T440p Owner's Thread

Does anyone know why it is much cheaper to have the fingerprint reader with NFC rather than just the fingerprint reader? I don't see why you would opt not to have the fingerprint reader with NFC, even though the NFC seems to be causing some problems when Lenovo build the laptop.
Also, does anyone know if Lenovo have changed the fan with the updates they brought out for the T440s?

 

Aww crap I went with the NFC finger print reader as well. If that's the hold up I'd gladly forget about it...

 

Hi Jobine, I got the high nit 1280 X 800 screen for my T400.

 

It was 25 Euro's (!) cheaper if I put in the NFC. And there I was, thought I had made a cost efficient choice...

-edit- And I just now read correctly it's not a touchpad with NFC, but a fingerprint reader! F-ng idiots put it under "pointing device", so that's what confused me. If I had read that correctly when ordering I would not have chosen that "upgrade"... I'm guessing it isn't possible to change the order and take out the fingerprint reader.

If you guys are looking for a big idiot, then you have found me!

 

Alright, so I've had my T440P for a week now, so I thought I would write up a quick mini review, as well as my procedure for clean-installing Windows 8.1. For reference, I am coming from a T420 with i7-2640M (dual 2.8Ghz), 8Gb RAM, 256Gb Crucial M4 mSATA plus 500Gb 7200RPM HDD, Intel HD3000 and the 1600x900 TN screen. The new machine is a i5-4330M (dual 2.8Ghz), 16Gb RAM, 1Tb Samsung Evo, Intel Hd4600 and the LG FHD screen.

Personally, I find the build quality fantastic. Screen flex is about the same as the T420, screen hinges are nice and tight, and keyboard flex is less. The usage of fewer panel parts and the absence of speaker grills makes it feel more solid in-the-hand, although the lip at the front is quite rough on the hands/wrists/arms when typing. Hopefully this smooths down with time.

The LG FHD screen is a dramatic improvement over the TN in the T420 - improved colour, contrast, viewing angles and no screen-door effect. Not as good as my desktop panel (Dell U2412M), but no obvious deficiencies or faults. Backlight bleed is obvious only on a pure black screen in a dark room. I cannot compare to the AUO, but I don't feel like I am wanting for anything extra and the upgrade was $200 well spent.

The Trackpad is great for pointing, the large size is brilliant and I find it far more accurate than the old one....... right up until you have to click a button. I was never a Trackpoint user, but I did actually use the top Trackpoint physical buttons. The clicking has a poor feel and poor accuracy. It is something I will just have to learn to live with.

Noise is no problem. Unlike the T420 which would sometimes be noisy at idle, the new one runs the fan FAR less frequently. When the fan does ramp up, it is not really any different in volume or tone.

My clean Windows install went mostly without dramas. Before starting, I installed BIOS 2.19. Then I extracted my product key from the BIOS with RWEverything RW-Everything ~ Latest News. Then I obtained a Windows 8.1 ISO (actually, a USB stick install) legally using this method: Download a Windows 8.1 ISO with a Windows 8 Product Key and the install key I bought during the $40 upgrade special. I started the clean Windows install on the new drive, using the generic keys: windows 8.1 generic keys . Then once Windows was installed, I activated Windows using the Lenovo OEM product key (but not straight away, after everything else was installed). For this to work properly, the Windows versions have to match through every step. In my case, I used my Windows 8 Pro 64 serial to initiate the download, I downloaded on a Windows 8.1 Pro 64 machine, installed the Windows 8.1 Pro 64 ISO, used the Windows 8.1 Pro 64 Generic key, then activated with Windows 8 Pro 64 key I obtained from the BIOS.

Once Windows was installed, the following drivers and software went on:



All Intel drivers are from Intel direct, except for the CPPC. Everything else is from Lenovo.

I chose not to install the Intel RST software/driver. I couldn't get the Power Manager to work (it did work on the T420). I deliberately skipped the Intel Smart Connect software; on a trial run, either this or the Intel Rapid Start caused major problems. Once all of this was installed, I activated Windows and turned on Windows Update.

Everything seems to be going swimmingly. I sometimes have issues with the external monitor not coming on when resuming from sleep, but this seems to be a dock issue. Sometimes the wireless is glitchy after resuming from sleep as well, but this happened with the T420 as well and seems to be a Windows or Intel issue.

The system isn't that much faster than the old one, given I have the same number of cores and the same clockspeed, but it is about 10-20% purely on the CPU, and does it with less heat. I haven't messed with 3D graphics yet. Switching to the single 1Tb SSD instead of 256Gb SSD plus 500Gb HDD is awesome for performance and much quieter, and enabling Bitlocker on the Samsung EVO is also WAY faster thanks to eDrive capability. Also, the move to USB 3 is great - I had no idea how limiting USB 2 was until now.

I think that covers everything. It ended up being an expensive upgrade given I had to replace two docking stations, but on the whole I am pretty happy.

 

I am assuming you could not get it to install on Windows 8.1 Pro. I managed to install it (on my T440s with Windows 8.1 Pro) by running the installer under Windows 7 compatibility mode since the power manager is not intended for Windows 8 systems. It seemed to work after that without any issues. Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, I tried that, and it is how I got it working with the T420. But the screen brightness was glitching out, and it introduced some other issues, so I just gave up. And it seems that while Sandy Bridge needing coaxing from power manager for good battery life, Haswell seems to behave itself pretty well all on its own.

 

I agree it's a more solid chassis than the T420 (though I think the T440p lid is flexier) but I'm not convinved the quality of the plastics is as good and that seam between the top and bottom has that annoying sharp edge to it that just feel unfinished to me like some cheap molded plastic toy. So it's a more solid design overall, yes, but IMO lower build and material quality than the T420.

This makes me jealous Sadly those of us with only an OEM key (or one of the technet generics) cannot use it to download an ISO and all the retail keys floating around on the interweb have been blocked by MS

 

Yeah, I can see why you wouldn't like it, but I am certainly happy with the upgrade. I think it will hold up very well over the long term.

Its a bit of a bugger for most people, but for those of us with keys it is pretty damn awesome that they let us download it. And I know people complain a lot about Windows 8, but I was quite happy to pay the $40 for the initial key, given the convenience now...... once you get past the start menu, all of the improvements behind the scenes are just fantastic.

*

Oooooh, and something else I didn't discuss, keyboard...... aside from the loss of the pause/break key (great for accessing the control panel), and having to relearn where the hardware keys are, I really love it. Keypress feedback isn't as crisp as my Das mechanicals (obviously), but it is at least as good as the T420. I never though much of the thinklight, so the backlighting is a good upgrade.

So for anybody keeping score, I really rather like this new dumbed-down Thinkpad, and I really like Windows 8 as well. I'll hand my nerd card in on my way out the door......

 

I kinda like Windows 8.1 as well, although it required far too much wrangling to customize it to my liking and the glitches with some component drivers are infuriating (though that's not MS's fault). I can't understand why there's so much h8 for Win8.

Keyboard is great (though I'm not someone who will miss the extra row), but the decent key travel does also mean the backlight bleeds annoyingly from under the keys. Can't have it all I guess.

 

How can you tell what panel you have? Whether the AUO or the LG?

 

Just got my T440p and I have to say this thing is beautiful. There's almost zero light bleed from my IPS. Installing 4gb and a SSD was a breeze. Installing windows 7 was easy and overall I haven't heard the fan kick up once. My setup is no FPR, IPS, 4700MQ

 

Download and run HWiNFO 64 (I recommend the portable version) and check the monitor section.

Glad I'm not the only one who is happy. Sweet, sweet validation!

 

Following up on the NO light bleed on my IPS the monitor I have is LP140WF1-SPK1. I believe that's the LG and it's beautiful

 

How do I use the GPS function on this machine? I tried it on Street & Map, It said cannot find the GPS.

 

Errrr...... it doesn't have GPS.

 

How do you guys probably clean the laptop? Heavy use started to show...

 

High pressure jet washer usually does the trick for me.

 

I ordered a T440p today and the estimated delivery time is >4 weeks. Is this normal?

 

^^^Depends on the configuration.

 

Mine took little under 4 weeks to be delivered. my options were:

• 4700MQ
• IPS
• NO Fpr
• 4gb ram
• 500gb 7200
• webcam
• 9 cel

 

About the same for me as well with similar specs.

 

My configuration is:
I7-4700MQ
8GB Ram
256GB SSD
14" FHD (1920x1080)
Nvidia geforce gt 730M 1GB
9 cel
Webcam

 

Has anyone reading here installed this utility?

 

I'd rather use the utility from the drive manufacturer

 

FYI: Day before yesterday, I updated AC 7260 ProSet on Intel's site using their driver update utility, to version 16.10, from 16.6. At that time, 16.10 was not yet showing on Lenovo's site.

What I found was that the wireless adapter was not automatically reconnecting to my router for an extended period after coming out of sleep--a couple of minutes at least. The taskbar icon would sit there with a red 'X' through it, with connections available.

Today, I used System Restore to go back to the point prior to the update, and now reconnection is immediate as before. Then I ran Lenovo update and I see that 16.10 is now showing up as a recommended update. Choose wisely.

Windows 7 Pro

Edit: One thing about using Intel's site for drivers is that the installation creates a restore point. I used that to return to a state in which the wifi worked without issues. If you use Lenovo Update, I think that it just installs and doesn't create a restore point. Might want to try Intel for drivers for that reason alone, if you're inclined to update. I might be wrong about LU creating restore points as I haven't used it much.

 

I just ordered my T440p (i5 4300M, 8GB, GT 730M, HD+, 500GB HDD) and I will be getting my own SSD as Lenovo charge silly prices for one. I have seen a lot about the T440 series killing Samsung 840 Pro SSD's and that 840 evos seem to be the better option.
Can anyone confirm that the T440 series isn't killing 840 evos, as I would like to get one and I haven't found much from searching around the internet?

 

Haven't heard anything about this... I have an 840 EVO in mine and (knocking on wood) so far so good.

 

I clean installed Windows on a 1Tb Evo in a T440P without issue. The problem doesn't seem to be the drive, but rather the BIOS looking for a non-existant pseudo-hibernation file on the drive that is placed there as part of Intel Rapid Start.

I would recommend installing the SSD in another PC first, installing Samsung Magician, update the SSD BIOS, and do the steps to enable it for eDrive. This includes a secure erase, entirely managed by the Samsung software. Then update the T440P BIOS, and disable Rapid Start under the BIOS power settings. Then install the SSD and install Windows.

Make sure the BIOS is set to UEFI only, and that you delete *all* partitions on the SSD when you select the partition you want to install to, in order to make 100% sure it does install UEFI. After Windows is installed, you can enable Bitlocker/eDrive. Don't install Intel Rapid Start (and probably not Smart Connect either), and you should be A-O-K.

 

It sounded to me like the stock install of Windows (8?) is the issue - I'm assuming that it'll work if you can get a Windows ISO elsewhere. Come to think of it, rapid start would make perfect sense - but what about other brands of SSDs?

 

Can't speak to other brands, I'm sorry. Only what I have read, and what worked for me.

But given that Rapid Start was bricking laptops rather reliably, I wouldn't take the chance of leaving it enabled regardless of SSD brand. And never once have I thought...... you know, my laptop resumes really slowly from sleep, let me put a second hibernation file on there that can consume SSD writes much faster than I would otherwise.

And FWIW, IMHO, AFAIC and many other acronyms...... beg, borrow or steal a Windows disk for a clean install. Even if you re-install every single piece of Lenovo bloatware you will be be better off in the long run.

 

I have the Pro and haven't seen any problems, even with massive reads and writes, copying GBs, but I'm still using the Microsoft driver after a fresh install. I did not upgrade to the Intel RST driver, which has the problematic link power management feature. I think it's LPM, not Rapid Start that is killing drives. LPM can be turned off for the Intel driver too, but I don't expect any performance gain from RST, so I stayed safe with the MS driver.

I went for the pro, not the EVO, because of the longer life span and data safety of the 2-Bit MLC NAND compared to the 3-Bit MLC NAND of the EVO.

 

Hi,
I just got my T440p today with installed win7. I updated to win8, but was stupid enough to not backup the recovery partition for win7 (I thought it would stay on partition, but installation deleted that partition). Is there way to download it somewhere or what I can do in case I would like to downgrade back. Think is I'm going abroad in a few days and I'm not sure what internet connection I will have there, so I would like to prepare everything before I'll go.

EDIT: Solved - It is possible to buy Recovery Media in Lenovo service - download cost about 20 euro and DVDs are for 30 - 35 euro.

 

Inconsequential IMHO, I'm fairly convinced by the calculations they did at Anandtech: AnandTech | Samsung SSD 840 EVO Review: 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, 750GB & 1TB Models Tested

For my own part, I've installed Windows 3 times, copied over around 350Gb of media twice, amongst all of my day-to-day usage...... I have basically managed 1Tb or writes in 1 month. Even if I keep writing at the same rate (which I won't, because I rarely replace all my media files, so this is a gross over-estimation), I will manage to expire 1000 write cycles on the 1Tb drive in 83 years.

So for me, the money savings and the benefits of eDrive, FAR outweighed any real or perceived lifespan issues.

 

It may or may not. I had a Crucial M4 dying recently, so I said to myself it's inconsequential to save EUR 40 by going for the cheaper option if it's about my data storage.

 

Absolutely the can die, but I would be VERY skeptical that it was due to a NAND endurance issue.

Oh, and in my case also, the Pro didn't come in a 1Tb......

 

It was definitely not the NAND endurance, it was one of the memory chips that completely failed. However, the Pro is server grade and that means stricter testing and smaller tolerances. It may or may not make a difference and proably the EVO is still better than many other drives, but I consider the HD the most critical part. Even with regular backups, I want to reduce any risk.

 

Does anoybody here know of a 3rd party Ultraby HDD adapter? 100 € for the original part is just crazy.

 

Why such a price difference between a US-ordered bay and one in Euros?

By the way, I have one--the Lenovo part--and its fit with the laptop is very nice. Pics I've seen of aftermarket bays have big gaps with the laptop case and look awful.

 

I haven't seen anything about it, but does anyone know if there have been any issues with Crucial M500 drives and the T440 series? They are quite a bit cheaper than the 840 evos so are looking quite tempting at the moment.
Also, I'm not spending the earth on buying a legit Lenovo ultrabay adapter for the HDD. Therefore, would something cheap like THIS or THIS do the job with a little bit of bodging if required?

 

I';ve not read any issues with Crucial SSDs, but I have no first hand experience.

As for caddies, just search on ebay for "T440p drive bay caddy" and there should be plenty that come up. The T440p uses a different caddy from the T430 and earlier machines, so the two you found would not work.

For the record, I would not recommend anyone buy the official Lenovo caddy (I did and regret it, despite getting it at a discount). Aside from its higher cost, it comes with no drive carrier or any way at all to secure the drive inside and Lenovo offers nothing to fix this situation, which is a ridiculous oversight. So unless you like your drive to flop around in the caddy, stick with cheaper Ebay options.

 

I secured the drive in mine with a slim piece of metal tape along the front edge of the drive. Nice and snug.

Yeah, they should have included a spacer or something. But it's an easy fix.

 

I didn't know that, lucky I asked! Unfortunately I can only find ones available from China and none from the UK. I assume something like THIS or THIS would be fine?

 

Yes, both those should work. With stuff like this I always assume I'll have to buy from China. Even the official Lenovo one ships from China.

I've read a lot of creative ways people have secured drives in the caddy, ranging from tape to wedges of paper (I trimmed down an old set of rubber rails), but it's staggering that anyone has to resort to MacGyver fixes, however simple, in an expensive official piece of kit and even more staggering that Lenovo still has no warning about this on its site and still doesn't sell a compatible drive carrier for use in the caddy.

 

Mine is shipped, ordered on 19th of January.

15th November 2013 - Ordered my first
13th January 2014 - Received it
16th January 2014 - Sent it back
19th January 2014 - Ordered new one
18th February 2014 - Refund of first one received (email confirmation of refund 14th February 2014, A MONTH AFTER SHIPPING IT BACK! And of course it took a few phonecalls to get them to start looking for the item that was sent back.)
10th March 2014 - Second T440p shipped

??? (scheduled 17th March 2014) - Received second. Was delayed because of an NFC thingy that did not meet quality standards. I guess this issue has been resolved last week, because mine (and ~60 other EU machines according to my source) was tested and shipped.

??? - Sent back the second. Really hoping this isn't necessary, but I'm really thinking it will be my final choice to do so. They offered me an extra discount of 5% (on top of the 10% I'm already getting), so I'm not sure what to do yet. I guess I'm going to try the machine a little more, because the price is acceptable this way.

 

We have an NFC?

 

Likely future owner here...

I've been looking at this system for a while and have read much of what is said here. I, too, am disappointed in the changes in the T series compared to what was, but this still seems like the best option for me. That said, the RAM and HD upgrades seemed expensive. I googled and found: Computer memory upgrades for Lenovo ThinkPad T440p Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

My only concern: Is this a warranty killer? I'd save, not sell, (and reinstall) the original parts if it ever had to be serviced. It just seems silly to pay an extra $300.

EDIT: I just pulled a youtube of it being done and see none of the "void if removed" type of warranty stickers that I'd want to avoid touching...

 

I want to know, too. I was looking forward to this feature, but ordered on Day 1 when it wasn't available. My smartphones have NFC and I've got tags, but it's nice to use it between two devices. I'd be interested in adding it to my laptop if I can order the part.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

No, and you can google a hardware maintenance manual, which states for each task, if it is "self service" or "optional service".

 

The NFC feature wasn't available when I ordered the first one. The second one had a few options. Check the website and try to compose one, you'll find the option with or without fingerprint reader. Adding an NFC with or without fingerprint reader will make the laptop €25 cheaper!