T440s Owner´s Thread

I've had my T440s a couple days, and so far I really like it.

I thought I would hate the trackpoint buttons, but they're actually ok. I updated to the latest trackpoint firmware and driver (directly from lenovo, not System Update), disabled the touchpad, and chose the "Large" click areas. I use my right index finger to move the trackpoint nub, and my right thumb to click the buttons. I notice that clicking requires a bit more force than on my old T410s (which had physical buttons) and my thumb was a bit tired after the first day use, but now I don't notice it too much any more. Now when using my old laptop I find the buttons a bit mushy. I sometimes do a middle click instead of left, or left instead of middle, but not very often.

The keyboard is good overall, but I find the "b" key and the spacebar don't quite feel natural. The rest of the keys seem good.

I got the LG screen and overall it looks ok, but I wouldn't say it's amazing. It's noticeably better than my T410s screen, but not as bright on full brightness. I'm curious if it's usable outdoors on a bright day.

The speakers are better than what I had on any other business notebooks over the years.

I don't like the red LED for the Thinkpad "i" on the lid.

The fingerprint reader works so much better than the one on my 410s. I had to uninstall and reinstall the fingerprint reader software for it to work.(I'd first upgraded to Windows 8.1: I'm not sure if that affected it)

I haven't tried taking off the base cover yet. I might over the weekend to install another 8G RAM.


The 45W charger is much smaller than I was expecting! I haven't tested the battery life yet, nor how long it takes to recharge a battery using the 45W charger. I was also surprised at how small the 3-cell battery was (compared to the battery in my old T410s). If the battery life isn't good enough for me, I don't think I'll mind carrying around a second 3-cell battery if I ever need it.


Other things I wish were different:
- dedicated buttons for volume up/down/mute
- a HDD activity LED
- 16x10 screen instead of 16x9
- I leave Function Lock on and would prefer that the F1 to F12 lettering was bigger.

 

Hi guys,

Four quick questions for you regarding t440s, which hopefully will help me decide if to buy this model:

1. In your experience, can you do computations on this ultrabook (assuming 12GB)? e.g. Eclipse, Visual Studio, Matlab, etc.

2. Trackpad sound when pressing it down: how bad is it actually? Can you tap on the trackpad, without pressing it down, similar to Mac?

3. How would you rate t440s trackpad compared to Mac?

4. Most reviews seem to refer to a Windows configuration. How would that change for linux?

Thanks!

 

I don't see why the t440s would not be well equipped for this kind of work, but you should compare benchmarks for the available processors vs. what you are currently using and decide for yourself. If computational speed is of primary importance, you'd be best served to look at one of the other lines with the full-voltage processors. We use Visual Studio and Matlab here extensively and I would have no qualms about using these for those tasks.

The trackpad sound does not bother me at all, and I find it to be nearly as good as the Mac's, but not quite. Still among the best I've used on Windows although there appears to be some reported issues, but I suspect these are QC-issues rather than fundamental design or driver issues or they'd be far more widespread.

I would say that Linux will be a far more mixed bag because you will be relying on the driver support of whatever distro you choose and it will be up to you to optimize it for this particular hardware.

 

If you're using the clickpad as a touchpad, you can just lightly tap it, and it works quite well. On the other hand, if you're using the touchpoint, you have to click all the way down - I use the touchpad when I'm not typing/trying to be quiet - the clicks are loud (kind of equivalent to when you hitting enter hard when you're mad or something.)

 

Hello folks,

Wish you all a happy new year. Today I am back with more comparision photos. Featured in the pictures below (and in that order) are Thinkpad W530, Thinkpad X230, Thinkpad T440s & Ideapad Yoga 2 Pro. I have used the "adventure" wallpaper which ships with the Lenovo laptops to do some color comparision.

The screens are at 100% brightness and have not been calibrated in any ways.

I have also attached a video (sorry for the quality) which clearly shows the "spotlight effect" on the LG display on my T440s.

If anybody wants more specific comparision pictures with a specific background/color/text etc, please ask. Thanks.



























In the following 2 pictures, the screen is not switched off. A completely black picture is being displayed. The blacks look much better on the T440s than the Yoga 2 pro.


Black picture again






The following video shows the "spotlight effect" very clearly. The spotlight effect is HORRIBLE on my LG display.

 

If I look from my own eyes, my LG shows quite like a strip(rectangular) shaped instead of oval shaped brightness. If I look thru a htc's camera during recording then I see oval shaped brightness. However, from the AUO vid from other thread(s), I don't seem to see such brightness. But, the background/wallpaper from that AUO vid is black/dark(the one with music one) so the brightness issue could be not much obvious ? The AUO from that vid does seem crispier and gives me a feeling for entertainment(to me looks like most recent touch screens in the market now), and my LG looks a bit dull and gives me a feeling for work/office.

 

Just an update on my quest to get an AUO replacement. Lenovo finally acknowledges that my system exists, but the warranty period is still wrong (1 year instead of 3, and starting on the order date instead of when I received it). However, that's another battle for another day.

I talked to the local authorized service provider, and they told me they can try to request the AUO by its FRU number, but can't guarantee they'd be able to get it. Should hear back in a day or two. In the meantime, Lenovo support called me back and told me they are sending me a box, but the rep I talked to says they can't specify an FRU for the depot to replace my screen with. I know other users here have gotten better responses on that front, so I don't know if this rep is just not willing to help, or if they're catching on to all the requests for AUO panels and changing the policy. The rep also says that the local ASP may bill me for labor even for warranty work, so I'll have to ask about it when they get back to me. At this point, unless I can get an AUO for sure with my local ASP and not be charged for labor, I'm just going to return the machine. It's just not worth the hassle. And by the way, I do have some fan noise when I pick up the computer. Sounds very much like the fan is hitting the housing.

Does anyone know if you can still return a computer if there's been warranty work done on it? If I do somehow get an AUO and end up not being happy with it, I would still like to be able to return it. And one more thing, I've still yet to receive the 5% discount they promised for missing the Christmas delivery deadline. What a terrible experience with a supposedly high-end machine from a supposedly good company.

 

I was told that if you got an email saying that you would receive the credit you will. It just may take awhile. The representative said there is a list and seemed to imply that if you are on the list.you will/must get it. He said it should happen before the end of January. However, I was going to wait until January 15th to call again. Don't think they have a month backlog of credit. Luckily we all have emails saying outright that we are supposed to get it. If not by the end of January to the Better Business Bureau I go.

 

I also have yet to hear any good news regarding the AUO screen replacement. The last communication I received was on Tuesday and it said the AUO was still backordered. Meanwhile an empty box showed up the other day and is missing the return shipping label, so it's not like I could use it anyway.

If it's true that the depots won't replace with a specific FRU part then that's just even more bad news in this whole fiasco. It appears that the AUO likely isn't getting in stock before the weekend, so we're going into week number 3 now.

 

Just had the LG display on my T440p replaced with an AUO (onsite repair) and it has zero light bleed. Despite being told is was backordered last week when I set up the repair the new panel was actually shipped to the technician within a couple of days.

 

@anandoc : You are awesome, man! Thank you for the pictures!

The video is exactly showing the main problem from which iam mostly suffering. You can't work very well with word-documents with such a spotlight!

What can you tell us comparing it to the LG Screen? Are you happier with it now? What would you suggest to LG guys out there?

 

That's good to know. Still, I find it absurd that a company the size of Lenovo can't take this list and issue credit all at once. Do they have some poor intern doing this by hand or something?

 

I'm thinking about upgrading to onsite. Or returning the T440s and getting a MBPr.

 

you have to threaten them to get anything done sometimes, it is pretty sad, they've doubled charged me for a purchase once and sent me only one unit and they didn't even refund me back till i threatened to charge back the credit card, they generally don't have any appreciation for their customer's money, it is really hit or miss, sometimes i get decent people when dealing with them, sometimes i get complete morons. and it takes them seconds to take your money but refunding can take months sometimes, seems pretty shady.

 

I agree. I don't see why this could not have been done at the time of sale/shipping rather than after. And even then it should be automatically on a list.

 

I never actually noticed the spotlight effect much on my LG screen, but I must admit I did not use the machine much the last few days. The light bleed was my main gripe. The AUO display has next to no light bleed and does have better vertical viewing angles than the LG. Horizontal viewing seems about the same to me. It also does not have the sparkle "screen door" effect, although that never really bothered me much on the LG.

All in all I'm happy, but wish I did not have to go through the repair saga. And it was a saga, yet to end thanks to the fact that Lenovo did not ship a new screen bezel, so the old one is yet to be replaced. "Next business day" onsite repair took over a week, requiring me to reschedule the repair for a different city (I was traveling) and resulting in both Lenovo and UPS completely screwing up the parts delivery.

 

A couple months ago I ordered and returned a machine from the Outlet. Despite their prepaid return label's tracking showing the package had been delivered and signed by someone in their dock, they hadn't refunded. Three times I called trying to get the money back always promised that they would sort it out. About a month after they received the package I finally did a charge back. Two months after they received the package I finally received the refund. I had to waste more time still in calling Chase and undoing the chargeback because no one at Lenovo realized I had been refunded twice.

 

Probably the same reasoning that's behind rebates. Not everyone will go through the process to get the credit and thus they keep a lot more money than if they just issued the credit to everyone by default.

 

Is it just the touch-enabled T440s that comes with a glass screen, or is it the non-touch version as well?

I'm not so happy with the trend of moving to glass screens on laptops, to be honest... It adds more weight, more glare, and it can shatter or crack. I just ordered a Thinkpad Yoga for a family member, and got the 3 yrs warranty w/ accidental coverage almost exclusively because of the glass screen (first time I ever got extended warranty on a laptop).

 

Forgive me for not having done my homework nor digested all the posts so far. I have a few questions to T440s owners:

1. Is the FHD IPS screen above average (to you)?
2. Is user-upgrading as convenient as it has been on the last few generations of T/W machines?
3. Can I add RAM to make the total 16GB? What should the CTO RAM be?
4. Does it accept 9.5mm-thick drive? (WD recently introduced the Black2 128GB SSD + 1TB HD combo drive.)
5. Failing the above, is it possible to have MM2 SSD boot + 2.5" HD data?

Thanks in advance. Happy New Year!

 

Thats exactly what I did. I called and got a refund on my 3 year depot warranty and bought the 2 year onsite+accidental coverage. It was only $40 more and is totally worth it in my opinion.

 

1. Yes, if you get the AUO screen and not the LG. Even the LG is much better than the traditional Thinkpad 14" screens, but lacking for an IPS display.
2. No. Base cover has to come off.
3. No. 4gb soldered. 1 dimm slot.
4. Yes.
5. Yes.

 

Does anyone know if it is possible to remove the trackpad? I had a quick look in the t440s maintenance manual but the closest I found was removing the keyboard (are the two connected?)

 

I have a LG screen with ty viewing angles (e.g. the spotlight effect), as reported in this thread. I can live with this, but obviously I'd prefer to have the AUO panel. Has anyone replaced the panel themselves? Is it a simple, idiot-proof process? Or should I buy an on-site warranty just for this?

 

Thanks! I can live with 12GB total RAM and SSD+HD combo, but the "AUO/LG screen lottery" situation is such a drag!

 

AUO is still backordered:

We previously sent you an email regarding the delay of a replacement part recently ordered on your behalf. We are writing again to update you that the order is still delayed. However, we are continuing to do everything possible to fill your order. The issue has been escalated to our dedicated resolution team who is working to expedite the part shipment and your order is being upgraded to the highest priority.

Again, we apologize for this inconvenience. Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this delay.

 

1. Mine is excellent
2. It isn't easy but doable if you are careful.
3. 12gb MAX.
4. Yes, though I used a 7mm SSD.
5. Yes

 

Just got my T440S non-touch screen version. I cancelled because of the long wait and Lenovo shipped right after my cancellation.

First impression, the building quality looks good and quite light. Unfortunately I got the LG screen (non-touch) and I hate the yellowish screen. I even prefer my T400 and X201 screen. Does any one know a way of calibration or I should just ask for replacement of AUO display.

Any suggestions really appreciated.


Also what is the number to request for panel replacement?

 

The only appropriate way to calibrate your screen is by using a hardware calibration tool like x-rite i1 display pro. Although I am returning my unit, I took the time to calibrate it and I got a very good average deltaE of 1.12. My AUO panel had a very slight yellow cast too that was completely removed after the calibration process.

 

Try to get an AUO Panel. LG-Display seems to be crappy in most of our cases reportedhere. You''ll find FRU just a few sites back in this thread.

 

Just thought I would throw my weight on the screen discussion.

I received my T440s a few days ago and was extremely disappointed with the FHD screen (LG model). Spot lighting is very obvious, viewing angles are comparable to a TN panel. Screen is almost unreadable at any other angle than direct. Considering I spent almost $2k with taxes on this machine I was expecting MBp level of quality, I couldn't have been more wrong with that thought.

So began my escapades with the tech support people. After hours of explaining, and referencing several of the posts on this forum, I convinced them to have the LG screen replaced with a screen with the FRU# 04X0436. I called back 3 times to confirm that it would be replaced with that FRU number and nothing else. I did not ask about stock but he did say it would take 7-10 business days. I sent it out yesterday and hopefully will have it returned by the following week.

Any suggestions - If I were to refund the laptop, what would I get as a replacement? What laptop as the identical specs and looks good?

When I get it back I will post a video with the new screen, if it is better.

 

I am currently going through the same thing. My t440s arrived at the repair depot yesterday and a tech called and left a message that said he could not see anything wrong with the panel. I suspect that Lenovo is in panic mode with so many returns, and now denying that there is a problem. In the original support ticket I mentioned the 3 problems I was having Including the spotlight effect, blacklight bleed and the sparkly unclear screen effect, and that viewing the screen was giving me headaches. I called back, but the techs were gone for the weekend, so I left instructions with a call center person on how to replicate the spotlight issue and further explained the other issues. Three different times I gave the AUO FRU # and mentioned that it did not have any of the above issues. If they will not fix it I am going to return it as this is an incredible amount of money to pay for such an inferior product, take the 15% restocking hit if that is the case, and never buy or recommend a Lenovo product ever again.

 

I went with Latitude E7440 over T440s (worked with both side by side) and haven't regretted it. They are similar in size and weight but Latitude comes standard with 3-yr warranty and it has 2 fully user-upgradable ram slots for maximum of 16GB ram, an available 2.5" internal bay for extra drives plus a fully functional track pad with discrete right and left click buttons. The only down side is a bit of flex in the keyboard, but the keyboard itself is very good to type for an ultrabook (and I type a lot). Incidentally, my E7440 also came with LG panel (LGD03EA, 140WF1), but it has none of the issues described here. Check out dell business outlet and using the 25-30% coupons they frequently offer, you can get a great value (I got mine with i7-7600u v-pro, 1x8GB ram, 512GB mSATA SSD, FHD non--touch display, dual band intel 7260ac 2x2 for just a bit above $800 while I think the SSD alone costs above $400). The other good think about outlet deals is that they ship right away if you are in hurry.

 

I didn't turn up the speakers until today. They and the Dolby tuning are spectacular.

 

Yeah, it made me hate the speakers of my X201

However, I tend to disable Dolby when using headphones because it sounds worse.

 

can someone please post a video/photo comparison between AUO and LG display?
I have the LG display, not sure how to check for screen bleed, but it does seem to be glowing at the left bottom of the screen
also is the upgrade to AUO for free if I request it?

 

Does anyone know whether the new X1 Carbon (2560 x 1440) display can be put to T440s?

 

Could be possible. Connectors are likely to be the same, both use eDP. However, I don´t know if the UEFI BIOS will be problematic.

 

Thanks a lot for your information. I am not that high tech and I guess that is the way it is with the LG panel. According to DocFire's suggestion, it seems AUO panel will be the best bet. I called the service and they would agree for refund but not replacement of AUO panel. I am not sure that I should spend my time on calling tech support and waiting for the replacement. I do not really feel that the T440s is superior to my old T400 with 1400x900 display, which is brighter and crispier / . So I will return this for a refund. It's really a bummer because T440s seems to be a very good machine to me and I would really like to keep it, but every time when I looked at the blurry screen I think I will hate to keep it.

This brings up the same question as moxxfusion, any suggestion for a replacement laptop?

 

Hello guys,

I'm having a problem to install windows 7 pro on my Lenovo t440s ( that came with windows 8 ) using a memory stick.
I went to the windows 7 installation menu and formatted the Windows 8 partition, so now I have :

Disk 0 Partition 1: WINRE_DRV 1GB OEM
Disk 0 Partition 2 : System_DRV 260MB System
Disk 0 Partition 3 128MB MSR
Disk 0 Unnallocated Space 225GB ( it was the old windows 8 partition )
Disk 0 Partition 4: Lenovo_Recory 12.1GB OEM

However, when i try to use the free space to install the windows 7 i get this error :
" Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partitions style. "

I tried to bot using Legacy Boot Only and after using UEFI/Legacy Boot and nothing changed, I'm still receiving the same error.
I read that I have to select each of the partitions on the drive, and select Delete. Then the drive will show a single area of unallocated space that I should use to install windows.

My question is, there is any problem in delete all my partitions of Lenovo T440s? Can I delete the OEM partitions?
What will happen after?

Thank you for the attention.

 

With all these LG displays shipping, has anyone received a T440s with the AUO panel in it recently?

 

I intend to buy the T440s in the States and have it shipped to Singapore (We do not have FHD in our country).

1) Will I be getting the LG or AUO display?
2) Is it easy to upgrade ram? If yes, I will ship with base 4GB to save on Insurance and Taxes at customs.

 

It seems like most of the recent units have been the LG since the AUO might be in short supply. Mine has the LG, and I'm definitely looking to have it replaced. If I were ordering now, I'd wait until I'm sure the AUOs are back in stock. The LG is truly bad.

Ram upgrade is not too difficult. Removing the base is a little scary at the beginning because you have to apply enough force to pry the cover off. I was able to do it without damaging anything, but it took a good 20 minutes. What I discovered is that you don't need to actually find the exact spot of the "teeth" to pry up. Just start from the back of the base at the battery where there's a gap, and stick the pry tool in far enough and the next tooth in the cover will pop out by itself. Continue around the entire perimeter and the whole thing will come free. I used a plastic pry tool and would highly recommend using one in order not to damage the finish.

 

Though I have been watching this forum from a long time, but this is my first post to the forum. I received my T440s with an AUO Panel and i received my unit on Dec 24.

 

where did you order from?
I called Lenovo and they said T440s never had AUO panel

 

I noticed the "Esc" key on my keyboard is higher compare to the rest of keys, and "B" key is lower
anyone else having this issue ?

 

That would be a serious case of bait and switch. I'm sure all the review units they sent out had the AUO panels. I wouldn't mind them switching suppliers if it's of comparable quality, but the LG panel is just atrocious. LG makes good panels too, but Lenovo is not using one of those in the T440s.

 

anyone?

 

Hi!
You could try the following:
Use GParted as a Live System. Format the unlocated space to NTFS and start the Windows installation process again. Maybe this could fix the problem.
Btw: Why you don't want to format the whole disk? Is there any reason to keep the OEM or recovery partition?


Cheerio!

 

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk is of the GPT partitions style." means that your current disk layout uses GPT partitioning instead of MBR partitioning. Unlike Linux, Windows can only boot in Legacy/BIOS mode on MBR and only in UEFI mode on GPT disks. So you will have to either boot from your USB drive in UEFI mode or completely wipe the drive and repartition it using MBR partitioning instead of GPT. If I were you I'd use UEFI and GPT but still wipe the whole drive.