T440p first impressions

Welp, no updates since the exception note form UPS two days ago, so I'm thinking my order will not arrive in time for Christmas.

Apple had their top-end Haswells ready to ship on announcement day. Wish Lenovo had a little of Cook's supply chain genius.

 

You're damn right. It looks like a f-ing halo is on the back of my head from pulling out my hair, and Lenovo is f-ing constipated!

How's yours coming along?

 

I have only a tiny halo so far. Ordered Nov. 26 and shipping delayed twice, most recently to Dec. 24. I seem to get almost daily apology emails from Lenovo but at least they have now confirmed I will get a further 5% discount. I just hope shipping is not delayed again.

 

I still don't have a clear picture on battery usage yet, just because it'll take me a while to get out of my old habbits of trying to stay plugged in... But tonight, I'm at 84% battery and I've been using it for probably 40 minutes and est. battery remaining was 5:24

That's downright shocking compared to what I'm used to This is with the 6 cell battery

I'm really pleased with this machine....

 

I just received the following email:

I wasn't expecting my laptop to arrive by Christmas as the projected delivery date was January at the time of purchase so this is really no inconvenience to me, but I'll take the 5% I guess.

 

Can anyone comment on the speakers? How are they in comparison to say a 13 inch macbook? I've never had a T series the speakers on the x220 are embarrassing compared to a macbook. Are these any better?

 

Well, four hours after receiving the "it will not arrive in time for Xmas so you get a 5% discount" email, I received a shipping notice from Lenovo.

On the one hand, I Iucked out... it ships only four days later than I expected, but arrives two days after Xmas so I get 5% discount. On the other hand, I will now be out of town when it arrives so will have to ask UPS to hold it for 4-5 days.

 

Well, swimmingly, I guess.

On the 19th and 20th, UPS status was that a shipping label had been created and that they were waiting to take possession of it from the shipper.

Now, UPS shows this:

Code:

Louisville, KY, United States 	12/21/2013 	2:03 A.M. 	Warehouse Scan
Hong Kong 	                        12/19/2013 	7:01 A.M. 	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

So, in the interim, my 440p has gone from the plant to HK UPS to the midwest US and due for delivery Monday in California. I ordered 12/5.

I'm really sorry for you guys getting jacked around. I never expected it to go like this for me, and I won't even be there to collect it until late January.

 

@&%#¿^π¥¶!!!

I didn't even get the offer of a discount. I had to threaten them with cancelling. I asked for a 10% discount though...

 

So orders SHIPPED on the 19th have made it to the US, but those of us who had ours shipped 13-14 have ours stuck in some sort of Hong Kong shipping limbo? This makes absolutely no sense.

Also, I never had an exception show up for my package, and the only emails I have gotten from Lenovo are the order confirmation and the sipping confirmation. What's up with that?

 

I get mine this week. It's perfect. Near one month in total to build and to deliver, as said Lex. I had a T430 (old version) before and this new model has really a better finishing. No surprise about the keyboard because it's the same. But definitvely a good new trackpad in the same way of the Macbook (which have the best trackpad in my opinion, but its mac os).

No more lights for Wifi, hard drive or others things. Only the power button have a green light.
The USB ports are more accessibles even with a bigger usb key. On the T430, if you put one usb key a little big you cannot put another stick on the next usb port.

For those who want to change components... The opening of the computer is really easy. Only 2 screws to remove the backboard and change the RAM. One more screw if you want to change the hard drive. About the hard drive, it's a little strange, my hard drive was in a " leef of aluminum". Probably to dissipate heat. I put it back on my new hard drive but as it's just stick as "post-it" so if you often change hard drive I believe this aluminum leef won't last. I don't know if it's absolutely necesary furthermore if you have a SSD.

Otherwise, no surprise for now about the noise. I get on the T430 the first time maybe a bad version which have the noise problem about the fan which launch itself for nothing. When I do Internet, Word or nothing heavy fan is just to 0. Even, when I virtualize it's go to Fan 3 4 but no more.

Good luck guys for getting your T440p
and Merry Christmas !

 

Hey akril, let's see some photos.

Also, if you want to see hard drive activity, install this.

Install it as a user script to run at logon. (with gpedit.msc)

 

Just chatted with a Lenovo rep, and it was less than productive. He/she just read back to me what the order status page said, dismissed my concerns about it not arriving by Christmas, and told me to call UPS instead. No discount for me, lol.

 

@akril: If you still have T430, could take some comparison pictures?

 

I guess Lenovo is demonstrating why Dell and HP don't have much customization for laptop builds. Bad form to take more than a month to deliver, Lenovo should have a grasp on their assembly and shipping time. I wish they'd at least change their order status page to reflect they have no clue opposed to showing it is overdue... Makes me think a crate of our T440p's got lost.

 

Even if you buy a preconfigured model (Example: Edge, Y, G) they still won't ship much faster than custom configured models.

Cross your fingers that your laptop will be worth the wait.

 

Production issues aside doesn't it seem a bit odd that no major magazine or review site has been provided with a T440P yet? Wouldn't you want to get some samples out to important review sites like notebookcheck.net as early as possible for your launch?

 

They can't review it if they can't get a unit

 

Sure Gatto Nero.
I cannot make some comparative pictures because I didn't have anymore the Lenovo T430 that I have sold before buying the T440p.
But you can find, some T430 pictures, by following this link.
And a set of pictures of the new T440p by following, this second link.

 

Very nice. Thank you. I really like that notched corner design in order to grab the top to flip it up. Clever.

 

Does the 9-cell battery rest on the tabletop, flush with the laptop itself?

 

My UPS status was finally changed; it now shows my order was actually shipped 12/22 out of Hong Kong. Not looking good for Christmas...

 

As far as I can tell, mine sits flush. It extends from the back by what I'm guesstimating to be less than 2cm.

 

So far, keys in line with '1' and '2' (so q,w,,a,s,z,x) on my unit are rather clicky. Rest of the keys sound like what I'd expect a laptop keyboard to sound like.

Estimated delivery was three days ago (Friday) so wouldn't call it a delay or anything worthy of the 5% discounts some of you have been receiving.

Now tossing up whether to go through the process of installing things like VLC/Firefox via Ninite, or wait till my SSD and caddy arrive so I can switch those in and do a clean install.

 

Not sure to understand your question.
Does this photo answer to your quesiton ? ( link)

 

Anyone else trying to get an ultrabay adapter? Mine has been getting really pushed back.

 

Lucky. Is yours shipping to the US?
Mine still says "in transit" in Chek Lap Kok and has for the past 4 days...

 

Yeah, Mid-South US destination. Just checked again and it's in Anchorage, Alaska. Maybe it will show up before the 25th, after all. Of course, I had it shipped to the office, so I'll have to hang around there when everyone else has gone home, heh.

 

damn, wish I was on the same crate.
I'm in the midwest, my estimated delivery date was the 19th and the status hasn't updated since
glad to see yours made it out though

 

Some impressions about the actual machine would be refreshing

 

There's now a T440p owner's thread.

 

Received a call today from Digital River. My 10% discount demand was denied, but a 5% was offered. I've accepted it... Not happy with Lenovo at all, I just hope their stuff is a lot better than their deliveries.

On a positive note; shipping date didn't change over the weekend, still 2nd of January. Fingers crossed.

 

Mine is now in Kentucky and is scheduled to deliver tomorrow by "end of day". I'll be the only one at the office, but I'll get my order, finally. (maybe?)

 

Good lord, Lenovo can't even estimate how long it'll take UPS to get it to me. It shipped on Friday with delivery scheduled for the 27th and the shipping notice followed an email from Lenovo saying it will not get to me by Xmas so they're giving me 5% off. But UPS tried to deliver it today when I was gone. And will try again tomorrow, when I'll probably be gone again. This whole shipping thing is driving me nuts. Lenovo literally can't get any date even remotely correct.

And they still haven't billed me, so no idea what I'll end up getting charged. Hey, maybe I'll get it free

 

at least you guys are getting updates. I called Lenovo for the first time today to check the status of my t440p (estimated delivery date 20th), which has been stuck in Hong Kong "in transit" since the 19th. he was of no help and basically said it's in UPS' hands and "it's that time of year." ...

he raised a request for UPS to track it, which finally updated the status to "Tracer request. / Lost package tracer." if after 8 business days they do not find the package they are able to make a claim and UPS will pay for the contents of the package. 8 days! not a cool situation.

 

God customer service is useless. Five minutes worth of "please hold", long pauses because they're using VOIP, and then he hangs up -.-

Has anyone had success upgrading from Win7 to Win8Pro? Using the discs included with the laptop or otherwise.

 

Delivered 12/23, in Los Angeles. Ordered 12/5. Picking it up late January when I go back for a visit.

There were a couple of periods on the UPS tracking page where nothing updated, and then when it did, a lot had happened. For example, two days when the only notation was that a shipping label had been created. Next update, it's in Kentucky. Next update a day and half later, it's in LA. Then it changed locations in LA. Then out for delivery.

All after the fact, sometimes considerably. Be a little charitable towards Lenovo once it's in UPS' hands; Lenovo isn't shipping it and holding it, UPS is, and any vendor is dependent on the shipper for tracking. They also have to wait for a customs sign-off in the receiving country, which is another delay. For mine, that alone was 19 hours.

It's the absolute peak season, too. Every truck and airplane is jam packed and they may not have enough of either sometimes. Yes, Lenovo's website, customer service network, and contact system are clunky and frustrating, but mostly it works. Mostly.

Patience and good will, everyone.

Merry Christmas to all.

 

I think part of the problem is that these same issues recur every single time new models are released, regardless of the time of year. This makes me think that improving these systems (or even better integrating them so that customer communication is better) is not a priority for Lenovo.

 

I understand Lenovo is not responsible for delays that are the fault of UPS and/or customs, but in my case UPS tried to deliver it four days before Lenovo said it would, which suggests Lenovo either expedited the shipping and didn't bother telling me, or shipped it earlier than it claimed. Either way, I blame Lenovo for my delivery snafu. I certainly don't think UPS decided to get it across the Pacific four days faster out of kindness

 

Regarding my personal case, I also lost 3 days in HK Airport (according to the UPS website). My delivery was stuck in Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong Airport during 3 days before leaving. Maybe a problem with the Customs, I don't know. But it was definitively quicker with my previous Lenovo.

 

Mine was just delivered. Cursory overview is that it is built very solidly. It feels heavier than my T420, but a sturdy kind of heavy instead of just overweight. The bottom door sits firmly in place, no wiggle. Took a hard plastic card to get it to slide down. Smaller footprint overall from my T420. Very little flex in the keyboard, comparable to the T420, and even the DVD drive area doesn't cause too much flex.

The LCD housing is much thinner, and sits back at a slightly increased angle from the T420.

 

Well, I've got a couple updates. It shipped out on the 19th and was stuck in Hong Kong fro almost 4 days. Finally, after leaving Hong Kong it shipped to Taiwan overnight last night. Now, it has made its way to Kentucky, but UPS is showing an exception. Hopefully it will pass through Customs quickly. Also, I received a 5% discount on my order because it was not delivered by Christmas as Lenovo promised. Looks like if everything goes through with Customs it will be here by its scheduled delivery date, December 26th.

 

Mine took 19 hours in the KY warehouse before it got its import scan.

 

Hi eduhat, man I wish mine made it out on the 19th. mine is STILL stuck in HK, also with an exception.
How did you go about getting the discount?

 

It was actually quite simple. They had a message on their website saying if the item shipped on or before the 20th of December, it will be here before Christmas. So I called the Sales dept and I brought that point up to the gentleman I spoke with on the phone, and he (seemed deeply) apologized. I simply asked what could they do for me, and he gave me a 5% refund.

I am really hoping Customs is working overtime so it will be ready to go on the 26th. I feel bad that I didn't upgrade the CPU while I had the chance, I only got the Intel Core i5-4200M. Hope this will last I was wondering am I able to swap out that CPU for a better, faster one in the future?

 

One thing I am NOT liking at all is the trackpad. It's loud and feels very chintzy. I will probably disable it in the BIOS, as I typically use my laptop at a desk with a mouse.

 

Give it some time.. Also, if you're using it as a trackpad you don't have to actually click it all the way down, the taps register... (you still have to use the clickpad part for the trackpoint though)

 

Sure, I'll give it a whirl. I've never been a "tapper", but I might as well start.

Another thing I just noticed is the plastic lip where the wrist rest meets the lower chassis is quite sharp, and feels unfinished.

 

Do you have much light bleed on your screen? I'm impressed by the overall build of my new T440p except the flimsyness of the lid and the associated screen flex

 

Zero light bleed, but I agree that the lid feels much flimsier than older ThinkPads, including my T420. It's also a bit "floppier" than my T420 screen, but not too bad.