Got my T500!

Finally got a notebook for my dad after searching for the past few months.

System configuration:

• P8600
• 2GB RAM
• 160GB 5400RPM HDD
• ATI 3650 with switchable graphics
• Vista Business 64-bit

Already upgraded the hard drive to a WD3200BEKT and another 2GB stick of RAM is already on the way.

So far, I'm very impressed with the quality and finish of the notebook. It's very solid, fast, and cool.

Some things I am not impressed with are the screen and the wireless performance. The WXGA screen with CCFL backlight is definitely one of the worse looking screens I've seen. You may ask why I went with this resolution - it's for my dad, he prefers it. But either way, I was kinda shocked by the screen...completely unreal colors with a blurry look overall. The wireless performance has been interesting...it worked perfectly and then all of a sudden it just dropped connection and I couldn't even get it to find any networks in my immediate range. Even after I restarted, still nothing. I uninstalled the Intel 5300 drivers and installed the newest ones from Intel - still didn't work. Finally I reinstalled the factory drivers and then deleted Lenovo Access...seems to be okay now but it did drop connection one time after this. I tried searching online about this issue and it seems I'm not the only one having this problem, and from what I gathered most people get it to go away by adjusting their power settings. This didn't work for me so I'm not sure what the real issue is...anyone have any suggestions?

Besides those annoying issues, everything else is great. I noticed not a lot of attention is paid to the T500 as the T400 steals most of the thunder but it's a great notebook overall.

 

its pretty much the same though right, except t500 is larger?

 

Yeah I think so. Don't know a whole lot about it.

 

Yeah, and it has more powerful graphics and different screen options. Other than that, the only differences are size and structure.

@OP: Congrats! Regarding the wireless, you should try installing the latest drivers from Lenovo's website - they supposedly fix a network drop issue.

 

Thanks man, I'll try those out.

 

Congrats!

The ThinkPad Access Connections (or whatever it's called) caused me many headaches. After I uninstalled it my wireless was fine. Vista 64 Business ran very well; however, I recently switched over to Windows 7 RC1 and that runs even better.

I was disappointed with my screen at first (high res). However, I was coming from a Macbook Pro which has a gorgeous screen. Recently my eyes have adjusted and it's perfectly fine. But maybe there's a hardware difference between the two screens we have?

 

Yeah Im about to uninstall access connections 'cause the wifi acts weird sometimes. But grats on the new rig! Youll be very happy. I was on the fence with the t400 and t500, but opted for the smaller footprint and max battery life since I have a wuxga 17in for gaming and heavy duty tasks.

 

Check out this thread for your wifi problem, I've also been having the same thing happen with my T500 ...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=388250

 

You have our support Mr. President.