Thinkpads Forum

DO you guys notice that the nice finish gets oiled up or grimey quickly? I have a top load bag, and just from me pulling it out of the bag every day.. i notice my finger prints on it. Oil, or lotion from my hands.. do you guys even bother cleaning your machines often, or just use them and say the hell with it?

I don't have a T440s, but I have noticed it on my T430 regular. It seems that after the introduction of the *30 anything series the keyboards got a lot greasier just because of the texture. As for the rest of the body, the lid hasn't been giving me too much trouble because the rubberized layer, but there's minor scratches into it from my bag, so it doesn't look that great anymore.
It also seems that the T440 introduced a new chassis plastic which seems to be a grease magnet (just by looking at the photos). Hopefully Lenovo can turn around for the T450 or whatever they're calling the postT440s, but I doubt it.

I used to care when I first used it, but since I had to deal with it everyday, it sort of just wore off. It sucks how the T430, and it seems like the T440s has pretty much the same issues with the grease and grime. It's just one of those things...

I have dry hands and I never use lotion, so this isn't a problem.
I don't have any glossy machines, SL400 was a problem.
On my X61T I'll clean the display at times but its always mashed with fingerprints and palmprints.

One of the main causes of discontent is the difference in touchpad texture (from smooth to gritty).
Lenovo's freak designers only have looks in mind, NOT the laptop users.
Indeed, since introducing the T**30/X**30 models, their usability has declined steeply and is getting worse with every new model.

@RealBlackStuff,
sorry, but I don´t think you have any of the new machines. Because of this, I don´t really think your judgement is fair and based on any experince...

The T440s uses different materials than other and older models. The lid is made by a smooth, slightly rubberized material, but not the classical rubbery stuff of older T-models. The new material does not get as dirty, it is very easy to clean and the corners does not go blank as they do with older T-series. However, it seems to be a bit more easy to scratch.

The TouchPad has a very, very smooth rubberized texture, which just feels great and very nice to Touch. It is a great improvement over the older TouchPads with the bumpy-surface, which was introduced with the T400s, and it also does not wear of over time, since it is made out of glass, not plastic like older models. The issues with "gritty surface" are gone, which older models had (see: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=98352). So, RealBlackStuff, your claim about the discontent is the difference in touchpad texture" is wrong.

The displaybezel is still normal plastic, very thin. The rest of the T440s is made out of either Magnesium (the base-cover) or plastic with Magnesium directly bonded to it to ensure great stability. Botht the plamrest and the basecover are slightly rubberized, which stops wear from happening. The new materials used are also very easy to clean, unlike the old rubberized material.

The T440s has much better materials and blows away older T models like the T420 in this department. The keyboard does look greasy after some use, but it also does not get glossy (I have the backlight version, the non-backlight keyboard might get glossy).

And about the general critisism on the ergonomics: This is something very personal and subjective. Haveing used and owned T420, R60, T430u and now the T440s, I can only say that the T440s has the best ergonomics. And I am a TrackPoint-only user, TouchPad is always disabled...