Customer Reviews

Lenovo T400 P8400 7417PKU 14.1-Inch Laptop

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So, I have owned a Lenovo T400 Thinkpad for a good 3 months now, having switched from the popular and routine-wise HP made machines. I had always purchased HP; be it a desktop, laptop or printer...it always had to be HP. After using Lenovos at work and always hearing good things about these types of computers, I figured I would make the switch and try one. Weeks of research and asking around, I found that the T400 might be the best fit for me, and to my surprise, it has surpassed everything I thought it would be.

Now, a review cannot be complete without some criticism and praise. These types of machines are mostly business-oriented, meaning that they are very plaid in design and usually made to last, which holds up here. Now, if you have any experience with the Thinkpad series, you would know that sturdy keyboards and a red roller ball are usually standard. These T400's do have the red roller ball and, I feel bad saying this, the keyboard is not as sturdy as I have become accostumed to. Seems as if less attention was put into the chassis of the machine and more was put into the interior. The up-to-date Intel Centrino processor and large hard drive make up for it. I had no issues with any of the machine's features, especially on start-up...this laptop starts up faster than I ever expected. And don't even get me going on the battery life, I can go a full 4 hours and still not feel the performance waver at all. The excellent ventilating system keeps the laptop from burning through your lap and it's light-weight form can have you not even realize that you are working with an average-sized laptop. Usally today's netbooks are made to be small and light. The 14.1'' model is a nice-sized laptop and weighs just as much as a 10'' netbook would.

Of course I suggest that when it comes to buying a computer, laptop or desktop, you should purchase a machine that fits you best. These days, there are so many choices and sometimes it may be hard to come to a conclusion. I work best with a machine that can maneuver through various programs quickly and efficiently, especially when it comes to working with intricate programming languages and some music downloading, here and there. I guess I always went with HP in the past because that is what I was used to, plus, I found they were always fun to use when it came to managing pictures and playing games.

If you are into the modern designs of today's laptops, with all the beautiful covers, huge and well-lit displays and up-to-date graphic cards, then maybe this sort of machine is not for you...seriously, invest in a new HP or Dell-made laptop, they have gone to great strides to make computers that will not only dazzle you, but will also keep you coming back for more. If you are into the well-built and reliable machines, with not much else in terms of style and design, then a Lenovo is what you are looking for. These machines are made to work hard and give you the tools in order to get your projects done. Of course you can still play some high-end computer games and go into some inticate details on the T400, you just might not look as cool and hip in doing so.

Enjoy!

I've been a software engineer for 15 years and I was assigned this laptop by my workplace, a large Internet company. I've used it for 5 months with two docking stations, after using a Compaq nc6400 for a few years.

Pros:
* matte screen, not one of those annoyingly reflective new ones
* the high-capacity battery lasts 5-6 hours with light use and Wi-Fi on. You can watch a 2-hour movie and have battery to spare.
* the keyboard is not backlit, but there is a light at the top of the screen that you can turn on
* it's quiet enough that it's not disturbing. Not silent, but not randomly loud either. Just a constant fan hum.

Cons:
* The Fn and Ctrl keys are swapped, and this is annoying as hell. You'll hit Ctrl+C only to find out that nothing got copied in the clipboard because what you thought was Ctrl is actually the Fn key. Of all the laptop manufacturer out there, Lenovo is the only one hanging onto this idiotic key placement. Users have been complaining for years (just google "Lenovo Fn Ctrl").
* The screen is ordinary. It doesn't have the great visibility angles and brightness of the backlit ASUS EEE 1009HE netbook screen.
* The 250GB hard drive is silent, but SLOW. You can, however, replace it with an aftermarket hard drive or SSD.
* The high-capacity battery sticks out, and the laptop is pretty hefty to carry around at 2.2kg (~5lbs). If you're looking for a lighter version, go for the ThinkPd 410s, or 420s when it will be released (April 2011?).
* While running Windows XP, configured by the IT guys at work, the machine is unstable (a blue screen every 3 days or so, concerning "atidvag"). I've updated to the latest BIOS drivers and now it's even more unstable, with random freezes, USB peripherals disconnecting for no particular reason, and other oddities. Basically, I have to reboot every day. This is most likely a software issue, though.

We got it around November 2009. We had a bad experience with T400. Performance deteriorated soon after it came. we send it back, and it did it again after a week so. I have a 3 years old Lenovo R61, it still has a much better performance than T400 and much more reliable. No freezing.