphone jack in the front but then the computer is full of ports. So it's understandable.

XP: I got audio to work thanks to Glentium's advice. Now everything is working fine.

 

Yes, I took both stickers off. The vista sticker is crooked and since I have the rubbing alcohol with me, I took off the C2D sticker off as it will get dirty later on.