T440/s/p lineup ...

[zetheroo]

What sucks:
- T440 not available with regular notebook M-type CPU's

Why is this? I am told that the T440 is the replacement of the T430u. The real question then is "Why do we need a lower-priced/budget model of a premium series!? Why would Mercedes create a budget model of S-Class for people who can only afford the A-Class!? And then what then is the L, S and E series for!?

I understand the T440s series being tied down to using the U-type notebook CPU's, but the T440!?

- Differences between the T440 Laptop and T440 Ultrabook are .... what exactly?

Yep - Lenovo making things over-complicated. On the Lenovo US site you can choose between these two. There is absolutely no difference! They are identical machines.

- Dimensional differences between the T440, the T440s and the T440p

T440: Dimensions (W X H X D) 13.34" x 0.82" x 9.15"

T440s: Dimensions (W X H X D) 13.03" x 0.80" x 8.89"

T440p: Dimensions (W x H x D) 13.18" x 1.29" x 9.01"

The difference of thickness between the T440 and T440s are simply not worth mentioning - it seems more like Lenovo made the T440 thinner so that they could boast about it, but not make it as thin as the T440s so that they could boast that the T440s is thinner than the T440. All the while the T440 is forced to use lightweight CPU's! Lenovo what are you doing!?

Just for fun ...

T430: Dimensions (W x H x D) 13.8" x 1.18" x 9.13"

T430s: Dimensions (W x H x D) 13.50" x 0.83" - 1.02" x 9.05"

With the T430 and T430s we see a significant difference of thickness. - interesting to note that even the T430s at 0.83" thickness could still pack the following powerful CPU's:

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3520M (3.60 GHz, 4MB L3, 1600MHz FSB)
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3520M (3.60 GHz, 4MB L3, 1600MHz FSB)
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3320M (3.30 GHz, 3MB L3, 1600MHz FSB)

So Lenovo takes the T430s and makes the T440s to replace it with 0.03" thinner body, but removes the option of having a proper M-type CPU .... and this is innovation!? Rubbish!

Nobody gives a hoot about 0.03" extra height, but we do give a hoot about our configuration options - at least give us business professionals the courtesy of being able to choose between a lightweight, dumbed-down CPU, and a regular, fully-powered one! -- Or at the VERY least allow the T440 to be a normal Laptop with normal CPU's - it's not an Ultraportable and it's not meant to be, so why the cheap compromises!?

- T440p

It's body is thick and it's lid is super thin. I don't see any innovation going on here. The actual body seems to be getting thicker, so Lenovo tradeoff by installing a flimsy lid with no latches and no lip to speak of!

The fan on my and numerous other people's units creates an annoying and bizzare "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" sound and vibration from the first time it's powered on after being unboxed! I would guess "p" stand for "professional" or something like that ... no!?

The so-called Ultrabay in the T440p is a joke! One has to remove the underside panel of the laptop and then another screw in order to remove the device in the bay! What the heck was wrong with the awesome ejecting functionality which still existed in the T400? Again, absolutely no innovation here - Lenovo just continue to dumb things down on the legendary Thinkpad!

- No more hardware LED indicators

So how does one know if the battery is charging or if the laptop is getting power from the AC adapter? Thinkpads used to have this awesome battery LED which was solid green when the battery was fully charged, went amber when it was low, and blinked when you were VERY low on battery. And when it was charging it also would start off amber and blinking, and as the battery got charged the blinking would slow down and would change to green etc ... and if the LCD lid was open or closed did not matter because you could see this indicator regardless! - It was awesome! Now? ... well now there is a tiny red dot on the top of the LCD where the "i" is in the Thinkpad logo which blinks three times when you plug it in. What if you plug in the machine with the lid open? - What if your not staring at the tiny red dot in the two seconds immediately after having plugged it in?

And I loved the HDD/SSD indicator, the Wifi and Bluetooth and WAN indicators ...

Lenovo, did you REALLY have to remove these indicators? By removing this, and all the other awesome indicators, were you able to deliver to us something else which is just as, or more, useful to those "Who Do"? If so I missed it ... so please clarify what it was. And if there was no benefit to the user/consumer I have to assume that you did it just to cut costs ... aka. increase your profits ... so was it worth it? Please share with us how much more you make on each unit by removing useful features from your premium business class line of Thinkpads.

- Caps Lock indicator ... where art thou!?

Pretty self-explanitory. Where the heck is it?

- Touchpad/Trackpoint thingy ...

Feels clunky and nowhere near as smooth and responsive as the seperate buttons. Another legendary Thinkpad experience bites the dust.

[zetheroo]

I forgot another point about the T440 and T440s that sucks ... (also applies to the X240) ...

- Memory limit
We have taken a step backwards to where now instead of 16GB max RAM we are limited to 12GB. Not only that but now there is a 4GB module soldered onto the system board, leaving you with only a single available module slot!!

In the past if a RAM module was acting up we could just simply, and cheaply, replace it. Now if this 4GB module goes sideways ... well, you gotta replace the entire system board.

Innovation!? Not by my standards!

[AIX]

You sum it up clearly. I'm thinking about upgrading my T420s this year and I have no direction. T440p it's too thick, T440/s have no optical drive (yeah, I still want/need the optical drive), no discrete graphics, the new trackpoint makes me reluctant. I'm an exclusive trackpoint user, so no go for a touchpad only laptop,; Precisions are too expensive, and I still prefer the industrial design of Thinkpads. I have hoped for a "regular" T440s, with regular CPUs, optical drive and maybe better discrete graphics (750m). And now the offer is a "dumbed down" laptop, with two flavors - T440 and T440s..

[wolfman]

My answer to the above is to keep my T420 and upgrade my desktop. Sadly, barring a change in direction, the T420 will likely be my last Thinkpad. Pains me to say it, but it's true.

[zetheroo]

Just to update:

The Fan noise issue on the T440p has been reognised by Lenovo and a new Fan/heatsink solution produced. New replacement parts are available in, at least, the US and Europe!

Of course, as per Lenovo's "quality" of support, don't be misled into thinking that the warranty support reps will have the slightest clue what you are talking about when you call in to request the new, improved fan! No - you will have to plead with them and make them believe that you are not a complete moron just looking to get something free from them!

Also:

Just thought I would note that the eject button on the T440p optical drive is nothing short of abissmal!! I have to align my fingernail with it just right to get it to react ... and even then it NEVER ejects on the first try!

The other IT specialist here has a T430 which also has a totally idiotic eject button on the optical drive ...

Additionally:

The headphone/microphone socket is EXTREMELY tight! - It's simply torture getting the headset connected and disconnected!

Lenovo - what the blazes is going on with your R&D!?

[bmwman91]

My T60p/61p Frankenpad is most likely going to be my last Thinkpad as well. Lenovo has gutted most of what I loved about the Thinkpads, and I will probably go with a Broadwell-based Dell Precision laptop later this year. I had HIGH hopes fo rthe T440x series, and it has fallen very short of where I hoped it would land. Killing the discrete Trackpoint buttons is a real shame, and actually the Trackpoint's usefulness has been thrashed for at least a year because the driver releases ruin the middle button's functionality. Oddly, I do like the chiclet/"island" type keyboards. I have an X230 as my work machine and I do like the keyboard. But, the broken middle Trackpoint button functionality is frustrating. The 6-row keyboard is also poop in my opinion, and I miss having a physical screen latch mechanism.