T400 middle mouse button & graphics switching

[futurejp]

Hi,

I got a new Thinkpad T400 this afternoon. I just have two questions.

My old model, a G41, didn't have a touchpad (I don't like them anyway) so it just had the Trackpoint with the three mouse buttons. On that computer, if I was working in Firefox or Opera and clicked on a link with the middle mouse button, it would open the link in a new tab but put it in the background (and keep focus on the tab I was on). On this T400, I've looked at mouse settings, but the only settings I can find for the middle mouse button are scroll settings and magnifying glass settings. Is there no way to have it be like a regular button again?

Also, my T400 is a customized version of the Enhanced T400, so it has discrete graphics. I read somewhere a while ago that with Vista, it's as easy as a few clicks to switch between integrated and discrete graphics. But with XP, it's a bit trickier. I chose to have this computer come downgraded to XP but with Vista Business upgrades for when I feel like switching. So right now, the way it came, it has XP. Can anyone point me to some documentation or a quick tutorial or something that tells me how to deal with the graphics switch?

Thanks

Mike

[KBAM]

Mike,

Under WinXP, switching between (T400/T500) discrete and integrated graphics is done in the BIOS. Thus, once the integrated graphics driver is installed and configured, switching (as opposed to what might pass for "toggling" under Vista) will, each time, require a reboot and brief visit to the BIOS.

While inconvenient vs Vista's embedded hooks, one maintains the upside of a venerable and lower-overhead XP platform and stretches battery life by, say, 50%. Arguably, a fair tradeoff.

The setup particulars are outlined in this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=70998

--BAM

T400 Elite 2764-CTO

[bobbarker]

For the mouse settings if you just tell it "Neither" it should work like you want (this is how mine is set for opening/closing tabs).

[neenee]

KBAM, please provide a source where you got the 50% battery consumption difference number

[donzoomik]

While inconvenient vs Vista's embedded hooks, one maintains the upside of a venerable and lower-overhead XP platform and stretches battery life by, say, 50%. Arguably, a fair tradeoff.

I'd like to know as well, how you achieved 50% better runtime on XP. I did some testing in my enterprise and X200 Tablet achieved 25% better runtimes under Vista Enterprise. As i've heard from fellow administrators, the same applies for most newer laptops...