Input requested on which Thinkpad to buy- repost from "which to buy forum"

This is the follow up to my "Business notebook, the short list" post from a while ago. Here are the specs for all three, and pricing:
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ThinkPad T400
Intel Core 2 Duo processor T9600 (2.8GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)1
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 3212
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)5
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology10
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery60
3YR Depot + 3YR ADP
Lenovo L8a Tip for Blackberry and Select Motorola Phones
grand total - $1,369.53


ThinkPad T410 -
Intel Core i5-540M Processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L3, 1066MHz FSB)1
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 3212
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight (WWAN antenna)
NVIDIA NVS 3100m Graphics 256MB DDR3 with AMT
3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)5
9 cell Li-Ion Battery60
2 MP Camera
Bluetooth w/ antenna
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 630010
Integrated Mobile Broadband (Gobi 2000 3G with GPS)65
3YR Depot + 3YR ADP
Lenovo L8a Tip for Blackberry and Select Motorola Phones
ThinkPad USB Numeric Keypad
grand total: $1,474.14


Thinkpad T400s:
Processor Intel® Core™2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 6MB L2, 1066MHz FSB)
Operating System Genuine Genuine Windows XP Professional - English (Downgraded from Vista Business - Eligible for Windows 7)
Condition Redistributed
Display 14.1” WXGA+ TFT Multi touch LED
Total Memory 3GB (1GB & 2GB) PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory
Hard Drive 250GB, 5400RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Drive
Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Optical Device DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer Ultrabay Slim
Wireless ThinkPad 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III
Mobile Broadband Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradable
Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6.5 Hour Run Time)
Limited Warranty 1 Year Warranty
Color Black
Bluetooth No
Integrated Camera No
Fingerprint Reader Yes
Keyboard/Pointing Device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
grand total: $1,413.00

Thank you for any constructive input!

-Erin

 

T410 for me.

 

Thanks Goofball, I'm leaning that way. The increased processing power on the T400 doesnt offset the advances made in the T410. And the T400s is missing a camera, has smaller HD, outdate WIFI.

Any other opinions, appreciated.

 

I'd get the T400s b/c of the portability. I'd replace multitouch with the 3 yr warrranty though. Regardless of the choice you make, definitely go with Windows 7 64 bit.

 

I'd opt for the T400s (w/o Multi-Touch) as I put a premium on portability.

However, the obvious question which you haven't answered: What are you using this for and how much do you intend to move it?

 

how could you get this price? very cheap.....

 

Two of your choices have discrete graphics and the third has integrated graphics?
T400 with ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
T410 with NVIDIA NVS 3100m Graphics 256MB DDR3
T400s with Intel integrated 4500MHD

I would not choose the T400s because it uses a 1.8" harddrive. If you ever want to upgrade to an SSD it will be much harder to find a 1.8" SSD, the intel X18-m is almost impossible to find in stock.

Now whether you go with a T400 or T410 I would choose one with discrete graphics, and the cheapest harddrive it comes with. I'd then put the money towards a nice SSD, an 80 GB or 160 GB intel X28-m would be nice, but there are some others that can compete with intel now...I think. I can't keep up with SSD technology, I'm waiting for intel's third generation SSD to come out sometime later this year. But I'm always waiting for the next thing, that's why I'm still using my X40.

One reason to choose the T410 is that it has display port.
read this if you don't know what that is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Overview

If you want to learn more about SSD technology http://www.anandtech.com/storage/ is the most comprehensive site. I've tried reading his articles before though, but I was startled by face hitting my keyboard from falling asleep, they are incredibly in depth. In one of his articles Anand recommends you don't buy an SSD from the OEM, i.e. the company that you buy your notebook from because they are all so outdated by the newest SSD tech.

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Edit:
I see provantage.com has the intel x18-m ssd instock.
160 GB $497
80 GB $254
http://www.provantage.com/scripts/search.dll?QUERY=intel+x18-m&Submit.x=9&Submit.y=12

 

There three main technologies making thier way into notebooks that you might want to wait 12 to 18 months for, or not, I obsess about this stuff too much probably.

USB 3.0 or intel's stupid LightPeak.
I've been waiting years for USB 3.0. An now finally it's come, but wait, intel doesn't want to support it, they want to make everyone wait for their own Lightpeak port. So to implement USB 3.0 manufactures have to add chips to the mothboards, making them more expensive, and more....unavailable.

Display Port 1.2 looks to offer some cool features. Including daisy chaining multiple monitors.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/home-...layPort-1-2-Confirmed--Blows-Away-HDMI-1-4/p1

SSD technology will continue to evolve.

 

Two of the prices were configured on the www.lenovo.com/spp site. Anyone can sign up, so I did. The price for the T400 was from the outlet.lenovo.com site. All the units available at the outlet are preconfigured.

 

Thanks for the input. I want 32 bit b/c I have a lot of software which I'm not looking to or cannot upgrade, which requires 32 bit. Will this be a bottleneck in my set up? I hear you on the portability. The new T410 is a little slimmer than the T400, correct? I might just bite the bullet and deal with the slight increase in heft, in order to cash in on the display port, powered USB, etc. Also, the T400s is preconfigured, so I can't make changes to the options. Otherwise I'd add a camera and get the 3 yr warranty, as you mentioned.

 

Gmoney, thanks very much for the indepth reply. I agree about the 1.8" harddrive.

The frontrunner at this point is the T410, with discrete graphics. I don't know if I want to get a SSD right now, being that the capacities are still so small. I'll probably just get a big spinning drive for the time being and grab a SSD down the line at some point. I agree with you about the displayport on the T410 being an advantage. I wish it were an HDMI port, but displayport will suffice. Even thought HDMI is a consumer oriented technology, it would make be put to good use with so many HDMI inputs on monitors presently in use.

 

Interesting stuff. I don't presently need to incorporate multiple monitors, but I sure wish we could get audio properly integrated into displayport! Is this something that a software update will be able to fix, if I get a T410 with the current iteration of displayport?

 

From http://www.displayport.org/consumer/?q=content/faq

I have no idea if Lenovo has enabled audio to go through the display port.

I'm having trouble figuring out which version of display port the T410 uses, and if it can do audio through the display port like you want.

From an October 2008 article on lenovoblogs.com by Matt Kohut, you may want to follow Matt Kohut's articles on Lenovo products.
http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=161

Matt says the specification supports audio through display port and daisy chaining, but he never states that Lenovo supports this, so I don't know. I also don't know if you need a discrete graphics card to daisy chain monitors.


From the Thinkpad Tabook, the book that tells you all the lenovo specs.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=418761

Page 36 state that with integrated graphics, the T410 supports:

page39 states that with discrete graphics it supports:

Nothing is stated about audio through display port or daisy chaining multiple monitors.

 

@Gmoney-

No doubt. My surmise is that since nothing's mentioned, nothing's doing. I expect if audio were supported, Lenovo would be sure to include it in the specs. Thanks for all your assistance. I guess my options are to get the T410 as is, or let this $$ burn a bigger hole in my pocket and wait it out for further developments.

 

64-bit Windows can run 32-bit software without problem.

 

Thanks, f4ding. I've been brought up to speed and understand 64 bit's the way to go now.