T400 ordering advice needed - 2765-PAU or 2765-33U

[pjoyce1]

the background: I've had thinkpads for quite a while. A t20 was my first, then a t41 and now a t60. My t60 is approaching its 3rd birthday and needs to head in for a screen replacement before its warranty expires. It's not possible for me to be without a main computer for more than two days or so (should have bought an on-site warranty) so I am thinking about getting a T400 before my t60 heads to the shop. Since time is getting tight, I will buy from a Lenovo authorized retailer (can't risk the delays associated with a custom build).

The best choices in the ~$1300 price range appear to be the just announced 2765-PAU (3GB memory, roomy hard drive, WXGA+) and the older 2765-33U. According to the tabook, the 33U has a WXGA+ LED display. I looked for this model last month and there were none to be found anywhere. Now, they are much more common but I don't remember Lenovo offering the LED WXGA+ option in the custom build.

Screen real estate (hence the WXGA+) and screen quality are the most important concerns for me (beyong the must-haves like "thinkpad" and a track point). I doubt I'll notice a difference in the processor speeds, and I plan on adding more memory in either case. My questions are:

1) what should I buy?
2) more specifically, how good is the WXGA+ LED?
3) is there any chance the tabook is wrong since the WXG+ LED screen seems so hard to find but the 33U model is now in stock (and a greatly reduced price) at so many online retailers?
4) I know the keyboard is supposed to be better for all the recent builds. is there any other reason to go with a just-announced model like the 2765-P*U's.

thanks for the help! this forum has been a great resource for my research.

[Harryc]

I'd go with the WXGA+ LED LCD if you can get it. It's considered a better LCD option than the conventional CCFL offerings on the T400. Any T400 machine manufactured after March 2009 should have the new style reinforced keybaord. See this thread -
http://forum.lenovo.com/lnv/board/messa ... ng&page=46

[archer6]

I'm with Harryc,

His suggestion is a very good one.

I have the identical ThinkPad myself and it's a winner. As he mentioned only the early ones had soft keyboards. Mine is as solid as any of my favorite T42 / T43 / T60 models. I'm quite certain that you would be very happy with it.

Cheers...

[ZaZ]

2) more specifically, how good is the WXGA+ LED?

I saw a T400 with the LED about a month ago. It seemed pretty solid overall. The LED is certainly bright and supposedly offers better battery life, but I didn't think the image quality was markedly better than anything else being offered right now.

[archer6]

I saw a T400 with the LED about a month ago. It seemed pretty solid overall. The LED is certainly bright and supposedly offers better battery life, but I didn't think the image quality was markedly better than anything else being offered right now.

My opinion when I first saw one was the same as yours. However once I bought mine and began using it, I noticed that by adjusting the brightness down from maximum there is a sweet spot that offers excellent color balance, depth, and contrast. That spot is with the brightness set at about 80% of max and is still much brighter than my T400 with CCFL backlighting. An interesting comparison, and result. Perhaps even more telling is the way it outperforms the display on my new Unibody MacBook Pro.
.
Cheers...

[pjoyce1]

harry, archer, fred -- thanks! I really appreciate the expert advice. I'll order a 2765-33U this morning.

[pjoyce1]

My new thinkpad arrived this morning. I went with the 2765-33U, and, in case it help anyone else:

the build date is 3/23/09
the screen is 42T0504, the Samsung 1440x900 WXGA+ LED
the keyboard is 42T4066

also, the 33u ships with the XP downgrade, so the package incudes Vista Recovery DVDs (the "conversion" kit). I'm not sure if I'll keep it XP or switch to 64-bit Vista to take advantage of more memory.

[edit: haven't really used it yet, but both the flex and the action of the keyboard are significantly different from my T60]

[ZaZ]

So what's your take on the LED? Make sure you make the recovery DVDs for XP and a copy of the SWTools folder before you decide anything about XP or Vista. I'd say for most people 2GB is enough. I ran Vista with 1GB. It seemed to do alright, though I'm not too demanded. You could see how it goes for a while.

[pjoyce1]

Fred, wise advice. I've made the XP DVDs (and have the Vista ones), but, after more thought, I am going to stick with XP for a while. The only downside is lack of on-the-fly graphics switching, but I'll wait for the official release of W7 for that.

That there is still so much keyboard flex is a disappointment, but I like the display. If the LG is better, it must be awesome, because the Samsung is plenty crisp and bright. Except for aspect ration, it is better than my t60 screen by a wide margin. The colors are certainly more vibrant. And, at the top setting it is blinding. Second from top seems about right, though.

Now that I am set on OS (for a while) and have all my updates installed, the next task is to figure out what Lenovo software I can do without. The HDD protection and Access Connections have always been favorites, so they'll stay. The display and power management software have come in handy too. Beyond that, I'll have to do some research. Boot time is pleasantly fast right now, but there are still so many processes running that I'll have to sort out.

[ZaZ]

Vista has a lot of things to like about it. I like the sidebar and it looks a lot better than than XP, but there's one too many issues for me that make it a no go for me. Maybe they just needed to throw some things at the wall and see what sticks. I'm hoping they work things out in Widows 7 because I'd like to upgrade.

Being better than a 14" ThinkPad SXGA+ display isn't a real accomplishment. I have the BOE-Hydis panel in my 14" R60, which is supposed to the best of the 14" SXGA+ screens. The brightness is fine on upper levels, but the viewing angles are razor thin and it's got a washed out look that I can't find a way to correct. If they'd only find a way to make a 14" SXGA+ IPS or AFFS screen, I'd never buy anything else.

As for the ThinkVantage Tools, I personally only use Power Manager, Drive Protection, UltraNav and System Toolbox. The rest I don't need so why let them turn on with Windows.

[trdickinson]

As for the ThinkVantage Tools, I personally only use Power Manager, Drive Protection, UltraNav and System Toolbox. The rest I don't need so why let them turn on with Windows.

Which ones do you disable, and how do you do it?

[burhan]

My new thinkpad arrived this morning. I went with the 2765-33U, and, in case it help anyone else:

the build date is 3/23/09
the screen is 42T0504, the Samsung 1440x900 WXGA+ LED
the keyboard is 42T4066

also, the 33u ships with the XP downgrade, so the package incudes Vista Recovery DVDs (the "conversion" kit). I'm not sure if I'll keep it XP or switch to 64-bit Vista to take advantage of more memory.

[edit: haven't really used it yet, but both the flex and the action of the keyboard are significantly different from my T60]

I'm curious -- how do you know what your system build date is if you are ordering a per-made (not custom) machine? Or you only found this out after you received the package. Curious minds want to know

[ZaZ]

Which ones do you disable, and how do you do it?

I have OEM Windows CDs. I do a clean install and only put on the ones I want. You can use MSCONFIG to turn off any you don't want starting with Windows.