Business users who don’t mind paying a premium for a portable, yet feature-packed touch-screen capable notebook PC, will be pleased with Lenovo‘s ThinkPad T400s laptop.
The 14.1-inch screen notebook weighs less than four pounds and feels comfortable and ergonomic throughout its 13.27 x 9.49 x 0.83-inch length, width and height dimensions. The T400s features a matte black rubberized exterior case, which eliminates the possibility of pesky fingerprint marks and also ensures a good grip at all times.
The notebook comes with three USB ports, which include two USB 2.0 ports and one USB/eSATA port, and an optical drive DVD burner.
What I appreciated most about the six-cell lithium-ion battery was that it rests flush alongside the bottom of the unit, so there’s nothing sticking out from the bottom. This makes it easy and more comfortable to balance the notebook on one’s lap, or any other surface.
On the inside of the unit, the user is treated to a 1440 x 900 pixel WXGA and LED matte finish backlit screen and a keyboard, where the keys are spaced close together. This is a nice design, especially for those who worry about crumbs or dust getting stuck between keys. The trackpad is large and slightly textured, giving it a nice feel. There’s also a biometric fingerprint scanner on the unit, for added security and protection.
The T400s also comes with a built in 2MP Webcam and a light, which makes working in low-lit areas easier.
The unit I reviewed was labeled as a Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience device, which signifies an optimized computing experience for machines that use Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. The bootup and shutdown times of the T400s were impressively quick, likely due to the Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 processor and 2GB of RAM, along with 128GB of storage. The Lenovo T400s also supports Bluetooth 2.0 and wireless 802.11a/b/g/n networking standards.
I especially liked that the battery meter on the desktop navigation bar, lets users know how much time is left in hours and minutes. With a six-cell battery, Lenovo claims users can get five and a half hours on a full charge. I found I got more when I adjusted the display brightness and performance settings.
Perhaps what I was most excited about when I received the unit was the ability to play around with the touch-screen capable display. Since I used the notebook for simple, light computing tasks, I didn’t have a need for touch-screen capabilities. However, I still wanted to try it out and noticed it wasn’t all that I had hoped it would be. Without a stylus, navigating toolbars and other options with my fingers proved to be a challenge. In some cases, I had to resort to using my pinky finger on the screen to actually select what I wanted it to.
What I did find easier though, was when I lay the notebook completely flat, the touch-screen became easier to use. I was able to use multi-touch gestures such as a two-finger pinch to zoom in and out of Web pages and pictures. These same gestures also work on the trackpad. While this feature is cool, I found myself going back to the traditional keyboard and trackpad-way of doing things. Maybe the touch-screen capability would be better suited for users who are in graphic design, or other related fields.
All in all, the notebook was a pleasure to work with and it was hard to give it up. The thin design and feel of the T400s, in addition to its durable, rubberized feel, make the notebook attractive to those business users, who aren’t concerned with a base price tag of $1,579. The notebook also comes with a standard one-year warranty on parts and labour, with the option of purchasing up to three years of warranty protection.
