T440s up on Lenovo website (IPS Screen, 1080p)

Co-rrect. The W740SU thread is another one I've been monitoring up here on NB Review. Early reviews are not positive on the keyboard and mouse, as well as build quality.

 

Wow. I would definitely NOT "upgrade". I'm still using a T61 from FIVE YEARS AGO as my daily machine. If you need serious horsepower (especially for gaming at 1080p, or even better, 1440p or 4K) and have the money to spend, build up yourself a desktop PC...all you need is a screwdriver these days.

The T440s with those specs would cost at least $1200, which is the equivalent of a very high end gaming/editing/CAD/workstation setup which far more power. I wouldn't even recommend an upgrade from the T420 generation, they are still solid machines so long as you didn't buy the lowest specs.

 

The T430s is slightly heavier and more powerful than the T440s. The T440s is much more of a true ultrabook, with a long battery life and low weight. I'm not sure of the differences in CPU/GPU. The older version has a somewhat higher clockspeed, but I'm not sure exactly how much faster is it.

The touch screen issue is something I've been thinking about as well. It seems like there may be a 1080p touch screen, if you want to pay, so that would solve some of your problems. Personally, from what I've read win 8 is functional without a touchscreen, and that touch is not really necessary if its not tablet-convertible.

 

Kevin (yes that Kevin) said in an interview that the touchscreen models will have glossy gorilla glass as opposed to matte

 

For gaming, why not consider Y410p which is specifically designed for that purpose?

The major improvement of X440s is in the battery (swappable without shutting down) and the screen (IPS FHD). The touch screen is more useful when you travel a lot but don't like the touchpad.

 

I don't think it's going to be that expensive. If it will, how about the new W?

The Clevo is targeted at a very different group of people, almost the opposite. So if you're used to ThinkPads, no.

 

Seem like a Taiwanese got a sample with fhd touch. Detachable battery.

Glossy Glossy Glossy, gorilla glass or probably digitizer ?

Lenovo ThinkPad T440s 終極商務型 Ultrabook 簡單開箱 @ 傻瓜狐狸的雜碎物品 :: 痞客邦 PIXNET ::

http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=240&t=3527498&last=45899385

 

Damn, I already ordered the x230, I guess I'm just gonna have to cancel it and wait for this baby instead

 

Mac in Black

 

Damn I wish lenovo used the non-rubberized X1 carbon trackpad with dedicated trackpoint buttons on this lineup. The simplicity of the X1C trackpad/buttons or even the MBP trackpad puts all those moving parts to shame. It's like we've gone from using a simple electric motor unit in the Tesla Model S back to a V8 engine. Too many moving parts! Anyone think it's possible we'll see a transplanted frankenstein T440/s/p with the X1C trackpad?

IMO this would be a near perfect rig with the X1C trackpad layout (minus 4GB RAM, of course)...but I'll probably still give one of these trackpads a chance.

And from looks alone, I'd say the design team did a good job...its still a ThinkPad, but streamlined and efficient-looking...time will tell for the engineers though haha. T minus two weeks!

 

Wow - I wasn't expecting the new touchpad to operate like that! Or to sound like that! Hmmmmm.

S

 

Lmfao, that's the touchpad of the T431s! Nice try though.

Lenovo Unboxed: ThinkPad T431s - YouTube

 

I wonder if it will be possible to remove the palm rest and jam something under the trackpad to stop it from moving? Anyone heard of this on the T431s?

 

I didn't spot that.

But don't they have the same trackpad anyway?

 

S440 uses the exact same touchpad, so I think it's safe to assume that the T440 will be no different. A shame...

 

Keyboard on the W740SU unit is getting universally ripped over on that thread right now. Still holding to this unit or the Gigabyte P34G.

 

W740SU runs hot... 55°C (131F) surface temps...

One does not simply put a 47W quad-core into an ultrabook, and stack a GT640M equivalent on top of the die....

 

Do most of you plan on using the T440s with Win 7 or 8?

 

Win 8. Metro is a minor inconvenience easily bypassed, 8 boots faster and does file I/O faster than 7.

 

Are you saying that they're trying to pass off a T431s video as a T440s? If you watch the video in 1080p full screen, it clearly says T440s on the bezel (look in the upper right corner of the video window at 6s in, you see the lower-right corner of the display with T440s printed: ThinkPad T440s touchpad - YouTube).

Or are you just laughing because it's the same sketchy design as the T431s?

I don't know, this is one I'll really need to try out a lot. It looks and sounds cheap and rattle-y. I don't care what they say about the "benefit" of the whole pad going up and down in one motion. If it feels bad or (worse) doesn't register every click, every time, it's a problem. Reviews of the T431s say you need to click 2-3 times for it to register, and that's a bit of a deal-breaker. Release is getting close, so we'll see.

 

Look at the dislikes on the video of the T431s. You'll get my point.

 

I tried the T431s and the trackpoint and clickpad were weird. Tried it again. still weird. Went into my campus bookstore and tried it again a month later. I don't know if it is because I have told myself Lenovo is my only option or i just liked how thin and light it was but I felt the trackpad got better. I know unlike the new keyboards this will take getting used too. For trackpoint users the buttons are definitely worse, they are more spaced out and will take some getting adjusting too. But I am going to suck it up because I need a rugged computer, with a great 14 screen, that looks good, has accidental protection, and reasonably priced. No other company could do it. I hate hearing people complain about things that can' be changed. Particularly changed back. (ie. keyboard). However, this trackpoint is something that one could complain about, but for all future T440s do not ask for the "old' trackpoint back. Lenovo will never go back. This is their new standard on the T440s, the T431s and other cheaper models that have come out in the past few months.

 

Would that I could just get an FHD IPS LCD into my T430s I'd call it a day.

 

Does anyone know if we can still tap to click with the new trackpad design (and two-finger tap for context), or does it have to be an actual "click?"

BTW I'd be running Linux, tap to click works fine now.

Another question, I had the original T400 and now an X220T. They both generally lasted well, but on both rubber bumpers came off, which makes the computer wobble/trackpoint press into the screen/etc. Can anyone with a later series say if this is improved?

 

Don't know about reliability, but the design article found here ( The research and development behind Lenovo’s T440s Ultrabook – Good Gear Guide | Laptop Mart) talks about the redesign of the rubber feet:

Maybe since they're longer they'll be attached a bit better?

 

What is the new "W"?

 

I hate to say it, but I think you're spot on. There's no way they'll trade the trackpoint size for buttons. They could tweak it, by raising the top ridge a bit more to create a tactile feel for "faux buttons," adjust the spacing, tighten up the play in the pad or depth of click, etc. However, that will only happen in future years - not in these models. I really hoped they'd take the lessons from the T431s and build in some improvements for the 440 series, but I guess not.

I'll admit to being a skeptic on the island-style keyboard, but immediately discovered it has a great feel. However, I only barely tolerate the 6-row format - it's a huge step back in usability (how many times can I page up instead of arrowing up? Argh!).

I'll have to see if the clickpad where on the scale of good--tolerable--bad it is. I'd take tolerable, given the other advantages of the T440 line. Not sure if I could take bad.

 

The amount of hype concerning this laptop...

 

Honestly, the best way to describe the change is going from a Blackberry keyboard to a touch screen smartphone. If anyone has had a blackberry(I had a curve) they knew the keyboard were amazing. It was easy to send a text or essay (i wrote a few) on a physical keyboard. I could even text and drive on a blackberry keyboard because I could just feel the keys and keep my eyes on the road. However, now I have a smartphone with a touch keyboard. I cannot type as fast, consistently, or blindly. I text shorter messages and more slowly but for everything else I am satisfied. I have adjusted. Some touch keyboards are better than others but it can't quite be compared to a physical blackberry keyboard. One just has to adjust. So I am not sure if it I could ever define the new trackpoint as being good having played with the T431s. I may adjust by using a mouse at home more or figuring how to use the trackpad.

Disclaimer: If it was not clear, this opinion/analogy was given from a person who has never really used the trackpad on any laptop. I know nothing about multi-finger gestures etc. I have only used the trackpoint/nipple and buttons. When I played with the T431s integrated trackpoint I was only testing the two top trackpoint buttons. This analogy may not apply to the entire trackpad. I just can't compare.

 

I agree. Sadly, I have been a huge poster on this. I always said I would/could never ever become one of "those" posters but literally process of elimination needs has made this one my only option. I needed one yesterday.

 

Good question (to which I don't know the answer), but I certainly hope so since tap to click is currently my main way of using the trackpad on my T420

 

Of course, Tap-to-click is still possible. You don´t have to do a "full click", but it is maybe more easy to do then on former designs.

I used the clickpad of my sold T430u and I always made a full-click, because it was much more natural with the clickpad design than Tap-to-click.

 

I'm not bashing the laptop any ways, afaik it could be the best laptop of 2013. But one thing i hate about overhyped things: people heighten their expectations. This could possibly lead to dissapointment.

At least Lenovo is announcing the updated T series, unlike what they did with the Y series:

"Hey lets just roll out some new models without telling anyone!"

 

I'm in the same boat as the rest of you. I bought my first laptop when I went to college in 2004, a T42. The X220 is my fourth laptop. I've only ever used Thinkpads and I've only ever used trackpoint. However, I think regardless of what they've done to it in the 2013 models, trackpoint may not be the best way to use notebooks anymore. Having had some time with Apple products, they've impressed with how much functionality can be gotten out of the touchpad through gestures. Windows 8 and touch input to the screen is another level beyond that. There's no sense being hung up on what we're comfortable with if there may be better solutions now.

 

Some people hardly type at all, some, like writers and programmers, live by the keyboard with minimal UI interaction. I've gone with touchscreens since 1999 (Lifebook B2130), but I cannot see the screen or gestures becoming any sort of alternative to the Trackpoint for constant use for these uses, just like I cannot see speech to text replacing keyboards as has been so often promised. In fact while I still enjoy using touchscreens and there are the occasional legitimate cases where they're better, my main response is still "would you like fries with that?"

 

um... there's no page up or down on this laptop???

 

You can clearly see T440s in the right hand corner. Nice try though.

 

Look near the arrow keys

 

I know exactly what you mean. I am hyped on this laptops only because it meets my needs and it is the only one I can get. I had planned on buying a Lenovo T series laptop this year around this time but did not know which one. I was most certainly not expecting one to come with IPS screen or being able to afford one. I was one of the only ones who expected this thing to be out in December with solid reasoning. But in terms of hype, I am aware of all the build flaws of the laptop. I have never gone through buyer's remorse on an electronics purchase. I already know what to expect.. All I need is an IPS screen, 3 usb ports, a good keyboard, and Accidental Protection. ( I can't explain how important accidental protection is to me). I am sure someone may say the IPS screen is not good enough or as good as another laptop. But I have no other one to compare it too and I am coming from a (1330 x 778?) Edge screen anything is going to be better. Once again this is my only option so I am not going to say "man I should have bought a _____" . The fact that am buying it means it already meets my expectations. I know it is the "best" laptop for me. The unique part about this laptop or this purchase unlike my other two is that this will be a direct need and somewhat urgent need. I am in grad school and did not expect that I would have to take my laptop out to the library and class for extra help as much. I probably won't have time to marvel at it when I receive it. Just straight to work.

Despite the #of my posts in this thread lol, I feel all were level headed. If anything I have been trying to get other people to calm down or at least remain neutral.

 

If, like you say, Lenovo will never go back, the last thing you can do is sucking it up! Go ahead and accept the changes, that's what they want. They want you to play in the sandbox which they defined for you, the way they think is better for you. Be my guest.

You hate hearing people complain about certain compromises/changes made by vendors, but I encourage you to look deeper. Some don't complain, they (myself included) just don't want to remain silent observers when big companies ruin something great just because they, for some internal political reason, believe they have to innovate in that area.
Don't fix things that weren't broken! Thinkpad keyboards and trackpoints were one of the reasons many companies even considered them. It's not the warranty, HP and Dell business support is on par if not better.

Honestly, the only good thing about this refresh is the presence of IPS FHD screens but that's not lenovo's doing. It's a global change which was initiated about 4-5 years ago when eDP/DP interface was introduced as an alternative to LVDS. Now, witch eDP finally in production, we are getting FHD and ultra res panels across the board.
Other than that, thin and light is nice but not when it comes at the expense of power, cooling and features, IMHO.

For that you'd need a DP to eDP converter, which may appear soon You will loose your DP port but will be able to use high res FHD IPS panels...

 

I feel sort of guilty due to my lack of emotion to your rant you just posted. So a part of me had to ask myself what product or brand am I that vested in has in the past or could possibly cause me to want to rant. At the moment I can't recall a brand per se but when all phone companies in general decided to switch to touch keyboards versus physical keyboards) that had me pissed. Also how Honda has changed so much from the 90s and early 2000s always gets to me.

I don't think Lenovo has called anything of theirs a fix. They tried new things.
I am all for complaining vocally and with my wallet. But for me, I try to put things in perspective. Unlike what you mentioned about IPS (sorry I don't include it in this quote) I don't think Lenovo put IPS on the computer due to production being easier/less expensive. I believe they did that because people (probably like you) were complaining about their screens. I mean if you read posts about any laptop out or coming out it has always been about resolutions. This is also from "neutral" online reviews. EVERYONE wanted IPS/better screens.
But back to perspective, when I see a new Lenovo product or product like a laptop and see a change I have to figure out is this change or update reversible? Is it on all models or is just one? Is this an industry trend or not?

Example 1 Keyboard.
Even after Lenovo announced that they were replacing they keyboard across the whole line people complained. Even after reviewers and Thinkpad loyalists said the new keyboards were just as amazing, better?people still complained. To this day you are still complaining as if the keyboard or ergonomics have changed or going to change. It's been 3 years. I will most definitely admit I will jump on any petition list to get the keyboard to include colored Enter keys.I would love to have that back and I am no engineer but how hard would it be to get a colored enter key, keyboard? Even, install yourself? But the old one no need for it.

Same thing with this new integrated trackpad. As a trackpoint user this new one is the worst. I don't know how or why but it is not remotely better. It is harder. HOWEVER, when I thought about the engineering that went into it time and money, I thought to myself this thing is permanent. There is no way Lenovo is going to change this. No matter how much I complain. So be prepared to buy a new company or get a mouse. They probably thought this was innovative so they are not going back at all.

Shoot. I am out of steam.No more direct examples. Your use of the word "they" and bolding the word three times came across as like someone who is paranoid or is a conspiracy theorists.I would understand the use government or the leadership at your job. but an electronics company? Unfortunately, that is what we ask them to innovate? Sometimes, even when we don't. If they never changed or offered anything new we would start complaining.

And the worst of all. The people who complain about a Lenovo laptops and post that "I am never buying one again". Just don't then. Nothing tells a company that you are upset than lack of sales. Not hollow threats that you won't. But sure enough someone will.

But I realize everyone has the things that they want and really need but it puzzles me what some users still consider acceptable or rather DON'T complain about.

1. My T43 bought in 2005 was costs $1500-$1800 had 4 hours of battery life and was 1 inch thick and 4.9 pounds. By far the sleekest laptop out and most expensive 8 years ago!!. 3 years ago when I was looking for a replacement.my edge, I was puzzled as to why the T series got thicker to I believe 1.2 inches and the weight was 5.2 pounds. Then there was an S model that was just as thin but the battery life was the same. Even 3 years later. The T430 is still thicker than 2005 T series and over 5lbs. Even T430s battery life according to user reviews was consistently at 3.5-4 hours? Just based on the fact of innovation that should have NEVER happened. You know what I did instead,

2. Even am puzzled as to why I still can't get an HDMI port on a T series along WITH all the other ports. Surely, people don't game but everyone has a TV that they might want to connect their laptop to. Whether it be at home (I am sure Lenovo knows that more regular people are buying T series than ever) or in a hotel room.

Be level headed and real with your complaints. And don't jump the bandwagon on complaints either. Don't look for problems in things if they are not there. As a person known to challenge authority both at work, and all through levels of school I would never tell someone to bend over and take it. But when it is over a laptop, and industry trend, or something long gone. Just move on.

This post was all over the place. AH well.

 

Agree with much of what you said @ibmquality. My view is that Lenovo is a totally different company to IBM so I fully expected things to change on the T-series. In fact I'm surprised it took so long. I'm not commenting on whether the changes are good or bad, just that I'm not surprised things changed. To a certain extent Lenovo is also at the mercy of wider trends in the PC business. The switch from 4:3 screens to lower-resolution 16:9, for example, was annoying but hardly surprising if no-one was making 4:3 panels anymore. And consider if IBM was still making Thinkpads... perhaps we'd be waiting another year for Haswell machines and only just getting USB-3 ports!

I too, however, am puzzled by the apparent retrograde development of the T-series and many other brand laptops over the past 6-7 years. Screens dropped in resolution, machine thickness/weight in many cases went up, battery life in some cases barely improved. Balance that, however, against the increase in power and speed and things don't look quite as bad... except in the case of abysmal screens!

HDMI on a T-series? Doesn't bother me considering how cheap mini displayport > HDMI converters are. But maybe once the VGA port goes we'll get HDMI instead. New trackpad? Looks kinda annoying to me, but I'll wait to try one before passing judgement and I do find myself using trackpad far more than trackpoint these days. The new look of the T-series is welcome, however. As unique as the old design was it was starting to look a little long in the tooth, and I was always catching stuff on the damn lid latch.

The thing that IS concerning to me is the erosion of upgradeability/flexibility that seems to be happening (although I'll wait for the T440/p before ranting). Max 12GB of RAM in the 's' models, no decent mSATA replacement (at least give us an 80mm M.2 slot), potential loss of ultrabay in T440, loss of indicator lights, half'n'half batteries that are gonna age at different rates... all could be be potentially annoying.

 

what about forward and backward buttons?

 

Bingo.....

 

Is there any downside to getting the T440s configured with the Nvidia GT730M gpu (as opposed to the other graphic options)?

 

Depends on what you want your laptop to do. If it is just standard office work and movies, no point getting a 730M.

There might be a slightly shorter battery life, as well as cost for getting 730M.

 

What are your guys' thoughts on the touch vs. nontouch versions?

 

Yeah. That battery thing is kind of confusing. Not sure what the option will be. So I can have on soldered in battery and then will have to buy the other 3 cell? I know there is an option for an extended battery that will elevate the laptop and not jut out like on other Thinkpads. But that confuses me (I don't think anyone has the answer to this so literally just rambling) If I only want one battery. what goes in the second battery space? I initially thought 2 cells came standard to take advantage of the new technology. I would curious to now the battery life estimated battery life of all three setups. One 3 cell, two three cells, and then the 3+ 6 cell (72wh I think). Maybe someone
I think I may have to change my notification options to daily instead of instant. I have been looking for distractions a bit too much. I probably will still visit more than once daily just because, but got to remove some of the impulse. arrh

 

@Ibmquality,

A couple of things.
The company I work for (4500 users) buys laptops from Lenovo. Been like that for many years now. In the last year or so, we (IT Ops) started having doubts but we still buy Lenovo's mostly. So, I'm not pushing Lenovo of the charts, just providing my input based on experience in the field. Now, I used to be a thinkpad fan to an extend, and still own a R40 (2003) which to this day works just great, running W7 Enterprise. You say, your T43 was heavy and bulky and that lenovo did a lot to innovate. Yes and yes and yet... here's the problem: when my R40 and your T43 came out in 2003 and 2005 respectively, these beasts were in a class of their own at the time, unmatched by other vendors both in performance, features and quality. I used to work as a laptop tech for big networking company in those days and got to try pretty much every available brand out there. There was no competition. Most vendors didn't have the quality, had poor trackpads and no trackpoint, their keyboard were breaking in 6 months, their CPU/GPU were overheating, they simply were from a totally different realm. So yeah, the 4pound 4cm thick laptop in 2003 was the pinnacle of the power mobile, IMHO. It's funny, I bought it to be able to play NeverWinter Nights and still remember how I researched every other brand and R40 was one of 3 or 4 laptops to sport 32MB GPU (ATI). The rest of the competition was still offering 16MB at best.

Also, yeah, I bashed lenovo screens for years on every forum as well as Edge to edge glossiness of Dell Alienware and viola! Finally, both have changed their ways! Was it worth the trouble?? - Hell yeah! And I'm gonna keep bashing lenovo as long as it takes to see the perfect trackpoint restored in some form. Now, I'm not saying bring back the one from 2003 (that dream will never be fulfilled) but I'm sure something elegant and functional can be created without too much R&D just by looking at T420/X220.
I also agree about colors though having a blue enter key doesn't really affect my performance.

And the last but not least is the lack of upgradability along with mediocre, at best, components. That I will never accept. Not having a full voltage CPU, 16GB RAM and a couple of hard drive bays in this time of our techno progress is a big shame.

 

@Aikimox. Hey man, Re-read my post. I said the T43 was the sleekest laptop out there In size, weight, battery, life, heat. Hard drive speed at the time.
And I was saying thank you to the people who complained about the screens. I wasn't aware of what a great screen looks like. I have only heard of IPS in a few weeks I will see it. I benefit from complainers.

But complaining about things that probably can't change is annoying. And then when new laptops come out people will look for something to complain about. I might have liked having a full voltage cPu as I plan on having this latptop for 4+ years but I think I will be fine since every one is getting ULV then my performance will be proportional to anyone one I am sitting next to in class. All that stuff about CPU and upgradeability is valid. But for those of you who want a full voltage CPU in T440/T440p, I would complain if that laptop is not less than 1 inch and 4.5 pounds. My T43 ran cool with 4.9lbs and inch thick and 4 hours 8 years ago. Technology changes every year. No excuses. Good night.