About to buy a T400 and have some questions

Thanks in advance for any help.

So far here are the specs:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight
ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Pointing device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & Smart Card Reader
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection

$1,577.20 Before Tax

I have some questions

1. I'm using the student site and the prices don't seem too bad. How do I get to the CCP site that I keep hearing about on this site.

2. How is the screen camera? Is it useful (quality wise)?

3. How is Lenovo's warranty? Is it worth getting? I plan on keeping this baby for a while (light gaming all around general purpose use nothing really taxing)

4. Anything else u guys could recommend?

 

(1) Google is your friend. Rules here are that the CPP code cannot be given out, but it is readily available with a quick Google search.

(2) Reports are it's okay; tends to go to the brightest item. Don't have direct experience with it.

(3) No personal experience.

(4) I recommend you think about what you need a Smart Card reader for if you're a student. Do you know what it is and what its for?

 

Yea you don't need the Smart Card reader... I'm guessing you wanted the 7-in-1 media card reader (that reads memory sticks from cameras, etc.)

 

All depends on what is used. In all likelyhood Smart Card reader is probably an option used by corporations. PC Card is good for legacy compatibility but its being phased out and Express is superior. 7 in 1 media card reader does make the most sense of the options. A smart card reader can plug into the USB port and will cost $8 or so. A 7 in 1 media reader card in the express bus slot goes for $30+. So I would argue the 7 in 1 media reader is the way to go and if you need smart card capability to buy the USB Device and keep it in the laptop case.

If I go Lenovo T400 I will get the 7 in 1 media card reader myself. I never use smart cards but if I did I would get a USB reader.

 

Crap, I got the W500 with the smart card reader since there was no option for the 7in1 reader and I just assumed that's what a smart card reader is. Is the smart card reader just an adapter that can be removed?

 

So here is my newly changed setup

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Keyboard US English
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & 7-1 Media Card Reader
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
Language Pack US English
4 Year Depot Upgrade with 4 Year ThinkPad Protection

I changed the processor for better power consumption and heat
changed the warranty to 4 years and changed the smart card reader to the 7in1 reader.

right now the price is $1,612.44 before tax. I though this was a good price but after looking at some other messages here I don't understand how people can get theirs so low. Is it the CCP discount??

 

YES:

www.lenovo.com/cpp

 

I will probably get a similar setup. I am unclear on the warranty options and the wifi option since I really want Wimax and I dont need the 3 antennas in the Wifi link 5300.

I heard bad things about depot service with Lenovo. I would go with next day service. The odds of needing insurance is probably limited to boot, most credit cards probably have accident insurance protection on them.

Usually the only component to go is the hard drive which is almost always cheaper to buy yourself to replace. Buying warranty on computers is generally a bad investment. Only thing I plan on doing is upgrading from depot to next day for 1 year. I really doubt anything will go on the laptop after multiple years of use.

 

The 5100 allows u to upgrade in the future to 5150 i believe and the 5300 allows you to upgrade to the wimax 5350...from what ive read the one antena in the 5100 is nothing compared to the three in the 5300...i would go 5300 if u want to utlize wimax's full ability in the future.

 

thanks guys for all the help i pulled the trigger just now. I ended up getting the 3 year on site warranty. This is my first laptop so I don't know how i'll treat it yet. Plus $200 isn't that bad for some sort of cya. I know i've wasted more than that on other things.

 

So with the 5350 I can just swap out the module and order this from Lenovo directly? It has to be a Lenovo module because of the errors that will occur if another brand card is inserted.

So in other words ordering the 5300 gets the antennas installed in the system, and I can just swap out the card and upgrade to the 5350 card by ordering the part from Lenovo?

Any confirmation on this or is it just speculation? I don't know how long I will wait.

 

WiMAX/Wi-Fi
WiMAX/Wi-Fi Link 5350 (Echo Peak)




802.16e+80211a/g/n;

3x3 MIMO; Mini card
54

WiMAX/Wi-Fi Link 5150 (Echo Peak)




802.16e+802.11a/g/h;

1x2 MIMO; Mini card/Half Mini card
43-44

WLAN
Wi-Fi Link 5300 (Shirley Peak)
80211a/g/n; 3x3 MIMO; Mini card/Half Mini card
29-30

Wi-Fi Link 5100 (Shirley Peak)
802.11a/g/n; 1x2 MIMO; Mini card/Half Mini card
19-20

Looks like due to Wimax I will wait for the 5350 to arrive before I order.