Thinkpad T400S

Review

Form factor is a lot nicer than the Macbook Pro - a pound lighter and the screen tilts back for tall people. It's basic black and seems robust. The keyboard is exquisite. Power adaptor is compatible with previous Thinkpads. Built in Webcam seems ok. Volume rocker is a bit creaky. Keyboard changes are interesting, though large "delete" and "esc" keys are for negative people. Fast and doesn't get warm.

Critiques

Default fan setting makes annoying in a quiet environment - tweaking with http://www.gambitchess.org/mediawiki/index.php/ThinkPad_Fan_Control. It does barely get warm, but right in the center, the worst spot for a laptop. Skipping the mic input is strange since there's so much space around the edge, but at least they moved the wireless switch from the front. The coloured power button is pointless, the machine has a glowing belly button? But not having an indicator for AC status, as on the previous versions, is criminal. DVD drive is pointless these days, should have come with a weight saver. Battery should be larger capacity versions. Samsung SSD, while for the most part fast, has performance issues - concerned about random writes for typical sqllite using modern apps.

Nice to have

DisplayPort should be form compatible with Macbooks (mini DisplayPort) and pass audio. It would be nice if there were less bezel.

Linux support

Ubuntu 9.10 (alpha - 20090904) - Everything works out of the box except the fingerprint reader (who cares) and scrolling using Trackpoint/Touchpad (do care). External monitor on VGA seems to basically work though a bit fussy when toggling. Some intermittent suspend/resume problems, but this is an alpha OS. Wireless 5300 seems to take longer to connect, but hopefully doesn't have IRQ problems Atheros did.

Specifications

Brand: Thinkpad

ModelName: 2801CTO

Manufactured: 2009

Weight: 3.9lbs

Dimensions: 13.27 x 9.49 x 0.83"

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)

RAM: 4096 MB

Ram Type: DDR3

HDD Capacity: 128 GB SSD (Samsung MMCRE28G8MXP)

Chipset: Intel GS45, GMA 4500MHD

Video Memory: 128 MB

Ethernet: 1000-TX

USBPorts: 3, 1 USB/eSATA

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VGA Out: 1

Card Reader: SD,

Wireless Lan: a,b,g,n

OS: WindowsXP Professional, Windows 7, Linux

Display: LED LCD

Display Size: 14.1

Display Resolution: 1440 x 900