Buying a T400 in the UK

[ateece]

I've just asked the following of Lenovo, but I wondered if anyone here could shed any light on my queries...

"Hi,
As the customization isn’t available in the UK I have been forced to peruse the vast number of T400s available in the UK. Some of these actually seem to be identical! Perhaps there are subtleties that I’ve missed but it would seem that there are subtleties that are not specified on the “product specification” pages.

I am very interested in the 27671RG model, part number NM51Rxx. I have some questions though;
• The models list page specifies this laptop as having a 1440 x 900 screen, but the product details page specifies a 1280 x 800 resolution. I note that in the USA an LED backlight is only available on the 1440 x 900 WXGA+ screen so I hope that it is the product details page that is wrong.
• Does the laptop have an Intel Turbo Memory cache?
• The specification page doesn’t seem to list the expansion slots on the laptop. On the USA Customizer I can pick “Express card & PC card”, “Express card & smart card” or “Express card and 7-1 media card reader”. Which is on this model?
• Does the laptop have Bluetooth connectivity?

Below is how I would specify a laptop if I were in the USA. I believe (because of the high resolution LED screen) that this is the only UK laptop that comes close to my requirements but perhaps you could recommend any others?

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty

Description
Part number
Unit price*
Quantity
Price*

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
Display type: 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
System graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
Total memory: 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Keyboard: Keyboard US English
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Hard drive: 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 2GBOptical device: DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & 7-1 Media Card Reader
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Wireless card: Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
Wireless WAN: Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradableBattery: 6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
3 year onsite 9x5 Next Business Day

[Dead1nside]

What address did you send that to? I think I've tried emailing them directly before, I got ignored.

Hemini and Insight UK have models available. However I do feel your pain about the lack of customisation and the fact that it's so hard to find a preconfigured model to your specs as they don't tend to list the correct specifications or the full specifications a lot of the time.

I've encountered a number of supposed WXGA+ models that end up being also listed as 1280x800.

I'm trying to get a WXGA+ model with cam, 160GB 7200RPM HDD, ExpressCard & PC Card slot, DVD-RW, 9-cell, HD 3470, Intel 5300, Bluetooth.

[NaT]

I am very interested in the 27671RG model, part number NM51Rxx. I have some questions though;
• The models list page specifies this laptop as having a 1440 x 900 screen, but the product details page specifies a 1280 x 800 resolution. I note that in the USA an LED backlight is only available on the 1440 x 900 WXGA+ screen so I hope that it is the product details page that is wrong.
• Does the laptop have an Intel Turbo Memory cache?
• The specification page doesn’t seem to list the expansion slots on the laptop. On the USA Customizer I can pick “Express card & PC card”, “Express card & smart card” or “Express card and 7-1 media card reader”. Which is on this model?
• Does the laptop have Bluetooth connectivity?

Here is the product spec from the P/N 27671RG from Lenovo/IBM site:

P9500(2.53GHz), 2GB RAM, 320GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1440x900 LCD, 256MB ATI Radeon 3470HD, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11agn, Vodafone WWAN, Bluetooth, Modem, 1GB Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, Camera, 4c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32

Hence:
- It's a 1400x900 notebook.
- It doesn't have turbo memory.
- It has the standard Express+PC card.
- It has bluetooth.

[morgandog]

What address did you send that to? I think I've tried emailing them directly before, I got ignored.

Hemini and Insight UK have models available. However I do feel your pain about the lack of customisation and the fact that it's so hard to find a preconfigured model to your specs as they don't tend to list the correct specifications or the full specifications a lot of the time.

I've encountered a number of supposed WXGA+ models that end up being also listed as 1280x800.

I'm trying to get a WXGA+ model with cam, 160GB 7200RPM HDD, ExpressCard & PC Card slot, DVD-RW, 9-cell, HD 3470, Intel 5300, Bluetooth.

Hemini appear to have around 20 T400 models listed. Insight still has the same model number that has been there for a week or two, which matches the same model number that most UK retailers have listed. Hemini is the first place I have seen that actually lists a range of models (including a £500 base model). Hopefully this is a good sign (and they are actually available at some point). Now I just need to decide if I want a T400 or an x301!

[ateece]

Where did you get that spec from? The only page I can find is
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/uk/products.nsf/ ... eb_express

It NOW states this laptop has a 128gb SSD instead of a 320gb hard disk. Hemini dont list an SSD on this model though.

BTW. Never heard of Hemini before. Thanks for the tip on where to buy in the UK. Listings of T400/500s are certainly still rare

[morgandog]

Where did you get that spec from? The only page I can find is
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/uk/products.nsf/ ... eb_express

It NOW states this laptop has a 128gb SSD instead of a 320gb hard disk. Hemini dont list an SSD on this model though.

BTW. Never heard of Hemini before. Thanks for the tip on where to buy in the UK. Listings of T400/500s are certainly still rare

I had a model selected to order from Hemini (Lenovo UK lists them as a retailer if you click on the buy links) that was supposed to have a 320GB HDD based on info on the Lenovo and the Hemini websites, but when I checked yesterday getting ready to ask my purchasing people to order it, the spec had changed to list a 128gb SSD (but Hemini still lists a 320 gb hdd). I don't want the SSD (or I might wait for the x301) since I am not hell bent on speed or any extra power savings (based on the long battery life already seen in the T400), but I do need the drive space for raw files from my SLR. I am guessing that this is another case of lack of correct info and long delays before anything is actually available in the UK...

[morgandog]

Where did you get that spec from? The only page I can find is
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/uk/products.nsf/ ... eb_express

It NOW states this laptop has a 128gb SSD instead of a 320gb hard disk. Hemini dont list an SSD on this model though.

BTW. Never heard of Hemini before. Thanks for the tip on where to buy in the UK. Listings of T400/500s are certainly still rare

I've now emailed with Hemini and they state that they expect to be shipping T400s in 14-20 days. They also state that the model has a 320GB HDD. I put the 'type' (product number) for the model I was looking at into the form on the 'Service and downloads' page and it lists a 320GB HDD as well. I just put in a purchase order request for this model so now I wait to see what happens...

[morgandog]

By the way, for people ordering a Thinkpad in the UK please note that Hemini is charging a very large credit card surcharge (up to 5%) so we are looking or a different source for Thinkpads (or a way around the surcharge from Hemini). I have no idea who would pay the fee to Hemini - they wanted to charge us around £90 for a high end T400 order. Ridiculous...

[ateece]

If Hemini get them in before the rest, or there prices are generally cheaper then maybe that justifies the extra £90 for some people. Not me though.

I wonder what the deal is with the SSD then... Lenovo's spec sheet still says that the model is 1440 x 900 res on the big list of models page, but 1280 x xxxx on the details of that model page.

[morgandog]

If Hemini get them in before the rest, or there prices are generally cheaper then maybe that justifies the extra £90 for some people. Not me though.

Good point - I see that cheritononline.co.uk (another website listed by Lenovo UK) had the same model for something like £200 more (no VAT), so £90 might not be a bad premium to pay. But if they (Hemini) don't accept any alternative methods of payment, then it seems silly to charge a credit card fee (I am waiting to hear back if they accept a check or bank transfer).

I wonder what the deal is with the SSD then... Lenovo's spec sheet still says that the model is 1440 x 900 res on the big list of models page, but 1280 x xxxx on the details of that model page.

There are a lot of errors on the models list, but I am hoping that the support site that lists specs of systems has the correct details (and the specs listed there match most of the specs I see listed for models, so I assume that the outliers are incorrect).

[ateece]

There are certainly a lot of errors on the spec sheets.

But 2 weeks ago this model did have a 320gb hard disk (I was copying the details of the models i was considering to excel).

The spec sheet got updated roughly when the X301 was announced. And as the X301 is now a 128gb SSD (I think) it might make sense that 128gb SSDs are now what Lenovo uses.

Also this seems to be the top-of-the-line UK model, and no other T400s have SSDs. Obviously this is all guess work, but educated guess work I think.

Personally, if the SSD improves battery life at similar or better performance than a HDD then it would be perfect for me. Pop a second SATA disk into the ultrabay. After all 5400 is slooow. I usually only use 7200 drives.

[morgandog]

There are certainly a lot of errors on the spec sheets.

But 2 weeks ago this model did have a 320gb hard disk (I was copying the details of the models i was considering to excel).

Indeed, I noticed that the specs on the website had changed, but I asked Hemini for the 'correct' specs and they listed the 320GB HDD (and cheritononline.co.uk also lists the HDD). Note that the product support page still lists the HDD, not the SSD:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ry=27671RG

so I am guessing that they have screwed up the model specs on the T series page (it also lists the screen resolution wrong)

I placed an order for this model figuring that, if it shows up with the 128GB SSD I could either sell the SSD and buy a premium HDD or add a second HDD (I need space and am don't really need the drive speed increase of an SSD or a 7200rpm drive). The price increase above other models is too low for the expected cost of the 128GB SSD, so even though I don't want the SSD I would come out ahead if they decide to change the spec.

That said, it's still amazingly irritating that the same model can be purchased from the US site for about half the cost! Too bad they will not ship overseas...

[Dead1nside]

If anyone from the UK decides to place an order at any of the UK distributors please tell us what your experiences were. I'm thinking about waiting until Euclid Computers have some models with the right specs and IWS.

[morgandog]

If anyone from the UK decides to place an order at any of the UK distributors please tell us what your experiences were. I'm thinking about waiting until Euclid Computers have some models with the right specs and IWS.

We placed an order with Hemini yesterday and are waiting for them to issue an invoice that we can pay by check or transfer to avoid a surcharge. I doubt I will see the computer any time soon since the model we ordered is supposed to have the P9500 processor that doesn't appear to be available. I figured we can get in the queue and be one of the first to get one if they ever start shipping. Given how fast prices have dropped on a lot of models after they been released I'm sure were paying some premium, but I noticed that ThinkPad prices to really drop all that much during the life cycle of a model, so there's really not that much to lose.

If and hopefully when things progress I'll post an update.

[Dead1nside]

We placed an order with Hemini yesterday and are waiting for them to issue an invoice that we can pay by check or transfer to avoid a surcharge. I doubt I will see the computer any time soon since the model we ordered is supposed to have the P9500 processor that doesn't appear to be available.

Did you order one with the LED-backlight? I can't find one on the UK Lenovo website with the LED-backlight let alone any of the online retailers.

[ateece]

The model I talked about at the start of this thread is an LED model. Perhaps the only one in the UK.

Hemini have it.

The models list states it's a 1400 res screen, but the detailed spec sheet says its only 1280 res. However, the initial brochure said the LED was only on the 1400 res screen, and Hemini say it's 1400 res.

[Dead1nside]

The model I talked about at the start of this thread is an LED model. Perhaps the only one in the UK.

Hemini have it.

The models list states it's a 1400 res screen, but the detailed spec sheet says its only 1280 res. However, the initial brochure said the LED was only on the 1400 res screen, and Hemini say it's 1400 res.

The brochure said that all WXGA+ would be LED-backlight when they're in fact not. So I would definitely not buy any T400 on the basis that it is a 1440x900 WXGA+ screen and therefore must have the LED-backlight, as we were led to believe. This is simply not the case. Finding a model with an LED-backlight on the UK Lenovo website is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

[morgandog]

The model I talked about at the start of this thread is an LED model. Perhaps the only one in the UK.

Hemini have it.

The models list states it's a 1400 res screen, but the detailed spec sheet says its only 1280 res. However, the initial brochure said the LED was only on the 1400 res screen, and Hemini say it's 1400 res.

The brochure said that all WXGA+ would be LED-backlight when they're in fact not. So I would definitely not buy any T400 on the basis that it is a 1440x900 WXGA+ screen and therefore must have the LED-backlight, as we were led to believe. This is simply not the case. Finding a model with an LED-backlight on the UK Lenovo website is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

The model I ordered (2767-1RG) is listed as having an LED backlight on the Lenovo website, but that obviously unreliable (since they still list WXGA+ as 1280 wide). If it does not have the LED screen it will be sent back if/when it arrives. But it appears to be the top spec model in the UK, so that makes me believe that the LED spec is correct (but again, what a mess Lenovo is with their specs).

Given that it has the P9500 CPU I am guessing that the model won't actually be available any time soon (since I don't recall seeing any Thinkpads shipping with that CPU, though it is available and in stock at some resellers, like newegg). Hemini still gave me a ca. 2 week ship estimate, so who knows.

[freakwave]

I am not quite sure which model we are talking about, but I searched for the model mentioned in the beginning of the thread in German shops, model number: NM321GE

The price is about the same in Euro as in Pound, about 1380 Euros. Prices are including VAT. I think you just pay the German VAT and thats it. At least I did the same the opposite way when I bought a SSD in the UK, I just payed UK VAT.

http://www.notebook.de/index.php?sectio ... ctid=14691

or price search engine:

http://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/a357661.html

Cheers,

Wolfgang

[morgandog]

FYI for those in the UK, my T400 arrived today from Hemini.

I ordered the NM51RUK model, which I assumed meant it would take ages to ship. This model has the P9500 CPU, and so I figured that that would stall everything. But I have indeed checked the system and it shows a P9500.

For those confused about the fact that Lenovo lists this with a 128gb SSD while the resellers list a 320gb HDD, mine came with the 320 GB HDD.

Now I just need to figure out if I have the LED screen. IS there any easy way to figure out if it has indeed come with the LED?

By the way, I see that Hemini has upped the price on this model by nearly £300 pre VAT, so I guess it was a good idea to order it a few weeks ago.

[bogorman]

Am thinking of purchasing a Lenovo Notebook and am interested in the comments all of you have made re the situation in the UK.

On the Lenovo site, if I search their Notebook pages and filter by processor speed to 2GHz to 3GHz, ten are listed including one T400 (part number NM321UK) and two T500's. (pn's NJ252UK and NL34EUK) and these might suit my requirements. However, they do not seem to sell T400s or T500s with the faster 7200 drives. Have emailed Lenovo about this and they replied:

"It is possible that Lenovo fit some models with the faster spin speed, however I can confirm that the models we currently have available have 5400rpm drives. These drives normally run cooler than the 7200rpm versions."

As the Lenovo uk site is, I assume, the site of the UK agents, can I also assume that these models are the only ones available here, or is it worth searching other dealer's sites? Is there a risk, if one obtains a machine from another dealer, of it having a different guarantee/it being secondhand sold as new, etc?

Also, if the 7200 drives run hotter, does this make the computers less stable?

Would appreciate anyone's help on this.

[edcard]

Also, if the 7200 drives run hotter, does this make the computers less stable?

I don't know about the T400 because mine hasn't arrived yet, but I've been using my T42p with a 7200 RPM drive for the last four years w/o any instability.

[Mannersxxx]

My mother and father travel back and forth from the states about 5-6 times a year and have American credit cards so I was lucky enough to be able to use that to get a customized T400.

I didn't realise companies offered this service but it does seem obvious really. My mother is travelling there in January so if anyone wants a T400 maybe there could be some way of arranging something for that. My mum would appreciate the sterling.....hmmm....this would require some thought. Would be concerns about international warranty plus its a lot of messing about - maybe thats why the company have a 5% surcharge!

Nice to be up and running with my customized T400 though....despite the US keyboard.