T400 Design Issues

[nosaku]

Hi Everyone,

I am just putting this thread, to show my frustration of my new Thinkpad T400.

T400 is the worst Thinkpad I have ever seen. I have worked from last 4 years on T40, T42, and T43. As a Java programmer, I hammer my Thinkpad for 10-12 hours a day on my favorite Editplus editor. Never a feeling of fatigue.

But I recently got my new T400 and alas, I am very unhappy. I worked on it for 1 hr and was forced to leave it on the desk. The keyboard is "not" the same as one used to be on T42 or T43. The screen is so much off-centered, that I can't concentrate on my "coding". I am "left-hander" and I feel the designers of this laptop did not consider the left-handed guys. As a programmer I tend to look more towards the "left-side" of the laptop. And with the new T400, everytime I start to type one line of code, it annoys me.

The palm rest is such an annoying thing. Especially to the right side. When I move my hand towards the PgUp / PgDn, it makes noise due to the rubbing of palm. This is all because of the cheap plastic, and the matted finish. Also since there is no good depth for the chasis, I can't really rest my palms on the palm rest. See the Dell D620 etc. Even though these also are wide screen models, the palm rest is real good with lot of resting space. And now comes the "Esc" key. Why did you "decrease" the distance between screen and the "Esc" key? Once today, I hit the screen when I really wanted to press the Esc key.

I don't use Wireless much. I hook up my Ethernet wire. Now here comes one more annoying thing. Whenever I type Ctrl+Tab, or Alt+Tab, my little finger and ring finger are over the network wire. Why did Lenovo shuffle the fan and these ports?

Why did you make the Windows key so small, and the context menu bigger? Instead of that you could have kept the bigger size for the right Ctrl button. Whenever I type Ctrl+Backspace (again I am programmer and I use this combination very much), I tend to press the ContextButton+Backspace. Such a bad design. Look at Dell, they have not put the context button at all.

I tried to use my new T400 couple of times, thinking I will change my mind someday and start liking it. But no way. I am returning it. I can bear the 15% restocking fee, instead of bearing this horrible laptop.

Thinkpad users are a cult. They take the same pride in these machines, as motorists take pride in Harley Davidson motorcycles. (Hopefully Harley Davidson does not sell its company to China )

Dear Lenovo, please do not tarnish the image of Thinkpad just to make money. Please go and do some other business.

Regards,
Satish.

[yak]

At least some of your frustration comes from the switch from a 4:3 laptop to a small widescreen one. A T500 would probably suit you better as its depth is more like in the T4x series which would fix your small palm rest and Esc key issues. It would not be as mobile as T400 though (which is one of the reasons I stay with 14.1" SXGA+ T60).

I assume you use your Ethernet at your desk and you don't walk around with the cable. In that case you may want to get an external display, keyboard and mouse. Such an ergonomic setup will make your work more comfortable and you more productive.

The vent was moved to the back to improve cooling by adding additional vents on the back.

[dr_st]

While I share some of your sentiments about the ugly exterior, and the worse keyboard (compared to the T4x and even T60), I do agree with yak that some of your complaints are due to the change from standard screen to wide screen, and some others are just due to a change from what you are used to. All T4x have the same chassis and basic design, so if this is what you're used to in the past 4 years, it is natural that any change will feel big.

[nosaku]

Thanks yak and dr_st for your valuable comments. Yes I completely agree that I am feeling very reluctant to change. May be that's the reason of my frustration.

My recent laptop I used in my office for last 8 months was Dell D620, a wide screen model. I could able to shift immediately and got adjusted to use it. Partly because of the palm rest being good, and the screen is "centered".

I guess the most important issue for me would be the "off-centered" screen. I am unable to decide whether to keep my laptop or return it, as I got it with a 20% discount. Any suggestions would be very helpful. The following are the specs: (I got the LED screen. This is all for $743 + $46.45 tax)

42X6336 SBB INT.CORE2DUOPROCP8600
42V8012 VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC
44C1269 SBB GEN WIN VIS HOBAS 32 US E
42X6315 SBB AMD M82XT HYBRID 256MB
42X6305 VBB 2GBPC3-8500 1067MHZ2DIMM
42X6355 SBB KYB US ENGLISH
42X6322 SBB ULTRNAV(TRACKP+TOUCHPAD)
42X6349 SBB 250GB HDD/5400RPM
42X6344 SBB CD-RW/DVDCOM24X24X248XUSL
42X6310 VBB EXPR.CARD SLOT/PCCARDSLOT
42X6324 SBB INT.WIFILINK5100
42X6328 SBB INTG.WIR.WIDENET UPGRAD.
42V9337 SBB 4 CELL LI-ION BATERRY
39T6442 SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA
42X6388 SBB LPACK US ENGLISH

By the way, this laptop is my personal one, and I do coding in weekends on this, just as a hobby (sometime I spend 10 hrs) , apart from my office coding.

Regards,
Satish.

[nxman]

Currently i own a X301 + T500 + T61 and i can confirm that T500 is the worst ThinkPad i ever used in my life! bad keyboard excessive flexing whenever i put my hands on the palmrest it moves and makes squeaking sounds because its made from thin cheap plastic i think Lenovo has forgotten why people buy Thinkpada's in the first place! in Kuwait we don't order online we buy them from IBM-Lenovo dealer preconfigured models next time before buying i will try the Thinkpad if same problems accrue i will buy a Macbook Pro without any hesitation i don't mind paying but i don't compromise in quality my T500 is always on the docking at the office i hate taking it around like my excellent T61 & X301!