Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Review

The Lenovo ThinkPad T400 is a 14” screen laptop commonly seen being toted around by business people, but if you’re looking for a quality laptop to last you four years of school then the semi-rugged T400 could fit your needs as well. The price isn’t as high as many people assume, often starting at just over $800 after you apply frequently available 10% – 20% off coupon codes. For a portable business class laptop that’s really quite a good price, especially for all that you get as you’ll find in this review.

This Thinkpad T400 with a 14.1 inch display belongs to the current model range of the T-series just like the bigger T500 models with a 15.4 inch widescreen display. Together they become heir to the previous T61 models. In opposition, the Txxp models, thus the more efficient mobile workstations are relieved from the W-series, which encloses the recently tested W700 (17 inch) besides the ThinkPad W500 (15.4 inch).

The T400 models are offered in numerous different configurations. These differ not only in view of the performance-bearing components (CPU, GPU, hard disk and main storage capacity), but also in consideration of display technology and available features. Our colleagues from Notebookreview had another model with a High-Nit LED display, a bigger RAM capacity and faster hard disk (link to their test report) in the test. It's not surprising that this model cut off better in regards to display brightness and performance. Besides this, there are also models with an independent ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 available.

Lenovo ThinkPad T400 battery had an Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.80GHz, Penryn), 2GB of DDR2 memory, 160GB SATA hard drive, Intel GMA 4-Series graphics (and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470), and a 1440 x 900 display. Physically, to no surprise, the T400 looks mostly the same as earlier IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks with only a few subtle differences. One nice feature about the newer ThinkPad notebooks is the LED backlit panel. The selection of ports on the ThinkPad T400 is roughly the same as the previous-generation ThinkPad T60/T61 notebooks, but the USB ports have been moved around.

Lenovo has been a business mainstay for many years due to a design that rarely makes big changes — rather only tiny improvements to a proven success. It also builds laptops that have the structural integrity of a tank, making it a favourite among sysadmins since it's likely to last longer than any other laptop out in the field short of say, a Panasonic Toughbook.

Specifications for the ThinkPad T400 as reviewed:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 (2.26GHz / 3MB L2 Cache)
• Screen: 14.1″ WXGA+ (higher resolution than the regular WXGA screen)
• Hard Drive: 160 GB 5400RPM
• OS: Purchased with Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 installed for test purposes
• Optical Drive: 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
• Graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator M4500
• Memory: 3.0GB DDR2 SDRAM
• Wireless: Intel 5100 802.11 a/b/g/n card, Bluetooth
• Battery: 9-cell extended life battery
• Slots: ExpressCard 54mm and digital Media Card Reader (SD/MMC)
• Ports: Firewire, Wireless On/Off switch, Headphone/Mic, Kensington lock slot, AC Power, VGA out, Modem port, LAN Ethernet port, 3 USB ports, Expresscard/54, SD-Card Reader,

The T400 continues this trend, with the same familiar keyboard, red trackpoint and touchpad navigation (each with its own mouse buttons, although the trackpoint gets a middle mouse button whereas the touchpad is limited to left and right), magnesium alloy roll cage to protect against drops, and a spill resistant keyboard. It's also got ThinkLight Illumination — a white LED mounted at the top of the 14.1-inch, 1280x800 screen which points down to light up the keyboard in dark situations. It's not as good as a backlit keyboard and can be a little distracting, but it's better than nothing at all.

Upgrade and expansion is a step harder than most notebooks, but still very simple. To gain access to all user-replaceable parts, you simply remove five screws and carefully remove the palmrest and keybard. Here you gain access to an open WWAN slot, another for Turbo Memory or UWB, two DDR3 memory slots, and your wireless card. At this stage you can also see the processor and heatsink, but a few additional items must be removed before you can lift those items out. Although this setup does seem like Lenovo ThinkPad T400 battery replacement is trying lock the user away from upgrading parts, they fully allow anyone to handle upgrading or adding components to their notebook without voiding the warranty. Processor swaps or messing with other advanced components might not be as kosher though. The hard drive is the only item accessible from the outside of the case (besides the battery) and is easily removed with a single screw.

The ThinkPad T400 battery comes standard with all the ports a mobile professional needs, with one exception. On the right side are the optical drive and a single USB port. On the left is an ExpressCard/54 slot, an Ethernet port, a modem jack, and two more USB ports. The front lip houses a FireWire port, along with microphone and headphone jacks, while the back has a Kensington lock. The system even comes with a fingerprint reader for added security.

A memory card reader, an absolute necessity these days, was conspicuously absent from our review unit, but is available as a $10 option when configuring the T400 on Lenovo.com. DisplayPort or HDMI ports would have been welcome, but they're not vital.