About to nail down a T400 configuration but am wondering about a couple of things

This looks pretty close to my final configuration. BTW, I'm not into games or other intense graphics needs, so I went with integrated graphics.

7417CTO ThinkPad T400
Core 2 Duo Processor P8600
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN)
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Mobile 1Yr Depot to Total 3Yr Depot Warranty: 95.20
ThinkPad and Lenovo 65W AC Adapter-with US/Canada/LA Line Cord: $31.20
Subtotal: $993.91​

According to the site, it seems as though Windows 7 will come installed.

**I wish the T400 came with the display port, though I doubt I would use it any time soon.

**Also, I keep trying to weigh the T400's WXGA+ LED screen against the T500's WSXGA+ CCFL. Some report that the picture quality of the WSXGA+ CCFL is actually better because of the increased contrast, even though it is not as bright. It will probably come down to the luck of the draw.

**I'm used to 15.4" screens, so I wonder if I will regret the smaller 14.1". I saw an HP 14.1" last night with WXGA graphics, and the size seems okay. I'm hoping that the WXGA+ will be more crisp than what I viewed on the HP. But, for about $40 more, IIRC, I could order a T500, almost identical configuration, with the WSXGA+ screen.

At any rate, I think I will save the quote on this one tonight and see if anything changes on the cpp site when the official Windows 7 launch occurs tomorrow.

Any and all thoughts are certainly appreciated.

Bill

 

The screen with the best image quality is the high nit WXGA if that's what you want. Just curious as why you'd upgrade over your HP, which is still a pretty good machine, provided it's in good shape?

 

I've considered seriously the high nit, but I've thought too about going with a higher resolution to get sharper fonts. I realize that they will be smaller, but Windows 7, so I hear, is supposed to be pretty adept at keeping distortions to a minimum if you need to increase them. The high nit is still tempting, though, and I may settle on it yet.

Yes, the HP is still in decent shape. I don't have another computer, and I want to let my wife have use of it to keep up with our daughters and grandchildren. She couldn't care less about computers, but she loves seeing photos of the grandkids and interacting with them and others via email and Facebook and such. I could get her a simple machine to do that, but I've had this HP for almost three years and it runs eight to ten hours a day, six days a week. So it seems a good time to get another, especially with Windows 7 being released.

Bill

 

why is that price so high?i heard tha lenovo had decreased their prices because of the new ones in january??

 

If you remove the warranty upgrade and extra AC adapter, it comes to $867.51 before taxes. Does that bring it more into line with what you expected?

Bill

 

yeah..that seems more reasonable...

 

sweet machine, so is that a single stick of 4 gig ddr3 ram or 2 x 2 gig setup?

 

It's a 2 x 2. With the current prices and coupon on cpp, it's only a few dollars more ($5 or $6?) than Newegg and it will be installed.

I'm unsettled whether to go 14.1" or 15.4", since it will be the only computer I use, and I'm leaning back to WXGA resolution. I was thinking last night that I rarely need to reduce the size of anything, but I will on occasion need to increase the size. WXGA+ on the T400 or WSXGA+ on the T500 would probably have me increasing the size of what is displayed often. Theoretically, the idea of having more screen real estate is appealing, but practically, seeing well what is in the real estate is more necessary.

Bill

 

T500 does have Displayport out, so you don't need to buy a dock to output to two external screens. For constant on road use, the T400 is better, but if you use it more at home, then you should get the T500.

 

T500 has slightly better video....

 

That confirms my thinking. The display port was one factor and screen size the other. I simply carry from home to office each day. I live 3 miles from my office and park fifty feet away from the door, so weight is a non-issue.

Interesting, but in what way do you mean? BTW, I don't have a need for discrete graphics, if that plays into the video difference between the two machines. I'll be going with integrated, so I would have thought the two would be similar video-wise in my case.

Bill

 

The best quality screen option on these two models is the WSXGA+ 15" that you can get on the T500 (and its W500 cousin) but the T400 has no similar quality of screen in any resolution.

By quality here I mean the qualty of the picture you see, not just number of pixels. On that basis alone its a slam dunk for the T500 if your usage is to watch movies at home.

 

I agree as far as watching movies that the WSXGA+ would be the way to go. My primary usage, though, is research and writing. I'm going to Lenovo because I want an outstanding keyboard and a cool computer (temperature --though I think Thinkpads look more "cool" than the flashy plastic of most consumer models). I'll watch an occasional movie, but I prefer my television for that.

Bill

 

the intel gpu is the same on T400 and T500, only the ATI gpu differs, since you are not ordering the ATI gpu, this doesn't affect you.

 

I think the T500 has the vPro option on GPU while the T400 does not. I dont think an individual non-corporate buyer would want the Vpro at all, but it is a difference techncially speaking.

 

vPro is an Intel CPU feature, not a GPU one.

 

I got vPro on my T61, and i have never used it.