Thinkpad 400

So I ordered the Thinkpad 400.

Just want to know a couple of definitive things for the 2009+ latest revision:

1) Is there the piezoelectric noise? This is an engineering incompetence flaw.
2) Is there keyboard flexing, optical drive flexing, or palm rest flexing?

 

No to both.

 

I've heard some people tell they indeed have the noise on their T400 (and other models as well). It can usually be located to some vibrating component on the motherboard. If this is because of use of cheap components or an engineering flaw, I don't know. I do know it is very annoying, because I've had first hand experience with it myself. If I would buy a ThinkPad today, and it had the noise... I would return it.

 

Mine is very silent, even when Im docked with 2 24in LCDs and doing heavy gaming and/or multitasking its dead silent.

 

The piezoelectric noise happens only when the processor is idle. The latest generation of macbooks do not have the same problem.

 

Ok well mine is even more silent when idle as the fan isnt blowing. The fan is pretty much the only noise it makes and I can barely hear that as is.

 

From what I've been hearing, the piezoelectric whine is heard on some laptops, and not on others, of the same laptop. My T500 does not have the issue, and is dead silent at idle.

Depends on what you judge to be "no flex." Some people have reported no flex, while others have complained about excessive flex even with the chassis bracing.

 

My x200 has whine in certain power states, but it isn't really overly annoying and I only hear it because I don't have a spinning HDD.

 

Does the T400 have USB powered ESATA port? If it doesn't, what excuse did the Lenovo marketing....I mean engineering design matters blog give? Did they claim that it is a "feature"?

 

Also, can someone link me to the optical drive cover and battery cover on the lenovo site?

 

No, it doesn't have one, powered or unpowered. If this is extremely important to you, (with no disrespect intended) it would have been good to research it prior to order. Dell's similar Latitude E6400 has the eSATA port, and has its pros, but also its cons when compared to the T400.

At this point, unless you have an external eSATA device, and you have a need for high-sustained throughput on an external device, I don't think it's a big deal. A lot of laptops don't have eSATA ports at this point; most people (though you may be an exception) aren't looking to transfer files between two systems with an external HDD using eSATA.

 

the T400s model has an eSATA/USB combo port.   no claims have been made on lenovoblogs about the standard T400 model having eSATA.   you may have simply confused the two models.

 

I know the T400s has a USB powered ESATA port, why doesn't the T400 have it? Is Lenovo following the Apple strategy where the next model up gives you the required features? I thought Lenovo was business machines.

When questioned about the VGA port, Lenovo quickly said that it was because most projectors still use VGA ports and people often forget adapter cables etc...they refered to this as a feature. So how come the T400s has a display port and no VGA port then? Lenovo Design Matters is nothing more than a marketing blog.

 

lenovo recently adopted eSATA.   the T400s is lenovo's newest model and the first thinkpad with native eSATA on-board.   other models have eSATA available via docks and port replicators but only the T400s has it on-board.

future models will logically be updated with eSATA but the only current model with it is the T400s.

 

OR it could be because the T400 came out a while ago, and the T400s is relatively new, hence the legacy VGA port on the older laptop and a displayport port on the newer model...

 

The T400s has a displayport, but it *also* has a VGA connector.

 

Well, the T500 which has DisplayPort is as old as the T400, right?

I remember something about Lenovo didn't include DisplayPort on the T400 because there was no space for it? However, now they managed to squeeze in a DisplayPort in the T400s, plus VGA.

Of course there is some marketing product differentiation going on as well. To simply include 'everything' in one model isn't good business, though from my consumer perspective, it would be perfect...

 

Well, there are other differences, too.
T400 has Headphone+Microphone, FireWire, two ExpressCard/54 (or 1+card reader) and a modem
The T400s only has a single Headset jack and ExpressCard/34.
(I'm ignoring things that both have like power, 3xUSB, Ethernet, etc).
So they did cut out some extra stuff.
There's also the difference of the battery - the T400s has space on the back for ports, while the T400 has a battery that can stick out. That makes for less space to put ports if you just have the sides and the front.

 

Why do they still put obsolete ports like VGA, modem, expresscard, and firewire? These are not mainstream at all therefore if anyone needs that specific functionality, let them buy an expansion card.

 

...because everyone but Apple that is afraid to abandon old tech in hurry. That frustrates me about Windows and the hardware manufacturers. Grrr!

 

The t400s also uses a smaller HDD and cant utilize anything bigger then a 6 cell. Since it also uses a less powerful CPU and does not have a discrete GPU option like the t400 it very well may have a lot more room inside the chassis.

VGA: Very popular with projectors, as well as easily downgraded in a pinch. Monitors and tvs still have these ports making them a lot more readily usable/available when compared to HDMI and DVI.

Modem: You never know when you may need to dial up due to no broadband (cell phone or land line). This has happened to me a couple of times and I HAD to dial up due to no wifi/LAN and cell phone had zero signal. The coined phrase "I'd rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it" comes to mind here.

Firewire and express card I cannot personally explain, but im sure there are people that use these.

Basically I would love a display port on my t400, but I dont find it gimped for not having one, as i seem to do just fine with VGA only. Plus I can just dock it and have dvi and vga and be even more happy. This brings us back to the idea that the t400 wasn't designed for everyone, thus it will rub some the wrong way.

Apparently you dont work in IT/ commercial environments. Technology is great, but certain fields cannot upgrade. For instance, I cannot upgrade my users to vista because how our software interacts with each other(not to mention a lot of our software doesn't work with vista at all), not to mention the training, headaches, and time away from billable hours that could destroy a business in this economy. Backwards compatibility is essential in the commercial world for many many reasons, and that is why apple is no where near the market share they could be at.

 

Express-card is just an expansion slot. I used to have an ESATA card that I stuck in there.

As for firewire, its used by plenty of video camera's, is faster than usb, and also is supported by many hard drives. Why not have it?

Oh, I have a question for the OP. WHERE do you see a place for a displayport/DVI adapter?

 

The majority of people do not need a modem, there are plenty of usb/express card modems.
The majority of people do not need a VGA ports, remember this is a business grade laptops. Every meeting I've been to, the projectors have an ample amount of adapters.
Firewire, again this is a business grade laptop (mostly for field work etc) and not a video editing machine.

Why not have ISA ports, serial ports, parallel ports? These obsolete ports are using the space of more USB and esata ports.

I also work in the IT industry and the reason companies don't upgrade is due to lack of fundamentals and incompetence. Virtualized layers for legacy apps, parallel transitions, and rolling upgrades etc are all designed to ease upgrading.

 

Your right, this is a business laptop. And guess who uses it? Businessmen. And guess where they go? On Business trips. And guess what they might need to use on those trips? A modem.

Oh, and pretty much EVERY projector I have seen has a VGA port. Do they all have a DVI port? No (although most nowadays do, I will admit that).

I ask you again. WHERE on the T400 is there room to stick a Displayport adapter and the required hardware to run it?

 

So because a plethera of software that we use wont work on vista making an upgrade impossible means we lack fundamentals and are incompetent? You really hit the nail on the head there I must say.

Going back to the VGA argument, why not use an interface that is more common and ALWAYS available over over that hance a chance at not being available. This gives a lot more options in the world, all while being more then enough for business environments.

Agreed, being able to use anything is always > being able to use most anything.

 

So you'd rather use a 56k dialup modem over 3G, satellite, wifi hotspot, wired hotspots? Satellite pretty much has 99% coverage.

Regarding VGA....why isn't there a serial port? Most printers are still using parallel ports, where is it?

There are virtualized layers to run legacy apps, and if the next gen platform is productive enough, it is a sure reason to upgrade. To upgrade, we have standards like parallel transitions, rolling upgrades.

 

And what If your in a spot where there is no wifi, no 3g coverage, and no expense account for a satellite connection?

And Serial/Parallel ports have been considered legacy ports for what, 10 years now?

And you are still ignoring my question. What does that say about you?

 

this guy is just an apple fanboy troll (and not a very good one, at that)
don't give him the pleasure of your responses

 

What if you're in a spot where there is no modem?

Scientific applications and hardware still make use of the serial port. Most science hardware have serial ports. Why not use an interface that is more common and ALWAYS available over something that most scientific hardware does not support.

By taking out the useless modem and vga port, you make room for displayport/HDMI which actually takes up less space.

 

Well then if there is modem then your most likely in the middle of no-where.

And you just don't seem to get that VGA is not legacy. There are still devices that ONLY have VGA ports on them.

Oh, and businessmen/women usually do not need a serial port. And if they do? Well, there is this little thing called an Advanced Dock. Actually, come to think of it, the last computer which I bought that had a serial port was in 2003.

 

The T400 is not a "presentation device", it does not need a obsolete VGA port. The X200 and X300 are more of "presentation" devices. The T400 and T500 are for field work.

The T400 should replace the VGA port with a display port and more usb ports.

 

Expresscard I've not needed yet, but I'm sure there are instances where needed.

Firewire you'll see used with a lot of DV camcorders. Probably phasing out as video cameras move to flash drives and hard disks. Still there are a lot of them still in use.

Seriously. It was aimed at a business environment with a tip of the hat toward consumer users.

Every corporate conference room projector (or AV system) I've seen has a VGA input. Bring a laptop without a VGA output and you're screwed (unless you remember to bring an adapter)

 

I.... I don't know how to respond to that. Thats just.... so.... wrong.

 

VGA is an analog interface, you cannot go from analog to digital but you can go from digital to analog. However, there are converter boxes.

 

It's pretty obvious that some of these posters have no experience in a real corporate work environment.

If he (or she) did have any real experience, he'd see that the T400 design is smack dab in the middle of a rank-and-file corporate laptop. The only ones getting the X200 or X300 would be SVP's or higher level executives.

It's pretty common for rank and file professionals to do conference room presentations.

 

Umm... that's exactly why I said anyone without a VGA output would need to bring an adapter.

What was your point again?

 

You're right, I'm not in IT. I'm a consumer that wants all the newest bells and whistles in my new gadgets, cost to the establishment be damned. LOL! Kidding aside, from a practical standpoint, I certainly see your point.....

 

When you cannot get a cell phone signal, there are no wifi hotspots and your not rich enough to own a satelite on the go modem use is your only option. I have had to do this a few times when on ski trips where nothing but phone is available.

As far as upgrading goes, why visualize when you have a perfectly stable and well running platform. Just because there is an "upgrade" doesn't necessarily mean its a true upgrade , needed or even warranted. Leaving XP in the work place for a flashier OS would be a headache and a huge learning curve for end users not to mention IT for what? Extra battery life? a new flashy UI? Im going to assume you dont work in an environment that requires older software, and if you do Im going to again assume you like to over complicate things.

VGA is not legacy, serial is. Now Id love to have a display port, but not at the cost of emergency devices. If you need digital video either get a dock or look at another laptop. Plain and simple. You cannot take up precious space (that is already at a premium) for ports that arent widely accepted yet. So HDMI is out.

then a t400 is probably not for you. Apple is nice for those who do not need to concern themselves with legacy, and want a newer kernel design along with it (kernel panic anyone? ).

 

That's quite a false statement. Many, many people who work in a corporate environment have to give presentations, and not all of them are executives that are provided with X301s. By far the most common Thinkpads in corporations are T400s and R400s.

In any case, I'd still rather take a VGA port over a DisplayPort (although I do wish Lenovo chucked those clunky screws on the side, like Dell did), since I have to hook up my laptop to the classroom projector quite often, but to date still have never hooked up my laptop to a TV - I have a desktop hooked up to the TV already. I don't think I'll ever use the DisplayPort on my T500.

 

For the record, I'm still a ThinkPad guy. Macs are on the radar, but I'm not sold yet. I'm heavily tilted towards the unannounced T400 replacement with i7 or i5. We'll see...

 

In my experience with an organization that has tens of thousands of personnel in the US and many more globally, the 14inch business laptop is the default roll-out for the rank and file as said above. I see x200 style laptops for partners in my industry.

VGA is very important in everyday use and not all projectors have all the inputs and cabling, though some client sites do have nice set-ups.

Parallel port is not a necessary legacy port because everyone has networked printers in the office environment, at the client or in the home offices. If a personal non-enterprise printer needs parallel then a docking station is utilized. However, all real laser printers for enterprise have ethernet for management and networking capabilities.

I think displayport is not necessary for business roll outs, but as a geeky consumer it is nice and I appreciate it

 

The estimated shipping date is 9/30 but when I contact Lenovo, they say it's 10/7 but may ship earlier. My credit card has not been charged either. Any CTO with Dell or HP would ship in less than 2 weeks, why is Lenovo taking such a long time?

 

At least when I have used them, the Estimated shipping time is way off. I got mine before they said it had even shipped.

 

folks, he's a TROLL
stop feeding him

 

I guess criticizing nowdays is troll-esque. No wonder consumers have low standards.

 

When nearly all of someone's posts are critical in one way or another, it's not a surprise when they're mistaken for a troll.

 

How should the battery be charged? Charge/Discharge 3 times? This is what Lenovo documentation says but I don't know if it applies to li-ion batteries.

 

I just used mine like normal out of the box. I did no conditioning and I use it primarily on AC, and still can achieve ~9 hours.

 

This is utter and total BS.

It is not a presentation device for you. That doesn't mean it isn't for anyone else. There's a reason the ThinkPad line has presentation mode software.

The ThinkPad is a business laptop, not an entertainment laptop. Businesspeople rely on interoperability in multiple environments. This means having a modem for areas where broadband is scarce. This means having a VGA port because it's still the most common business graphics interface, and because you may find out your client's LCD projector only has VGA (note: most projectors with HDMI or Displayport still HAVE VGA and do an equal job with it as their other interfaces when it comes to graphics. This means function takes first place, and style/form take a backseat, although IMO (one of the reasons I like ThinkPads) function can be form itself.

I think you're just trying to pick the laptop apart because you like needling others for their choices, and baiting them into a response. If you want an entertainment laptop, buy one --a ThinkPad isn't for you, it wasn't designed as a media center. I also can't think of a reason that you'd need more than three USB ports simultaneously when you're in portable mode --if you're not going portable, get a docking station, as having to plug/unplug that many cables will be a constant nuisance anyway.

P.S. When you find a multimedia laptop with a keyboard anywhere near as good as a ThinkPad's, with a TrackPoint, a magnesium roll cage, and a liquid drainage system like the ThinkPad, let me know.

 

I consider mine a multimedia laptop. Sure it doesn't have HDMI and a flashy glossy chassis and screen, but with a click and the press of 1 button I can have mine running on 2x 24in LCDs @WUXGA resolution and a 7in display link USB monitor with a sweet sound system, full sized keyboard and mouse. So being able to have a light think and sleek on the go work, and in the matter of 5 or less seconds turn it into a multi-screened workstation screams multimedia to me. But then again that's my .02cents

Minus the keyboard drain my vostro was equally as good. The dell was great cause it have a IR slim remote that slid into the express slot for storage, had a 17in WUXGA screen, and a full sized keybaord (that is slightly better then my thinkpads, but the t400 is growing on me). But the smaller, thiner, lighter, sleeker looks, 8-10+ hours of battery use and a more powerful newer cpu make them pretty much equal.