Thinkpads Forum

I recently purchased a new CTO T410s and would like to share some of my thoughts. My T410s was ordered online with a 20% off coupon and arrived from China yesterday. Total order to delivery time was 9 days. It is built as a T410s with 2GB RAM (soon to be upgraded), NVIDIA NVS 3100 graphics, Intel 6300 wireless, and Intel 160 GB SSD. My new T410s replaces a T60p which has been my main computer for the past 3 years. Other Thinkpads I've owned include a T30 and a T42. I seriously considered getting a Macbook Pro this time around, but the 13" is too small, and the 15" is too large. Plus I have at least one application that is not compatible with Mac OS, and I am not sure the ap will work in the Windows virtual machine mode. I did a great deal of research prior to ordering the T410s. However, no one locally sells the unit, and I couldn't test drive a T410s prior to the purchase. Ultimately it was a leap of faith purchase. I was prepared for a potentially bad display (poor contrast ratio?) and short battery life. Other potential problems posted in these message boards but less certain were a noisy CPU fan, excessive heat, and flimsy lid.

First, a few observations that have been echoed by others: The T410s is very lightweight. You don't appreciate it until you get it in your hands. Only the MacBook Air feel substantially lighter. While wider than my T60p, the size is fairly compact for a 14" laptop. Although new and somewhat pricey, it has none of the design sexiness of Apple's notebooks. I don't think anyone will lust after this machine. The non-discrete volume buttons at the top of the keyboard seem like a step backward. They don't have the positive action of the volume buttons on my T60p--must be a cost savings measure. The keyboard is otherwise excellent. The keyboard is one area where the T410s is clearly superior to the MacBook Air and Pro. Typing on this keyboard is no different than typing on a good, full sized, desktop keyboard. It is very usable. I find the MacBook's keyboard difficult to use with fluidity. I am used to Lenovo's trackpoint, and the T410's trackpoint doesn't seem any different that my T60p--which is fine. I use the trackpoint for most cursor controls. I am hugely disappointed with the textured track pad on the T410s. I am surprised that there are not more negative comments on this. The trackpads on my other T series computers were smooth, and I have come to expect a smooth surface on my notebook's trackpad. Every time I touch the trackpad on the T410s, I feel like I am grating my finger across 80 grit sandpaper. I absolutely hate it. I would return the T410s for this one reason if it weren't for a 15% restocking fee and for lack of a better notebook for my needs on the market. Anyone contemplating a switch from a notebook with a smooth surface trackpad to the T410s should be sure that they are ok with the sandpaper surface. It could very well be a "deal breaker".

The display on the T410s is ok. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 5 for overall picture quality. It is a shame that at this price point, Lenovo doesn't offer a better unit. The MacBook Pro's displays that I have used were very good if not excellent. Plus the MacBook Pro's 15" display is available in either glossy or matte. I don't find the T410s fan to be noisy at all. Heat doesn't seem to be a problem either. While warm, it doesn't seem any warmer than my old T60p. Battery life seems acceptable, but I haven't had the computer long enough to judge battery life thoroughly. The lid is flexible, but not exactly flimsy. I find the lid latch to be a poor ergonomic design. Opening motion is a little awkward with the latch on the base rather than the lid. This is a pretty compact computer. There must be some trade offs for the light weight, but a better design doesn't seem impossible.

All in all, I am a little baffled that the T410s isn't more evolutionary building on the Thinkpad's excellent heritage. Lenovo seemed to re-invent the wheel for the T410s and they got a lot wrong. However, at the moment, I don't believe there is a better computer on the market for me. I am sure that in time, I will get used to the sandpaper track pad, while appreciating the i5 processor, NVIDIA graphics, and SSD.

P.S., I can't wait to do a clean OS install, get rid of Lenovo's craplets, and lose the recovery partition.

Congratulations on your new T410s acquisition!

There are definitely many complaints regarding the new touchpad surface.
You'll find some of their (and my) comments here: http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T500-a ... d-p/212686

Do note that there are widespread reports of the palmrest plastic cracking, so be careful.

Make sure to create your recovery discs before wiping! It seems easier to uninstall the Lenovo 'craplets' than to install necessary drivers from scratch. There are occasional reports of not being able to install a newer version of the graphics driver without having a previous version, which makes it troublesome for a fresh retaiil install. Also, I'm pretty sure a retail + driver install doesn't have all of the Lenovo EE optimizations.

Happy ThinkPadding!

I give up. The more I use the touchpad and look at the screen, the more infuriated I get with the T410s. This T410s is nice-ish, but it is not $1500 to $1800 nice. I actually prefer the touchpad and screen on my old T60p. I think I will put a SSD and more RAM in my old T60p, install windows 7, and wait until computer manufacturers produce a machine better suited to my needs. Hopefully Lenovo will hear the message about the sandpaper trackpad and the less than desirable screen. I've learned a lesson to not buy a computer sight unseen, even if I have been using that brand for 10 years. Jeers to Lenovo for not paying better attention to its customer base. I suspect the 15% restocking fee that I will incur on the T410s is peanuts compared to the money that I would otherwise lose on the machine if I had to resell it. Back to Lenovo it goes.... No longer is there a special place in my tech brain for Thinkpads.

You may have been one of the unlucky ones who got a mediocre panel in the lottery. Some of the 14.1" WXGA's they're using are supposedly quite nice: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 60#p589260

I don't get what people don't like about the touchpad; it's considerably more usable than the smooth one on my T400, which annoys me because it provides the wrong amounts of friction at all the wrong times; it has trouble starting (stiction) and doesn't have enough kinetic friction which makes me overshoot the start of a movement a lot.

cort wrote: I've learned a lesson to not buy a computer sight unseen, even if I have been using that brand for 10 years.

Lack of retail outlet for Thinkpads is a problem for those wanting to look at the machine before buying. One pretty much has to go with what other thinkpadders say. If a large majority says that the LCDs are bad, then they are likely to be bad.

Sorry to hear your about your frustration on T410s. Many of us are tolerating bad LCDs as well.

I feel a little foolish for repeatedly responding to my own thread. I haven't sent back the T410s computer because I am in a quandary about what to do. I really like my old T60p with its 14" 4:3 1400x1050 display. For my work, a 4:3 aspect ratio makes the most sense. But the T60p is 4 year old technology. I've considered upgrading to a T61 with a Penryn processor and SSD but finding one to work on is not so easy. They're on EBay, but used or refurbished computers add a whole new set of variables to the "display lottery". A used computer will almost certainly need a new battery which adds to the cost. Moreover the NVidia chip in the T61 is apparently prone to failure. It doesn't make much sense to pump money into an old computer that still has memory limitations, FSB limitations, and other hardware limitations, so adding a SSD and Windows 7 to my T60p seems unwise.

The light weight of the T410s is really appealing. The T410s is pretty darn up to date. Manufacturers date codes on various components of mine are from last month. I've found another plus with the T410s too. Wider spaced stereo speakers give better stereo separation and better sound than any Thinkpad I've owned.

I have a few more days to make up my mind. This experience with the T410s tells me that whatever I do, I am committed to Windows 7 and a SSD.

I suppose you could just swap out the LCD panel for a nicer one. I hear the LG ones have pretty high contrast; I'm getting an LG141WP2 from eBay and it'll get here in a week or two.

Not sure what effect it'll have on the capacitative surface of the touchpad, but you can always try sanding those htings off. Or get an app that lets you hook up your iPhone as a wireless touchpad.

Do be warned about palmrest cracking; Lenovo really doesn't like to fix that under warranty.

cort wrote:However, at the moment, I don't believe there is a better computer on the market for me.

Have you looked into the Sony Vaio Z Series? Lighter than the T410s and higher resolution, though more expensive. And the nice thing is you can go to a Sony Style store (perhaps also Micro Center and Best Buy) and play with it before committing to buy.

cort wrote:I haven't sent back the T410s computer because I am in a quandary about what to do. I really like my old T60p with its 14" 4:3 1400x1050 display. For my work, a 4:3 aspect ratio makes the most sense. But the T60p is 4 year old technology.

Do you have to upgrade? Are you upgrading just because this T60p is 4 years old, or is it really getting too slow for you? For most people, even a T30 would be plenty fast.

Agreed. This may very well be the last Thinkpad I ever buy.

Played with an Acer Timeline today. 13.3" screen, six (!!) hour battery life. Pretty decent build quality. At least compared to the Thinkpad ...

After the flexy, noisy palm rest, the screen that broke from adjusting the angle via the bezel (totally ridiculously unbelievable), and the various misaligned parts - nobody can tell me a Thinkpad is well built anymore. This thing, for being almost $1,900, is a complete POS. Not to mention the three hour battery life, don't even get me started. Just sad.

Could have spent a little less on a Vaio, awesome screen, over eight hours of battery life. Really nice construction too. Unfortunately I just automatically went for another Thinkpad, assuming that it was the best machine out there. This taught me for sure.

I'm very much disappointed in where Thinkpads have gone since my X31 / X60 days.

Iunno... The T410 (non-s) and T510 have turned out pretty well for my friends.
T510

I'm still planning to upgrade to a FHD T510 if given the chance and opportunity. A nine-cell on those gets 7 hours without Optimus.

wayandrs wrote: After the flexy, noisy palm rest, the screen that broke from adjusting the angle via the bezel (totally ridiculously unbelievable), and the various misaligned parts - nobody can tell me a Thinkpad is well built anymore.

I can. My T410 is every bit as solid as my T43p. My X200 is sturdier than my X40 (although not as "classic"-looking.)

While I can certainly understand your response to the T410s, I'd urge you not to judge an entire brand consisting of a half-dozen different core designs based on your experience with a single unit. (Lest you think I'm simply being an "apologist", do a search for my post regarding my X200s -- I certainly can understand how you're feeling and have made similar remarks regarding ThinkPads...)

The T410s (and, previously) the T400s seem to have a number of design flaws. The T410, however, doesn't make the same sacrifices in the interest of weight savings -- and as a result seems to be much stronger. If you're willing to live with the extra pound, I'd recommend you check it out.

ThinkRob wrote:The T410s (and, previously) the T400s seem to have a number of design flaws. The T410, however, doesn't make the same sacrifices in the interest of weight savings -- and as a result seems to be much stronger. If you're willing to live with the extra pound, I'd recommend you check it out.

Indeed they did. The T4x0s' seem to be on the bleeding edge of ThinkPads in terms of design. The new touchpad, keyboard, and symmetric hinges were found on the T400s before the non "s" counter-parts. Although this generation (T410s) looks to be a rehash of the (T400s).

Cort, I would encourage you to not give up on the touchpad. First, the sensitivity settings from the factory are extremely poor. I have a recent thread on here where I discussed it, but basically, I found that by making a few minor adjustments to the settings, the usability of the trackpad was improved 100%, plus I was able to get two finger scrolling and forward/back gestures working flawlessly. I've also found that as the trackpad 'wears in' it's responsiveness continues to improve. I've always considered the previous touchpads on Thinkpads to be pretty poor, and used the trackpoint instead. Now, I only use the trackpoint if I am actively typing.

I can't agree with others who claim that the new generation Lenovo's aren't built well. This machine is a large step up from my previous z61t, and honestly, the T60/T60P/T61/T400/etc models that come across my desk look really bulky and dated in comparison. No, it's not lust-worthy the way a Macbook Air is, but show me a non-Apple laptop that is? I haven't seen it.

While the screen has relatively poor viewing angles, I've found that in actual use, it is quite good - certainly a HUGE step up from any screen I've seen on any model listed above. It is incredibly bright, if necessary, but more importantly, whites are extremely white. Even my very expensive monitors at my desk look yellow in comparison, as do a handful of newer Dell monitors we have in use here. I can't believe that it would not be more than adequate for the vast majority of consumers.

Battery life is middle-to upper end of the pack. I can get a solid 4-5 hours off the one battery; 7-ish with the ultrabay. Considering the form factor we have here, that's completely reasonable. I really enjoy not having the battery stick out the back anymore.

zhenya wrote:Cort, I would encourage you to not give up on the touchpad. First, the sensitivity settings from the factory are extremely poor.

I totally agree with you on this point. However, the OP was complaining about the physical texture of the touchpad.

zhenya wrote:I can't agree with others who claim that the new generation Lenovo's aren't built well. This machine is a large step up from my previous z61t, and honestly, the T60/T60P/T61/T400/etc models that come across my desk look really bulky and dated in comparison.

There is definitely a quality control issue. Some Thinkpads are built extremely well (e.g. your T410s), whereas others aren't (e.g. the OP's T410s). That's why we see all these "Lenovo Thinkpads are going downhill!" "No, I disagree!" discussions on this forum.

zhenya wrote:While the screen has relatively poor viewing angles, I've found that in actual use, it is quite good - certainly a HUGE step up from any screen I've seen on any model listed above.

This raises another issue, which was brought up by Colonel O'Neill above: "You may have been one of the unlucky ones who got a mediocre panel in the lottery." In other words, Lenovo obtains LCD panels from multiple sources. Some of these panels are quite good, but others aren't. The OP may have gotten a bad one while you have lucked out.

zhenya wrote:Even my very expensive monitors at my desk look yellow in comparison, as do a handful of newer Dell monitors we have in use here.

As the owner of many Dell premium monitors (all of them either *VA or IPS), I can tell you that it's important to carefully adjust not only the color balance on the monitor itself, but also the video card's color balance. When setting up each of my Dell monitors, I spent at least ten minutes fine-tuning its color balance. Once that's done, they all look great, definitely miles better than any TN laptop screen. I am 100% certain you can get rid of the yellow tint of your Dell monitors.

pianowizard wrote: I totally agree with you on this point. However, the OP was complaining about the physical texture of the touchpad.

Fair enough. I found that after tweaking it, the texture ceased to bother me. For me, the texture appeared to be the issue, when in reality, it was just the software configuration. As I noted, it has continued to improve as it has 'worn in'.

Very curious how you get 4-5 hours out of the battery. I'd appreciate any tips!

I get three hours at the most, with all aero features turned off. Power consumption is 9-11 watts (non-SSD drive) with WiFi on ... on an almost new battery that always turns out to be just around three hours. That's on integrated graphics, minimal drive use, not turning any apps on / off, nothing running in the background to get that wattage. Seems like you'd have to run in the seven watt range to squeeze an extra hour out of it.

zhenya wrote:Cort, I would encourage you to not give up on the touchpad. First, the sensitivity settings from the factory are extremely poor. I have a recent thread on here where I discussed it, but basically, I found that by making a few minor adjustments to the settings, the usability of the trackpad was improved 100%, plus I was able to get two finger scrolling and forward/back gestures working flawlessly. I've also found that as the trackpad 'wears in' it's responsiveness continues to improve. I've always considered the previous touchpads on Thinkpads to be pretty poor, and used the trackpoint instead. Now, I only use the trackpoint if I am actively typing.

I can't agree with others who claim that the new generation Lenovo's aren't built well. This machine is a large step up from my previous z61t, and honestly, the T60/T60P/T61/T400/etc models that come across my desk look really bulky and dated in comparison. No, it's not lust-worthy the way a Macbook Air is, but show me a non-Apple laptop that is? I haven't seen it.

While the screen has relatively poor viewing angles, I've found that in actual use, it is quite good - certainly a HUGE step up from any screen I've seen on any model listed above. It is incredibly bright, if necessary, but more importantly, whites are extremely white. Even my very expensive monitors at my desk look yellow in comparison, as do a handful of newer Dell monitors we have in use here. I can't believe that it would not be more than adequate for the vast majority of consumers.

Battery life is middle-to upper end of the pack. I can get a solid 4-5 hours off the one battery; 7-ish with the ultrabay. Considering the form factor we have here, that's completely reasonable. I really enjoy not having the battery stick out the back anymore.

wayandrs wrote:Seems like you'd have to run in the seven watt range to squeeze an extra hour out of it.

It's a 44Wh battery, so 11W should have lasted four hours...

Congrats?

I hope!!! My experience is better than yours...I just pulled the trigger on this:

Product: ThinkPad T410s 2912-22U [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: i5-520M(2.4GHz)
2GB RAM
128GB Solid State Drive
14.1in 1440x900 (Touch)
Intel HD Graphics
CDRW/DVDRW
Intel 802.11agn
WWAN upgradeable
Bluetooth, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint rdr, Camera, 6c, Win7 Pro 32

Coming from a Tablet...I wanted the "Touch" option.

4GB SO-DIMM (moving to 7-64) and Gobi on order

I hope I am not disappointed!!!

Are these "Touch or Multi-Touch"?...getting conflicting information!

Yea, hope you don't need warranty service!

I sent mine in, promptly got a response that neither the broken-from-sitting-on-my-desk screen is covered, nor the wrist pad that was clearly installed incorrectly. Contested the assessment, haven't been able to get a word back in a week now. For every two days of calling, I get one message back that somebody will look into it. Ha.

Not only did the durability of the hardware take a massive turn for the worse, so did the quality control, and the warranty service. I realize that this sounds borderline unbelievable, and it certainly has been to me. $1,800 quality laptop? Yea right!

wayandrs wrote:Yea, hope you don't need warranty service!

I sent mine in, promptly got a response that neither the broken-from-sitting-on-my-desk screen is covered, nor the wrist pad that was clearly installed incorrectly. Contested the assessment, haven't been able to get a word back in a week now. For every two days of calling, I get one message back that somebody will look into it. Ha.

Not only did the durability of the hardware take a massive turn for the worse, so did the quality control, and the warranty service. I realize that this sounds borderline unbelievable, and it certainly has been to me. $1,800 quality laptop? Yea right!

Got NBD on-site and TPP!!! Trust me...I've learned to NOT buy a TP WITHOUT on-site and TPP!!!

Everything I have read on the T410/T410s is a hit or miss...hoping it is a hit...for once!

It's primarily the T400s and T410s that suffer from severe problems. The main Txx0 series seem to be fine for the most part.

Has anyone used a hardware ID checker tool to ascertain the LCD panels that they put into the T410s? Could it be that the panels they source for the T410s are more prone to breakage?

draco2527 wrote: Everything I have read on the T410/T410s is a hit or miss...hoping it is a hit...for once!

The T410 and T410s are very different in both design and materials.

I have a T410 and have found it to be an excellent machine.

[quote="ThinkRob"][quote="draco2527"]
"Everything I have read on the T410/T410s is a hit or miss...hoping it is a hit...for once!

The T410 and T410s are very different in both design and materials.

I have a T410 and have found it to be an excellent machine."


I forgot the forum I was in

Granted they are "different", however the reports seem to be hit or miss for both of them (when we look subjectively to all the laptop that have been purchased, I am sure the numbers are dismal)

With that said, I received the email with the S# of my unit...no Samsung drive (no research done on the Toshiba...so I should start looking!)

ETA: From the "research", it seems the Toshiba is another P*S with no TRIM support.

Parts shipped with your system

Type: 2912 [change]
Serial #: XXXXXXXX [change]


Mfg part # FRU part # Description Serviceable?

0A33230 0000000 MICROSOFT OFFICE STARTER 2010 NO
41R0625 55Y3713 2GB DDR3 1067 LOW HALOGEN YES
42T4689 0000000 SANYO 6 CELL BATTERY:RECHARGEABLE BATTER NO
42W8177 45M2371 FRU PALMREST ASM W/FPR YES
42X4525 0000000 LABELS; ENERGY STAR LOGO LABEL - SYSTEM NO
45M4936 0000000 GENUINE WINDOWS 7:BOMS, NOT SHIPPABLE AC NO
45N2036 45N2071 KEYBOARD FRU YES
45N7452 45N7453 RAMBO-VI DRIVE FRU YES
45N8202 45N8203 TOSHIBA 128GB SOLID STATE DRIVE FRU YES
60Y3212 0000000 2070 BT-CHASIS:BLUETOOTH ADAPTERS NO
60Y3230 60Y3231 802.11 ADAPTER FRU YES
71Y3514 0000000 COA LABEL:LABELS NO
75Y4129 0000000 SYSTEM PLANAR; PLANAR, I5-520M, INTEGRAT NO
75Y4760 75Y4761 MULTITOUCH PANE YES
75Y5849 75Y4133 SYSTEM PLANAR; FRU PLANAR, I5-520M, INTE NO
92P1156 42T5282 65 WATT 2 PIN AC ADAPTER FRU YES

I've been burnt by Lenovo's fooling about a few times now. First, when I really wanted a T60p, they stopped making them the week I went to buy one. I'm still bitter about that and haven't managed to find one in decent condition to buy since. I bought a T61p instead, and though I wouldn't admit it at the time, it had many flaws.

Since then, I've tried virtually everything ThinkPad I could get my hands on. I've done this by buying the machines from ex-lease asset auctions and then selling them on after I've played around. In a very rushed summary, I would say that the T43 chassis is the classic champion of the recent-most lot. The T60 isn't too far behind. The T61 was a step backward, in terms of quality and overall satisfaction. The T400 is very similar to the T61. The T410, on the other hand, is the first glimmer of hope I've had in a long while. In many ways (not just technology), I think it's a vast improvement on the T60 even. I love my T410 to bits. It's strange to hear that the T410s is such a bizarrely different creature... from the sounds of things the only complaint it might have in common with the T410 is the touch pad.

What did you decide on in the end, cort? I would've suggested that you give the touch pad more time to get used to it - I originally hated mine, now it's grown on me (or rather, I've resigned myself to it). I do appreciate the bigger surface area over the T60/T61. I should probably have adjusted the sensitivity too...

Growly wrote:First, when I really wanted a T60p, they stopped making them the week I went to buy one.

Tell me about it! I was researching a motherboard to buy (for a desktop), and when I finally decided on a specific one (after lots of pondering) - they tell me that it's discontinued, and out of stock and won't be restocked. I had to settle for my runner-up, which has a couple of minor annoyances I now have to live with.

Growly wrote:I would say that the T43 chassis is the classic champion of the recent-most lot. The T60 isn't too far behind. The T61 was a step backward, in terms of quality and overall satisfaction. The T400 is very similar to the T61. The T410, on the other hand, is the first glimmer of hope I've had in a long while. In many ways (not just technology), I think it's a vast improvement on the T60 even. I love my T410 to bits.

My feelings are very similar to yours. I find my T42, T60 and T410 all very nice, each having some advantages and disadvantages compared to the others - but overall - great design.

I recently upgraded from a Lenovo T42 (2373-K5H) to T410 (2522-RE3)...

Very satisfied with my new Thinkpad, my T410 even had a mobile broadband built-in

My only beef is the LCD aspect (12:10 vs 4:3), but I would suppose this is an issue with the entire notebook computer industry in general

Merry X-mas!

My 4:3 T61 no longer being portable after the death of it's screen and battery, I've been looking for a replacement ultraportable during the past few months.
I finally pulled the trigger on a T410s with Optimus, intel 160GB SSD and 4GB memory upgrades, taking advantage of the early december discounts and coupons.
After fiddling with it a little, my comment will probably echo many of those above:

Pros:
-it sure is light, especially considering it's 14'1 screen, when all contenders only have 13'3.
-I can hardly imagine life without SSD now: 25s boot time compared to the ages of the past...
-bright and colour-wise pleasing screen.
-all the classic Thinkpad features: trackpoint, thinklight, keyboard, etc...

Cons:
-meager battery life. Not that I am too displeased with it, since my T61 with 6-cell roughly had the same. But after all these years, and given what other manufacturer can pull nowadays, it sure is a bit disapointing.
-flimsiness. Even if compromise had to be made, several parts of the design feel unreassuringly flimsy. Aside from the screen lid and palm rest, another part I noticed to be flimsy was the underside of the ultrabay, which tends to squeal when I grab the laptop.
-quality control... There's a *censored* malfunctioning pixel on my screen, shining bright red against dark backgrounds, annoying... annoying... (given that I'm in Switzerland and that my guarantee is US located).

The pixel really annoys me, given the still considerable price I paid for this machine. But I am still quite happy with it, and anyway I intended to save the screen and take advantage of the Optimus to connect it to 3 monitors most of the time.
Guess it'll require to be be un-thinkpadly babied.

Maybe I shouldn't have listened to my shoulder and would have better done selecting a T410 with the same specs. Since in the ultraportable category it has no serious contender:
-Vaio Z would have come close, if not for the virtual lack of a serious dock, (and anyway it's price disqualified it soon anyway, considering my budget).
-The Toshiba R700 Portege, despite it's quite attractive price, lightweight and battery life, is alas too short when it comes to discrete graphics.

Or Maybe I could have waited for the T410s line to mature, and try in the meanwhile a half priced Panasonic Toughbook W8, enjoying its light weight, 4:3 format, and scaring Mac users when dropping it from the table.

I just got my new T410s 2924 w/ i5 580M, HDSPA, 160GB Intel SSD and coming from a X201t I am really satisfied:

1) It's as light and slim as my "old" tablet. This was an important point to me and I didn't get disappointed at all. Actually I was surprised about the weight and I had to double check if the battery was plugged in
2) I agree about the flimsy screen bezel. It doesn't feel as sturdy as on the tablet. Hm I might order TPP just to make sure I won't run into warranty troubles over the display. I assume this kinda stuff is covered by TPP?
3) Battery life is ok. Around 3,5 hrs while surfing the web / office. But still not good enough so I'll opt for the 3 cell ultrabay battery. This should give me around 6-7 hrs in total. Gotta admit though that 44Wh isn't the largest capacity battery I've seen. Power consumption however in on par w/ my old X201t (which had a LV processor!) at just underneath 10W during regular use.
4) Overall built quality seems fine to me. However I used to have a T43 which did seem a lot more sturdy but on the other hand it wasn't nearly as light and slim. So seems like the apple and oranges comparison.
5) Speakers are so much better than on my tablet. Gee, so this is how YT video an music can sound like uh?
6) Ha! Got my thinklight back and I love it.
7) Of course, performance is great and optimus (minus a few occasions; see thread) seems to work just fine.
Dislike trackpad as well, don't use it either. => Trackpoint only.
9) Love the screen though! Although viewing angles are sub par (compared to my tablet of course), brightness is excellent and colors look great. Even with brightness turned to minimum I can still read the screen perfectly at home (which was impossible w/ my old MT tablet).

So far, great machine. Paid around 1400€ which is expensive compared to the US, but for Europe it's ok (brand new T410s in that config start around 1800€ here in Germany!)

Misc.

I have posted a perfect working solution to the textured touchpad surface here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=98352

You can see the result here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/83 ... e0143.jpg/