Anyone order a e6400 then sent it back and got a t400/t500?

I am looking at both and just found out my neighbor has a T500 so I will have a chance to see it up close soon but I just wondered if anyone has actually been able to physically see/use both and could comment on their impressions after seeing both up close.

Thanks!

 

Looking at both and was interested in hearing from those who have seen both up close and why they sent one back for the other, etc.

Thanks!

 

no, just ordered my T500 and loved it, so I kept it.

 

Don't cross-post, it is prohibited per the forum rules. The topics are too similar to remain separate.

 

sorry-missed that rule. Brand loyalty is so bad at times I figured Dell people wouldn't be caught dead in a lenovo forum and vice versa.

Anyway-the question is still out there. Seems there isn't much difference in these machines except for the coupon of the day that tilts it one way or the other. regarding warranty, Dell may have USA support but a Lenovo owner said if you get no fault warranty it was smooth sailing with Lenovo.

 

I have an Dell Latitude E6400 at home and at work we buy Lenovo Thinkpad T400 and X200. I haven't used the T400 at work that much but I have used my E6400 at home a lot.

Compared to T400, E6400 is still in beta test. Dell E6400 is a completely new design and replaces the old Latitude D series. As always when changing a lot of things, there are bugs to work out. Unfortunately it seems like Dell is letting customers to a lot of the bug-hunting.

I choose a Dell E6400 as my private laptop anyway on the following reasons:
* T400 lacks DisplayPort/HDMI output
* T400 lacks eSATA
* Already had a Dell Latitude D610 and can share power adapters with the new one.
* Dell support is better than Lenovo support in my country
* Dell laptops are cheaper than Lenovo laptops in my country
* Lenovo has put the Fn key in the wrong position on the keyboard, very annoying.
* Lenovo spare parts/accessories are more expensive than Dell parts/accessories

Örjan

 

I have used the e6400 for a little bit and found the keyboard to be subpar. However they are much more featureful laptops compared to the thinkpads. I think it depends what you want in the laptop. They are still build pretty decently. I personally don't like the look of the Dell's redesign of the latitude, but then again I use a thinkpad .

 

huh I would think the T400 had more features
-Duel video
-auto shut off when dropped (can't remember what they call it)
-Think lite

Care to discuss further?

 

I almost bought an E6400 but in the end went w/ T400 solely due to getting a better deal (via EPP access)

E6400 has...
- dual video, in fact more ports (VGA + displayport + native screen
- auto hard drive lockdown, they don't really advert this like Lenovo though
- (I believe) optional backlit keyboard

I really heistated on the T400 solely due to the lack of video output options... having only analog VGA out is seriously missing the boat IMO, even the R series at least has S-video. I know the chassis is smaller but I just don't see how they couldn't find space for a DisplayPort connection like on T500. Or just dump analog VGA altogether and have a single DVI-I port, then you could choose either digital or analog output from a single port.
It really bothers me that I'll have to get a docking station or converter to properly connect to a newer HDTV, many do not have analog VGA anymore.

 

Interesting post. I will be using this machine for PowerPoint but you never know other ways I might need to connect this machine in the life of the computer. At least a reason to pick the t500 over the t400 I guess.

 

I would rather get a T500 than a T400 because of the DisplayPort connection. Size is not so important for me since my laptop mostly travels from the living room to the bedroom and very seldomly outside my house.

Builtin E-SATA on the other hand is not very critical for me. E-SATA can always be added with an ExpressCard och PC Card expansion card. On my Dell E6400 I cannot use the built-in E-SATA port anyway because I run the SATA controller in ATA/IDE compatible mode since I had problems running it in native mode.

The backlit keyboard on the new Dells is very nice according to reviews, much better than the keyboard light on Thinkpad.

Örjan