T400s Video

[snabjab]

Apologies in advance if I'm retreading an old topic, but the current deals on the T400s may be too much to pass up and I'm anxious to make a decision one way or the other.

The T400s fits all of my desires except for hard drive size and the lack of discrete graphics. I can live without a huge HDD/SSD (or upgrade later), but will I be disappointed without 3D graphics? Apparently the integrated graphics can do the nifty Windows Aero functionality, correct? I'm obviously no huge gamer, but will I have the capacity to do some basic gaming? (Think Civ IV) Most of the time I'll be using this for work and portability is a big plus, so it seems perfect in most regards, possibly enough (along with the price) for me to overlook the graphics issue. $1000 sounds much better than $1500-$1600 for a new T410 with nVidia graphics.

Many thanks in advance for your comments.

[jawhitti]

The discrete graphics will be fine for running the Aero shell or for playing games like SimCity 4 or Civ IV. It is way too underpowered to play games like GTA IV, Crysis, or Flight Simulator X. As a bonus you will get better battery life with integrated graphics.

As far as the hard drive goes you can get a cradle for the UltraSlimBay for less than 50 bucks and a 320GB 7200RMP Western Digital Scorpio Black for about another 100 bucks, I find that I almost never need my DVD drive anyway. So sure, go for it - you can always add a 2nd HD later.

[snabjab]

Thanks so much for the help, I was beginning to wonder if my post was really so egregious as to justify no responses whatsoever.

I'm still thinking that I don't value the smaller form factor highly enough to justify going without souped up video, but your hard drive suggestions are now making me rethink the situation. Would the UltraSlimBay take a standard SATA 2.5" drive?

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[snabjab]

Also, do I correctly understand that I could also replace the primary HDD with the largest available 1.8" HDD (250gb)?

[zhenya]

Yes, it uses the standard ultrabayslim devices, meaning you could install any 2.5" HDD you like there. Yes, you can also upgrade the 1.8" drive, but if you go this route, I'd highly recommend that you get a SSD. Even the fastest drives on the market today are the major bottleneck in modern computers; a 1.8" mechanical drive would really be crippling an otherwise excellent machine.

[snabjab]

Thanks for that, I didn't realize SSDs would offer that great of a performance boost. Newegg has very few 1.8" SSDs available and it looks like a 64gb drive would cost around $200. Are there any other spec considerations to keep in mind when choosing a drive?

[zhenya]

Yeah, a SSD is always a major performance boost, but on a laptop, especially a laptop using a 1.8" drive, it really makes a difference. Since they pulled the T400s from Lenovo's site, I'm not sure what the options they offer for upgrading to a SSD are, or how much, but my feeling is that it'd be money well spent - even if you have to have a 2nd drive to store stuff on. I don't know the specifics of the t400s's drive either - but if it uses a standard sata interface you could buy this drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820157021 which gets you the Intel 80gb drive, which is pretty much the best on the market. That kit is the G1 drive, which doesn't support TRIM as the new G2 drives do, but the 1.8" Intel G2 drives have been MIA for a long time now. In any case, I've used a G1 drive for a year now, and it still provides an incredible boost.

[Iceman]

Any thoughts on if a discrete graphics T410 could play the upcoming games Starcraft II or Diablo III ?

Also, since this is more of a business graphics card could there be issues with driver support for games that it would otherwise have the horsepower to play?

I plan on using it mostly for application development but it would be nice if it could play these upcoming games and some of my old ones.

Unfortunately, my T42 just kicked the bucket (loved this machine) and I need to make a choice rather quickly.

Thanks

[snabjab]

I have a question to which there are only subjective answers, but I'm curious anyway: some folks have mentioned adding an aftermarket SSD and I wonder if doing so wouldn't void the warranty. If so, does that mean people often stick with just the 1 year warranty?

[zhenya]

Upgrading the hard drive is trivial and should not affect the warranty in any way. Done it in almost all of our laptops and never had a problem with any warranty work.

[snabjab]

Thanks for all the help, zhenya, I really appreciate it. You seem pretty knowledgeable about this and I hoped I could ask what you gather would be the main reasons to wait for a T410s rather than go with a T400s now. I've been reading up but it's not entirely clear to me.

[zhenya]

You're welcome. I don't own any T400s', but am waiting for the T410s' to be back in stock. Primarily the difference is the new generation processors, which are something like 15-20% faster for the same power consumption. That is not enough to make any significant difference for most day to day use, but we tend to keep our laptops in use for 5+ years, so I'm hesitant to buy old tech. The new models also should have the option of a discrete, switchable graphics card, and an always-on usb port that allows you to charge devices even when the computer is off, and a 2nd Thinklight. Whether the graphics is an issue depends on what you use the computer for.

On the other hand, there are some very good deals to be had on the T400s right now. If I was buying for myself, and the option was a T400s and spending the extra money on a SSD or a T410s with a standard drive, I'd probably go for the T400s, as the SSD has such a big impact in everyday usage. As it is, we can afford to wait, and are willing to spend the extra money, so we'll wait until the T410s is available again.

[snabjab]

Thanks again. The MS deal is attractive, especially with the SSD you recommended ($50 off today with a coupon), but I'm using a T42 and am attracted to the latest and greatest. That said, I was lugging my "thin and light" T42 around yesterday and thought how nice it would be to shed another pound. Which is to say I'm committed to the T4x0s at this point. Any guess as to what kind of premium one will have to pay for the T410s over the T410? Just curious since the former are already up on the site and I'd like an idea of what the T410s will cost.

[snabjab]

One more question: as someone who keeps a laptop for 5+ years, would you personally feel uneasy about having a single year's warranty? Happy for any others to chime in as well...

[zhenya]

I don't quite recall what the T410s was starting at. I do recall that they were not significantly more than the T400s for the day or so that both models were on the site. I want to say they started at ~$1349 or something? That is of course without the SSD. I'm actually also holding out for the Intel X18m G2 drives to be available, as they would be my first choice for ssd.

While I am not a fan of extended warranties in general, I do buy them and recommend buying them for laptops, as we always seem to put them to use. Especially if you rely on the computer for work or school, the on-site service is invaluable. You are paying not just for the repair service, but the lack of down-time. At home, we usually buy 3 year extended warranties. At work I buy 5 year warranties.