T440s upgrade tips

Here are some things T440s users should take note. I added more RAM and upgrade to an SSD.

1. The back cover is amazingly strong and held town by around 12 latches. Be very careful prying the back cover off. It took me over 5 minutes and I still ended up snapping off 2 of the latches.

2. Adding RAM is the easiest thing to do. Just angle away from the laptop and push down. I was stupid and pulled back on the latches causing one of them to crack but it still works holding down the RAM.

3. Adding a SSD is a b**ch. The key is to not have any STUPID M.2 SSD connected to your machine. There is a cable to the right of your HDD that is connected to the M.2. All you have to do is lift the metal latch and unplug the cable which will disable the M.2 SSD. If you don't do this, your T440s will NEVER restore because it will try to restore onto the M.2 drive.

I hope my painful experience will help everyone else.

PS. The T440s screen is to die for and the machine is crazy strong. The bottom cover is very sturdy. This is a well crafted machine.

 

Thanks for your post. Everyone - read the user's manual first!

P.S.: were you able to reconnect the M.2 SSD and reconfigure it as a normal storage drive? What SSD are you using?

 

It was funny how they made it look so easy to remove the base cover on the training video. All users definitely need to take care removing that base cover.

I was able to reconnect the M.2 SSD but it is kind of useless since it is a cache SSD. It is possible to use some sort of reformat tool to make the M.2 SSD appear as a second drive (you can't reformat with Windows). I will probably do that later on when I have more time to play.

I am using a 256GB Samsung 840. It is nice and speedy. With all of my software installed, I am using around 60GB with 170GB of free space.

 

Is there a link to the video? Searched the Lenovo site not finding them.

 

The video training for the T440s can be found here.

 

This happened to me on mine, even though i don't have a thinkpad. I would advise this to any Haswell Lenovo owner.

 

With regards to the base cover, as pointed out elsewhere, there are very specific instructions on how to remove it. See Chapter 9:

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/t440s_hmm_en_sp40a25360_01.pdf

 

so the latches need to be removed in order as seen here FYI.

 

Thank you. There are screws on/under they keyboard! That is intense.

 

Were the latches snapped off on the bottom cover or the chassis? Would someone be able to get a picture of what the tabs look like, or take a short video of the cover being removed?

 

You can find video with the link above. in post # 5 posted by Patchysan.

 

The official training videos don't deal with or mention at all the tabs on the bottom cover. I'm interested in a "real world" video, or at least a couple good picture of the tabs themselves.

 

That will probably take awhile as the T440s just came out in the U.S. Most people have not received. And for those who will, we will have to wait and see who is tech savvy and has the time to.

 

Just wondering - did you clone the OS over from the 500gb HDD, or did you just put in the SSD and do a clean install of Windows? Sorry, I'm a complete SSD noob.

 

I decided to use a recovery usb. I used the Lenovo program to create one and then booted the computer from the USB with the SSD installed.

 

The latches are attached to the body of the T440s while the base cover just have little tabs that stick out. The tabs were molded the same time the whole base cover was made so it is very strong. I followed the user guide instruction and I just got stuck by the time I reached the front of the machine in the corners. The hardest latches to release are the ones at the front and that is where mine broke off. I started pulling up at the side with the vents and the whole thing came off but the 2 of the front latches broke.

After opening the first time, opening it again is easy and the base cover just snaps off.

 

I plan to to add to my future one (it's not sell in Spain for now) an mSATA card (probably an Intel 520 SSD . Any experience on this?

 

WHen you say you snapped of 2 of the latches what do you mean? Did you do non warranty covered damage?

Since it is so hard to get the back cover off would it make sense to upgrade the RAM and SSD at the same time. I only had money one for one. Either I buy an SSD for $200 on Black Friday(what I really want) or upgrade RAM for $60-70 and wait until next summer(i'm a studnet) for the SSD at whatever price. But ideally not both. However, if I have the potential to seriously damage something I would prefer to do both at one time.

 

There is no mSATA ports. You will need a M.2 SSD that MyDigitalSSD sells. It is the only manufacture of 42mm M.2 that can fit in the T440s. I think it is best to just to get a 2.5in SSD unless you really need a mechanical HDD.

It is definitely non warranty damage as I caused it. The latches are basically little plastic tabs that hold down the cover. They are very small and there is about 12 of them. After taking off your cover for the first time, it will be a lot easier the rest of the time. The damage is very minimal and not noticeable at all. The cover is still attached to the laptop very well and my T440s should be able to survive a zombie apocalypse.

I would recommend getting the SSD. It is a night and day difference. RAM is good but not as great as SSD. The T440s is amazingly fast because of the SSD. An HDD will make this computer feel like an expensive POS.

 

Thanks. My concern was that it would be noticeable. I want the SSD too but costs is a factor. I was thinking of the samsung 840 evo 256tb for $180. However, if the the 480gb version goes down to say $220 around Black Friday I will get that. Some people plan on getting a new SSD in 3-4 years. I don't these are one time upgrades for me. After the SSD in now is staying in until it dies. A part of me says hold off on the SSD for the "feeling" in 3 years when things start to slow down, I won't have anything to upgrade too. Of course it will be fast but as I plan to have this laptop for 5 years I want an upgrade that will make it feel faster for the last two as even with SSD it will feel proportionally slower. last two computers it was RAM that added a little boost. But when it is maxed out new what does one do?

Phamhlam. Is there any back light bleed on your screen? I can't do anything about as I just ordered my T440s and don't have a back up or second choice model but I was curious. Also is bleed considered something replaceable or exchangeable or does that tend to be a design flaw?

 

PCI Express SSD will replace 2.5in SSD in the future. I might upgrade my T440s in two years when I am done with college. I am really happy with my 256GB Samsung 840.

My screen has very little backlight bleed at the bottom of the screen. Even my desktop monitor has backlight bleed but this is something you will have to live with. It is hard to notice. I am very happy with the display though. Great viewing angle and color accuracy.

 

Wow. Thanks for warning. Now I checked there are several Intel M.2 drives, one of them of 42mm. By the way: from where did you got the 42mm requirement? After your tip I checked the Hardware Maintenance Manual and I can't find these specs.

 

A tip for those doing a clean install of windows.
If you want to take advantage of the super low power sleep state (Intel Rapid Start\ Lenovo 30 day standby) you need to create a hibernation partition of at least the size of your RAM.
See instructions at Lenovo Support Express - Considerations to deploy Intel Rapid Start Technology
More details on actually creating the partition at http://download.intel.com/support/m...pid_start_technology_user_guide_for_uefi1.pdf

You don't need the intel software listed in the second link, Lenovo Settings app includes the functionality.

 

I have a T440s in my possession and the WLAN card is a 30mm M.2. The M.2 slot next to it is not much bigger and the other M.2 slot is holding a 42mm M.2 cache drive that does nothing because I have a SSD.

 

The size of your RAM? Damn, 12GB partition is not fun

It doesn't work on Windows 8 with my T440s.

 

Here is two new thing I found out about my Lenovo T440s that all user should know.

1. I haven't got the M.2 drive to function as a separate storage device? Did anyone manage to format it?
I ended up actually just unplugging the cable and taping it to the motherboard so it doesn't consume power or show up in my task manager.

2. If you have a SAMSUNG 840 drive, DO NOT USE OS OPTIMIZATION in Samsung Magician software.
I decided to press SSD Reliability and the computer then proceeded to reboot only to have the SSD not function at all so I had to do a complete restore. I will not be installing that software again.

Also, I love the texture of the wrist rest and trackpad. I wonder how long they will last. Does anyone know if Lenovo ever have discount on their battery? I want a external 6 cell for trips.

 

Are you referring to the Samsung Pro model? Well, thanks for that, as I am also looking at getting the same drive if I go ahead with this laptop. I just installed that drive in my desktop and use "Maximum Reliability" mode successfully, so that is really strange. I guess they may need to call it “Minimum Reliability”, depending on the computer! Keep us up to date as to whether you have any other issues with that drive. Early on there was another report of a person having issues with the Samsung Pro.

 

There must be something special happening to my computer because last night, a windows update finished installed and the computer wanted me to restart. Upon restarting, the drive would not boot into Windows. I have the regular Samsung 840. I am just not going to restart my computer anymore and just shut it down then boot it up. Reinstalling all my files take 3 hours and is a huge PITA.

I think the problem is with the virtual memory and paging file system. I set it to OS automatic control so that will hopefully stop these dead boot.

 

Hi,

Also did some upgrades..

1) windows 8 to 8.1 pro.
2) Ram to 12gb.
3) Samsung evo 500gb. Love it. Used the Samsung disk software to clone HDD to SSD. Installed SDD. Worked great. Had some problems with WiFi after installing, but fixed by disabling the samsung software as a startup task (it should not run as a start task). Configured with Samsung magician, optimized for speed (may change to reliability). This is now running with RAPID enabled (creates up to a 1gb ram cache) and is crazy fast. The magican is amazing software and so far ahead of anything else out there. Allocated 20gb for system restore and 46gb for over provisioning. Still have tons of space.
Samsung speed tests:
Sequential read: 1173
Sequential write: 1052
Random read: 96598
Random write: 78647



Getting the case off was a pain, but I developed this trick. Loosen all screws, turn the laptop so the trackpad is away from you, hold it down with one hand, get your nails in the grove and open (medium pressure and you will be fine). You will hear a cracking sound, which is the washers holding down the screws. I threw them all out, used tweezers to take the screws off the base (the screws has rubber tips so they don't fall out). The case is now in tight. Not worried about the screws.

This system has the i5-4200u and its very fast. More then enough for me, programming, web surfing and light games.

This board was very helpful, hope this helps someone out there.

Just my $.02.

I did notice two very small things:
1) WiFi button doesn't work for me (F8)
2) Windows 8.1 does not autoconnect on metered connections (once you go into the WiFi menu it then will autoconnect).

Regards, Stu

 

When you and others clone the HDD does the cloning software also clone the Recovery partition? Is there any way to get a recovery partition on an SSD?

 

It didn't for me, but I created a USD key with the recovery software on it. I also left it on my original hard drive.

 

Hey guys. I have a couple of new T440s machines I'm deploying. They have Samsung SSD drives installed in them that we upgraded from the factory platter drives, and of course the 16GB mSATA drives from the factory. We are on Windows 8.1. Power manager doesn't appear to be installed from the factory.

My question regards the 30-day standby. Do we have to do anything to manually enable it on these machines? It doesn't seem to be from the factory as overnight sleep still has somewhat significant battery drain. What would be ideal is if we could use the mSATA drives as the standby partition as I presume these aren't doing much useful given the faster SSD's we've installed. Thanks.

 

You can download the power manger but it is a background utility that you actually don't manage. You can actually see if 30 day Stand By is on by opening the Lenovo Setting app. It is a Metro/Live Tile app and not a regular desktop app. The16GB drive is a M.2 and not mSATA. I find it useful and even disconnected it as I couldn't format it to act as a standard drive.

I will test the stand by drain on my T440s.

 

Thanks. I actually found that at some point last night, and it is turned on. However this morning the laptop woke up instantly (meaning it never actually went into deep sleep) and it had consumed more than 10% of the battery. Any ideas why it's not working? I take it it's supposed to happen after 3 hours.

What is the point of the 16GB M.2 drives if we can't put this sleep partition on them?

 

Hi everyone,

I plan to get some 4G memory for the T440s (on Black Friday or when the price become more reasonable). What is everyone's experience on memory? What brand of memory comes with the T440s? I figure it would be good to match. Otherwise, is there a preferred brand?

Thanks everyone!

Sailor

 

I get around 5% power drain overnight if it is not plugged in and in sleep mode. If you enable Hibernation, you can have 0% power drain but it won't be instant on. I haven't figured out how the 30 day standby works but I am not going to bother. Lenovo will improve battery performance over the months.

The M.2 drive is a cache drive for HDD so it allows frequently used programs to be stored on the M.2 SSD. This is facilitated by a program.

 

I went with Crucial 8GB 1.35V 1600Mhz SODIMM. They also have a 4GB version. I think those are the most compatible and reliable RAM you can get for your ThinkPad.

 

I hear Kingston is good also. I think may be slightly more expensive.

 

Does anyone know where I can get a 6 cell (72Whr) battery for the T440s. I know Lenovo has them on their website but I wanted to know if there was a cheaper place to get them. I might just pay for the one on Lenovo just to ensure I am getting a quality product.

 

If you have a platter drive, the M.2 can also be used as the hybrid sleep location, which gives you a faster resume from sleep with no battery drain. If you have a SSD the speed point is moot as it's the same as hibernate, but you save the 4-12GB of space on your primary SSD by pointing the hybrid sleep target at the M.2.

I ordered one direct from lenovo. It was the only one I could find, but I'm really skeptical of aftermarket batteries too.

 

I'm planning to see if there're cheap SSDs available during black Friday - I'd like a ca. 500GB drive to replace the platter drive that'll be in my T440s. What do I need to make sure of in terms of connectors/form factor when selecting an SSD drive?

Also for the RAM, just to clarify, the T440s uses 204-pin DDR3 RAM modules?

 

O_O how is your system now? Do you have the 840 EVO or just standard 840? I guess I'll avoid Samsung software when I install mine. Also, how did you do a clean install?

 

I am not having any problems now. I however am to scared to restart my computer. The SSD works great and no problem. Lets hope it stays like this. I however am disappointed about my laptop build quality. I notice there was a piece the carbon fiber chassis stick out. It look like when your fingernails is sticking out so you rip it off. I did the same thing to my T440s and I now have a small chip on the side of my case. It is not noticeable it is there. This is the problem with carbon fiber as it can easily splinter if not smooth. I should have not ripped it.

 

The palmrest is plastic on the T440s, not Carbon Fiber.

 

Hi All,

I plan to get one T440s very soon and get Samsung 840 pro 256GB SSD. If I don't use the magician SW will the drive work fine by itself ?

Also, what are the base memory that came with the laptops you guys bought ? Details such as brand and latency will be great. And, is T440s capable of running dual channel ? In order to run dual channel, should I only get another 4GB module instead of 8GB module ? Thanks.

 

Are people still planning on getting 256GB now that the standard 256GB SSD, FHD non touch is cheaper than the 500 gb hard drive which was not the case two weeks ago? I am confused as to why?

 

It seems like they intend to remove the hard drive option, which is kind of annoying but I think the 256GB SSD option is now cheaper than it was before? For those who order now it may make sense to just get the one from Lenovo for a small premium over buying aftermarket parts to save the hassle. It's significantly more annoying to replace the hard drive than I thought, and I kind of worry about damaging it. I don't think I broke any tabs but I'll have to open it again for the RAM (stupidly forgot to order that at the same time as the SSD).

I feel like they should do like Apple and make the minimum spec a good baseline with FHD and 128GB SSD standard. Priced at 1000-1200 that would be really good IMO. That way no one has a bad experience with the screen or the speed.

 

This is why I may return mine T440s coming in on Tuesday and just reorder on Black Friday. I can't do a price match since the 500gb hard drive model actually costs more. THe new model with 256Gb ends up being about $161 for a 256GB SSD. The samsung EVO right now on Amazon is $175. So it actually ends up being about the same or less. And you are right about the hassle. In two years, if necessary I can upgrade to an even bigger drive. Until then.

I will still have to end up opening the base to add RAM but no clean installing a OS now would be good. Not sure if I will have the time now in school vs installing RAM.

 

To be honest when I actually got down to the clean install part it was really fast, I was probably done in a couple hours including downloading all the drivers. I just wasted 5 or 6 hours trying different ways to clone the drive which didn't work (seems possible that the enclosure makes this unreliable).

The other minor consideration is that the Samsung is probably way faster than whatever Lenovo is putting in but at this stage SSD speeds are plenty fast for anyone who isn't encoding massive amounts of video or something else extremely demanding.

 

That is indeed a very minor consideration. Samsung will definitely be faster but will I be able to tell? Nope. Never had a SSD so nothing to compare it to. Plus my second choice would have been Crucial which I hear is slower, but consistent and just as reliable. Also rumor has it that it is a Samsng or 50% chance that it is.

And again the costs ends up being $15 less than upgrading on my own(based on the lack or price match difference), time to install, potential errors and downtime which I can't have between school. This would work out well because I was hesiitant to buy an 256 SSD because 256 will definitely work for my needs for the first two years but 3-4 years I expect this to my T440s to last 4 years) it may be to small as by then I have bought new phone and camera (bigger files and movies) so a 500 gb SSD would work best. Now I can just wait to get a 500 GB or greater SSD in 2 years or so and I will have the time, knowledge and confidence to self install.

THanks I appreciate that you got me thinking about things.