pre-purchase questions (T400)

Hunting for a good price I found it cheaper to buy pre-configured from an online store, but since I cannot eliminate or change options I have some concerns that I'd like to make sure of before I hit the buy button

1- Can the Ati 3470 and Turbo Memory be disabled in the Bios if I were to install XP? I don't think I'll last on Vista ... took me 2 weeks on my desktop . If I install XP I'd rather run on the Intel built in GFX and save power and reduce heat.

2- With a 35W T9400 and the Ati 3470, will heat be an issue? (+ 7200RPM HDD) I mean is it significantly worse than a T400 with a P8xxx CPU and only built-in GFX.

3- With a 35W T9400 and the Ati 3470, how much of that theoretical 9.8hrs with a 9-cell battery can I expect? (with 1/3 to 1/2 brightness (WXGA+ CCFL), low CPU usage, WiFi active)

4- Free Windows 7 upgrade. Store's website says to check Lenovo's site for info if it qualifies, and Lenovo's site has nothing particular mentioned about buying from other stores. So how do I know if I qualify before buying? By the way it ships with a Vista Business 32bit, so in theory it should.

5-This is a good deal, right?
T9400(2.53GHz, 6MB L2, 1066FSB), 2GB DDR3(1 Dimm), 160GB 7200rpm, Turbo Memory 2GB, 14.1in WXGA+ CCFL, ATI 3470 256MB, DVDRW, Intel 5100, Bluetooth, Finger Print Reader, 7in1 Card Reader, Camera, 9-cell bat., Vista Business 32bit.
+ I think (not sure) 3 year warranty.
All for ~$970 final price.

Only thing I need to upgrade is an extra 2GB DDR3 module. And later on an SSD disk as the prices go a bit down.

 

I don't find Vista that bad. SP1 helps a lot, but a lot of the problem is the crap that runs in the background. A clean install if you've got the time is a good thing.

I believe the T series CPUs run cooler than the P series CPUs, but have less battery life.

This is just a guess on my part as I've no knowledge to speak of, but as long as it's not refurbed I'd say you'd qualify.

 

I’ll briefly chime in…

The ATI card can definitely be disabled in the BIOS. As for the Turbo memory, I’m not certain, since I don’t have any, but if it cannot be disabled in the BIOS, I imagine it’ll simply be ignored by XP/if the drivers are not installed. As for XP or Vista, skip both and just run Windows 7, even the RC—it’s better than both OSs.

Heat will not be an issue—and I have a 7200RPM drive as well.

 

1) biggest power/heat-reductions are by using a SSD rather than a HHD and/or using the integrated gpu rather than the dedicated gpu. using the integrated gpu with a SSD gives a silent system, whatever the cpu.
2) at full power, T-series cpu's do use more power and create more heat, and give less battery life, than the P-series. in low-power use, you will find little difference. on the other hand, they have a much bigger cache and so have more grunt at higher use situations, all other things being equal.
3) the dedicated gpu creates considerably more power, creates more heat, and needs more cooling (fan use/noise) than the integrated gpu. which is why having the option to switch between gpu's is such a boon! the dedicated gpu has a power rating of 30W, about the same as the cpu (25W for the P-series, 35W for the T-series), so its use has a considerable affect on overall system power use and heat output ! when you don't need the dedicated gpu, why have it running? but when you need it, then use it. even a mundane program like google earth runs far better with the dedicated gpu, for example.
4) 9-cell batteries stick out the back. if you don't need the extra time away from an adaptor, the 6-cell is flush, and weighs less.
5) the 7200rpm HDD is very fine. i would much prefer it over the 5400rpm. the thinkpad HDD housing has really good dampening; very quiet (though of course not itself silent, like an SSD).
6) if you use the dedicated gpu a lot, the fan will run much more, and you will not really notice any HHD sound over the sound of the fan. in that situation, there would be little sound advantage of a HHD over a SSD, as the fan is about the same decibels as a quiet HHD.
7) if the integrated gpu is in use with an SSD and the fan is not needed, the computer runs utterly silent.

 

Thanks for the responses.

Any input on the price vs specs?
The discrete graphics and Turbo mem are extras that I wasn't looking for in a config. This machine will see zero gaming, but I guess it might be slightly useful as GPU accelerated apps become more common.

Other than that, I'll probably risk the Win7 upgrade, and worst case I can physically remove the turbo mem card.

 

Thats not too bad, I paid a similar price for mine which has the same spec as the one you are looking at except mine had a Verizon WWAN card and 2 DIMM RAM. If it isnt a fixed spec unit, I would just discard the turbo memory, its benefits are limited and honestly if I had a choice I would have personally bought more memory rather than the 2GB TB card.


BTW, welcome back. Long time since I have seen you around the forums.

 

I don't know about price vs specs, but build a comparable system on CPP and see where it lands you. Unless you have EPP available to you (by knowing an actual IBM employee) then CPP is often the best deal -- not always, but most often. Only trick is you'll have to go elsewhere to learn how to get CPP access since it is not allowed to share on this forum.