Lenovo ThinkPad T400s ~ MY BLOG

No other 14-inch business notebook can beat this new ThinkPad’s combination of performance and portability.

Lenovo hasn’t

just put its popular ThinkPad T400 on a diet. The 3.9-pound ThinkPad T400s (starting at $1,599, $2,130 as configured) offers the strongest combination of performance, portability, and style that we’ve seen in a business notebook. The superslim chassis and state-of-the-art components come at a premium—and its graphics performance is lackluster—but business users who are willing to pay for high quality won’t be disappointed.

Design

The T400s’s matte black chassis, green indicator lights, and bright red trackpoint are similar to those found on every ThinkPad since 1992, but the slim lines and carbon-glass fiber lid are reminiscent of the sleek X300 series. And, identical to the X300 series, the T400s’ battery attaches to and sits flush with the bottom of the system, rather than sticking out of its back.

While the 14.1-inch screen makes it a bit larger than the 13.3-inch X300 series, at 3.9 pounds and 0.8 inches thick, the T400s is 0.3 inches thinner and a full pound lighter than the original T400. And, unlike the X300, whose keyboard and screen can feel cramped, the T400s offers a better balance between comfort and portability.

As with the X300 series, the T400s’ chassis feels extremely firm and durable. Solid contact bumpers on the lid help protect against bumps and drops. Tight metal hinges give the lid a more solid feel than other notebooks. A magnesium alloy keyboard bezel and bottom cover add to the strength.

Keyboard and Touchpad

On the surface, it seems as though Lenovo made only minor tweaks to its industry-best keyboard design, adding larger Escape and Delete keys, and reducing the empty spaces between keys to prevent crumbs and dust from falling into them. Keyboard aficionados will also notice the unmistakable lack of flex, and the strongest feedback they’ve ever encountered in a notebook keyboard.

On the Ten Thumbs typing test, we achieved a high 84 words a minute, 5 percent faster than our 80-word average, but a typing-test score alone doesn’t take comfort into account.

We’ve always liked the accuracy offered by Lenovo’s trackpoints, and this machine’s is no different. Those who prefer a touchpad, however, will be pleasantly surprised by the wide, textured surface on the T400s’s pad. In addition to its accurate surface, the new touchpad also supports multitouch gestures: A two-finger pinch, let uszoom in and out on Web pages and in photographs. Using our fingers while browsing photos in Windows Picture Viewer allowed us to rotate the images. Sliding two fingers up or down in Internet Explorer enables scrolling.

Display and Audio

The 14.1-inch LED-backlit screen provides a native resolution of 1440 x 900, which is the same as the 13.3-inch X300 series. However, the X300 series screens are a little small for that much screen real estate, so the additional 0.8 inches of panel on the T400s make it much easier on the eyes.

While the screen is bright and images are sharp, viewing angles leave something to be desired. At 45 degrees on either side, the colors wash out significantly. If you’re planning a presentation, you’ll surely want to use an external monitor or projector. Also, DVD playback was lacking. While watching Dark City, we noticed quite a bit of pixelation in all scenes and noise in night scenes. Still, quality should be acceptable for business travelers. Our test system came with a standard DVD burner, but the T400s can be configured with a Blu-ray drive ($560).

When listening to music, the sound from the stereo speakers was clear and distortion-free, though not very loud, even at maximum volume. Sound from videos, including DVD movies, was also clear though quiet. We recommend turning up the volume to full blast if you’re sitting more than a few inches away.