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Wednesday September 23, 2009
Lenovo T400s Thinkpad Review
By Ong Chin Han
Lenovo has always positioned the Thinkpad series as a line of tough as nails, business-centric notebooks and the T400s is no exception.
The T400s is a slim and classic-looking notebook. Some may think the classic look is boring but I think it fits the professional look.
The top of the notebook has a rubberised feel that makes it easy to grip and the external of the notebook feels sturdy overall.
On the inside, the keyboard is well-spaced and buttons are easily accessible. Lenovo even managed to cram enough space at the sides to accommodate two speakers.
But the real sturdiness of the T400s comes from the internal rollcage system that they employ. The rollcage is made from a combination of carbon fibre and fibreglass. Carbon fibre is stuff you find in F1 cars and space shuttles and is lighter and stronger than titanium.
After a short research online, I found that some folks even tried to drive an 11-ton truck over it.
The T400s didn’t survive even though it looked unscathed as it just wouldn’t boot up.
The testers then extracted the hard drive and inserted it into another T400s. Lo and behold, Windows booted up — that’s excellent durability and protection for your data. The keyboard is also spill-resistant. There are three drainage holes at the bottom of the T400s that drains liquid out of the system if you spill anything on it.
Hardware specs
The T400s comes with a Core 2 Duo P9600 (2.53Ghz) processor and 2GB DDR3 RAM (expandable to 4GB easily just by opening up the underside and slipping in a new memory module).
With such firepower, the notebook is very capable of running all the business and productivity apps that you toss at it.
For storage, you get a choice of HDD or SSD options. The review unit came with a Toshiba 120GB SSD. There are options for 250GB HDDs or SSDs as well.
However, these drives are 1.8in wide so it could be a tad more expensive finding replacements should the hard drive fail since standard-sized ones are 2.5in in width.
It also comes with a DVD combo drive but it would have been more useful if they had included a DVD writer instead.
We mentioned about the rollcage and sturdiness of the T400s but there are other features that ensure the data on it stays safe. You get McAfee Antivirus and ThinkVantage Active Protection System that temporarily stops the hard disk if a strong shock is experienced.
The built-in fingerprint scanner allows you to manage your passwords with a single touch. You can even assign different fingers to different passwords. My fingers usually don’t get past thumb scanning machines because I have a little skin problem but the T400s managed to differentiate my finger. That’s a pass!
The human touch
The T400s was made to be easy to use. The keyboard is easy to type on and the Function key gives you quick access to a plethora of features and tools.
Every Thinkpad comes with the ThinkVantage suite of programs which can be accessed by hitting a key next to the Power button.
Beside the ThinkVantage button, you get volume mute, volume control and microphone mute buttons.
If you’re working on a plane and need to dim the screen, working in a pitch black condition with no backlit keyboard could be difficult. Just turn on the Thinklight which is a small little white LED beside the webcam that will light up your keyboard area.
We are also familiar with the little joystick-like nub called the TrackPoint that controls the mouse cursor.
If you can’t get used to the Trackpoint there is always the touchpad to fall back on.
The touchpad on the T400s is a little different. Most touchpads have a smooth surface to glide your fingers across but the T400s’ touchpad has little bumps on it which gives it a nice texture.
In addition, you can do “pinching” and “pulling” actions to zoom in and out with most programs.
More power on the go
Turn off all wireless antennas, have no music, and just do your wordprocessing and you’ll be rewarded with nearly six hours of usage on a single charge.
Doing surfing, downloading and playing music while working gives you about three hours of usage which is a more accurate gauge.
Energy conservation is taken a step further by turning off your optical drive within a few minutes of inactivity.
Even the processor, Intel chipset and SSD use less power and generate less heat. All this has enabled the T400s to get a EPEAT (Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold status for low-energy use and minimal impact on the environment.
All work and ...
As there is no dedicated 3D graphics processor, which means you won’t be able to play all your favourite 3D games. We tried Dawn of War 2 and the game literally ran at half-speed.
It sounds disappointing but the integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics chip is actually capable of decoding full HD movies smoothly so you can still watch movies without any problems.
There is a VGA port to output videos but you won’t find any DVI or HDMI ports. Instead you get a DisplayPort that allows you to output HD quality video to DisplayPort compatible monitors and devices.
Once you connect the T400s to output via a projector or some other screen, you have several choices of displaying the output such as having a shared desktop view with a presenter only view.
You can then showcase your presentation on the projector while doing some additional tasks on the T400s hidden away from the audience’s view.
Connectivity
If you open up the Wireless Connectivity manager, you see options for turning on the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Wireless WAN.
You can turn the wireless antennas on and off with the slide switch at the bottom right-hand side of the T400s. WiFi and Bluetooth are the usual things you get with nearly every notebook nowadays so I won’t explain much about them.
The Wireless WAN is the thing that caught our attention.
Wireless WAN allows you to connect via WIMAX and cellular networks such as 3G/HSDPA and GPRS.
This feature is especially useful for the travelling businessman. To insert your SIM card to use your subscribed cellular services, pop off the battery and you’ll see a small section jutting out in the battery slot. This is where you slide your SIM card in.
There is an SD card reader that has become sort of a standard in all notebooks nowadays as well as three USB ports. One of the ports is a normal port, another is a combo eSATA / USB port and the final port is a chargeable USB port for charging devices even when the notebook is off.
Conclusion
The Lenovo T400s Thinkpad is a sturdy business notebook for a high-flying executive or businessman that needs the protection and connectivity options that it offers.
The most important thing in a computer is the data and the sturdy casing is capable of protecting this important asset.
The video output and display controls will be handy during a presentation. And the varied connectivity options allows the user to stay connected to the Internet.
The only grouse is, with the high price, it should have included a dedicated graphics chip.
Overall, the Lenovo T400s Thinkpad is a tough machine and it excels at everything an executive would need of it.
Pros: Solid construction; slim and lightweight; above average battery life; nice touchpad; lots of nifty little features
Cons: Pricey; no dedicated graphics processor; no DVD writer.
Lenovo Thinkpad T400s Spcifications
Notebook PC
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P9600 (2.53GHz) processor
Memory: 2GB RAM (2 slots; 1 x 2GB)
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500MHD
Display: 14.1in WXGA+ (1,440 x 900 pixels) with LED backlight
Storage: 120 GB SSD SATA hard drive
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0, LAN port, WiFi, WiMax
I/O ports: Two USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 2.0/eSATA port
Operating system: Windows Vista Business Service Pack 1
Other features: Memory card slot, VGA port, DisplayPort port, DVD combo drive, 2.0-megapixel webcam, built-in touchpad
Dimensions: 33.7 x 24.1 x 2.11cm (w x d x h)
Weight: 1.77kg
Price: RM6, 999
Website: www.lenovo.com
Review unit courtesy of Lenovo Malaysia, 1800-18-2388.
Copyright 1995-2009 Star Publications (M) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
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