T400, T400s display and HD Dilemmas

Currently trying to decide whether to buy T400 or T400s or a Mac Book Pro 15.

I would love to test them first hand (i.e. check out a T400 or T400s in person) but it's pretty hard to find a retailer that carries them around my area (Connecticut, USA). Any tips greatly appreciated!

So, would love to hear some opinions, user reviews of these display options:

- T400 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight
- T400 14.1 WXGA TFT High Nit, w/ LED Backlight
- T400s 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight

I have read a lot of mixed opinions on these displays. I want some decent contrast and it would be a nice perk if they were bright enough to allow for work outdoors (but hate to sacrifice contrast, higher resolution of XGA+). I am a consumate multi-tasker (>10 tabs open in Firefox, Word, Powerpoint, etc open at the same time) and I don't do any gaming.

Regarding hard-drives, I lust after SSD, but what's the smarter choice here?
- Buy a basic 5400 or 7200 RPM drive with the T400 or T400s and then upgrade to the Samsung 256GB SSD as they drop in price/become more available? HOw easy is it to replace HDs on these models?
- Or just go ahead and buy with the 128 GB SSD option pre-installed? HOw well rated are the 128GB SSD drives currently being offered as options on the T400 / T400s?

Finally, it seems I really should be holding my horses for a couple of months since new models are just around the corner. How much of a price drop on the T400 and T400s would you expect when the T410 / T410s are announced?

Thanks for any advice.
-Alex

 

It's hard to see ThinkPads in a store. Your best option is if you know someone with one.

The T400 displays are brighter, but I don't know that they're much better than the older displays image quality wise, other than the FlexViews. If you want a really good display and don't mind the extra heft, the 15" T60 might be worth a look. You'd be limited to a 3GB of memory and a Merom Core 2 Duo, but the screen cannot be beat. The tablets have some AFFS screens as well.

Your needs seem pretty modest. My own R60 is very similar and it could handle those no trouble. Supposedly the high nit WXGA is the best screen on the T400 right now. I've not seen one, but there is a thread here with some screen shots of the various T400 screens if you want to have a look.

My own personal experience with SSDs is they are not worth cost or space you give up. It definitely booted a bit faster and a few slower apps like Photoshop or iTunes opened a little quicker, but other than that, I couldn't tell much of a difference, but I'm not really a power user either. I mainly do Internet, Media and Office on my machine like most people. My R60 like ThinkPads T61 and before are capped at SATA I speeds. That may make some difference. The T400 has no cap issue. Some people swear by them, but I didn't see it. Good Luck.

 

The reason for the discrepancy is two-fold: users have different perceptions (some have more sensitive color detection) and Lenovo uses several panels with varying quality (it's luck of the draw as to which you receive, you cannot specify a part). Unfortunately, you have no choice but to choose btw the WXGA+ and WXGA outdoor screen. Personally, I would also consider the Dell E6400/M2400 since I think it has better screens on average.

SSDs really depend on price for me. Lenovo (and Dell) can offer some great pricing for upgrades (typically it's cheaper to upgrade from them then buy the SSD aftermarket). They both offer Samsung drives which are among the top 3 SSDs currently available for consumers. You won't notice much difference btw them and the Intels/Indilinxes, plus you'd save a lot of money since they're typically a lot cheaper preinstalled. If you go for the T400s, just know that the main hard drive slot only accepts 1.8" drives. That being said, upgrading them is easy if you ever choose to DIY.

New models should be released in Q1 2010, the price drop probably won't be too much different since they're starting to clear out models now.

 

The WXGA High-Nit is supposed to pretty good.

A lot of forum posters don't seem impressed with the WXGA+ LED but i find the one i have (LG) very usable.

I have been using various 14" WXGA+ displays(both LED and CCFL) over the last year.

- T400: WXGA+ LED - LG - Brightest WXGA+ panel among the bunch. Whites goes towards yellow.
- E6400: WXGA+ LED - Samsung - Slightly darker than the LG in my T400. Whites goes towards blue. Looks cooler then then the LG panel and probably better on the eyes in the long run.

I have also used a couple of CCFL WXGA+ panels. These are decent while on power but dim a bit while on battery.

 

Samsung SSD's in the T400 are rather mediocre(for SSDs). I am pretty sure these don't have TRIM.

I have a 64GB Samsung MLC drive in my T400 and the main difference compared to a 7200RPM harddrive in another T400 has been significantly increased battery life. Performance seems only slightly faster.

 

some t-series laptops get the option to get the intel ssd's. go for them instead

 

First of all, thanks for the many replies already. This is very helpful.

This is part of the dilemma - my initial restriction was >14inch but < 5 lbs. The T400s is the only one
that fulfills that requirement but the price and the mixed opinions on its screen have put me off. So, the T60 would be out of the question in terms of heft.

Are you referring to this page?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4717833&postcount=49

Yeah, if they had the
WXGA+, high nit, I think I would just go for it. As far as Dell E6400, the specs are almost right (a
little heavy though) but the price is between T400 and T400s right now and I have had several
less-than-stellar experiences with Dell laptops before.

Wow, this surprises me. All of you are relatively unimpressed with the boost from SSDs
(especially as it pertains to price / performance). I was really gung-ho about trying them out, especially after reading several glowing reports of "instant-on Word, Excel", quick boot, and quick wake-up from sleep. I just wanted the last "push" from you guys to select the option but instead I see that it's perhaps too soon to adopt them. And, yeah, the TRIM issue seems an important factor I hadn't considered. Not clear how to determine whether the pre-installed SSDs on the Lenovo have TRIM.

Wait, so these 15% - 20% off coupons are not _always_ available?!

 

oh no, i'm definitely a fan of ssd's, just not any ssd - i'm a fan of ssd's that support TRIM and are genuinely properly quick, i.e. the intell or indilinx based ones. as far as i know the lenovo ssd's are either samsung or toshiba, both or which, while better than harddisks, aren't that great in terms of ssd's. which is why i said go for the intel ones if they're available.

 

It doesn't say on the website what brand they sell:

"128 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA" - that's all it says.

So, what did you do? Did you buy the T400s with the base HD option and then you popped in your favorite SSD?

 

if its 128 then it's definitely not intel (only available in 80/160GB flavours)

i did buy my t400s with the base hd option, and am now waiting for the 1.8" intel ssd (x18-m g2, to be exact) to be available (currently its easier to find a unicorn than an x18-m g2)

 

the T400s have eSATA and Displayport/vga out, all of which is missing on the macbook pro, in addition it can be optioned with multicard reader rather than the SD card reader that Macbook pro is standard with.