T440s Owner´s Thread

I thought my problems were resolved when I finally got the bad LG screen sorted out (had to replace it myself with an AUO they sent, and am glad I chose that option instead of the nightmare some others went through having their laptop sit at the depot for a month). I really love the screen now and it would be a great laptop if not for a few nagging issues:

- Creaking sound when you put any kind of pressure to the right of the trackpad. Makes it sound really cheap.

- I have now began having problems with the touchpad. It locks up frequently so I can't use the mouse anymore. I have to wait about 30sec to a minute before it functions again. The three finger middle click has disappeared completely and refuses to work anymore despite having the setting turned on. Trackpad settings get randomly reset to factory defaults. Extremely frustrating. Updating the trackpad firmware to the latest and also installing the latest January drivers have failed to fix the problem. Reading around on the lenovo forums, it appears that the trackpads have a lot of issues with people having to get them replaced. I managed to fix this issue once by doing a system restore, but now that isn't fixing it anymore either. When I tried updating to the synaptics OEM driver, the trackpad lost all its configurability options in the control panel.

- There have already been two BSODs, which is very concerning on what is supposed to be a brand new machine. One was caused by the synaptics driver, and the other was a USB 3 fatal plug n play error.

- Gives small shocks when it's plugged in to the AC adapter and I touch any grounded metal object while using it.

Unfortunately I think the best option at this point is trying to get a refund. There are lots of QA and reliability red flags here and I have absolutely no confidence this laptop is going to last me any length of time before it quits functioning. If Lenovo won't work with me I'll have to go through my credit card dispute department, who have already told me they'll initiate the process if I give them the word.

 

Have you tried rolling back your Synaptics driver? Others have mentioned similar issues here and rolling back fixed them. I personally have stuck on whatever drivers I had when I set it up the first time, and I was one of the earliest buyers and mine is still fine (though I use Linux 90% of the time so the windows drivers are not a factor most of the time).

 

I totally wouldn't have returned it if I were you. I think you could have fixed the display issues on your own and still would have paid less than getting that config normally hahaha

 

I have a feeling it's due to the bezel because if I put a little pressure on the bezel and lightbleed moves a little.

Plus when I said the touchpad wasn't smooth, I meant the surface of it. Like literally not smooth. I have installed twofingerscroll and it's pretty good, it's just that because the surface of the touchpad itself isn't smooth enough and it creates quite a fix of friction (unlike the glass touchpads of the macs), it makes the cursor very jerky. Hence I was thinking of getting one of those smooth matte screen protectors and applying it to the trackpad.

Do you think that'll work?

 

:-(

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

The problems started happening with the original installed drivers. I was able to fix it by updating them to the December drivers, but it recently started happening again. Not sure if going back to those drivers will do anything since the issues were happening with those too. It seems to be some kind of hardware issue given how it stops responding. I don't have linux on there yet so I can't test if it's drivers for sure or not.

 

Brand new T440S - barely used a week.

When press power on button the light turns green and the keyboard lights up. I can hear the computer starting up. But the screen stays black and never boots. After about 20-30 seconds the green light on the power turns off, computer stops making noises and is back to off.

I have tried pressing F1, F8 and F12 after the power button to try and get to a BIOS menu or anything but the black screen. Nothing seems to work.

This did start after doing the standard updates suggested by Lenovo Update.

 

when did you order and what was your ship date?

 

Ordered on 1/16/14 and it shipped on 1/24/14.

 

Here are my machine specs:

Processor
4th Gen Intel Core i5-4300U Processor (3MB Cache, up to 2.90GHz)
Operating System Windows 7 Professional 64
Operating System Language Windows 7 Professional 64 English
Display T440s 14.0 FHD WWAN
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4400
Memory 8G 4G Base + 4G (1 SoDIMM)
Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - US English
Fingerprint Reader Fingerprint Reader
Camera 720p HD Camera
Hard drive 256 GB Solid State Drive, Serial ATA3 eDrive Capable
System Expansion Slots Smart Card Reader
Front Battery ThinkPad Battery 3 cell Li-Polymer (23.2Whr)
Rear Battery ThinkPad Battery 3 cell Li-Polymer (23.2Whr)
Power Cord 45W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Wireless Intel Dual Band Wireless 7260AC with Bluetooth 4.0
Integrated Mobile Broadband Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Language Pack Publication - US English
System warranty 1 Year Depot or Carry-in

 

I got this from the Lenovo Outlet for $1224 in new condition!!

 

Just saw the display.. hmm

 

display can be changed i guess! dont regret LOL go buy your AUo screen and be happy with it.

What's the diff with the outlet btw? Are they refurbished?

 

The one I got is new. You can get refurbished one as well and they Oth have an upgradable one year warranty.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

They are most likely to be new; probably returned by some early adopters. The only issue I have with these is their warranty period. 1 year is short when compared to the ones you get from retail outlet.

 

Just received my order for the FHD Touch version from Jan 21st, shipped to Toronto. Some quick impressions:

Screen: As expected, its the AUO and it looks great. Does seem semi-glossy though, wouldn't call it matte. The other thing that I noticed is that after using a higher res (retina ) display, text on this one definitely seems pixelated in comparison. IMO even FHD on a 13" screen looks much better.

Keyboard: I like it. Didn't have too much trouble adapting from the keyboard on my T420.

Trackpad: It is definitely very clacky. My current feeling is that I will get used to the new trackpoint buttons with some effort. It is by no means a deal-breaker.

Build quality: is superb so far. Feels very sturdy. Definitely a step up over the T420. I think Lenovo has made all the right changes here. The new look is very nice.

So, I'm mostly happy. Will update after putting in a new SSD, upgrading RAM and installing Linux. The only issue is that the screen res is still not high enough for a 14". I would prefer a higher res which I can then use with scaling. This might end up being the reason that I return this. Maybe playing around with text anti-aliasing settings will fix this.

 

Congrats!

Yeah mine is super sturdy too

happy about mine, just that the trackpad surface is not as smooth as what the mac's are like, i feel it has generates too much friction, what do you think?

other than that, its great!

 

The most recent T440s I got matches what you are experiencing. The trackpad is silent when you click it, but the surface feels more rubbery with more friction. The earlier units had a noisy trackpad when you clicked, but the surface was glass smooth, even better than Mac's. Can't win with Lenovo's quality, depends on whether you prefer trackpint or trackpad.

 

The AUO screen arrived today and I just did the swap. The spotlight effect is gone! Yay!

I turned it on before putting the plastic bezel back on. I noticed that pressing on the right or bottom edge of the display caused severe backlight bleeding. I kept it on while putting it back together and made sure everything was in place and nothing was deforming the panel. As a result I have no leaks.

Now, what do I do with the LG screen? If I knew I would've bought the HD+ version. But all in all I'm very happy.

Here's where I bought the screen:
Brand new A+ B140HAN01.1 B140HAN01.2 LCD Screen 1920*1080 IPS LCD Screen -in Laptop LCD Screen from Electronics on Aliexpress.com
They have both .1 (glossy) and .2 (matte) versions, you have to tell them which one you want.
They have a zero dead pixel guarantee and mine indeed has none.
Shipment with DHL Express from Hong Kong to Germany took 3 days.

Interestingly, the sticker on the back seems to cover another one, with a Lenovo FRU:
http://s3.postimg.org/p56oo4af7/IMG_2313.jpg

The screen's Hardware ID in device manager is LEN40A3 which also indicates that it's Lenovo branded. The model number in EDID is of course B140HAN01.2.

 

Nice, was it difficult to replace the screen?
Did you have to pay import taxes with DHL?
It seems like a good plan, when you order a new laptop, to go for the HD+, and get a AUO screen yourself. Is it the same connector for HD+ and FHD?

 

Not difficult at all. You just have to be careful when removing the sticker bezel. Try not to bend it or touch the adhesive too much. The sticker is glued using strips of a very thin double-sided adhesive tape. On top and bottom, the tape is between the sticker and the plastic bezel, so no matter if it stays on the plastic or the sticker, it will be there when you put it back together. On the sides it may stay glued to the screen -- I had two strips like that on the right. You can't really transfer the tape to the new screen because it's so thin and rips. I applied my own tape there just to be sure it holds. After removing the sticker, the rest is easy. Unscrew 4 screws, remove the plastic bezel (pull it outwards to release the latches), lift the screen and lay it on the keyboard, disconnect the cable, remove the screen, install the new one and put it all back in reverse order.

I was expecting to have to pay taxes and customs but I didn't have to. Customs cleared it and I didn't have to give the courier any money.

As for the connector, the T440s parts list PDF lists just one cable for the non-touch version so they must be the same.

 

Mark_Lenovo in the Lenovo forums asks about the LG display quality. Maybe some of the LG display owners could post their impressions there: Re: T440s - LG or AUO Display - Page 3 - Lenovo Community

 

Some more mixed impressions:

Screen: Text looks a lot better in linux. Great colors. I prefer a warmer screen and this fits the bill perfectly.

Keyboard: The down key only works 50% of the time Looks like the on-site warranty will come in handy. Might request a replacement for the trackpad as well. It shouldn't clack when tapping.

Heat/temps: Handles my modest gaming needs much better than the T420. Where the T420 would go up to 95C within 5 mins of most games, this is barely hitting 60-65C (in Linux).

Upgradeability: As others have stated, taking the base cover off is a pain. I can see some minor scuffs along the edges from using a spudger to remove the base.

Misc: Why is there a spot for the fingerprint reader when I didn't order one? I would've thought there would be a different frame for the non-fingerprint version.

You're right, its somewhat rough. The mac trackpad is definitely easier to use.

 

Anyone else have issues once updating the fingerprint drivers the reader no longer works or is recognized?

 

My fingerprint reader is currently working well...the fingerprint reader at times has been glitchy. I recently went into Lenovo Thinkvantage tools and chose to update my drives and software. There is a fingerprint software update that will come up in one of the three categories. I updated using that software and my fingerprint reader is now working nicely as mentioned. I hope this helps you out.

 

Alright, I've officially jumped on the T440s bandwagon! Purchased on the Lenovo Barnes & Noble Gold website for $1039.20 pre-tax:

Intel i5-4200U
FHD Touchscreen
4GB RAM
500GB 7200RPM HDD
Fingerprint Reader
3-cell Internal/3-cell External Batteries
Intel WiFi 7260AC

Didn't originally want the touchscreen, but funnily enough, it ended up being $30 cheaper than the equivalent non-touch configuration.

I expect to replace the HDD with an SSD, and add a 4GB memory stick. What SSDs are you guys installing? I've heard there have been problems with the Samsung 840 Pro in the latest Thinkpads.

 

Huh, that's weird that they'd change the track pad. Yeah, mine is one of the early ones and mine is silky smooth, I haven't seen a Windows laptop with this good of a trackpad. The clicking sound doesn't bother me at all, I don't even notice it. And I do use the trackpoint 95% of the time.

 

I ordered a touch model without the m2 ssd. I would like to know if the m2 slot will still be there for me to install my own m2 ssd.

 

Yes but you'll only get 2 slots so you won't be able to fit a WWAN card too

 

Hi all..
Just got my T440s with 2 external batteries (3 and 6 cells) and the the 3 cell shows almost 11% battery wear (according to battery care) also, when compared to the 6 cell, I only get 40% of the battery life I'm getting with the 6 cell ( by my math I should get 66%)
Is this something that's usually cover by warranty?

 

I think by math you should get 50 % of the battery runtime with the 3 cell + 3 cell configuration compared with the 6 cell + 3 cell configuration, because the cells of the 6 cell have a bigger capacity - 3 cell + 3 cell = 47 Wh of battery capacity, 6 cell + 3 cell = 95 Wh of battery capacity.

I don´t think a battery with 11% will be considered defect. Maybe if it would be 50 % or 33 % wear, of if it would now wear very fast.

 

Is there any point to using charging thresholds with the T440s? What does Lenovo recommend?

 

Got the same problem. Any solutions for that so far? Thanks!

 

I think I'm going to order one of those and just be done with it. My original screen was an AUO, but Lenovo has been completely unable to get me a replacement one - they first sent me a Touch screen for my non-touch model, and just now sent me an LG as they told me the AUO was on back-order for 2 months. I ended up putting in the LG but it's not as good. For $80 I'd just as soon pay out of pocket and have the good screen without having to involve Lenovo any further...

 

Hello everyone,

I've been using my new T440s for a week now, and I have to say that it is truly a magnificent laptop that far exceeds my expectations and beyond. As a previous owner of older generation Thinkpads, I was worried about purchasing the new Thinkpad incarnation, but thus far this, without a doubt, is my favorite Thinkpad despite the changes in the trackpad, keyboard, and other iconic Thinkpad characteristics, all of which I found I honestly dont miss at all.

I'm writing to relay my purchase story to potential buyers that I hope will prove fruitful: before ordering my system, I carefully read all the complaints on this forum concerning fan noise, LG vs, AUO screen, specific SSD model request, creaking sounds emanating from the hollow space between the trackpad and flash drive. During the point of purchase, I spoke to a sales rep via e-chat and specifically voiced these concerns. I made it very clear that my system must meet all of my requirements, i.e, the ones above and the construction be top-notch, or I'll return it immediately. The rep said she understood my concerns and told me to place the order after which she would manage my order according to my requests. After the order was finalized, she let me know that she would get in contact with her superiors and the manufacturer to design my new laptop as needed.

Well, she vanished for a week at which point I unapologetically heckled her until I could reach her. I was angry and under the impression that she offered me false promises so that she could close the sale. When I finally did get into contact with her she told me that she wasn't able to promise how the laptop would be manufactured.

Ok, so at this point I'm pretty bummed out and envisioned myself to certainly be one of the unlucky ones to receive a sub-par system. Whether by luck, my early persistence with the sales rep, or a combination of the two, my laptop came configured with all that I requested. Thank the heavens, everything worked out.

I read somewhere that Lenovo began to deliver fixed versions of the T440s after early consumer complaints. Perhaps mine was part of this. In any case, to potential buyers I advise you speak to a sales rep as I did and be adamant about your concerns. At the very best, you'll get the superb system that you deserve; at the very least, you can return a defective one without a restocking fee.

P.S--AUO screen is awesome. Suffers none of the defects communicated in the forum.

 

I think the general consensus is that sales reps are not able to do anything at all to influence how your system is built. Talking to them is mostly useless. Also, I believe Lenovo currently does not have restocking fees on custom built systems, so you can return it without restocking fees anyway.

Other than that, I echo your sentiments exactly. This has been a fantastic machine so far. Like you I had done a bit of reading before placing my order and went with the touchscreen option to get the AUO display. I can find very little to nitpick about... two keys which don't register every time, and a very very slight deviation in color across the screen (which I believe is fairly common on IPS panels, and something I'm very sensitive to so I usually see it on most panels).

Here's hoping that the build quality, screen, battery etc hold up well over time..

 

Hey guys,

Just an update, I got my T440s this morning, been playing with it ever since, and am excited to say I got the AUO display. I ordered on the 21st of January, got a ship date on the 13th of February, and a delivery date of today (2/18/14). I'm located in California. So far everything is great! Only gripe I have is that the display cannot be any brighter. Keyboard is extremely solid and the trackpad is pretty quiet. Seems Lenovo is turning things around. It's thinner than I expected and it feels bottom heavy in terms of rigid and solid feel.

Hope this helps some folks.

 

Touch or non-touch screen?

 

Non-touch.

 

Hi!

First time poster here on the forum. However I've been reading this thread. And I wanted to offer my thoughts on my newly purchased T440S. This will be my third Thinkpad that I've owned, the previous ones are a Thinkpad Yoga and a non-carbon X1. I do also have to apologize in advance, I am not a native english speaker/writer so expect grammar and spelling errors.

Spec:
Intel i7 4600U, 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
Intel 7260 AC, WWAN card, Fingerprint reader (without NFC),
FHD IPS Touch screen (I have the AUO display)
I did not buy the laptop on Lenovo's website, so this is not a custom build, it is a pre-built T440S from a retailer here in Sweden.

Overall build quality and design:
Good nothing to complain about. Feels sturdy, I do prefer a14" laptop over the 13.3" non-carbon X1 and 12.5" TPY. Reason I bought the T440S was because I wanted a Thinkpad with a IPS panel. I wanted a Thinkpad because I like their keyboards and their build quality. And the TPY was way to small, highres on a 12.5" gave me headaches. And I do also like the thin bezel on the T440S, in contrast to my older Thinkpads that have much thicker bezels.

Keyboard
Excellent! Good tactile feedbacl and deep key travel, I do most of my typing on a mechanical keyboard. In contrast to the TPY's keyboard which is way too shallow and doesn't give as good tactile feel as the T440S's keyboard. Also the like the T440S smile shapes keys better, the TPY's keys are almost flat. I don't like that they removed the LED light from the Caps Lock, but still decided to have LEDs on mute speaker and mute microphone.

Touchpad and trackpoint:
i know some of the Thinkpad aficionados really despise the new touchpad. For me, I don't really miss the discrete buttons, and the new touchpad, in my opinion is more responsive and accurate compared to my old non-carbon X1, which has discrete buttons. I do also like the materials on the new touchpad, gives more fluent cursor movement, and I was not fond of the ruggedness of the old touchpads.

A sidenote, I've decided to stick the Ultranav driver v. 17.0.12.56, since the newest driver (17.0.12.60) made the scrolling way to jumpy and sensitive, even tho I lowered the scrolling sensitivity to a minimum.

Display:
Good color accuracy, however not as good as my stationary desktop monitor, but I don't have any complaints with regards to color accuracy. Brightness is ok, not as bright as on the TPY. Here I have brightness level (Windows 8.1) set to one step below max. On the TPY I have it set on 50%. Viewing angles are good, nothing to complain about. Contrast however I wish there where more, since I use the laptop for reading and typing text/code and I want high contrast. It feels like the fonts are better rendered on the TPY than the T440S, but it might be due to the fact that the TPY has the same resolution on a smaller screen, which makes texts more crisp. Btw I do have UI scaling on 100% on all my Thinkpads. There is also small amount of backlight bleeding on the display, only visible on black/dark background.

I also have to point out that my TPY has image retention/ghosting problem, which is common among the LG 12.5 1080p IPS screens. So beware if you're planning to buy a TPY.

Fingerprint reader, WIFI and WWAN
Haven't tried out the WWAN yet, however I will test it out in the days to come. The wireless is good, haven't got any drops, I have the same Intel 7260AC on my TPY, however I've noticed that the throughput it much higher one the T440S than the TPY. When copying large files from my server I reached a throughput (Numbes displayed on Windows Taskmanager) of around 40-50 Mbs and on my TPY I've only reached 15-20 Mbps. Which is a huge difference. The only explanation I can think of is maybe the antennas are better on the T440S, but that just speculations.

The fingerprint reader is also excellent, really fast and responsive (It's a fingerprint reader!), swiping your finger lets you log in (I know right!?). On my old non-carbon X1 the fingerprint reader LEDs would start to blink for a couple of seconds before it logged you in.

And that's my initial experience and thoughts on the T440S. I do hope I contributed something to the discussion here.

However I've encountered some issues with regards to the touchpad, for some reason when I do a right-to-left three finger swipe I would expect the web browser to go to the previous page, but It actually goes forward a page and vice versa. Same thing happens in Windows Explorer, the swipe movement is reversed, and I haven't found any solution. My TPY has the same driver version but doesn't have this issue. Anyone found a fix?

 

Yeah, I called them once without results and realised that fighting them and then maybe waiting forever, getting LG again or having the install work screwed up by the technician is not worth saving $100 (or even less if I sell LG on ebay).

 

You should contact Lenovo tech support about the keys and ask for a replacement keyboard. They're usually pretty willing to send those out if you have issues.

Thanks for posting your detailed feedback, it was very helpful! I'd check in the Synaptics touchpad settings to see if there's any option to enable inverted scrolling.

 

Well, unfortunately I got an email last night from alibaba saying that my order was cancelled and in order to process it they need me to send, I kid you not, a copy of the bank statement for the credit card used and a copy of my driver's license or passport. Yeah right.

Anyone know of anywhere else these panels can be purchased?

Edit: Nevermind, looks like these are pretty widely available on Ebay and Amazon for about the same price. Order placed again.

 

Since the T440s isn't easy to service I'm not entirely comfortable with getting a keyboard and installing it myself. Even less comfortable with calling out a tech and having him muck around with it... I'll give it a couple of weeks and see if the keys loosen up over time.

Edit: Actually, looking through the HMM it seems like replacing the keyboard does not require removing the bottom cover.. it looks much easier. Thanks for the tip!

 

Step 1 in the HMM for replacing the keyboard is to remove the base cover, although from the instructions given, it's not exactly clear why its necessary. I would think unscrewing the base screws would be enough (note that the base cover screws are captive and should not be removed.)

Frankly though, if you have the appropriate tool (a nylon pry tool) and follow the HMM pointers as to where to pry and in what order, you should get the bottom cover off no problem. I've had them off several times now and the only time I did any damage was on the first one when I didn't have the right tool yet.

 

You're right.. it does require removing the base cover. Hmm.. I did have a spudger but it still scratched some parts of the casing and while most latches were easy enough, 3 of them were really tight (or maybe I was doing it at an incorrect angle or something?). So I'm quite wary of attempting that again.

 

Hmm, I googled for problems with aliexpress and saw some people complaining about exactly the same problem but my order was smooth. I would cancel my order as well if they requested all that info. If you're in US, you should probably buy on amazon or ebay instead but try to get one with no-bad-pixels guarantee. I'm in Germany so amazon.com is out and on ebay it would be over $50 for shipping alone.

 

Yup, order placed from Amazon today from a seller just a few hours from me. Hope to have the new screen soon.

The LG really isn't too bad when you aren't directly comparing it to the AUO, but it also never gives me the 'wow' that's a good screen feeling that the AUO did.

 

I did remove and reinstall the keyboard at one point and I didn't have to remove the base cover or loosen the screws to do that.

 

You don't have to remove the base cover. It takes a minute or two to replace the keyboard. I did this a couple days ago.