Will the Edge be sufficient?

Hey all,

I've been narrowing down my new laptop purchase and two of the frontrunners are the T410 and Edge 14.

Just browsing this website/forum, the T410 seems very popular, while the Edge is frowned upon for not being as sturdy/reliable/business-grade despite the Thinkpad name.

I will be using this laptop solely for law school---multiple tabs/windows, database research, reading online files, word processing, internet browsing, music, etc. No gaming or anything terribly intensive.

I'm willing to pay the extra $$ for the T410 to get the better system, but i have one MAJOR concern that is holding me back from buying it right now. I've read both here and elsewhere about the loud, high-pitched fan noise. I can see this being a problem trying to study in a quiet library or when bringing my laptop to class everyday.

The professional reviews I've read have given the Edge fairly high marks. Since I may not need the better features of the T410 and am concerned about the fan noise, do you all think the Edge 14 would be sufficient for my needs? Am I worrying too much about the T410's fan noise?

Thanks!

 

Honestly I've never heard the CPU whine that's been discussed here so much and I see a fair number of notebooks, but I think some are just more prone to hear it. Can the Edge meet your needs? Of course it can, but it won't have the quality of the T and I would say notebooks that travel frequently, tend to take a beating, even if you're careful.

I don't know what you're looking to spend, but they got some nice R400s in the outlet for starting around $500. The R400 is pretty much the T400, but slightly heavier and thicker. The downside of the outlet is they have one year warranties than cannot be upgraded if you care. eBay is another option.

Generally, because of the extra thickness the R series tends to run a bit cooler. If you want quiet operation, park the CPU in low power mode. Most things don't need more and it helps keep a lid on the fan noise. My X200 runs silent this way while doing everyday stuff. The temps never go into the 40°s.

 

i would go with the T410.

 

Now there is a R400 - "S" or is that a plural of R400?

 

no R400, the s is just to indicate more than one R400. or you could think that the T400 is the R400s.

 

High pitch noise is not caused by the fan, it's an electrical noise, coming from CPU or something really close to it...

My gf's T510 had a terrible whine... we fixed it by disabling CPU C states with Throttle Stop.

 

Do you own a T410? Any problems with the noise?

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll look into the R series.

 

I use a R400 as my primary machine and I can say that it is an excellent unit (touchwood!). It runs cool and the weight difference between it and a T400/T410 while existent is minimal - at least to me.

All in all, I am very satisfied with my machine. Specs in sig.

 

CPU whine will possibility exist in any of the laptop you're considering.

But then again it just comes down to how sensitive you are to it. It doesn't really bother me all that much when I hear it though I usually am listening to music at my desk.

 

i have used the T410 for couple of days, and there is no noise (or detectable by me) when using the i5-520m and intel gpu.

 

Bump for one last time. About to go with the T410 though. I'll trust you guys that the sound isn't too unbearable.

 

R400 in the outlet offers better value. The speaker, yes speaker, on my X200 isn't too bad. I'd imaging a T410 would be better.

 

Definitely, but not a fan of Vista.

There's a T400s w/a 120GB HD/4GB RAM/Core 2 Processor for $900. But maybe for that price I might as well just get a T410...