Time has come to replace my aging* T43. Current config with shown in signature.

I'm mainly considering the T400 or the W500 as shown here:
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/8850/think2ji8.th.jpg

Questions;
1. Their weights don't seem like it would be much more than my T43... but is the W500 really 5.5lbs with a 15" 1920x1200 screen? (only 0.2lbs heavier than the T400?)

2. Which video is better? I understand both machines support switchable graphics, and I wouldn't mind playing the occasional game. Either should be a huge upgrade over my x300

3. Neither of them will allow me to run 2 LCDs + notebook display concurrently, correct? (3 monitors total)

I think I'm slightly leaning towards the W500 even though price is at least 30% higher but interested to hear your opinions.

*depends on who you ask - me or the wife

None of the current notebook graphics chips support 3 displays. Best solution is probably to use the advanced dock with a card. There are also some USB and Express-card solutions as well as some boxes that will run 2 moderate-resolution displays from a dual-link DVI.

Is that weight incorrect? On the datasheet the W500 says "6-cell battery models starting at 2.63 kg/5.8 lb" and I'm assuming this is for the WSXGA+ screen.

For what's listed (WUXGA) wouldn't it be even heavier?

Another question: how does the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 compare to the Mobility FireGL V5700?

Approximately 1/3 the frame rate for most graphics. Less for wire frames under OpenGL.

Wow, I had no idea they were that far apart. Even for gaming the V5700 wins out by that much? If so I might have to go with the W500...

Note, however, that the 3650 in the T500 is approximately equivalent to the 5700. Also, the CTO versions of the T400 have been listed as having a 3640. It is still unclear as to whether this is accurate - but my belief is that this is a slow version of the 3650 (80-90% as fast).

My assumption are that: (1) WUXGA screen is heavier than WXGA+, (2) having bigger graphic card means having bigger heat sink and heavier weight, (3) Your travel weight usually have to include AC/DC adapter, and T400 & W500 includes different models (about 200g difference in weight).

With that said, I believe the information in the HK version of brochure is some how off. W500 would at least as weight as T500 with 3650. I personally wouldn't count on weight here, or even in tabook. I usually found that the actually much more than what it says. And from tabook, T400 6-cell starts at 5.0lb (2.3kg), T500 6-cell starts at 5.9lb (2.7kg), so I tihnk W500 6-cell would weigh almost 3kg.

NaT - do you know how much the T43 weighs while traveling, with the AC Adapter - I'm guessing it would be approximately 2.5kg +/-? I always take my T43 around in a small laptop trolley with wheels. I find it a bit too heavy if I have to carry it around with me all day, especially in the hot HK summers.

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The order form has been published and they haven't changed any specs from the first post. Interesting though that they don't have the video card listed.

ThinkPad T400 (WXGA+)
Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz) / 2GB DDR3 (1066MHz) / 200GB (7200rpm) /
14.1” Anti-Glare TFT WXGA+ (1440 x 900)/ DVD+/-RW Drive / Modem / LAN /
5100 AGN / Bluetooth / 5-in-1 Card Reader / Webcam / Fingerprint Reader / 5.3 lbs /
3-years Warranty / Vista Home Basic

ThinkPad W500
Core 2 Duo P9500 (2.53GHz) / 3GB DDR3 (1066MHz, 2GB+1GB) / 200GB (7200rpm) /
15.4” Anti-Glare TFT WUXGA (1920 x 1200)/ DVD+/-RW Drive / Modem / LAN /
5100 AGN / Bluetooth / 5-in-1 Card Reader / Webcam / Fingerprint Reader / 5.5 lbs /
3-years Warranty / Vista Home Basic


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- The Core2 Duo 2.5 would be a huge upgrade over my Pentium-M 1.7. Double the cores + faster clock speed.

- 200GB HD onboard would be nice. I've been having to cope with an external 80GB notebook drive.

- Wireless N- probably won't use for quite a while. (has 802.11n been ratified finally?)

- Webcam + Card reader: Nice to have built-in also...

- [edit] Video: anything I get, be it the 3470 or 3640 or V5700 will be a big (or huge?) upgrade over my ATI X300..

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I spend at least 10 hours on my Thinkpad daily, and these are quite a few "nice to have's". Just can't decide for sure: should I really go for it? Or can I wait another year...? ....

Core 2 is also about 20% faster clock for clock than Pentium M.

3470 is about 3X an X300. 3650 is about 6X.

Thanks Andrew... so I get two cores, 20% faster at 1.7GHz AND the clock speed increase. Tempting

I poked around the Lenovo site and found this:

T43 with 14.1inch display:

* Width: 311 mm (12.2 in)
* Depth: 255 mm (10.0 in)
* 26.6 to 31 mm (1.0 to 1.2 in)
* Configured system weight (with DVD-ROM or CD-ROM): 2.22 kg (4.9 lb)

Accessories:

* Battery pack (Li-Ion): 325 g (0.72 LB)
* AC adapter: 360 g (0.795 LB)
* Power cord for AC adapter: 90g (0.19lb)
* DVD drive: 345 g (0.76 LB)


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The tabook has the W500 w/ 9-cell starting at 2.8kg (6.2lb), and the datasheet says 6-cell models start at 2.63kg (5.8lb).

Also, the datasheet says the Intel P9500 has 3MB L2 cache, and not 6MB as listed in the HK image scan. I assumed the image scan was incorrect, but Intel's own website lists 6MB cache.

This model is quite a bit wider than my T43 (357.5mm vs 311) but would just fit inside my current suitcase trolley

The T400 starts at 2.4kg (5.4lb) for the 9-cell model, and the 6-cell would of course be less.


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Weight & physical size aside, is there anything else I have missed in comparing the two (T400 and W500)? Neither of them have these so-called LED screens correct?

Oh, the W500 has display port, but not sure how that would benefit me...

P9500 is indeed a 25W Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz with 6MB Cache.
T8400 is a 35W Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz with 6MB Cache.
T9600 is a 35W Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz with 6MB Cache.

However, W500 in US currently do not have an option for P9500. It's possible, though, that in your region, ASIA in particular will have a slightly different configuration. So, your Hong Kong brochure might be correct.

Actually, I would prefer to have a W500 with P9500 to W500 with T9600. I might sacrifice just a slight processing power but got longer batt life (10W or 28.57% less CPU power consumption).

For "LED thing", T400 do have an option for that in some models (you have to check if it is also available in Hong Kong but I believe it is) while W500 don't.