Thinkpads Forum

With much hesitation I ordered a T450s using the corporate perks code from my workplace (*****). At the time, I was using a mix of a T61 UXGA frankenpad and an SXGA+ modded X61 - the cream of the crop for late-2000-built machines. My configuration, in short, is:

• *Core i5 5200U
  *4GB RAM
  *500GB HDD
  *1920x1080 IPS matte display, non-touch
  *Non-backlit keyboard
  *3 + 3 cell battery

In the meantime, I spent an amazon gift card I had on a 512GB SSD and another 4GB SO-DIMM to bring the memory up to 8GB. This kept the actual T450s price under $800. You can see I've optimized my choices to be cheap, and the lightest machine possible. In terms of form factor, the X300 is my favorite ThinkPad, with the critical flaws being the horrible TN LCD it has as well as relatively under powered hardware.

Well, the T450s has arrived. I'll discuss it in sections of concern from the perspective of someone who likes old ThinkPads, and also favors the X300.

Display
In short, the display is exactly what I wanted. It's nearly perfect. It is a high (but not too high) resolution, with the perfect middle-of-the-road ~150 DPI that I like. The matte finish doesn't make the display covered in speckles like some I've seen, saturation and contrast are great, and the white level is just slightly warm, a big plus for me. My only complaint is the aspect ratio of 16:9, but that's hard to fight while keeping the laptop affordable. As every other category is perfect I'll take the bad with the good. I don't know if there's some sort of panel lottery and if I got a good panel versus another choice, but at least my experience turned out very good here.

Keyboard
This is another touchy subject as the keyboard is the ThinkPad line's claim to fame. I still believe the X300 keyboard can not be beat, both in key feel and layout. The T450s keyboard had me worried a lot, but I am pleased to report that the key action is very good on the keyboard. To me, this is the most important part. Unfortunately it is the chiclet style, which has led me to have a little more trouble finding my place on it in the dark, but it's not a huge issue. The trackpoint is very good, as you'd expect, though the polling rate is a little low. The layout is looney-tunes, with the PgUp/PgDn keys placed where Back/Forward used to be. Also, the Enter key is no longer the nice royal blue it was before. These are small losses, though, and if that's the price I have to pay to get a keyboard with good key action, then I suppose I have no choice. This is something I can adjust to, and it's not as bad as I expected. I am very annoyed by the F keys, though - they default to the various media functions, but you may revert them to the original behavior in the BIOS. Since there are no dedicated volume keys, you must hold function and use F2-F3 for adjustment. I can get used to it, but I preferred them separate.

Battery
The battery bridge feature is nifty, being able to hotswap a battery, but I promise I'm never going to use it. Coming from an X61 where a 5 hour runtime is incredible on the stock 6-cell battery, I'm happy to find that the lowest-end battery option gets me about 8 hours doing what I normally do, at pretty high screen brightness. I don't mind the new power plug at all.

Ports
The T450s retains ethernet and VGA! I care much more about ethernet, but I'm glad to see compatibility was a focus here. My monitor is a dual-link DVI or Displayport monitor, though, so I'll have to go out and get some silly adapter to use it. Three USB 3 ports provide a good amount of connectivity, same as the X61 this replaces. The speakers are okay. A little better than the T60 ones I'm used to at least.

Cooling
The cooling system is very effective, and very quiet. The machine idles around 30 degrees centigrade without the fan running. You can thank Broadwell and Lenovo for this.

Trackpad
I can't tell you how good the trackpad is because I disabled it immediately. I have no plans on enabling it.

Hinge
The hinge is the "behind the screen" type. Not a fan, but it's solid and beefy at least. I trust it to remain working years later, so my criticism is solely aesthetic.

MOD Edit: corporate codes are exactly that: for employees of that corporation. Code removed.

Are the hinges the traditional thinkpad metal w/ gorilla coating? Or are they the new cheap 'pot metal'?

I'm not really sure. The appearance is similar as is the texture, and the traditional 45 degree chamfers are present on the backside.

Hinges on the new thinkpads (post t430 era) seem to be good quality. Seems like there are very few issues of wobble or snapping like some of Lenovo's previous ones (even though they haven't been out for too long). The hinge design is also quite similar to T510 - T530 and pre T30 IBM versions, where they can actually be tightened. However, some people have experienced cracking lids near the hinge on the 's' models. Take extra care not to lift the laptop by the lid.

Some of the now older T440s models that I have encountered generally have slightly loose hinges. Nothing that would cause any problems, but I'm not sure if they will last as long as some of the older ThinkPad hinges, considering that they are fading after just 2 years. On top of that, the T440s is the most premium model after the X1 Carbon.

Have you checked the display for image retention ? It is mostly visible on blue or gray background. LG.Display notebook panels (that Lenovo orders) are known for this issue. Another common T450s issue is CPU whine.

My backdrop is a solid grey, and I haven't noticed anything after using the laptop to display a schematic for about an hour on end during electrical work. I may have the AU Optronics panel then. My CPU is whisper quiet, in all power states.

It seems like if you had a nice T440s and replaced the trackpad, you aren't far off from a T450s.

That is where I am at currently. I have a T440s machine and would love the buttons back. I know I should be able to undertake this idea and do it. The only thing is the machine has a warranty still and I guess I can remove the pad and do a switch. But I have heard that if I replace the the pad with a Lenovo FRU part and send it in for repair I should be ok. I do need to send it in for a LCD repair (there are three white spots on the screen near each other, I have never seen this on a ThinkPad before).

John

I just got a new T450s as well. Here is my configuration:
Core i7 5600u
12GB RAM
1080p Display (non touch)
Backlit keyboard with fingerprint reader
3 + 3 cell battery
500GB HDD Equipped
Win 10 Pro

First thing I did was replace the HDD with a Samsung 850 EVO 500GB SSD. Got one for $160 vs the near $500 Lenovo wanted for the same upgrade (though Toshiba SSD).

My impressions, Win 10 really likes to run on a SSD. IMO having the standard HDD lets down the machine. This thing was meant to run with a SSD.

Display is awesome. One of the best I have ever had on a laptop. So glad to be using a trackpoint again. I was using Apple and HP laptops for the last 8 years so I'm estatic about having a trackpoint again (none of my HP machines had their version of it).

Build quality seems to be very good. Cooling solution Lenovo uses seems to be very adequate because even with this i7 doing moderate tasks, it stays cool.

Battery life with the standard battery configuration is acceptable. I get 5-6 hours of mixed use with it. Interested in getting the 6 cell battery. Probably going to do a full review on it after using for a month or two.

Bibin wrote:My backdrop is a solid grey, and I haven't noticed anything after using the laptop to display a schematic for about an hour on end during electrical work.

Check it again after a month or so. The issue develops in time and is getting worse after several weeks.

Stargate199 wrote:Win 10 really likes to run on a SSD.

Most modern OSes do.

Stargate199 wrote:Probably going to do a full review on it after using for a month or two.

Please do.

Puppy wrote:

Bibin wrote:My backdrop is a solid grey, and I haven't noticed anything after using the laptop to display a schematic for about an hour on end during electrical work.

Check it again after a month or so. The issue develops in time and is getting worse after several weeks.

It's been nearly a month, and the display is still doing great. I may have gotten lucky.

A T550 just came through that I got to test out; it appears to have the proper gorilla coated hinges (although there's a dent in one of the hinges revealing a copper coloured metal). There were also scratches at the bottom... keep in mind this was a *brand new* Lenovo ThinkPad. Oh! And when I had to remove the bottom cover to install more memory, the screws were stripped a bit from whoever assembled it at the factory. Blah!

I've noticed these flaws on other OEM systems as well like from HP. Seems like OEMs don't care about cosmetics that much as long as they can have the machines assembled for the cheapest costs.