T400s availability

Just spoke with Lenovo rep. They already had internal demo of T400s, but don't have a final spec list for US release. What is really sad, the US release will be at the end of October. Damn, I was planning to get this one next month but sounds like will have to wait longer. Anybody else heard any other release dates for US?

 

I had a feeling it would be a while before U.S. customers could order one. Shame, because the T400s would have been right up near the top of my list. Unfortunately, I need it now, not in 4 months. So I had to get my lightweight 14" business laptop elsewhere...

 

hummmm october seems impossible to me

I hope we will get it way before that !

 

Nothing better than getting new hardware that's already 4 months old We know the old argument that everything is outdated before you take it out of the box, but if that date is true, it's literally scheduled obsolescence, isn't it?

 

In other forums, saying that release date will be June 26

 

October seems a bit off, seeing as how review sites are already getting US models to review.

 

Unfortunately, that's still past my deadline. Assuming stock is plentiful and laptops are ready to ship right on June 26.

I should be happy, though. My decision would've been harder if there had been another strong competitor like the T400s in the mix.

I've got a feeling this one's going to be a success for Lenovo...

 

I agree that October date makes no sense considering all the current commotion around the release, but its the date I got quoted officially from Lenono sales rep while in other forums people just speculate. Hopefully we can continue updating this post with any additional release date info

 

If you need a laptop urgently, just pretend you don't know T400s.

 

So, provided that the T400s is realeased on June 26th. How long does it usually take for the outlet to start selling refurbished ones?

I'm really interested in this laptop but I will be in the US until late July and I'd like to know if I'd have enough time to order an affordable T400s.

 

Well I personally don't think it's going to be that late.
October is almost the time for next generation.

 

Dealbreaker if the screen is as bad as it always is on Lenovo. Then again, the price seems to be in line with a bargain notebook, but there are alot of us who just wish that this series would have a better screen. The x301 doesn't even have a good screen.

 

i bet its going to be same old LG/Samsung panel lottery. I wish they would make a 13" thinkpads. It seems there are alot more much better panels available in that size. In last couple of years I have not come across a 14" panel of good quality. The WXGA+ LED LG/Samsungs are not super high quality.

 

well, shopblt has the t400s listed as "incoming" so I suppose we should wait weeks if not days, not months.

the new intel platform should be out in q4 2009, maybe the sales rep was speaking of the new intel platform, that should be out in q4 2009.

 

eta says 6/20... not sure if you noticed that.

 

I didn't notice, thanks for the info

 

June would be more likely, cough.

 

This is all great news!!! Not sure what sales rep was smoking. I even asked him to please reconfirm this and he came back with "October" date. Lets keep our fingers crossed it will be available in a couple of weeks. This mid-summer release makes sense for "back-to-school" special. I'm sure with high demand and the usual Lenovo supply it will take a little while before they start shipping these puppies out

 

Anyone knows?

 

It's hard to tell man.. but I remember when the X200 came out last summer, some of the first people to order it had to wait for like 3-4 weeks. So considering that this will be available at the end of June and you will be leaving some time in July, it's unlikely that there will be refurbished items available on the outlet unless there are people who cancel their orders.

PS. Thanks for the info guys, I'm *really* happy to hear that it will be coming in June I'm not sure if I care too much about the new Intel platform coming out at the end of the year, as long as Lenovo does a decent job at this T400s. Andrew do you have any idea when NBR would be reviewing it??

 

Ok, thanks for that. All I can do now is hope it won't be too expensive!

 

I used to think like you: there just aren't any awesome 14" panels. But across the board, Lenovo skimps on screens. x200, x200s, x301, t400, t500...the only exceptions being the 1680x1050 ccfl screens (but not bright enough to watch videos to my satisfaction) and the x200t screens. It's pretty much a conscious decision I can guarantee that. It is the only reason I defected to the mac camp. I have the Dell e6500 with a great, awesome macbook pro screen but the horrible touchpad and unusable pointing stick are unacceptable to me.

 

Yes, there are great 14" wxga+ led screens out there, but lenovo chooses not to use them.

 

I thought they were offering it before? or do you mean brand wise

 

name one...

 

dell uses an led 14" wxga+ that is quite nice

 

Actually I really like the screen on my X200. The backlighting is surprisingly even, it's quite bright for a CCFL screen, and imo the colours look pretty good. Of course I say all this while taking into consideration that it is a TN panel. But would I be willing to pay an extra $200-300 for an IPS or PVA screen? Probably not.. But if it was only $100 I would probably consider it.

And by the way, you should see how crappy the screens were on the previous generation Macbooks (the white ones). Actually I have no idea how Apple managed to sell those laptops by using such crappy screens. The colours look so ugly and washed out. So if EVEN Apple uses crappy screens and gets away with it, what does that tell you?

So anyway, most people are not graphics designers and usually a laptop is meant to be used by a single person at a time, so viewing angles are not too crucial since the screen can easily be tilted. For most people what matters is good brightness/contrast and that it looks reasonably good. It's all about cost/benefit and what the majority of customers are happy with

Edit: I'll tell you one thing though, I acknowledge that with certain luxuries, once you go with them you just can't go back. So for all those people who were used to having their high quality IPS screens and then all of a sudden had to switch back to TN, I understand your pain!

 

from what i've seen Dell uses same exact 14" wxga+ LED panels as lenovo. Same lottery between LG and Samsung. Having used both, I have to say that both are not what I would call a quality panel.

e6500, on the other hand is very nice and uses completely different panels from lenovo.