Thinkpads Forum

HI, I have been using a T60 for work for and have been extremely happy with it. Last week the hard drive in my T60 and the hard drive in my desktop both failed (in the same week!). After doing some research I decided to upgrade the T60 with a Intel x25m 2nd generation SSD. I turned on AHCI in Bios, ran a firmware a upgrade on the drive and did a clean install of Win 7 pro 32 bit. Everything went fine and the computer is now really fast. I have 3 GB Ram in there too. But when i tested the write speed of the HD i only got like 130 mb a sec.The SSD should do 250mb according to the factory specs. So after making sure all the SSD stuff was done (AHCI driver, no defrag, Win7 sees it as a SSD) I found out about the SATA1 bus speed limitation of the T60. So Ok it did give a huge performance increase, but i would like to take full advantage of the SSD. Also the fact that the T60 is maxed out at 3GB ram is a little limiting. I decided to buy a T400 and got a good deal on eBay. I have two questions about the T400 I would really like to get answered before i spend more time and money on this:

1. Does The T400 Fully support SATA2 Write Speeds up to 250mb a sec.??
2. Can I install 8 GB of ram in the T400?

I Did find a lot of info about the SSD on here but no one said "Yes I have a SSD in a t400 and it writes at 250 mb a sec"
Same thing with the ram question, On one of the Lenovo sites it said 4 GB max, on another it said 8 GB, on the crucial said 8 GB.
In the eBay sale he said 4GB. Is there some T400 that max out at 4 and newer ones go to 8 GB?
I would rather not pay for 2 4GB sticks of ram if it will not work in there.
Also i would rather not spend 3 hours setting up Win 7 with all my data to find out the SSD write speed is still 130mb.
I can sell the T400 when it gets here if its not going to be worth my time to try and move everything over.

Thanks for the help guys

Yes to both. This is confirmed. T400 supports full SATA-II speed, and I have seen people with signatures stating that they have 8GB of RAM in their T400.

reub1230 wrote:HI, I have been using a T60 for work for and have been extremely happy with it. Last week the hard drive in my T60 and the hard drive in my desktop both failed (in the same week!). After doing some research I decided to upgrade the T60 with a Intel x25m 2nd generation SSD. I turned on AHCI in Bios, ran a firmware a upgrade on the drive and did a clean install of Win 7 pro 32 bit. Everything went fine and the computer is now really fast. I have 3 GB Ram in there too. But when i tested the write speed of the HD i only got like 130 mb a sec.The SSD should do 250mb according to the factory specs. So after making sure all the SSD stuff was done (AHCI driver, no defrag, Win7 sees it as a SSD) I found out about the SATA1 bus speed limitation of the T60. So Ok it did give a huge performance increase, but i would like to take full advantage of the SSD. Also the fact that the T60 is maxed out at 3GB ram is a little limiting. I decided to buy a T400 and got a good deal on eBay. I have two questions about the T400 I would really like to get answered before i spend more time and money on this:

1. Does The T400 Fully support SATA2 Write Speeds up to 250mb a sec.??
2. Can I install 8 GB of ram in the T400?

I Did find a lot of info about the SSD on here but no one said "Yes I have a SSD in a t400 and it writes at 250 mb a sec"
Same thing with the ram question, On one of the Lenovo sites it said 4 GB max, on another it said 8 GB, on the crucial said 8 GB.
In the eBay sale he said 4GB. Is there some T400 that max out at 4 and newer ones go to 8 GB?
I would rather not pay for 2 4GB sticks of ram if it will not work in there.
Also i would rather not spend 3 hours setting up Win 7 with all my data to find out the SSD write speed is still 130mb.
I can sell the T400 when it gets here if its not going to be worth my time to try and move everything over.

Thanks for the help guys

Nice!! Should be pretty fast .. gonna order up some ram... I will post my results after i get it all set up -Thanks

DDR3 8 GB(max) with a 64 bit os only ..
SATA II speed ..?....post your memories here after you try with a SSD..please...

T400plus wrote:DDR3 8 GB(max) with a 64 bit os only ..
SATA II speed ..?....post your memories here after you try with a SSD..please...

???
Of course 8GB RAM will only be seen fully with 64bit OS. I assumed the OP knows that if he wants 8GB RAM in the first place.

Yup got a fresh windows 7 Pro 64 bit DVD sitting right here in front of me... I will try to do a detailed write up on my SSD install when i get everything here. Also i will do some benchmark testing with screen shots.

Note that you are not likely to see a major jump in speed from SATA 1.5 to SATA 3.0 in day to day use. Most of the speed you notice comes from the low access times, not from the maximum sequential speed. Not that it isn't nice to have it when you are paying for it, just don't expect to see the same huge boost you got when you went to the SSD in the first place.

T400 Came in today, i have to say it does feel cheaper than the T60, its the plastic on the palm rest and keyboard, It feels like a normal laptop not a Thinkpad.... Also i hate the design at the LCD ..why did the make it off center and put that huge strip of plastic at the top above the screen? I might just sell this one...

reub1230 wrote:huge strip of plastic at the top above the screen?

<obvious>Widescreen and space for the built-in webcam.</obvious>

There is no cam on this one so ...not that obvious. Also there are plenty of wide screens that do not have a 2" wide strip of plastic at the top. The design of this looks really dated to me, not trying to offend anyone i j am just being honest. What would be a good Thinkpad for me? I want something just like the t60 but with a higher ram max and sata 2??

awww.. I like my T400. It runs cool even when decoding video. I never hear the fan... ever. Mine has a beautiful LED backlit Samsung WXGA+ screen. I do hear you on the thinness of the body. I have an R51e and used to have an R52 and they both are constructed of thick plastic that really gives it a solid feeling. The bezel doesn't bother me because a 14.1" screen is a 14.1" screen even if it doesn't have a wide bezel. I prefer the Thinkpad to not look current. I don't want it looking like a Toshiba or Acer with all the silver and glossy..ugh... keep those things away from me.

My friend in class used to bring her Toshiba everyday but it's messing with her now.

My T400 is just business as usual

I upgraded the ram today and under the hood everything looks real solid, just like all the other Thinkpads I have worked on. This one is just a little to bulky for me, just a personal preference. Other than that it seems like a good computer.

It is heavy because they have used real solid (Not titanium class) components .

I am selling the T400, i am thinking about getting a X200...should be slim enough for me. Anyone know the max ram and sata write speed of the x200?