Attn: Thinkpad T410 owners... how do you like it???

[raven3]

I just ordered a T410 today as I can't wait no longer for a mysterious T420 to arrive. The potential delay of the new sandy processors from intel was the last straw. Some reports say it only effects desktops and other reports say otherwise. The 560m isn't that old and i'm sure i'll appreciate it more than my single core x100e...which is great btw, just can't do much with with its HORRIBLE battery life and slow performance.

Thinkpad T410
intel i5-560m
Nvidia optimus 3100 512mb nvs whatever it is (this was free and will remain free until feb 9th btw)
2gb 1066 ram
intel wireless 6300
9 cell battery
smartcard
WXGA+TFT w/led backlight (1440x900)

from newegg:

128GB Crucial C300
8GB Gskill 1333MHz 10600 DDR3 RAM


TOTAL (lenovo+newegg) = $1150


I'm sure once I set everything up (I have an extra win7prox64 key), this beast will fly, but in the MONTH wait for the thing, i'm left to wonder how existing users like their T410? How's the 9cell battery life? Lenovo claims 22 hours! I doubt it, but would be nice. have the drivers for optimus improved any? Is it really that bad like some are reporting?

I don't game (desktop for that), this is mostly used for school and some photoshop work with 18 and 21 megapix files. In class, I usually always have onenote open, word (2-4 documents open), chrome w/ 7-10 tabs, Amazon kindle for PC and Adobe digital editions ereader open all at the same time and maybe a few PDF files. Would you believe the x100e can handle this load? well, it does but its too slow for my needs. I figured the T410 will be a multitasking BEAST and that's why I bought it.

without gaming, could the 9cell power the above requirements for say, 7 hours at least? I would only have wifi on, with occasional work related web browsing... but taking notes, constantly switching (alt+tab) between applications, opening various documents, etc..

last thoughts:

I almost pulled the trigger on a macbookpro 15 b/c of the battery life. This is so important to me after using the x100e for school since its introduction. Battery life would only last two, maybe three hours tops. I can easily get 4 now by switching windows to "basic" and not utilizing aero glass and all the visual magic. I have used the x100e for what, a year now with 436 battery recharges? yeah, if it wasn't for the super awesome stability I probably would of bought a mac. The x100e never crashed, not even once. Its always been reliable and I expect the same from my new T410 (once it gets here, but that's another story)... I just pray I can squeeze enough battery life out of it to last through more than 2 classes (6 hours).

o, one last thing... if one of you with a 9 cell can report back with battery life, but with aero glass turned off.... "basic" mode?

[ausmike]

Hiya Raven*...
Nice config ! ,,, am SURE you would enjoy your new machine/toy!

Hope you werent one of those ordering at the time I was ,,,, yesterday !..ppppffffff!!!!

I just ordered a T410 today .......... I just pray I can squeeze enough battery life out of it to last through more than 2 classes (6 hours).

o, one last thing... if one of you with a 9 cell can report back with battery life, but with aero glass turned off.... "basic" mode?

I have tried a few of the T4xx ,,, and currently use a T410s with Dual SSD (lenovo factory intels) and 32GB x 1333 (from neweggg) +few other items ... so I use my T410 mostly during LOOOOONG flights - which can range from 3-14hrs non stop !!!> so Battery life is kinda important = and I want my machine to work ,,, not just play movieslol ... AM no gamer either

On my current setup with 9 cell and FULL WORKLOAD ..I can report Battery life = more like 5 hrs MAX. So I often travel with 2 spare - fully changed. ... and I see you know most all of the battery saver tricks !!...


However , I highly recommend Win7 X64 , compared to XP Pro x64 , as atleast you would get the latest drivers and newer updates 'internals' with win7x64. ... as i tested them on SAME CONFIG , and Win7 runs that much better now (ADD SP1 for Win7)

Since i often use Linux for my work OS , I also have MULTIBOOT setup (Win7 + Suse + OSX) ,,,, and all rusn nciely -except few issues with OSX on T410 with Video card etc ,, but they minior to me since I dont GAME!


MY ONLY PEEVE with t4xx = the NON ONE HAND REMOVAL of the 2nd DRIVE BAY, most all thinpads have this Legendary EASY ONE HAND renoval mechanism ,,, and now LeNOvo have gfone & F** that up ,,,

sorry for my rants ,,,, but hope it helps
Cheers

[dr_st]

I like the T410 - very nice machine, looks pretty too. On my unit with an SSD, Intel graphics and a 9-cell, I believe I can get up to 7 hours on a full charge, definitely 6+, at least while the battery is new. Not sure how the nVidia GPU will affect it.

[Colonel O'Neill]

I have a friend with a discrete only T510 that gets around 6-7 hours on his 9-cell without any significant optimization beyond underclocking his NVS3100m as his has no Optimus. (Refer to my battery life survey for more specific info.)

Personally, I find Chrome is a serious resource hog (especially CPU, where the X100e is lackluster with the MV40). Out of curiosity, which CPU and battery do you have in your X100e? The battery life seems too high for a three-cell, and too low for a six-cell. My X100e with 6-cell and MV40 could go for five and a half hours of note-taking on a full charge (I never like to fully charge/run empty my batteries). I can push that to seven if I power off the screen very aggressively.

My hints towards better battery life is to:
- Turn off unnecessary services. (I found out SRS HD Audio Labs' exe keeps the timer tick at 1000ns instead of letting it drop back to 156000ns.)
- Make sure your power settings are set right. i.e.) Reduce your wifi performance.
- Install Flashblock and/or NoScript (Ghostery is nice too.), and of course, Adblock Plus to reduce wifi/CPU power consumption while surfing.
- Keep running gadgets to a minimum, if at all.
- If you're certain you're in a secure internet zone, you might consider deactivating your firewall/antivirus. My X100e has been running off of Windows Defender and Windows Firewall for the past few months without issue.
- Run a powercfg -energy diagnostic to iron out any significant wrinkles Windows flags.

For more info, check out this thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 58&start=0

edit: corrected ms to ns.

[raven3]

thanks for all the great feedback, it really is helpful. i guess ill have to apply battery saving tricks like I do with the x00e. dim screen (6-8), low clock cycles, windows basic mode, etc... i might even have to go as far as switching off wireless when not in use.

thanks for the feedback nevertheless

[Colonel O'Neill]

O_O You consider 6-8 dim on the X100e? I tend to sit in well lit lecture halls at 1 or 2.
My rule of thumb is to match the screen brightness to the surroundings; if you can see the light reflecting off your face, you have it too bright.

[vēer]

I like my T410, it looks much better in real life compared to pictures in internet.

Only thing that bothers me is its really loud high pitched fan noise, fan runs constantly and always audible. Its annoying.
Also, havent tested too much, but it looks like 9 cell battery life with integrated graphics is as low/high as battery life I had on R400 with 9 cell, which means its considerably lower than previous generation T400 had, at least according to reviews and user feedback!
Otherwise love it!

[raven3]

Well, glad I ordered the T410 (4FEB) instead of waiting indefinately for what will now be a much delayed T420:

http://www.thinkpads.com/2011/02/07/len ... ipset-bug/