Are series xx40 and newer really that bad?

[CASPER]

General question - Do you regard xx40 series and newer ones to be really that bad over older brothers? And why?
Classic series (up to xx20) are getting older and older, and some of us need more power, also lighter is an advantage, as is a trackpoint.
But what about build quality of newer ones? Just reading forums, watching reviews made me think they are built using worse materials, more plastic and less metal (no rollcage). I have seen fairly new units (under a year of usage) with cracks near hinges, on palmrest and on other places - things that happened to my T500 after 7-8 years of abuse.

The reason I ask this questions is simple - I have seen T440s, x240 can be bought in new condition for about 700-800 dollars, and I am curious how this price compare with it's built quality, performance and reliability. I wonder if buying older and cheaper T440s could be a good idea considering that T470s is 1750 USD and more (ludicrous price IMO), so twice the money for older brother.

Thanks in advance.

[Thinkpad4by3]

My X240 died after 3 years of service. Wont recognize RAM anymore. Granted that machine got upgraded one too many times but still, no T520 I experimented on let me down.

Oh, and the back panel is a PITA to get ona and off. Its clamps and screws.

[CASPER]

Ok, that is one vote against So they changed build philosophy and it was followed by lower build quality? 3 years is what I get from 200$ new laptop. Not optimistic.

I also heard about faulty motherboards in T440. Wonder if that is truth.

[Thinkpad4by3]

My dad's company is switching from Thinkpads to Latitudes.

1: Because Dell is their client and they Dell wants them to use their machines.

2: Because People and IT are pee'd at the T440 and T450.

BTW this is after 20 years of using Thinkpads.

[brchan]

I have a t450 at work. Fit and finish is good and the system is physically quite solid. Only complaint is the keyboard and the screen rubbing against the keyboard. Not very eye pleasing either but other than that it's nice.

[TPFanatic]

The problem is that they are gray and Thinkpads are supposed to be black.

[ajkula66]

The problem is that they are gray and Thinkpads are supposed to be black.

LOL.

My take on T440p that I've played with in a store when they first came out was that it felt more like a funky EliteBook than a ThinkPad.

Now, to answer the OP's initial question...I guess that it all depends on how one defines "that bad".

Even if one deems the keyboard layout acceptable, the trackpad/palmrest area should be swapped with the one from *50 series in order for the user to keep some sanity, IMO.

Is the build quality problematic in general? Apart from the usual "screen lottery", probably not more than what most people have gotten used to.

Now, are these systems really *that* more capable than their *20/*30 predecessors? My take is that they're not, and for my purposes they have way too many design-related negatives to be considered even for free, but to each their own.

[shawross]

Laptop prices over the years have dropped dramatically across the industry and margins are tight for the remaining producers.

Something has to suffer the consequences IMO. The old adage you get what you pay for I believe is true enough here.

If you want the fastest and lightest Laptop then you can purchase a newer Thinkpad which probably will serve you well.

Will it have the build or quality materials of older Thinkpads? No.

[fatpolomanjr]

x450 and later are ok. The aspect ratio and keyboard can use some work, but screen resolution is decent. Some newer designs even have xps 13-style thin bezel displays.

I would buy newer thinkpads if they were at least 16:10 and 7-row keyboard. I could live with the current 6-row since I began seriously thinkpadding fairly late in the game (2010 or so). The only reason I haven't moved onto apple with their 16:10 or surface with their 3:2 displays is due to lack of trackpoint.

[ZaZ]

Better or worse depends on your goal. Are ThinkPads as durable when they used to cost $3,000? Probably not, but they cost a lot less too, meaning many more people can afford them, and almost every ThinkPad now has an IPS screen option, even the lowly E series. I'd say those were improvements over older ThinkPads. If you've abused your T500 for seven to eight years and it hasn't had any problems, you probably got lucky more than anything else.

[CASPER]

Only complaint is the keyboard and the screen rubbing against the keyboard.

Are you getting any marks on the screen?

[brchan]

Are you getting any marks on the screen?

I get key marks fairly easily, but they easily come off with a microfiber cloth.

One thing I forgot to mention was that although the laptop feels very tight and rigid, the plastics will develop shine quite fast. I only had this laptop for a month and it is pretty noticeable on the trackpoint keys and palmrest. However, I will add that the plastic itself feels less cheap than on xx10 - xx30 models.