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    T440s Owner´s Thread

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by ibmthink, Oct 18, 2013.

  1. seinundzeit

    seinundzeit Newbie

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    I received mine two days ago. I was underwhelmed. It looks nice but it felt fragile. I was surprised by how light it feels. Granted, the T440s is supposed to be a thin and light machine. Still, I expected something a bit more rugged given the ThinkPad brand (note that I am coming from a T420 – both home and work - plus a couple of previously used ThinkPads e.g. T60, x200 tablet, x61 tablet, T400, T42, x220).

    The screen is gorgeous but I would be sacrificing a lot for the visuals. I am going to wait to see how the reviews for the T440p turn up. I think that this one would be a better fit for me.

    By the way, my T440s also has the backlight bleeding that some have reported. I don’t know how widespread it is but don’t be surprised if you find it in your machine.
     
  2. arltep

    arltep Notebook Consultant

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    If I install an X GB SSD, how much space should I expect to have left after installing Windows 8 and all the corresponding stuff? Is Intel Rapid Start even necessary?

    I'm considering whether to get a 250 GB or 500 GB EVO, I have around ~150 GB of stuff currently, although I'm not entirely sure.
     
  3. choder

    choder Notebook Consultant

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    Also got my shipping notification. Hopefully by next Friday I'll have it in-hand.
     
  4. Thors.Hammer

    Thors.Hammer Notebook Enthusiast

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    What screen do you have and what do you mean?
     
  5. iofthestorm

    iofthestorm Notebook Evangelist

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    I think he's saying that the screen is great but the other aspects are a drawback.

    Oh, and I'm pretty sure all IPS screens have some backlight bleed, it's the kind of thing you notice only when you're looking for it IMO. The monitor I have (Dell Ultrasharp) has some bleed around the edges but it's never an issue for me (though I don't really watch movies on it, but even if I did I don't think I'd mind - I'm not the picky type though).
     
  6. zendokan

    zendokan Notebook Enthusiast

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    I found a shop where I can order the T440s with 500GB 7200U SATA + 16GB M.2 SSD ( Single-Sided M.2 SSD ). So far I have no experience with SSD's. I was about buying a new Notebook with a 180 or 256 GB SSD, but this M.2 SSD is new to me. Are a M.2 SSD and a SATA 3 SSD comparable in performance. And can you install Windows 8 on the T440s on 16GB M.2 SSD? Or is Windows nowadays so intelligent than you can install it on two partitions.

    System requirements - Microsoft Windows

    Here it states 20 GB necessary for 64-Bit, so I assume naively fast hibernation, stand-by, wake up, boot will not work with a 16GB M.2 SSD? The shop offers also to built in 180 GB SSD or 80GB M.2 SSD Mini-PCIe Intel and keep the 500 GB HDD. Same price for upgrade, so if M.2 is comparable to SATA Interface I would prefer first option. Any suggestions?
     
  7. seinundzeit

    seinundzeit Newbie

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    Yes. I meant the FHD IPS.

    It is a great screen but as I mentioned the machine was not what I expected. Hopefully the T440p turns out better for me.

    By the way, I would still recommend the T440s to anyone looking for a solid thin and light machine. I think Lenovo did a good job on this one despite my personal misgivings.
     
  8. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    Got two T440s's at work today, one for myself.

    i7, FHD screen (non-touch) etc. Upgraded myself to 12GB RAM and 1TB Samsung SSD's.

    Positives are the screen looks great - among the best I've seen on a Windows laptop. Touchpad is great, again, among the best I've used on Windows - scrolling is incredibly smooth. Well done. On the other hand, the integrated buttons for the Trackpoint take some getting used to. I don't think I'll ever give the Trackpoint up completely, but with this trackpad, it will be a lot easier. Build quality seems excellent. Got the high end docks. Bummed we had to buy new docks, bummed to see the change in power brick compatibility, glad to see how small the new power brick is.

    Negatives. Both screens have issues. One has a vertical line down the side. The other had a bright white splotch in one corner. It took over an hour on the phone with Lenovo to get me setup for service - we have 5 year onsite plans but the computers are so new that nothing was registering in their system. Not impressed at being shipped computers with visual defects and having to wait on hold while they figure out their paperwork. Also not thrilled about having the computers cracked open brand new. When upgrading the RAM and SSD I cracked part of one of the back sections, despite following Lenovo's own instructions, so they'll be replacing that too.

    Hard to say what the battery life will actually be at this point. As usual, Windows estimates are all over the map. I'm concerned that it may not get a whole lot past 4 hours with the 6 cell batteries. I hope it's better than that...
     
  9. phamhlam

    phamhlam Notebook Evangelist

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    Most IPS display have backlight bleed. Even my two ASUS IPS desktop monitor have backlight bleed. It is only noticeable on dark scene and is limited to just the edge of the screen.
     
  10. seinundzeit

    seinundzeit Newbie

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    I know that. I am referring to the problematic type of backlight bleed.
     
  11. drwils01

    drwils01 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've delayed ordering a t440s to see what (if any) sales on it happen on black friday/cyber monday and I just noticed that the base system (non-touch, non-ssd) I was planning to buy with some upgrades increased over $600 in price from ~$1200 original to $1870 now. does anyone have an explanation for this?

    I'm referring to the US site
    ThinkPad T440s Ultrabook Laptop | Lenovo | Lenovo (US)
     
  12. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, that is really hard to fathom. It looks like they re-jiggered the lineups to weed out the ultra-low cost items. We are fairly free with our budgets for laptops, but these prices would have made us really re-think this model too. Lenovo has to realize they are ultimately competing with the 13" rMBP which is pretty darn appealing at $1199.

    Someone else said maybe they are doing it with the intention of lowering prices for Black Friday. That'd be pretty low too. All in all not a great time to buy these unless you happen to really want the specs they are offering unfortunately!
     
  13. pipspeak

    pipspeak Notebook Deity

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    I would not be surprised if it's a mistake on their website, which always seems to be somewhat messed up. Has anyone tried calling a sales rep to see if the lower price is still available?
     
  14. phamhlam

    phamhlam Notebook Evangelist

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    The cheapest rMBP cost $1400. Anyways, the T440s price are crazy now. I am glad I got mine for $1140 with a FHD screen.
     
  15. arltep

    arltep Notebook Consultant

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    Actually, the educational discount gives me a 8gb RAM 256gb SSD rMBP for $1400. Even though self-upgrading the T440s brings it to the same price, I still went with the T440s since I'm too adverse to using the Mac OS. Dual-booting Windows just doesn't cut it for me.
     
  16. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    I'll split it with ya at $1300. ;)

    Configure - Apple Store (U.S.)
     
  17. jbordon

    jbordon Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've been using Samsung 840 PRO 256GB and so far I haven't got any issues. I have the machine since Wednesday and used it everyday for at least 4-5hours, I don't know if that qualifys for several days, but so far no problems.

    Edit: No problems with the drive! I still can't get audio to work and I have a white splotch on the screen so I'll be returning the laptop for warranty replacement tomorrow. -_-
     
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  18. iofthestorm

    iofthestorm Notebook Evangelist

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    Those of you who replaced the internal drive with an SSD, how did you install Windows on the SSD?
     
  19. jbordon

    jbordon Notebook Enthusiast

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    Had to turn on Legacy support, so I could do it via USB.

    Edit: Not sure if I _had_ to do that, but it wouldn't boot from USB if I didn't do it.
     
  20. PatchySan

    PatchySan Om Noms Kit Kat

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    For those based in the UK and are planning to buy a ThinkPad from the Lenovo UK site in a few days the following 10% coupon code can help - CJNOV10UK. The code is not mentioned anywhere on the site so I thought it may help some people out there, still not great compared to US prices but better than nothing I suppose!
     
  21. iofthestorm

    iofthestorm Notebook Evangelist

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    Where did you get Windows on USB? Is there a legit way to get it if you have an OEM license? When I built my desktop I had a hell of a time trying to install Windows 8 on USB so I ended up having to put in the DVD drive from my old machine.
     
  22. PatchySan

    PatchySan Om Noms Kit Kat

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    There should be a feature on the preloaded OS that allows you to create Recovery Media on to your USB Flash Drive, refer to this page for more info.
     
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  23. iofthestorm

    iofthestorm Notebook Evangelist

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    Hmm... so do you still have it in Legacy mode? My understanding was that if you install in BIOS mode then you'll have to boot in BIOS mode forever, which is kind of unfortunate since UEFI is supposed to speed up the boot a bit (probably mitigated by the fact that you're moving from HDD to SSD but still would be nice to take every advantage you can). It's quite possible that the recovery disk can't be booted in UEFI mode, though I have no idea what actually is needed to boot in UEFI. When I installed Ubuntu in UEFI mode from USB it just worked (minus the usual power struggle between Linux and Windows on who gets to be the main bootloader, which was more annoying because I think I messed up the UEFI setup once and had to recover GRUB which was a huge pain).
     
  24. jbordon

    jbordon Notebook Enthusiast

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    You can also download a Retail version (not preactivated, without keygen,...) of windows via torrent, just make sure it's legit. You can use Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool (you can find it on google), plug in your USB, select the image you downloaded at that's it, you have a bootable USB. =]

    You don't need to enter Win8 serial, since it's in your BIOS and installation detects it.
     
  25. jbordon

    jbordon Notebook Enthusiast

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    I still have it in Legacy mode. I'm not sure what are the ups or downs of it. I simply couldn't boot from either USB or SSD if it was set to UEFI.

    Edit: I doubt anyone would notice the difference: http://superuser.com/questions/496026/what-is-the-difference-in-boot-with-bios-and-boot-with-uefi
     
  26. Daymon909

    Daymon909 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sorry if it's been asked before but will a 9.5mm ssd fit or does it have to be a 7mm one? The user guide states both sizes without much explanation except that it depends on the model..
     
  27. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    I created the recovery media, but ultimately just cloned the factory drive with Acronis True Image.
     
  28. iofthestorm

    iofthestorm Notebook Evangelist

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    Ah right, one of the really minor things I prefer is that Windows can't boot from a GPT disk except in UEFI mode, which is mildly nice because it means no stupid 4 partition limit and dealing with extended partition nonsense. Overall not a big deal I agree but it would be preferable to be working with modern stuff. I'll probably mess around with it next weekend then, sadly the day I get my T440s I have a midterm and a large homework due the next day.
     
  29. bdoviack

    bdoviack Notebook Consultant

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    Have had my T440s for a few days now. Overall a great machine. Slight light leakage visible on the bottom only upon bootup while on the black screen. Not worth returning as you never know what you'll get on the next unit. My only complaint is the TrackPoint is not as good as previous ThinkPads. It's quite noisy and more spread out making more of a reach to click the right buttons.

    For those of you that have had the T440s for a little while, do you ever get used to the TrackPoint? Hard to readjust after years of muscle memory from previous ThinkPads?
     
  30. ibmthink

    ibmthink Notebookcheck Deity

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    Thats correct. Its because the middle button is now a bit wider than before. The trick is: You don´t have to click on the right red stripe, you can also click below the middle button, which is much easier to reach.
    Right-click-trick.PNG
    I have market it on this screenshot.

    I think it depends on the person. One may get used to it quickly, another may struggel to get used to the new design.

    I got used to it really quickly, and now have difficultys to go back to the old design (as the old dedicated buttons seem now so small to me). The only thing a bit "strange" is the clicking noise, I hope they will change that in future generations.
     
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  31. bdoviack

    bdoviack Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the info Ibmthink.

    I tried to open your attachment but it's asking me to log in but I'm already logged in (as you have to be to post replies). Are you sure the article link is correct?

    Thanks
     
  32. ibmthink

    ibmthink Notebookcheck Deity

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  33. zendokan

    zendokan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Can someone explain, how it works or what constraints one faces, if you want to install windows and linux in dual boot and truecrypt encryption when ordering with 500 GB HDD and 16 GB M.2 SSD Cache. Can you simply install linux on the HDD without disturbing Win OS or even setup Linux to also use this SSD also as Cache?
     
  34. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    A few more thoughts after the weekend with the T440s.

    Still love the touchpad. Screen looks as good as ever. Battery life seems to be settling in and 5-6 hours seems reasonable. I wish it were another hour or two, but I don't want to carry the larger battery around.

    Keyboard backlight is a disappointment overall. At the distance I sit from the keyboard the lights are right in my eyes most of the time so all I see is glare not backlit keys. Also the fact that it turns off on it's own so easy and there is no tie to ambient light. It's only a 1/2 step forward from the overhead light, whereas Apple's take really 'just works' and the user never has to think about it. This should be better.

    I got my 30-day sleep mode to work by changing the partition ID in DiskPart thanks to some great advice I found on the official Lenovo forums. My take, and someone help me out here if I'm wrong - is that these accessory drives are meant to act as the partition for the 30-day sleep or as the Express Cache for a platter drive. If you order a platter drive and only one M.2, you'll get the Express Cache loaded but no 30-day Sleep. If you order two 16GB drives, you'd get both. If you order with a SSD, and one 16GB you'll get the 30-day sleep. If you ordered both 16GB's you'd again get both, but this isn't really necessary in this config.

    If the above is correct, then what happened is that we ordered a platter drive and 1 16GB and then swapped them out ourselves for a SSD. So to swap the function of the 16GB we have to change the ID of the drive in Diskpart and also enable Hybrid Sleep in the Windows Power Plan.

    I wasn't clear what the function of these drives was when I was ordering, so it'd be great for future orders to know that I have this right.
     
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  35. tokkun

    tokkun Notebook Enthusiast

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    Is the 30-day sleep function anything more complex than just hibernation?
     
  36. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah I'm not sure, now that you mention it, that this hybrid sleep provides any benefit, again, if you are on a SSD, since you are writing to solid state either way. It does feel faster than coming out of hibernate on my older Window 7 machine on a SSD, but that could just be because of older hardware.

    If you were on a platter drive, this would give you the hibernate speed of a SSD.
     
  37. phamhlam

    phamhlam Notebook Evangelist

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    Keyboard backlight is a disappointment overall. At the distance I sit from the keyboard the lights are right in my eyes most of the time so all I see is glare not backlit keys. Also the fact that it turns off on it's own so easy and there is no tie to ambient light. It's only a 1/2 step forward from the overhead light, whereas Apple's take really 'just works' and the user never has to think about it. This should be better.

    [/QUOTE]

    The problem is that the keys on the ThinkPad are really elevated causing a lot of backlight to leak out from the side. The backlight works best when you are typing in a proper position which means are keyboard is at elbow level. Otherwise, your keyboard is just too high.
     
  38. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    Of course I left out the big consideration here which is that, even if you are on a SSD as your primary drive, the Hybrid Sleep allows you to save the 12GB or so needed to accommodate this on your primary drive. This is a large space savings when many people will have SSD's of 256GB or less.

    The problem is that the keys on the ThinkPad are really elevated causing a lot of backlight to leak out from the side. The backlight works best when you are typing in a proper position which means are keyboard is at elbow level. Otherwise, your keyboard is just too high.[/QUOTE]

    Yeah I agree. However even at proper height, I often sit back far enough from the keyboard that this is still an issue.
     
  39. ibmquality

    ibmquality Notebook Evangelist

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    Can Any T440s or T440 users tell me what is the size of the Lenovo recovery partition?
     
  40. phamhlam

    phamhlam Notebook Evangelist

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    0 if you delete it and put it on a USB but it does take up 1350MB + a 260MB EFI System Partition. I have a 256GB Samsung SSD and my capacity is 231.19GB so the partition is only a small space and I don't store movies on my SSD because it is kind of stupid in a day where we have TB of external storage and Netflix.
     
  41. ibmquality

    ibmquality Notebook Evangelist

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    ??? Sorry what is the answer in gigs, of the recovery partition???
     
  42. norserafa

    norserafa Newbie

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    How hard is it to do that? I've never tried backup up a recovery partition before
     
  43. stevod

    stevod Notebook Evangelist

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    Has anyone put a Samsung 840 EVO in yet?

    S
     
  44. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    I have two T440s's with 840 EVO 1TB drives in them.
     
  45. ibmquality

    ibmquality Notebook Evangelist

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    Good to know. Someone else said some Samsung 840 drives were not working. That uncertainty had me/has me thinking or reordering the T440s with the now 256 SSD on Black Friday. My current one is not expected to come until December 9th.
     
  46. ibmquality

    ibmquality Notebook Evangelist

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    So I made reorder my T440s non touch FHD with the now standard 256 ssd since my original model is unavailable/more expensive I can't get a price match policy on Black Friday as I had literally planned. I did not wait for Black Friday as I wanted the laptop before Thanksgiving. I'll explain.

    1. So I ordered the T440s with FHD i5-4300 and A/c wireless, spinning 500GB, and accidental protection with the 15% off B&N with 7.5% tax costs $1606.37 That is expected to ship December 2nd.

    However, my goal/plan was to wait for black Friday when I assume B&N would be 20% and save about 85 dollars off. and use that money saved to get an 256 Samsung Evo SSD for about $175-180.

    2. New order: Same as first laptop with standard 256GB hard drive but assuming B&N will be 20% next week for Black Friday. Total will $1767.30

    The difference between the two prices is about $161. So I am getting a 256GB on for $161 which is the essentially the same price online, I dont have to download and install Windows 7 (time saved), it is covered under warranty, and don't have to take off the cover...sort of I will install 8Gb memory. While I am not thrilled that I can't get the price match on my current model coming in due to the change in models on Lenovo, overall I am spending the same and or slightly less assuming 20% Black Friday.

    What do you guys think?

    WHat I may order. The same laptop with the 256 SSD instead of the Gand $5 for the extended battery with the assumed 20% off on Black Friday will costs
     
  47. arltep

    arltep Notebook Consultant

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    First of all, I read somewhere that the SSD Lenovo uses is pretty bad, or at least inferior to the EVO. Moreover, you're not get a 500gb hard drive (for backups, etc.). Of course, you save the hassle by not having to reinstall Windows, but I can't think of any other benefit.

    You also seem to banking on the fact that the SSD config will get 5% extra off, which is a bit questionable.
     
  48. zhenya00

    zhenya00 Notebook Consultant

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    My understanding is that the potential problem was with the 840 Pro. I will certainly report if I have any issues with the EVO.
     
  49. vinuneuro

    vinuneuro Notebook Virtuoso

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    You can already get 20%. The day the model released I posted the name of the rep who was giving 20% off for a very basic model, FHD, wifi, battery upgrade. They were giving even larger discounts for more expensively configured machines.
     
  50. ibmquality

    ibmquality Notebook Evangelist

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    Not online. And that's how I order.
     
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