Thinkpad T410s soon?

Congrats!!! I'm expecting mine being delivered shortly as it's been shipped on the 19th.
I'm going to compare it with my x300 and then decide wheather I want to leave t410s or switch to x301.
My concerns for T410s (after I saw T400s) are: screen lid is flexing, plastic doesn't feel as solid as in x300/01, keyboard doesn't feel the same, overal feels cheaper than T60, X300/01.
Please express your feelings in these regards.
Thanks

 

95:1 is very much still visible, in fact 95% of laptops nowadays are way below 200:1 in their contrast ratio. the 300:1 comes from some dubious practices by panel manufacturers when it comes to measuring contrast ratio. the one correct way to measure it is to take the ratio of brightest spot on the screen with darkest spot on the screen. Unfortunately for alot of not-so-honest manufacturers the darkest spot on the screen is measured when the screen is powered off. When the screen is turned on the black levels are not perfect (can't be with LCD panel) so the actual static ratio if measured turns out much lower than advertised.

I found notebookcheck.net the most accurate place for contrast ratio measurements. Nowadays only macbook pros and large alienware laptops come close to 1000:1 actual contrast ratio. The FHD panels on t510 is around 500:1, so is supposedly "professional" panel on W700, so is the RGB-LED panel on xps 16. Famous thinkpad Flexview panels were measured at 500:1 as well.

 

What is the actual contrast screen for macbook pro 13", and no wonder people claim that thing look better on a mac. I am semi-color blind btw, so there is no reason to get the highest contrast ratio laptop around.

 

Well Compared to the X301 I think this will indeed feel a bit amm... less well built but at the same time you can not consider it bad build quality either. The only flex i have noticed is in the palm rest area and even that is nit picking.

I have been using the computer at work for a full day now and I must say the more I use it the better I like it. The keyboard is not the same as the older gen thinkpads but its still one of the best ones I have seen around. I just needed to get used to typing on it again and I think my speed might actually have already improved.

Txt quality on the screen is very good (I see the debate rages on).

I haven't un-installed any tools (running 92 processes + 1.28GB ram usage at idle). Also running VMware workstation with ubunto on it in parallel. System doesn't feel sluggish at all. Starting to get a handle for windows 7 as well.

I have had a couple of crashes here and there with the applications but nothing the OS didn't smoothly recover from.

Thats about it.

 

So have you decided to sell your t410s? why?

 

Hi Kasher. Can you check and see who the screen manufacturer is? It will be listed in Device manager. Not sure how to get there in Windows 7, but in Windows XP here's how you can find the screen manufacturer:

1. Right click My Computer and select properties
2. Select Hardware tab and Device Manager
3. Locate Monitors, expand and double-click listed monitor
4. Select Details tab, and then choose Hardware Ids from the drop down

The manufacturer should be listed there. If you can let us know who makes the display, it would be appreciated

 

No I have not decided to sell it. I do like it a lot actually. If you are referring to my thread about wanting to sell a 410s is because I now have 2.

I changed the configuration to include the wimax 6250 and canceled the original order but the nice folks at lenovo sent me that unit anyways.

My thread got deleted cause I didn't follow the rules (i guess rightly so).

 

Thanks for relief. I would really like 6250 but Canadian Lenovo didn't offer one, wonder why? Looking forward to my T410s which is now somewhere in customs.

Any issues with speakers like reported for T400s?
Looking forward to receiving more of your reviews.

 

Yeah I wanted the 6250 cause I am traveling to a third world country and WIMAX is the most common form of service available there (poor wired infrastructure I guess)

Speakers are fine. No issues. Like I said the only issue I had was with Smart card reader and even that was a quick driver fix.

Speakers sound ok for a laptop this size. The sound quality is clear but not very loud (bass resposne is non-existent as you can imagine )

I am done writting reviews for now since it seems quite a few people will be getting theirs shortly. IF you have any speacific qestions I'd be happy to answer before I leave in a couple of days.

Note: Now tryign to figure out what to do with the extra T410s

 

You can always return it to Lenovo for full refund. Ebay is another option, given a lot of people are not willing to wait for over 4 weeks this could be a nice way to get the T410s.

Good luck in your trip!!!

 

Screen manufacturer?

 

If some one can tell me how to look it up in windows 7 I will be happy to. The windows XP method didn't show screen manufacturer under device manager.

 

You went to something like:

Computer-->Properties-->Device Manager-->Monitors-->Generic PnP Monitor-->Properties

and nothing was listed either in the first drop down or under Hardware IDs?

Here's how to open Device Manager in Windows 7:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/f/open-device-manager-windows-7.htm

 

Download HWinfo32 or Everest Ultimate(non-free) and you'll see it under the monitor section.

 

Under Hardware IDs it lists

Monitor\LEN4036

Does that help?

 

It appears to be Samsung panel, which is also used in the T400. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3882093&postcount=7
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3899060&postcount=75

I'm concerned because that original thread mentioned how washed out the Samsung panel is compared to the LG panel also supplied in the T400. I'm wondering if the T410s also ships with the LG panel.

 

Got mine today. Overall it has met my expectations; however, my screen has one dead red pixel. Guess I'll be sending it in sometime. The screen is very bright though, especially compared to my crappy T61. This obviously comes at the cost of contrast, especially at higher brightness levels.

Does anyone know if the 128GB Samsung SSD supports TRIM?

 

What is the SSD model number (check with tools such as HDTune)?

 

I also received mine today. Quite happy with it.

According to Speccy, it's...

 

How is the screen?

 

Well, coming from a T60 (14", not FlexView)... it's a nice improvement. Much brighter. I did notice that it has a slightly blueish tint to it when compared to my T60, though.

I'm really not the right person to ask about screens, though. I'm not too picky.

 

MY order got shipped! roflmao...After 2 weeks of ordering and being in status "processing", with no ship estimate, I got a "Shipment Notification" lolol. I was about to call them and ask them why I have no shipping estimate, but I guess it's better not to have one lol

 

I'm not very picky as well (I really thought that 17" Dual CCFL is better than RGB LED ) - that's why you ARE the right person to ask.

 

Haha well in that case, I find it quite adequate for what I use it for (web browsing, watching TV, programming, image editing, and very light gaming).

 

Whoa, let's be careful with generalisations here.

Technically speaking any LCD is visible if it has any contrast. The question is whether 95:1 is a good contrast - or not. And it isnt. At 95:1 contrast ratio, in the long run that screen gonna strain your eyes at best - and at worst induce headache.

It really has no business on a premium laptop at all. It doesnt belong with the brand poisitoning of the thing, nor the price charged.

 

Seriously, even 95:1 is way enough contrast to effortlessly read. In fact, too high contrast is more likely to be a problem for office/programming work. This can be mitigated by using off-white backgrounds, for example.

The 95:1 contrast ratio comes from high black levels. This is definitely bad for movies and photography work. But again not because of eye strain but because it doesn't look as lifelike as it could.

 

For what it's worth... my T410s finally arrived today, and I think the screen is great. Granted I'm coming from a T42.

 

Is there any reason why somebody would want less contrast? If higher contrast screens produce better visuals and cause less eyestrain, there is no excuse for putting subpar screens in an expensive, premium-quality laptop other than cutting costs. I like to work outside and I need a high-contrast, bright screen (that can also dim down to a low level of brightness when I'm working inside in a dark room). I was ready to buy the T410s when the switchable graphics become available, but now I'm thinking it wouldn't work well for me because of the poor quality screen and potential difficulty viewing the screen while working outside.

At the very least, Lenovo should make higher quality displays available as an option for an additional cost, especially considering how many customers are complaining about the screens. Here's what the options could be:

• 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, Anti-Glare Display w/ LED Backlight
• 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, Anti-Glare, Non-Crappy Contrast Display w/ LED Backlight [add $50.00]
• 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, Anti-Glare, Non-Crappy Contrast, Wide-Viewing Angle Display w/ LED Backlight [add $75.00]

And if they could throw in a WSXGA+, all the better

 

There I fixed it for you.

The final variable that you didn't mention is power draw; The nicer displays tend to use more juice.

 

Any thoughts? Congrats on the purchase btw.

 

i dont think there was a non crappy 14.1 inch panel produced by any manufacturers in recent years. If you look on notebokcheck, barely any broke 150:1 contrast and none of them reached 200:1. There are some excellent examples of 13 and 15 inch panels however.

 

Okay, but there are less crappy 14.1 inch panels. The display in my current Dell E6400 is quite good (Seiko). The display in the first E6400 I bought was horrible (LG). Unbearable flicker at the lowest brightness setting, poor viewing angles and obnoxiously bright (poor contrast) black.

I'd like to see some quantitative numbers for the 14 inch 1600x900 HP 8440p / 8440w panels.

 

High black levels do mean that you will be using more brightness than you should need to. Which will cause eystrain.

Also these days what is "office work"? Office work for me everyday means
- reading and creating documents in word/excel powerpoint
- reading and finding information on the web, much of which is in multimedia these days.
- it could mean reviewing marketing media (pictures and video) that marketing people in my company have created

And no, I dont work in the photography or movie business. This is real life in 2010. So its really way out of date to be talking as if "office work" is word and excel. Nobody buys an $1,800 laptop to read word and excel. You can get that for 500 bucks these days.

I mean go take a look say that Goldman Sachs website. Its serious business yet you're not going to want to spend a lot of time them on a screen that can properly display colours, contrast or video.

I'll put it to you like this. According to Notebook check, the 95:1 reading on this laptop wasnt merely average in class, but the worst they have recorded. The absolute worst.

Yet, we are here talking about a premium positioned - and priced - laptop. But its okay for it to have the worst screens in class? Sorry, does not compute. If feeling generous, one would call this negligent on Lenovo's part. But you dont want to mince words, you might even describe this a blatant ripoff.

This model should be crushing the 13" and 15" Macbook pro, by attracting the many people who want a quality laptop, but dont necessarily have any need to buy a Mac. But as it is its not even in the ballpark with a screen like this. And that is crying shame.

 

Not that it is much of a consolation for some, but I ordered my T410s on Feb. 17th, today I called to find out that the "estimated delivery" is April 21st. I promptly cancelled my order and am now researching other companies. Sorry Lenovo, you make a good laptop but two months+ for delivery is just too much.

 

Interesting. On the new Dell Latitude E6410 they have this option:

* 14.1" UltraSharp™ WXGA+(1440x900) Anti-Glare LED with Premium Panel Guarantee [add $79.00]

Looks like Dell is listening...

 

there's nothing about that display description that indicates it isn't just the same crappy panel that's in the thinkpad

dell generally has better screens, but i'm just point out that marketing gibberish means nothing

 

What does the Dell tabook say about the premium screen? It seems like Dell is smarter than Lenovo when it comes to marketing though.

 

yup - if you call a turd on the ground a candy bar, that don't mean i'm gonna eat it

 

I'm very happy with the machine so far. Granted I've been on it for about 12 hours, half of which were spent sleeping, haha. A few immediate observations:

* Comes with quite a lot of junk software. I thought this was passe, but I haven't bought a new system in a long time. A reformat is probably wisest, but I'm in the middle of a semester and don't have time for that right now, so I just uninstalled a bunch of junk and moved the SWTOOLS folder off to an external drive.

* With the SSD (Intel 80GB "G2LE") the system is very fast. I'm not enough of a geek to benchmark, but from the "Windows Experience Index" my lowest score is 3.7 (CPU). The SSD gets a 7.7.

* Ohmygoodness the thing is light. Sturdy, though.

* The placement of the USB (all on back except one on left side) is a little annoying. I wish there were more side USB. I like the powered USB function though; works well.

* Having a little trouble getting used to the multitouchness of the touchpad. I am coming from mainly using the trackpoint but wanted to give this a try. The behavior seems a bit strange, but again I'm not used to it yet.

* The ThinkLight seems a bit dim compared to my T42.

* Screen quality is a concern for a lot of people on this forum. Of course, I don't want a junk screen either, but again coming from the T42 (which is at the stage where it is dim blue/pinkish at cold boot) and a Dell Latitude D620, I find the screen pleasingly bright and clear. No dead/stuck pixels and haven't even attempted any optimizations yet, and I'm very pleased with the screen. However, again I recognize this opinion is subjective.

Overall I am enjoying the machine a lot. I've come to like the minor keyboard changes as well (enlarged ESC, lights on power/mute, etc.).

Any other questions, I'll do my best to answer.

 

k3davis can you run everest and tell us what screen you have? i'm curious if all the t410s have samsung screens or if they are still doing the samsung/lg mix-n-match

 

I'd be willing to wager that with a statement of "premium panel guarantee", Dell will replace the screen until you are happy with it (I have personal experience with this even though the screen was not listed with premium guarantee for a couple of laptops I bought). Dell seems to use several different panel manufacturers so you will probably eventually get one you like if you aren't happy with the first one. Doubt that could be done with Lenovo, and it seems they only use one type of panel, which is crap. Also, no restocking fee with Dell. If you return a laptop to Lenovo because you are unhappy with the screen, expect to pay a 15% restocking fee.

 

I'm not sure which piece of information is relevant, but the monitor ID is LEN4036 and the Manufacturer is LT41DEQ8B00. If you need something else, let me know.

 

no, that's not how dell's "premium panel guarantee" works
it would be nice, but that's not the case
the "premium panel guarantee" is a fancy name for "no dead pixel guarantee"
they are saying they'll swap the panel for you in the case of dead pixels

 

that's the samsung panel then
thanks very much for checking!

 

well, it's nice to know you can swap the panel if there are dead pixels. i was able to swap out the Chi Mei Optoelectronics LED display on my previous XPS M1330 and get it replaced with a Toshiba LED, without much hassle simply because the quality was not up to par. not sure if other computer manufacturers would have let me do this.

 

I got my T410s. I didn't like it.
keyboard is not as good as on my previous x300 and it screwed in with a very big gap between front palm bezel and itself.
There is CPU of SSD noise (there is a discussion about it on Lenovo Forum)
LCD is quite bright. Brighter than x300
Build quality is worse, especially flex of the screen.
I will buy x301.
Getting rid of t410s!!!

 

Was just configuring a T410s on the Canadian Lenovo website (EPP version). Discrete graphics is now an option under System Graphics. It shows up as NVSG 512MB, i5-520M AMT [add $106.25] and should be switchable. Very tempting, though I won't be back in Canada until late June.

 

interesting
do you show i5-540M as an available CPU option?

 

Unfortunately, no, only the i5-520M is available.

 

Hi, I am very interested in the T410s. Although whats the verdict on this screen?

My last Thinkpad was a A31p with a 1600x1200 IPS Panel that is really stunning. I am typing on it now and am still impressed how much better it than my Macbook Pro that I have been using the past 3 years.

Am I going to be disappointed with this screen? Am I better waiting for the FHD panels to return to the T510/W510. Any word if Lenovo will offer higher rez/better screens for the T410s. I would prefer not to have to step up to a larger form factor. Thanks a lot