T400...configuration advice

Hi everyone! I was torn between the dell studio 14z and the t400 but I think i'm going with the lenovo esp as there is a big discount on the site right now.

I have some configuration questions.

System components
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Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
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Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
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14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
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Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
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4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
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UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
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160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
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DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
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Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
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Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
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Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
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6 cell Li-Ion Battery
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Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter

_____________________
My main questions are the underlined ones.
Re: display, is that the best one to get? I like to watch lots of videos and do a lot of typing so a good display is key. (I've heard stuff about the display--it doesn't need to be perfect but I do have bad eyes so it does need to be decent.)
These are the available options
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ LED Backlight [add $20.00]
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight, Camera [add $30.00]
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera [add $50.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight [add $50.00]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera [add $80.00]
14.1 WXGA TFT High Nit, w/ LED Backlight [add $150.00]
14.1 WXGA TFT High Nit, w/ LED Backlight, Camera [add $180.00]

Re: hard drive, is there a noticiable difference between 5400 and 7400RPM?

re: wifi--what are the differences between the wifi options? There are the 3 that are recommended--I don't know what the differences are.

Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology [add $20.00]
Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5150 (AGN) [add $35.00]

Finally, the warranty--what type of warranty would you recommend?
There are 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, and 4 years
The categories appear to be:
-onsite warranty
-thinkpad protection (the description wasn't too clear--what is this??)
-accidental damage protection

 

I like the T400 with the WXGA+ and LED backlight, if your eyesight is bad maybe you should go for WXGA instead.

Wireless card 5300 should use 3 antenna setup, whereas the 5100 use 2 antenna setup, just gets slightly better signal... wimax is just a wireless protocol for use with wimax wireless internet services, if you use that is, otherwise don't get it.

Warranty wise the accidental damage protection protects against drops, spills and other accidental issues. While the onsite warranty, the repair man comes to you, rather than you post it to the depot.

 

Just a question, but are the warranties recommended/do you guys all have them? How often do these accidents happen anyway?

 

I would get the Intel 5300 if you can unless you won't be needing it. Your time is priceless...

 

I would get warranties... accidental protection is only necessary if you have known to uncareful with stuffs... i have accidental protection on some machine, i haven't used them yet, and i hope i never need to.

I think 3 years warranty is a good start, even if you have the most basic one. The accidental and onsite warranty depends on how much you depend on your laptop. I personally don't care Lenovo takes 10 year to fix my laptop (maybe bit exaggerated but you get my point), since i have a couple of spares, but some people require fast turn around for their laptops.

Also, onsite allows you to look at what the person is doing, and whether he has done it to your satisfaction.

 

My motherboard died after the warranty expired but due to the fact that I had opened up a case right before its expiration date, they replaced it at the depot. Get the 2-year on-site warranty if you can't live/work without it.

 

Yesterday, for the first time in over 30 years of using a computer keyboard of one type or another, I dropped a full 16oz glass of water and ice into my keyboard. My perfect record was gone in an instant.

Buy the accident protection.

 

Is it time for...

? Hmmmm....

 

Might not be a bad idea! In pink, of course, to match my ears.... LOL

 

I've always taken the minimalist approach with warranties for my computers dating back to my first Leading Edge in the late 1980's (and the good old days of WordPerfect 4.2 for DOS! ). I almost went with the 3-year depot warranty with the T500 I just ordered because I needed to bump the configuration over $999 on the cpp site to get a 10% coupon. The next day, 10-22 when Win 7 was officially released, the minimum for the 10% coupon was dropped to $799, so I dropped the extended warranty.

So far, I've never had an issue that made me wish I had bought an extended warranty, and with the money I've saved through the years, I think I'll be ahead even if something expensive has to be replaced on my new ThinkPad. Really, I cannot remember having ever bought an extended warranty on anything. I realize they come in handy at times for some people, but there is a lot of profit in extended warranties for a good reason--most folks never need to use theirs.

Besides, I ordered my ThinkPad with my Visa card, and I understand that the warranty is extended a year, so that will give me two years.

Bill

 

I was wondering when I saw this if it significantly makes a difference--so in your experience it is definitely worth it?

 

Consumer reports agrees with you & finds extended warranties to be a waste. (They are so expensive!) B/c I have the visa I will probably go for a 2 year warranty and be covered for 3 years...

 

By the way, is there a palpable difference between 7200 and 5400 RPM? I do have a lot of files & tend to move them around a lot (does that matter?)

Thanks again guys for all your help, I don't know much about computers & this purchase is stressing me out. I had a dream last night where I was trying to decide between the dell and the lenovo. sigh.

 

I find that when i have extended warranty my electronics somehow becomes reliable, and when i have the standard warranty, my computers tend to fail just after warranty expiration. I would consider that to be a warranty voiding karma for myself. Some computer companies are obviously using some Voodoo priest casting spell on laptops....

 

The 7200 rpm drive is faster by a fair margin.

 

I could say that until yesterday...

FWIW, I had a screen go out on the next-to-last day of a 3-yr warranty back when ThinkPads routinely cost $4-5k.

 

That was fortunate. Usually you hear about the issue that occurs a day or two after the warranty goes out.

I know I'm clearly in the minority here with my warranty minimalist approach, but I just thought I'd give a contrarian view. We geezers can be like that!

Bill

 

And when you get to be my age, we'll call it cantankerous!

 

And then again, maybe not...

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!

With a really clean keyboard, too. I'll be darned if those drain holes didn't do the trick!

Well, that and taking a lot of it apart, drying it off and putting it in the microwave. No, I didn't turn it on - I have one of those over-the-cooktop microwaves with a light built into the bottom of it. If the light is on, it slightly warms up the inside of the microwave. Did it help? Dunno, but at least it was warmer than the room air, and with no fan to blow on it (wall-mounted hairdryer)... Anyway, it's working now.

 

Good for you, Jane. Glad to hear the drain holes work. Another confirmation of my order (and, dare I say really, really quietly-- minimalist warranty ).

BTW, I discovered that a friend has had an SL-500 for a few months. I was able to check it out this evening--my only personal experience with any ThinkPad since the old IBM days. I was impressed with it and am really looking forward to the T500. After being warmed during the summer by the 7200RPM HDD drive under the left palm rest of my HP, not to mention the less than stellar keyboard, I doubt I'll ever buy another consumer notebook.

Bill

 

If you think the SL series are good, then the T series will blow your socks off.

 

That's what I'm hoping for!

Bill

 

The SL series is a ThinkPad in name only. (Yes, I am a TP snob!)

 

My anticipation grows. After having used nothing but consumer notebooks, I was quite impressed with the SL-500. I won't mind being more impressed with the T500.

My understanding is that the SL series is replacing the R series, perhaps to create a little more distance than has been between the R series and T series. Is that true?

Bill

 

R series is dropped from the future product road map, so one would imagine that yes the R series time is nigh. Time for me to procure another one R500 and another one or two R400, i just love the R400 for some reasons.

 

hi folks

sorry to keep harping on the screen issue but i can't seem to find an answer to this after searching. i do a lot of video watching on my laptop, as well as a lot and lot of paper writing. would the screen quality be an issue for this? or would it be better to get a different laptop?

the t400 sale ends tomorrow (and already is less of a deal than it was a few days ago) and i think i might just have to bite the bullet...

but Asus was also recently brought to my attention and so I am also considering the UL80vt series that was just released. Help!

 

Quite a huge difference from the T400. Not just in the CPU but more partularly the screen. On the T400 you can get a screen of 1440 x 900 pixels. On the Asus its a much worse 1366 x 768 screen.

That vertical aspect of 768 pixels is no good. I am using a 1280 x 800 at work now and that is really limiting. I cant imagine going down to 768. especially on a 14" screen. Makes no sense.

 

The Asus looks nice, but I'm not sure how much better, if any, the screen is. I found this assessment on AnandTech:

As usual, the LCD is also of the glossy variety. We haven't conducted in-depth testing of the LCD, but we did run a quick test of brightness and contrast ratio. Maximum brightness is good at nearly 240 nits, but the black level is an equally high 1.16 nits resulting in a poor contrast ratio of only 204:1. After we were so impressed by the 1200:1 contrast ratio of the $400 ASUS Eee 1005HA, it's disappointing to see a laptop that costs twice as much get the short shrift when it comes to LCD panels. We are continually baffled by the way companies choose to cut corners on such an important component for laptops; after all, the LCD is what you actually look at the whole time you're using the computer.​

I do not know how that compares with the T400 LED but thought it may be of some help to you. Hope you the best in your decision.

Bill

 

ASUS is okay, but nothing flash. It is something that you should buy when you are after a cheap laptop, but it is very mediocre in every possible ways.

 

Hi, can anyone tell me how I can adjust the brightness of the build in webcam in my T400? Thanks!

 

That's not even as impressive as what happened to my laptop...

About a week ago, i spilt a whole glass of milk on my thinkpad and.... stupid as I was back then, I didn't shut it off. And.... guess what?, IT SHORT CURCUITED !
BUT GUESS WHAT? I'm typing on it right now! Apparently, (somehow?) only the motherboard battery short-curcuited and it recharged itself in a few days. Now it works as if everything is fine.
I guess I'll never buy a consumer laptop again.

 

Did you clean the milk out of the keyboard and drain holes?

Glad it came back to life for you!

 

Whew! I hope so.

That is a great story, XFlame.

Bill