Thinkpad T400 Advice

Hi, I’m new to this forum and I’m new to the Lenovo world.
I currently have a Sony laptop and I really want to buy a laptop that is all about performance.
I’ve been looking at the T400 Widescreen with these specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
Windows Vista Business
14.1 WXGA+ TFT w/ LED BL
ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
3GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (2 DIMM)
160GB Hard Drive 7200rpm
Intel Turbo Memory 1.6, 2GB
Bluetooth
Intel WiFi Link 5300
9 cell battery

Now my question is. I was also looking at the Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.53GHz to reduce the price a little bit.
How much of a difference will that make on the speed? Should I get 160GB HDD 7200rpm or 250GB HDD 5400rpm?

Also, since this is my first purchase of Lenovo laptop, what does everyone think about them? Is it a better choice than a Sony SR Series?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I would downgrade the CPU, RAM and turbo memory

turbo memory is useless, and for the CPU you won't feel much different if you downgrade it

If you r planning to get 3 GB. Get a 1GB (one stick) from lenovo and buy a 2GB stick from outside. It sometime sell for less than 20 buck
http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=90566&t=902188

 

1. Definitely get the lower priced CPU. You won't notice the performance difference.
2. Get the 7200 rpm hard drive for slightly faster boot times and file transfers. Get the larger 5400 rpm drive if you'd rather have the extra space.
3. I think the T400 is a far better deal than the Sony SR. You get a lot more for your money. The SR is, however, more portable and (subjectively) has much better aesthetics.

**edit: yea, get rid of the Turbo Memory. It's completely useless. And contrary to what the guy above said, don't downgrade the memory because Lenovo sells the DDR3 much cheaper than it's available elsewhere at the moment. DDR2 memory = cheap but this laptop uses DDR 3 memory = expensive.

 

The T400 uses DDR3 memory, which is actually quite expensive at the moment. The link from Sampunk if for DDR2, which is not compatible. It's cheaper to buy from Lenovo than places like newegg.com, but this will change as DDR3 becomes the norm.

2 gb seems sufficient. In his review of the T400 Kevin's machine was equipped with 2 gb, and notes that "applications loaded abnormally fast".

 

Thanks for the info guys.
The wifi I chose was the 5300, does that make a difference in comparison to the regular ones?
Also, in terms of longevity are Lenovo's better or Sony?
I know that one of you said for sure go with the T400 but I wanna get my money's worth.
One thing that I don't like about Lenovo is that there's no actual store to go to and that they're not esthatically attractive, however, Sony's design is great.

 

Sony s are pretty solid too
but I went with thinkpads because of their reputation

 

The wifi 5300 has draft N and is significantly better than the 5100. The thinkpad one only offers b/g. definatly go with the 5300 because it has 3 antennas as opposed to one. I had a sony and this will be my first lenovo as well. Everything i have heard is that despite sony being a pretty decent build quality, lenovos are meant to last much longer. And again, buy your memory with your computer from lenovo, NOT from an outside source as you will end up wasting your money with DDR3 prices so high.

 

Looks good, but I would go with P8400, 6-cells battery, and no intel-turbo memory since you are already having 3GB of RAM and 7200rpm HDD

 

I agree about getting rid of the Turbo Memory.

Longevity: Lenovo > Sony (from personal experiences)

 

just a question:
is the 4-cell not going to stick out of the computer
and how long will it last?

 

I disagree on Turbo Memory option. I would definitely get it. When you boot up the PC it uses NAND flash memory rather than the hard drive itself. NAND Flash memory has a much faster access time.

PC bootup time is definitely faster with Turbo Memory. Adobe reader to load will take .4 seconds with Turbo Memory, or 5.4 seconds without it for instance.

Early version of turbo memory caused BSOD errors, but there have been new drivers released from Intel and the technology is now mature.

It also reduces hard drive failures due to less spinning of the hard drive.

Solid State hard drives are too pricey right now. Turbo memory and a 7200rpm hard drive is the way to go. Even if you had a solid state harddrive, I would still get the turbo memory.

 

The 4-cell does not stick out and it should last for about 3.5 hours.

 

NAND Flash may be faster than your HDD, but it's not faster than your RAM. I will still say TM is only beneficial to people with a slower HDD and not a lot of actual RAM. There is a reason why HP and other brands refuse to sell TM.

 

Good to know. So should I buy the Turbo or not? It's not a money issue it's only an extra $35?!

Also, how long does a 9 cell battery last and is it necessary to get one or should I just get a 6 cell instead?

Has anyone been using Vista Business? I've used Vista Home Premium but I don't like it too much, is Business better?

 

Here's some more info about the battery:
http://forum.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=T_Series_Thinkpads&thread.id=13811

 

T9400+3gb Ram+7200rpm hdd best cost efficiency IMO

 

NAND Flash uses less power than your RAM. Also NAND Flash does not lose data once the computer is shut off while RAM does. Turbo Memory serves a completely different usage than additional RAM. Adding a USB Flash drive doesn't serve the same impact as well because of loss of data during the hibernation phase.

Intel Turbo Memory 2.0 is worthwhile. You can select which applications to accelerate via user pinning.

It is not a gimmick but rather an evolutionary performance improvement product which does what it is supposed to do which is reduce battery drain since you do not use the hard drive or the RAM, and provide improvement in performance for loading applications.

Lets say for instance you ran a web browser off of Turbo Memory rather than the harddrive or RAM. You save power, and the browser is stored in the Flash memory each and every time you boot up the PC. With RAM this can not happen. Why? Because when you shut down your PC all data in the RAM is gone and because RAM draws power to keep the data in the chip.

A ram disk and turbo memory are 2 distinct beasts. Rather than listen to me, google what it does and why. It is definitely a very worthwhile feature to have.

Manufacturers choose to use products for various reasons. Lenovo is a top Notebook manufacturer and Google earth for instance was shown to have a performance increase with the product as well.

Turbo memory is definitely worthwhile for the price. You can not replicate the feature with a USB Flash drive because of the hibernation state. Spend the money and be happy. Turbo memory 2.0 fixed the bugs and drivers are now stable.

Sometimes you want to think that corporations add products just to suck customers into traps. However Intel will not and does not do this. They have the best chips and best engineers in the world for central processing units in mainstream PC's. The product is only $30 and is a very small price percentage of the PC. In all honesty they are better to offer the product standard however due to the build to order concept they are giving you the choice to add the chip or not which is fine. You can get the chip on your own or get it through Lenovo or do without it.

 

yes I too am sorta planning on getting this laptop. i'd get a new latitude from dell due to aesthetics alone, but ive got the ibm discount from my mom.

anyway, as far as cpu, the P serious is 25w and more power efficient where as the T series is more hungry. Is getting the 2.4 P8600 a better choice than the 2.53T9400? i wnat the fastest processor, but not if it means i'll get significant loss in battery life.

also, i dont plan on doing any PC gaming at all; will an integrated gpu be sufficient for HD movies and general use?

what is the difference between 1 dimmension and 2 dimmension memory?

both the intel 5100 and 5300 wifi adapters have AGN so why is there a price difference between the two? what makes the 5300 better?

and lastly, I want the 6 cell battery because the 9 cell is both more costly and bulkier, but what kind of battery life can i expect from the 6 cell; and what sort of life could i expect from a 9 cell?

thanks.

 

"what is the difference between 1 dimmension and 2 dimmension memory?"

Choosing between 1Dimm and 2Dimm is choosing between having one stick of RAM in the computer or two.

There is a slight performance increase if the RAM spread out over multiple slots. However, laptops generally have two slots total for RAM.

Thus, if one is interested in having a total of 2gigs of RAM and is not interested in upgrading in the future, spreading the RAM out between two 1gig chips would yield the best results.

On the other hand, I, for example, got my T400 with one 2gig chip because I'll be interested in getting another 2gig chip once the price of DDR3 RAM drops. I'll probably have to wait a while though...

"both the intel 5100 and 5300 wifi adapters have AGN so why is there a price difference between the two? what makes the 5300 better?"

This question has been brought up a couple times,- running a search would get you a better answer than the one I'm about to provide.

As mentioned elsewhere, http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/products/wireless/adapters/5000/index.htm shows the specs.

The 5300 has a higher bandwidth potential in certain areas and has three antennae whereas the 5100 has one. So, theoretically one should be able to get a stronger signal.

 

Thanks for the info, it's very helpful. I think I will go with the Intel Turbo.
I read about the battery link that the previous person posted. So, with the kinda system that I wanna get would 6 cell be enough? Or should I just stick to a 9 cell? I'm not too crazy about it sticking out but I guess there's not much that I can do with regards to that.

 

I have yet to date seen a review on Intel Turbo Memory 2.0. For a notebook, I would recommend the more powerful 25W CPU and Turbo Memory if you want the best of mobility. Such IMHO is the best combo for those who want a T400 geared for mobility. It all depends on your individual user needs though.

If I decide on the T400, I would get the 25W CPU, Turbo memory. The question mark for me is still the Wifi card since 5350 is not yet offered however will be soon and I am hoping there will be the same discount or greater off the price of the notebook by that point in time.

With Lenovo you need to wait for sales to come in and compare discounts, sometimes you hit it right, othertimes you don't. But with me, I need to wait for the best sale with the Wimax thats equivalent to the discounts offered now.

 

I know the difference between NAND and RAM. Until someone comes up with an actual performance test of TM 2, I cannot say I agree with you yet, cause they definitely failed on TM 1. And is the current TM offered in the current laptops such as T400 a true TM 2 or just TM 1 with increase capacity?

 

So is 6 cell battery enough for a 9 cell for the system I want?
Also, should I stick to Vista Home or Vista Business?

 

In theory, it's a great idea, but until I see benchmarks for Robson I still refuse to believe it will offer any appreciable performance gains.

 

I personally have always used ThinkPads with the larger battery that extends out from the system and can honestly say have never really noticed it or been inconvenienced by it. I'm sure, however, that I would notice it if my machine were hibernating cause the battery was drained.

 

What is the weight difference between the 4-cell and the 6-cell??

 

So this is what I'm planning on buying. What do you guys think?

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Edit 2764CTO $1,513.32
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz, 6MB L2,1066MHz)
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Business
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Business US English
Display type: 14.1 WXGA+ TFT w/ LED BL
System graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
Total memory: 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (2 DIMM)
Keyboard language: US English Keyboard
Fingerprint : Integrated fingerprint reader
Camera: with Camera
Hard drive: 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Intel Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 1.6, 2GB
Optical device: DVD Recordable, Ultrabay Slim
System expansion slots: Express Card & Media Card Slots
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel WiFi Link 5300
Modem: Yes - AMoM
Integrated wireless WAN adapters: Integrated WWAN upgradable
Battery: 6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord: 90W AC Adapter; NA, LA, (2pin)
Language pack: English US Publication

Does this come with 25w? I didn't see that anywhere.

 

No, the P series processors are the 25W ones. If you want a 25W processor, your highest option right now is the P8600 (lenovo isn't selling the P9500 yet). The T9400 you chose is 35W.

 

Oh ok thanks.
But from what I understand the T9400 is better than the P8600, correct?

 

It's slightly faster and has double the cache, but uses more power.

 

adamj023, it's said version 1.6, so it's not 2.0.

 

So is the 1.6 the version with the problems?

 

With the latest driver, I think they fixed the problems, but just not a very useful option.

Anyway, I'm not 100% sure what generation is the 1.6, maybe there is no 2.0 at all.

 

Good to know.
Is the T400 a better choice than the T500? I feel that the T500 is a little bit over priced.

 

I think yes. Especially when you can get 9+ hours in T400, I think 500 won't be an option even you have that much money.

 

I agree with Stewie that TM is just not worth it.....but you are the buyer.....35$ is not that much anyway compared to the cost of the whole laptop....so might as well get it

 

Yea that's the thing, for $35 I might as well just get it.
What is the difference between Windows Business and Windows Business 64?

 

I'd be interested in comparing notes with buyers choosing the Turbo Memory -- does your build config include the WWAN antenna assemblies? I opted against the TM and chose the WWAN-Ready option.

Here are the lines from mine that include WWAN:
43Y3470 SBB WWAN MISCP-WWAN READYFULL
44C1347 SBB 14.1"WXGA+LEDB/L BTCAMWWAN
44C1356 SBB CL.PLATET400WLAN+BLUETWWAN
42W7002 SBB FCC-ID/LABEL FOR WWAN

 

well, WWAN really has nothing to do with turbo memory. Anyway I don't think you can replace turbo memory with WWAN. I might make a call tomorrow to make a final change for my laptop.

 

One is 32-bit and one is 64-bit I assume....I got 64-bit so I could upgrade to 4GB or RAM in the future

 

4 cell doesnt stick out, its battery life is 4.3 hours (not sure if this is whilst using applications or when left alone)

 

So the 6 cell should give something around 6 hours.

 

on the data sheet i have:
"Li-ion Battery Life (Windows Vista®)10
4-cell: starting at 4.3 hr
6-cell: starting at 6.5 hr
9-cell: starting at 9.8 hr
9-cell + bay battery: starting at 13.0 hr"
hope this helps

 

so i reckon 6 cell is probably the best option, however ive heard it sticks out 3/4 of an inch

 

Are there any coupons/discounts on the new Thinkpad models (T400/T500)?