Anyone have experience with both X200 and T400s

I am trying to decide on either the x200 or the T400s for school this fall.

I’ve locked in these prices with a quote from Lenovo:


$978 for an X200 with:
P8600 2.40GHz 3mb l2
2 GB Ram
250 GB HDD
Fingerprint reader, Bluetooth, camera
Intel 5300 wireless
9 cell battery
With an Intel 80 GB SSD, 4 GB ram, and external DVD burner from Newegg it would come to a total of $1292


For only $115 more ($1406) I can get a T400s with:
SP9400 2.40GHz 6mb l2
4 GB ram
64 GB Samsung SSD
Fingerprint reader, Bluetooth, camera
Intel 5300 wireless


Because I can’t find a local store that has either one of these laptops on display I thought I’d ask if anyone has experience with both of them.

Specifically, how do the keyboards and screens compare?

I am going to be taking all of my notes on my laptop and am concerned about keyboard noise. Is one keyboard quieter than the other?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

Those are quite good prices! I would recommend the T400s as an all-purpose machine, since it does have a nicer high-resolution screen (1440x900 versus 1280x800).

The T400s' keyboard is supposed to be quieter, from what I've heard, although that may vary if Lenovo is still suing multiple parts suppliers for its keyboards.

I think the T400s would be a better buy if it will be your exclusive machine, since you are getting a newer revision. The only areas where the X200 would beat the T400s are portability and battery life (since the X200 has an available 9-cell, while the T400s only has a 6-cell).

 

I believe the T400 does come with a 9 cell battery.

 

T400s doesn't have any other battery options. It isn't the same as the T400.

 

Just got the x200 a couple of days ago for b-school starting in Sept and I am honestly not that thrilled with the screen resolution so I am considering returning it for the T400s.

The weight difference and battery life don't seem significantly different and I think at 14" screen would be pretty nice.

-Brian

 

Have you looked into the X200s with the 1440x900 res screen?

 

Yeah I looked at the x200s, however; I do a lot of research/analysis in Excel (VBA monte carlo simulations) so I need the fastest computer possible however also need portability. If the x200s had a quicker processor that would definitely have been my choice, however it is currently limited to about 80% of the x200.

 

I think you have an unrealistic view of your needs if the reason you passed on the x200s is because you think its processor isn't fast enough to run Excel calculations.

If you think it would have been your best choice if not for the CPU, then you might want to give it another look and try to get some benchmarks of it running your workload.

 

I'm inclined to agree. The 1.86 GHz SL9400 is probably far faster than you realize. You may even be able to get an X200s with a 2.13 GHz SL9600 if you look in the right places (e.g. academic ordering). If you can handle WXGA+ on a 12.1" screen, I think the x200s is probably your best option.

 

Or rather, VBA may not be the right tool to perform Monte Carlo simulations.

 

x200s some model, x301 x300, and t400s are using the better material in the body, the top cover is using carbon fiber. And the keyboard is using a new technology( I 'm not sure what, but I guess the function is increasing the resistance of human oil, I love this technology. I'm sorry I don't know how to describe, but if you go to public computer station, you can always see there are lots of oil on the keys)

In my own opinion , lenovo is doing similar thing as dell did, t400 is no longer a high end notebook which you can pick it up for 600 .

(e6400 is much much worse than my e4200, no more dell e64xx series)

For only 120 more, I suggest you pick up t400s instead of x200. They are totally different.

I loved my previous x301 and x300, beside the price and noise, I guess they are the best in the market.
( best keyboard, best cover material ) But one x301 can pick up a refurbished e4200 and e4300 .

 

BTW: SP 9400 is extreme fast, I have no idea about why the e6400 is super slow compare(p8700) to e4300,( I owned e4200 and e4300, then just ordered a e6400 a few days ago, like a crap, have to return)

 

I'd go for the t400s as a primary computer. just got mine a week ago and love it to death.

having a fast chip makes a difference, especially if you are crunching a lot of numbers. I do a lot of work with Stata (regression estimation) and the difference is most notable vs. the LV processor on the previous machine I was using.