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