Thinkpads Forum

I was wondering about the ThinkPad T400 and its quality, I kind of like the look, but I have some questions:

Is there a lot of flex?

Does it get hot?

How does it close? (It it held shut until you press a button, or do you just shut it)

How is the keyboard? What so special about it? (It looks old school)

Is it durable?

Does it come with a light to light up the keyboard by default?

Would it be good for school and video editing?

Does it feel official, or cheap?

Is there better 14.1" laptops that are decently priced?

Is it the best I can get for the money after 15% off with coupon? (Total $745)


Thanks

Hi, here are my subjective opinions :

Is there a lot of flex?. Not in newer models. (2009+)
Does it get hot?. Not that much. It is so far the coolest thinkpad I've had.
How does it close? (It it held shut until you press a button, or do you just shut it)
How is the keyboard? What so special about it? (It looks old school). There is one lever in the screen hinge. It keeps the TP closed until you use it to open it.
Is it durable?. .. so far so good. But I've only had it for 6 months yet..
Does it come with a light to light up the keyboard by default? YES
Would it be good for school and video editing?. I would guess yes. But if you want to play games make sure you get the one with the discrete graphics (ATI chip).
Does it feel official, or cheap?. It feels good, solid.
Is there better 14.1" laptops that are decently priced?. Don't know. mine is corporate owned and the other ones I have in the family (personal ones) feel more sluggish, and of course are cheaper.
Is it the best I can get for the money after 15% off with coupon? (Total $745)

Regards

FTC wrote:Hi, here are my subjective opinions :

Is there a lot of flex?. Not in newer models. (2009+)
Does it get hot?. Not that much. It is so far the coolest thinkpad I've had.
How does it close? (It it held shut until you press a button, or do you just shut it)
How is the keyboard? What so special about it? (It looks old school). There is one lever in the screen hinge. It keeps the TP closed until you use it to open it.
Is it durable?. .. so far so good. But I've only had it for 6 months yet..
Does it come with a light to light up the keyboard by default? YES
Would it be good for school and video editing?. I would guess yes. But if you want to play games make sure you get the one with the discrete graphics (ATI chip).
Does it feel official, or cheap?. It feels good, solid.
Is there better 14.1" laptops that are decently priced?. Don't know. mine is corporate owned and the other ones I have in the family (personal ones) feel more sluggish, and of course are cheaper.
Is it the best I can get for the money after 15% off with coupon? (Total $745)

Regards

Thanks, know anything about the keyboard quality? Its really important to me as I typed fast, and A LOT.

Well I've got what people generally argue to be the best keyboard (NMB) on my T400 and it feels just like my old T61's keyboard which was also an NMB one. There really isn't any flex when typing. It's a million times better than the keyboards you'll find in your high-street retailer, they just don't stock notebooks with good keyboards for your everyday consumer. This is a specialist product and it's worth the price.

Keyboard is still quite good, but worse than T61, which is worse than T60 (at least subjectively, objectively it is the same keyboard), which is worse than T4x.

dr_st wrote:Keyboard is still quite good, but worse than T61, which is worse than T60 (at least subjectively, objectively it is the same keyboard), which is worse than T4x.

Ok, last question, is there a problem with the battery? Like is it wobbly or what?

ALSO, what about the matte screen? How is it compared to glossy?

Dunno if the battery is wobbly, or more wobbly than usual, but it does stick out the back more than I would expect. Only the 4-cell sits plush. The 6-cell (which is standard) sticks out quite a bit, and the 9-cell sticks out a whole lot. Bad design, but what are you gonna do.

The matte screen is better for certain lighting enviroments, especially the flourecent bulbs in big buildings, and since it is primairly a corperate machine, that is what they designed it for. I used a glossy screen at school and it was fairly annoying with all the reflections.

The battery doesn't wobble but I only have the 4-cell, so can't attest to anything with the other batteries.

As I said previously, despite was some people continue to believe - and it is subjective - the keyboard even if it has deteriorated in quality from the T4x series, it is still miles better than any other manufacturer I know and have used.

One thing that should be mentioned is the T400s have incredibly good battery life. Unlike the T61 where the manufacturer's battery life statements were pie-in-the-sky, the T400 actually meets many of these. You can get a phenomenal amount of usage from a 9-cell (which has always stuck out).

Thinkpad T400 quality is good in general however the keyboard is the worst Thinkpad keyboard i ever used and I'm talking about the updated keyboard that ships now with new systems its not as a good a previous Thinkpad keyboards.