Lenovo Thinkpad T400

Lenovo Thinkpad T400 Review

Overview:
Lenovo proudly presents the successor to the popular T61 series, the ThinkPad T400. Our model of this portable business laptop came with a Montevina Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, and a 160GB HDD. It was equipped with a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 dedicated GPU, but also had a switchable graphics feature which let us go between that and the Integrated Intel GMA 4500 graphics at will for the sake of battery life. The 14.1” display was a bright LED backlit WXGA+ (1440x900) LCD. With all the reputation (and looks) of the ThinkPad series behind it, ths T400 is another strong entry into the workhorse business notebook world.

Design:

Case look and feel:
If you’ve ever seen a ThinkPad before, you know what the T400 looks like for the most part. Although Lenovo has made slight changes in other lines, like making the hinges on the X301 black and the top glossy on the SL400, the T400 continues to sport the traditional silver hinges and black matte top we all know and 'love'. The chasis is all black as is the keyboard and palmrest/touchpad. You’ll find the bright red nub of the TrackPoint in the center of the keyboard and the silver ThinkPad logo emblazoned across the bottom right corner of the palmrest and lid. There are a few dull silver buttons for volume control/power next to the blue ThinkVantage button. Just above the keyboard there are a number of green status lights to tell you if your WiFi, BlueTooth, etc is on.

Size & Weight:
With dimensions of 13.2”x9.4”x1.1” and a weight of 5.3lbs with a 6-cell battery, the T400 will win no awards for portability but neither will it slow you down. We don’t advise picking it up with one hand if you’re going to move it further than across your desk, but you could if you needed to. The dimensions are small enough that it doesn’t feel awkward carrying it with one arm, and carrying it in a normal laptop case it will hardly feel heavier than you’d expect. To sum it up, “how you’d expect” is a good description of the size and weight of this notebook – unimpressive without being detrimental, it manages to feel “normal”.

Keyboard:
Ordinarily, we love typing on ThinkPads, and while the T400 still beats a lot of other laptops we’ve tested we got the feeling something just wasn’t quite the same. Nosing around online we found others had the same feeling, some going so far as to take apart the notebook and get a good look at the backplate. To his (and our) dismay, the new backplate is riddled with holes when compared with the old T61 backplate, which we suppose was done to reduce the weight. This had the negative effect of also increasing keyboard flex.

Don’t get us wrong, it’s still a good keyboard, with decent feedback and key travel. It wouldn’t be a ThinkPad if the keyboard wasn’t still at least good. We’ll be a little sad if Lenovo decides to bring the ThinkPad standard down to this level though, because keyboards such as the one located on the X301 are some of the best we’ve ever typed on.

Display Quality:
The LED backlit WXGA+ (1440x900) LCD offered an excellent display. The screen was extremely bright at full brightness, and even when reduced to 60% visibility was still respectable. On full brightness the LED backlit screen is visible even in sunlight. Horizontal viewing angles were strong, with little to no washout even when nearing perfectly horizontal viewing. Vertical angles were still good, and we were able to push the LCD back on its hinges almost 135 degrees before significant washout occurred.

Connectivity:
The connectivity on the T400 is fair, going back to the original theme of failing to either impress or disappoint. You get most everything you need, but nothing flashy like HDMI or a DisplayPort. Our particular model even lacked a card reader, but it’s available as a $10 option on Lenovo’s website.

The back features nothing but the jutting 6-cell battery and the AC power jack, as well as a lock slot.

The right side contains a USB port as well as the optical drive.

The front has a FireWire port, WiFi on/off switch, and audio in/out jacks.

Most of your wires will be hanging off the left side (even the power cord is in the left half of the rear). After an exhaust vent you get VGA, modem, LAN, 2 more USB ports, and an ExpressCard 54 slot.

Upgrading:
The T400 comes with a decent amount of upgrading options. Our T9400 processor was close to the high end, but you can go even higher with the T9600 2.8GHz if you want to. The HDD can grow to be as large as 320GB, or if SSD is your thing there is a 64GB option for that as well. RAM can even be upgraded to a whopping 8GB DDR3, although it’s important to note that you’ll need a 64 bit version of Windows if you want to utilize more than 3GB of it. If you’re a DIYer, the hard drive can be replaced from the outside by removing a single screw, and while other components are accessible it takes a bit more work to get at them.

Features:
The ThinkPad T400 comes with a number of useful features. From 802.11 a/b/g/n to integrated WWAN (our model didn’t have it, but it’s an easy upgrade), it’s easy to stay connected on the go with this notebook. Also useful for travel is the keyboard light, activated by pressing the bottom left button (fn) and top right button (PgUp) on your keyboard, making it easy to find in darkness. Other features include a fingerprint reader, integrated webcam, and as always on a ThinkPad the ThinkVantage button, offering easy access to wireless and multimedia management.

Some of the more unique features of this notebook revolve around switching on the fly. The UltraBay optical drive is hotswappable, allowing you to switch it for an additional battery or hard drive with the computer still on. The T400 also features Switchable Graphics, allowing you to switch between integrated and dedicated graphics and improve your battery life without interrupting what you’re doing. These are both useful features that are also extremely convenient, as neither requires the loading of any software, or a login/reboot.

Performance & Conclusion

The T400 is certainly a workhorse, capable of performing well even when multitasking. It’s not a high end unit but we predicted it would do pretty well in our testing. For a full explanation of our testing methodology, see here.

Windows Vista Experience Score

Processor 5.4
RAM 5.7
Graphics 4.6
Gaming Graphics 4.7
Primary Hard Disk 5.3
Overall 4.6

The 4.6 overall rating is actually fairly strong, comparing favorably to the 3.4 of the ThinkPad X301 ultraportable and approaching the 5.2 of the ASUS G50-X1 gaming laptop. It’s clear, however, that gaming is the weakness of this business oriented notebook.

PCVantage Pro

We ran the PCVantage test twice, once with the laptop plugged into the wall and the graphics set to dedicated, and then again after unplugging it and setting the graphics to integrated.

ASUS G50-X1 3935
Alienware M15x 3767
ThinkPad T400 (dedicated) 3764
HP HDX16 3320
Lenovo X301 3308
ThinkPad T400 (integrated) 3100

As you can see, thanks to a good processor, a solid 7200RPM HDD and DDR3 RAM, this laptop scored better than the ultraportable X301 and the multimedia focused HDX16, and was surprisingly close with the slightly older M15x. Predictably though, on integrated graphics, the laptop trailed everything, although not by as much as you might have thought.

3DmarkVantage

We were unable to run 3DmarkVantage on this laptop. Although it can run a 1440x900 resolution, it could not generate the 1280x1024 resolution the benchmark required.

WorldBench 6

Alienware M15x 104
ThinkPad T400: 91
Toshiba Satellite E-105 83
HP HDX16 80

The T400 (dedicated) compares well here to some of the other laptops we’ve tested. The versatile M15x still leads the pack, but 91 is a strong score and a testament to the capabilities of this computer.

Battery Performance

We tested the 6-cell battery with dedicated graphics and also with integrated graphics.

ThinkPad T400 (integrated) 334
ThinkPad T400 (dedicated) 291
Toshiba Satellite E-105 260
HDX 16 156
Lenovo X301 235
ASUS G50 X1 110

Here is where the T400 shines brightest. With the medium sized battery we were able to generate almost 5 hours of casual use battery life with the graphics set to dedicated, and over 5.5 hours doing the same with the graphics set to integrated. With the 4-cell option you should expect reduced time, but with the 9-cell you can expect as much as 10 hours if you play your cards right. Recharging our battery took approximately three hours.

Real-life usage:
We’ve described this computer as striking us as a sturdy workhorse, with features that are easily sufficient but not necessarily impressive. After extensive use and additional testing, we realize we may have sold it just a bit short. It’s not flashy, but it’s done pretty much everything we’ve asked it to and done it well, and that in and of itself is an impressive feat. It’s portable enough to move around but solid enough to know that it’s there. The keyboard may be half a notch down from some other ThinkPads, but we can’t complain after typing on it for several hours consecutively. It’s quiet and runs relatively cool, generating just enough heat that you notice it and no more. We feel like we would be extremely happy if this was a computer we had to work with on a regular basis, and take comfort in the fact that it seems every dollar that wasn’t spent on flash was spent on solid construction. Yes, it is indeed a ThinkPad.

Conclusion:
Lenovo has presented a worthy successor to the T61 series with the T400. Every piece of the hardware, from the processor to the RAM to the HDD, was a solid choice by Lenovo and performed well under our testing. The battery life was excellent, in part thanks to unique features like Switchable Graphics, which let you switch between integrated graphics and the dedicated 256MB GPU at will. The brightly lit WXGA+ display was easy on the eyes and there were just enough peripherals (fingerprint reader, webcam, keyboard light) to keep us interested. Further, it was portable enough that we didn’t think twice about carrying it all over the office. Overall the computer was a great worker and did everything we asked, even if it didn’t drop our jaw with anything too astounding.