T460p first impressions

I've had my T460p for a week or so now so figured I could give a few general impressions -- still setting it up so haven't taxed the system much. I upgraded from a T440p (FHD, i7-4700MQ, Nvidia, SSD+HDD) to the following basic configuration: 3K screen, i7 6820HQ, Nvidia GPU, 16GB RAM (1 DIMM).

Keyboard: what have they done??!! Travel on the T460p is far less than on the T440p -- feels almost like a full mm less travel, though in reality it's probably less. Whatever the case, it's virtually eliminated what made the Thinkpad keyboards so special and with such shallow travel it's now barely any better than a Dell IMO. I'll get used to it, but am very disappointed. It does have a slight flex in a few spots, more so than the T440p but you have to press pretty hard to notice it and it doesn't seem to interfere with my typing. Still, it's yet another black mark for the new keyboard as Lenovo chases lower costs and lower computer thickness.

Screen: the Panasonic WQHD screen is great. Haven't calibrated yet so can't comment on its supposed full sRGB gamut, but that's the reason I opted for the higher resolution -- the T460p FHD screen is just too limited gamut-wise for the work I do (Update: I calibrated the screen and average Delta-E was just over 1.1 and maximum Delta-E was only 2.65, which is decent for a laptop. White point was just over 6600K). Also nice is that there is zero bleed. My T440p screen (LG) suffered such bad edge bleed when I first got it that I had them replace it under warranty for an AUO. Over the last few years, that, too, has developed significant edge bleed. Must be something in the design of the panel or lid...

Lid: the T460p lid is still almost as flexy as that noodle of a lid on the T440p, but it is slightly thicker and feels slightly more solid. Might just be wishful thinking on my part, however. It still doesn't close completely flat, but the gaps around the edges are not quite as bad as on the T440p. It does, however, close with a little more authority and snap than the T440p lid, which kinda just flopped shut halfheartedly and seemed to rely purely on gravity to stay shut.

Touchpad: I'm a tap-to-click person, so the lack of buttons never really bothered me on the T440p. The T460p touchpad is, however, way better overall for clickers -- apart from the buttons, the clickpad itself has less travel and a more solid feel to it. No more weird "clunk" when it's clicked.

Speakers: well, they make sounds, but that's about all they do. Zero bass and virtually zero midrange. Utterly rubbish, but nothing I didn't expect. For such cheap components as speakers I'm constantly amazed at how Lenovo can dredge up the absolute worst examples. Has no-one in the company ever listed to a Macbook Air?!

Bottom case: much more svelte and better put together than the T440p. No more sharp seam, but it still doesn't exactly scream "quality". Feels solid enough though. Access to the guts of the computer is annoyingly hard, however, thanks to the plastic clips that won't let go even after you've loosened all the screws on the bottom. It took me about 10 minutes with a spudger to get the damn thing off, and even then I think I managed to put a small dent on one of the tiny speaker cones, unless it came like that (be careful with the spudger on each side about an inch from the front of the machine). Will hopefully be easier to get the bottom off next time. Although the machine is thinner overall, the footprint is slightly wider (about 3-4mm) than the T440p.

Battery: since both the battery options stick out from the bottom and since I will have this sitting in a dock for much of the time, I opted for the biggest battery. And, yes, it sticks out from the bottom, which is really ugly and sort of defeats the purpose of making the overall machine thinner. Anyone who says it's just like having a convenient handle to grab the machine is simply trying to make themselves feel better for having an ugly appendage IMO. The battery seems to last a long time, but I haven't properly tested it yet. Will Lenovo ever offer a 3-cell battery that sits flush with the bottom? They don't seem to yet, but I'd buy one for when I travel from power outlet to power outlet.

Once I got the bottom off, I swapped out the crummy 500GB HDD with it's Lenovo factory image for a 1TB Samsung 850 Pro SSD and did a fresh install of Windows 10 (I now have quite a collection of unused Hitachi 7K500 drives). Will add another 16GB of RAM whenever I see a good deal. Everything is working like a charm (touch wood) and although I've not really taxed the machine I've not heard the fan come on at all. Temperature feels about the same as the T440p for normal tasks. I'm still annoyed that Lenovo makes it so hard to set up a two-drive system with a bootable M2 drive (used the ultrabay for a second drive in my T440p), but I can live with a single, partitioned 1TB SSD for now.

I bought it through the EPP so got a good price. If I were paying full price, however, I'd think twice and might have opted to go larger (P50) or for a Dell Precision to get real dual-drive options and better overall build. This might be the last 14" pseudo-workstation Thinkpad I buy... then again, I said that about the T440p!

 

Thanks for your first impressions!

Which keyboard do you have? As always, there are multiple keyboard manufacturers.

They do, they just don´t sell it with the machine because its so small in capacity. http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...?hide_menu_area=true&GroupID=460&Code=0C52861

Cheaper on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-len...730921?hash=item2814a02329:g:J3oAAOSwxcRW8zBr

 

Thanks for the battery links. I presume the T440 batteries work in the T460 series.

Can't work out which kb I have. The parts lookup is not working and only lists five named parts for my build (two of which OS related) with a bunch of un-named parts, all of which have only the mfg part numbers (beginning with 'S') not the Lenovo part numbers.

If you know the mfg part numbers for the kb options let me know.

 

Yep, they do, since the T460p is based on the T460 design, which on the other hand is an updated T440 in design.

Regarding the keyboard, here is the parts list: https://download.lenovo.com/parts/ThinkPad/t460p_frubom_20160119.pdf

For the US layout there are two keyboard options:

00UR395 2 KBD,US,DFNBL
00UR355 2 KBD,US,CHYBL

CHY = Chicony, DFN = Darfon.

 

The problem is when I list the parts for my build, the majority have no part description or FRU, just a mfg part number that bears no resemblance to the Lenovo FRUs:



Is there a big difference between the two kb options? If there's a difference in travel then I might try to sort out a replacement

 

If there is a big difference, I don´t know. Not many experiences with the T460p so far.

I guess someone would have to be the first to try it out. If parts lookup does not work, you can take out the keyboard (which is easy) and look at its back, the FRU nr. should be noted there.

 

What is your impression with the power management? I read that the CPU is limited to 35W (While the i7-5CPU is built for 45W). Do you feel any real life difference or is that only in seriously long hard work as in rendering a movie etc? I assume Lenovo did it for a reason and not to be annoying. Any other long term thoughts?

 

Does the T460p have the rubbery-feeling lid and bottom cover, and rough-finished palm rest, or is it all smooth and smoother like the T440s and T450s (if you've handled those, by chance?)

 

2560x1440 is a 3k screen???

 

Can anyone comment about this question above? One thing I hate about the T450s versus an X250 I had tried is the finish on the palm rest and the outsides of the device. The X250 felt more like a classic system, and the palm rest did not appear to show as much wear.