T400 and T500 General Chatter

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Crunch · #1 Post by **Crunch** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 4:42 pm

NICE...I wonder how the LED-backlight screen is?? Looks hot.

Troels · #2 Post by **Troels** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:32 pm

I like what I see, but the LCD will be the deal breaker for sure, if i was even interested in a new notebook.

Is it just me, or why are they showing a 14" WS T61 on page two?

EDIT:

The T400 is wider than the T60p by
Hmm, i'm still "amazed" of how little space is saved with WS. The T400 is wider than the 15.0" T60p by 1.3 mm and shorter by 30 mm.
The T500 is wider than the 15.0" T60p by 23.5 mm and shorter by 13 mm.

#3 Post by **gator** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 9:47 pm

Troels wrote: Is it just me, or why are they showing a 14" WS T61 on page two?

Even funnier than that is the fact is that they have 12" X61 on the last page

The newer thinkpads are what I call 'chunky' ... thinkpads and sleek used to go hand in hand, not anymore ... I wish someone would write up on the huge bezels in lenovoblogs ... antennas are not this thick!

lophiomys · #4 Post by **lophiomys** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:33 am

gator wrote: ...
The newer thinkpads are what I call 'chunky' ... thinkpads and sleek used to go hand in hand, not anymore ... I wish someone would write up on the huge bezels in lenovoblogs ... antennas are not this thick!

Maybe this T500
is the new design perspective... also one kind of Bento Box.

I'm getting really sarcastic, when I'm seeing this widescreens
and then even audio jacks on the front edge ... outch!

pianowizard · #5 Post by **pianowizard** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:57 am

I got excited for 5 msec when I saw in the datasheet that the T400 will have a "1680x1050" display. Then I realized it's almost certainly a typo, considering that the rest of the sentence says it's "WXGA+" and "129dpi", same as for the previous sentence about the 1440x900 option.

Lenovo made the same typo last year regarding the 14.1" widescreen T61, which got many of us excited for over 5 msec.

laowai · #6 Post by **laowai** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 7:11 am

lophiomys wrote: is the new design perspective... also one kind of Bento Box.

At least it's not pinku... yet

SHoTTa35 · #7 Post by **SHoTTa35** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:19 am

If they can release a WSXGA+ in the 14.1" screen i'd be all over it. So far though after checking out a WXGA+ i'm sure i'd be satisfied with it.

So now i can either go a cheap T61 or wait for the T400... hmmmm

Dead1nside · #8 Post by **Dead1nside** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:45 pm

So is WXGA+ the only LED-backlit screen solution on the T400?

lew2 · #9 Post by **lew2** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:59 pm

Apparently so.

truk · #10 Post by **truk** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:54 am

GAAH! No standard screen? I may get stuck dealing with widescreen, since there's nothing else available. I wonder if this can hold me up (standing on it) like my other thinkpads have?

Crunch · #11 Post by **Crunch** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 1:58 pm

Does anyone know what the LED backlit screen will "feel" like?

Pocket Aces · #12 Post by **Pocket Aces** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:59 pm

Crunch wrote:Does anyone know what the LED backlit screen will "feel" like?

What? I think the only noticeable effect will be the battery life.

bobbarker · #13 Post by **bobbarker** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 7:22 pm

I think LED screens can also be dimmed further than traditional screens (great in a totally dark room, no eye killing).

dickeywang · #14 Post by **dickeywang** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:13 am

huh.. if those pictures are real photos of the new T400/T500 models, it seems we will again see un-centered LCD screens on these new models.
I have been using my 14" T61p since last September and I didn't find the un-centered screen a big problem until I recently played with my old 14" T60 and found it made my neck pain happens much less frequently. I mean, how difficult it could be to release a model with the LCD sitting at the center?

andrey · #15 Post by **andrey** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:01 am

how difficult is it release the model with thin bezel? Did any of lenovo engineers ever held Mac notebook? If Apple can design elegant notebooks, why Lenovo can't?

I mean off-center LCD, thick bezel... yeah, it's business like, but today when notebooks are more or less a commodity, something about PC should stand out to differentiate it from the rest rather than making an ugly notebook.

laowai · #16 Post by **laowai** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:25 am

andrey wrote:how difficult is it release the model with thin bezel? Did any of lenovo engineers ever held Mac notebook? If Apple can design elegant notebooks, why Lenovo can't?

I mean off-center LCD, thick bezel... yeah, it's business like, but today when notebooks are more or less a commodity, something about PC should stand out to differentiate it from the rest rather than making an ugly notebook.

Apple designs crap, if you want an apple, go buy an apple, keep your hands off of thinkpad.

Marin85 · #17 Post by **Marin85** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:09 am

It´s always very educational for me to read replies like this...

andrey · #18 Post by **andrey** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:11 am

laowai wrote:
andrey wrote:how difficult is it release the model with thin bezel? Did any of lenovo engineers ever held Mac notebook? If Apple can design elegant notebooks, why Lenovo can't?

I mean off-center LCD, thick bezel... yeah, it's business like, but today when notebooks are more or less a commodity, something about PC should stand out to differentiate it from the rest rather than making an ugly notebook.
Apple designs crap, if you want an apple, go buy an apple, keep your hands off of thinkpad.

That is your personal opinion, and trust me, you're in a very low minority who believes that.

Kel Ghu · #19 Post by **Kel Ghu** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:06 pm

Will there be a "p" model? Because, so far, I am pretty disappointed in the choice of graphic cards.

#20 Post by **gator** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:15 pm

Kel Ghu wrote:Will there be a "p" model? Because, so far, I am pretty disappointed in the choice of graphic cards.

Look at W series, they are replacing the p models.

Kel Ghu · #21 Post by **Kel Ghu** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:27 pm

Thanks. Well... I am even more disappointed. V5700 is less powerful than FX570. This stinks...

#22 Post by **erik** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:49 pm

Kel Ghu wrote:Thanks. Well... I am even more disappointed. V5700 is less powerful than FX570. This stinks...

in what... games or 3D CAD apps? both the V5700 and FX570 are workstation GPUs and not meant for gaming. 3Dmark06 scores are meant for games, not 3D modeling/CAD applications.

agarza · #23 Post by **agarza** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:18 pm

erik wrote:
Kel Ghu wrote:Thanks. Well... I am even more disappointed. V5700 is less powerful than FX570. This stinks...
in what... games or 3D CAD apps? both the V5700 and FX570 are workstation GPUs and not meant for gaming. 3Dmark06 scores are meant for games, not 3D modeling/CAD applications.

But in terms of raw performance which card is powerful. In youtube a user has posted several videos of his T61p claiming it runs almost every game with very good resolution settings. I will be using a new Thinkpad (hope) if my employer agrees to order Thinkpads, and am wondering if the T61p is powerful as the W500.

Kel Ghu · #24 Post by **Kel Ghu** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:54 pm

I have never got that "not meant for gaming" thing. 3D workstation are all designed the same way as other thinkpads except for the graphic card drivers (and maybe a lower CPU clockspeed for stability). From my experience, CAD functionalities are not hardwired. I have hacked FireGL drivers to work with mainstream ATi card with similar performance (tested with specview perf).
imho, T61p is really well suited for gaming. Meant for 3D modeling but works extremely well for gaming. And anyway, I need both.

T61p runs every game possible. I have my card overclocked and it works like a charm. The performance are now way better than even a 8700M GT.

#25 Post by **erik** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:46 pm

i'm an industrial designer, not a gamer, so my comment above was made because i've never understood the point of testing workstation GPUs using a gaming test like 3Dmark06. i only consider specview perf results when looking at quadro/fireGL GPUs. i'm sure games will work just fine on either a T61p or W500 even though neither one are intended to be gaming laptops.

my preference is with nvidia GPUs so i must admit that i'm a bit disappointed in the W500's specs, too, even though i won't be buying one.

Kel Ghu · #26 Post by **Kel Ghu** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:49 pm

I guess 3DMark is the better test to rapidly test graphic card raw performance. I've never looked into it, but I am pretty sure 3DMark and specview scores should show similar performance trend.

Anyway, 3D modeling apps are more CPU bound than GPU bound. GPU is more important to gamers than it is to 3D designer, maybe that's why I am so into graphic cards.

#27 Post by **erik** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:39 pm

Kel Ghu wrote:Anyway, 3D modeling apps are more CPU bound than GPU bound. GPU is more important to gamers than it is to 3D designer, maybe that's why I am so into graphic cards.

that's not true. i bought both an 8800 GT and FX 3700 at the same time to test in both photoshop CS3 extended and pro/engineer wildfire 3.0. the FX 3700 was markedly faster than the 8800 GT in both apps regardless of working with 2D or 3D images. if the GPU didn't matter, as you say, then the dual 3.0GHz xeon quad-core processors would have easily made up for the FX 370 that i bought with my thinkstation. unfortunately $2000 in processors can't make up for a slow card and i ended up with an FX 3700 instead. the 8800 GT was promptly returned to tiger for a refund and the FX 370 sits in the box to use as a backup if needed.

#28 Post by **gator** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:54 pm

Erik, is there anything you *dont* have in that massive beast of a workstation?

#29 Post by **erik** » Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:21 pm

believe it or not, i think i actually have everything i need for daily work.

Kel Ghu · #30 Post by **Kel Ghu** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 4:45 pm

I didnt say the graphic card didnt matter, but it doesnt matter as much imho.

Did the $1300 difference was worth keeping the FX3700 instead of the 8800GT? Would you have prefered a dual core with a FX3700 or quad core with FX370?

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