Thinkpads Forum

Finally I got it. I was hunting to buy one for month, after I bought it on ebay the guy had an incident or whatever so it took him for 10 days to ship it.

2.26 GHz P8400 Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
14.1" Widescreen WXGA+ 1440x900 TFT
integrated graphics
2 GB RAM
160 GB 5400 rpm HD
Integrated a/g/n-draft Wireless Card
6 Cell Battery
5.7 lbs. with AC Adapter
Wireless WAN (WWAN)-ready
Windows Vista Business

I paid $520 it was Sealed In box (but the description on ebay was saying that it was open box item) + it has the warranty until Jan 2013 (which was not listed on auction but I've found it out by checking my SN on lenovo's website) It also has the "SIM Card plug-in" feature for GPS or whatever you need it for. Well the computer was brand brand new, everything is sealed. I've also received a bag (very good quality with leather on some place) it was not listed on the auction ether.

Well what can I say? Computer is light nice to hold in you hands when it's closed, everything outside of this laptops looks perfect. But when you open it.... well the palm rest has a VERY CHEAP(!) material. The multimedia buttons are also very cheap looking, the Think Vantage button is one of the cheapest parts of this laptop, it looks like they bought this button from 99 cents store, the once that we have here in Brooklyn. Whoever invented to put the Headphone/Mic jacks in the front is the worlds first looser it should be on the left or right side or at least on the back but not in the front. I've got use to R52 that had this plug on the left side and it was perfecto.

The screen, it is the same old screen and the same cheap look that R52 had. Very disappointed in it. When the screen is off there is a small 1 inch blemish that really hard to see but still it is there it means that who ever works in Lenovo factory they do not really care about quality control, it is the defected and it should not be send to the customer.

"Ctrl" and "Fn" buttons they should be switched in place, it is not normal.

What I really like about this machine how smoothly it works, I don't really hear the fan or the hard drive, the CD-ROM is not noisy and it's not quiet ether.

I know that some of you are very fanatic fans of ThinkPads, I also like this brand but whatever I wrote in this topic is my own vision.

Question will it affect the Warranty if I have the Windows 7 Ultimate running on machine that suppose to have Vista?

No, it does not affect the warranty as far as I know (why should it?).

And yes, whatever bad things one can say about T400 or T500 the one area where they are perfect is the level of noise and heat. I have used my T500 for some two weeks already but still do not know how the fan sounds. May T61 was not loud machine but it cannot compete with T500 or T400 in this regard.
I have heard many complains about the quality of T500 and T400 on the internet but having used my T500 for a while I can definetly say that mostly this is overreaction. I cant spot any major difference in terms of quality between my T61 and T500. The keyboard feels a bit different but it is not bad for that reason.
As for the screen I suppose that the panel on your T400 should be brighter than that of R52. T500 seems to be better in this regard as I can hardly complain about its WSXGA+ manufactured by LG Philips.

Eudoxus wrote:No, it does not affect the warranty as far as I know (why should it?).

Just asking,

Eudoxus wrote: As for the screen I suppose that the panel on your T400 should be brighter than that of R52. T500 seems to be better in this regard as I can hardly complain about its WSXGA+ manufactured by LG Philips.

Well, OK, I'm at home now, installed fresh version of Win7Ultimate, installed all the drivers - now the screen looks much better than on my old R52

The ThinkLight is not as bright as on old thinkpads, and it's also white color, the orange one looked better it was reminding me the salon of BMW in night time.

The wireless light is always blinking does anybody know how to make this thing stop?

I've installed the ThinkVantage software and it registered on lenovo's site now it shows that i've got 1082 days of warranty left. Feel so protected and confident.

Sindbad wrote:The multimedia buttons are also very cheap looking, the Think Vantage button is one of the cheapest parts of this laptop, it looks like they bought this button from 99 cents store, the once that we have here in Brooklyn. Whoever invented to put the Headphone/Mic jacks in the front is the worlds first looser it should be on the left or right side or at least on the back but not in the front. I've got use to R52 that had this plug on the left side and it was perfecto.

Tell me about it. The buttons are crap and the jacks on the front are just stupid.

The screen, it is the same old screen and the same cheap look that R52 had. Very disappointed in it.

I have the WXGA+ LED screen and I like it. Much better than my R40.

What I really like about this machine how smoothly it works, I don't really hear the fan or the hard drive, the CD-ROM is not noisy and it's not quiet ether.

Definitely. I think its almost too quiet.. even plugged in running hard it really isn't audible.

Anyone can tell me please, what are these 2 devices are? Installed all the drivers but still confused.

Install System Update 4 and let it worry about pulling down the correct drivers.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... PDATE.html

Harryc wrote:Install System Update 4 and let it worry about pulling down the correct drivers.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... PDATE.html

thanks a lot that is very convenient !

ok, it's still can not get these drivers to work well,
this is what i get:


I click next and after the download is finished the installation gets interrupted with this message

Maybe try one update at a time!?!

Download and install them manually.

Harryc wrote:Download and install them manually.

helped, thanks,

1. Any suggestions how to keep battery to last for many years? 90% of time I use my t400 at home, I do have an opportunity to keep it plugged to AC all the times, did not fined any topic related to this particular question.
2. Dumb question - when I change the brightness there are no indicators appear on the screen how can I see the indicator sells that show me "how much bright" left? Could not fined this feature in settings. However the volume indicator appears good. ThinkLight On\Off also.

Battery maintenance: After all I've read, I find the most effective strategy to maintaining battery life is to avoid heavy wattage draws; i.e. Don't try to stress the dedicated graphics card on battery power. Secondly, keep the battery temperatures low both during usage and during charging. Batteries really don't like heat.

I can't comment on charging behavior; I tend to full discharge/full charge almost every day and my capacity is currently 58.54 Wh, which is still above the design capacity of 56.16 after 55 charge cycles.

For the brightness indicator, reinstall the necessary Lenovo drivers such as the Power Management driver and System Interface driver.

Anyone had this kind of problem? I'm trying to run the lenovo update and it keeps showing this message. I'm running Win7Ultimate 32bit.