Lenovo T400 Memory Slots

1. Lenovo T400 Memory Slots Upgrade
2. Lenovo T400 Memory Slots Defrag
3. Lenovo T480 Memory Slots
4. Thinkpad T400 Memory Upgrade Instructions

1. Instructions for removing and installing the memory (in the slot under the keyboard)in the Thinkpad T420, T420i systems.
2. There is a memory slot accessible on the bottom of the machine where I can add a single 8 GB SoDIMM. I don't see any second slot nor is there anything indicating where that would be. The product page says I can upgrade the laptop to 16 GB, it currently has 4 GB.
3. Here you gain access to an open WWAN slot, another for Turbo Memory or UWB, two DDR3 memory slots, and your wireless card. Lenovo T400 (2.80GHz Intel T9600, ATI Radeon 3470 256MB GDDR3) 2,575.

Crucial Memory and SSD upgrades - 100% Compatibility Guaranteed for lenovo - FREE US Delivery.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T520 - BSOD Occurs When SD Card Inserted

I this will happen almost everytime if the machine has been in use for some time. Inserting an SD card (4GB Canon format) a BSOD is virtually guaranteed. After a new boot up it works fine but catastrophic if not since all info is lost and nothing is closed.
I looked at the dump file and the FASTFAT.SYS is the cause of the crash. This is a very old driver used in Windows 7 and there are numerous issues with it in many forums dating back even to XP. There are no crashes introduced by any other device or USB key/drive connected. Only the SD card.
I thought it may have be due to the USB controller being turned off for power conservation but even after removing the ability by toggling not to turn off to save power to the USB devices it still crashed the very next time I used it which was days later. The system was plugged in as well as it usually is.
I can do the same thing on my old notebook with its internal multicast reader running Window 7 32 bit and it does not have a problem. The Thinkpad does with Win 7 64bit. I am always conscious of a BSOD occurring if I dare plug in my camera card. This renders the port useless since I cannot afford regular crashes and a card reader externally may have to be used.
T520 Model 4239 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM CPU @ 2.50GHz
Intel Sandy Bridge & Nvidia NVS 4200M graphics Intel N 6300 Wi-Fi adapter
Windows 7 Home Prem - 64bit w/8GB DDR3

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T520 SD Card Reader Not Detectable After Windows 8.1 Upgrade?

My SD card reader became non-functional after a recent upgrade of my T520 to Windows 8.1. Hardware troubleshooting said the Base System Device driver was not installed. I installed the Lenovo System Update software and searched for updates, but the driver was not updated. There is still a yellow warning symbol beside the Base System Device in the device manager. Discovered on the Lenovo driver download website that the card reader in my model is the Ricoh Media Card Reader but there is no driver compatible with Windows 8.1. Would the Windows 8 driver work or is there another solution to get my reader running again?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T520 RX And TX LEDs Always Lit

My ThinkPad T520, connected to the Internet through the Intel 6300 WiFi card. The indicators fro the RJ45 Ethernet port are always steadily illuminated. I suspect they shouldn't be.
T520 4239-CTO
T61/p 6459-CTO (Gone but not forgotten)
A31/p XP Pro 1 gig memory
A30/p XP Pro 1 gig memory
TP600 Win 2K 288 mb memory
701C Win 98 Don't ask

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Can Memory From T520 Be Used On T430u

I got a T520 with 8G memory, beer accidently spilled on it, it wouldn't start again. So I got a new T430u with 4G memory. I was wondering if I could take the 8 G memory from t520, to be installed on t430u, is it gonna compatible on t430u?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T520 Crashes Once A Day After RAM Upgrade

My T520 (4242) never crashed until I upgraded the RAM.
Initial config : Single stick of 4GB RAM.
- FRU # 55Y3717
- Samsung part # M471B5273CH0-CH9
Tried to upgrade with 2GB from following manufacturers:
- Corsair CMSO2GX3M1A1333C9
- A-data (don't remember the part #, but matching specs)
Result : Approximately once a day, I get BSOD. The system also crashes often while going in and out of sleep.
The A-data RAM works fine on a different laptop (T500), but I experience crashes when I put it in T520. This makes me wonder if my slot has an issue e.g. dust collected over time that causes a random read error. Or maybe I need to find the exact same part from Samsung to upgrade the RAM.
What else can I try? If it crashes randomly once a day, and works fine otherwise, can I conclude anything about RAM compatibility? memtest86 doesn't show any error.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Busted Sound On T520

Sound has busted on T520 for a few weeks now. I can hear sound when I plug in my earphones, but windows recognizes this as a speaker, conexant 20672. I checked the 'find and fix audio playback problems' in windows 7 to no avail. I believe I may have to have my speakers repaired. I am still under base warranty until sometime next year.
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Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Can ThinkPad T520 See 5 MHz Wireless Network?

I've got a ThinkPad T520 and I just bought a Netgear N600 Dual-band Cable Modem Router but my laptop isn't seeing the 5GHz wireless network? Is it even capable of doing so?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: SSD Slow Boot Windows 7 On T520

I have replaced my old sata disk with a ssd disk . Intel 520 240 gb. on my T520. I have a Windows 7 and a minor Linux partition. Dual boot. I have moved the old image with Arconis True HD.
However, there is a HUGE difference in boot times between Windows and Linux.
Windows is 1 min and 35 sec with windows logo until login screen appears. Then additional 20 seconds.
Linux is 7-10 seconds from Lenovo sign in bios until I'm ready to go. Off course I did not expect Windows to boot as fast as Linux, but things has worsened after the change.
When Windows is up and running the SSD disk is preforming in the same speedy way as under Linux. It is just the boot situation which is terrible. AHCI is enabled .

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Usage Of Keyboard From T520 In T530

as i have learned there is no mechanical reason not to use classic keyboard-layout of the 7row model in a t530. but what are the effects of the bios no being able to support the 7r keyboard? which buttons will not work properly?

Lenovo T520 T400 / T500 :: 2nd HD Hard Drive Caddy Tray For SSD?

i want to use the DVD tray to add a 2nd hard drive using one of the many 2nd HD Hard Drive Caddy Trays i see online, but i want to use a solid state drive in it. Can this be done? From what i ascertain via product literature, it appears that any caddy tray i see online says 'accepts 2.5' 12.7MM SATA HDD only' or some such.' While there are many SSD's that are 2.5 inch, I've only seen ones that are either 7mm or '7mm (with 9.5mm adapter).' Is there a product (either a T520-compatible 9.5mm caddy tray or a 12.77mm SSD) that can make this work?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: ThinkPad T520 RAM Clock Speed Stuck At 1333?

I'm having trouble figuring out why on my T520, after upgrading from 8GB/1333Mhz to 16GB/1600Mhz Crucial RAM, Speccy/CPU-Z still says they're running at around ~660Mhz x 2 = ~1330?
My specs are as follows:
For my T520 (4239-CTO) I have...
Processor: Intel Core i7-2860QM 2.5Ghz
RAM: Crucial 16GB (8GB x 2) DDR3-1600
GPU: Intel HD 3000 / NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 4200M
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 (w/latest updates)
After Googling for a while and from looking around here I've read nothing that says I shouldn't be able to run at 1600Mhz especially considering my processor supports that speed officially. Another post on this topic (not for the T520 specifically) mentioned that i7's contain the memory controller within itself. So... am I being thwarted by software settings in the BIOS or within my operating system?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Arrow Keys For Scrolling Not Working In Firefox On T520

I always liked to use the arrow keys on the bottom right of the keyboard for scrolling down pages as I read long documents. For some reason this is not working in Firefox on my T520. What setting I can change to enable this?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T520 - Flashing Lights On Power Up / No Post Bleep

I've been trying to set-up a second hand T520 bought without the original hard drive. I've installed a Samsung mSATA SSD. I tried to use a set of recovery discs produced on my T510 which seemed to install but got BSOD whenever Win 7 tried to boot. I then downloaded the Win 7 ISO and booted from the DVD to try and initialise a repair which would not initialise. I next tried installing Win 7 Pro from the Win7 ISO disc which succeeded but ran into problems with unrecognised network components and drivers.
I've gone through this whole cycle again and got to the set-up screen for Win 7 then got distracted; my thinkpad then appeared to have gone into hibernation before I could finish set-up. Unfortunately, when I try to power up I get a few flashing lights for a few seconds; no POST bleep and the power dies. I've tried pulling and reinstalling the RAM and SSD but to no avail.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: ThinkPad T520 Headphone Jack On Docking Station

I have a T520 thinkpad with a docking station. I can get my headphones to work fine out of the laptop, but I would like to leave my headphones plugged into the headphone jack on the dock itself. The computer doesn't seem to recognize this jack is even there. My only sound options are the laptop speakers and the audio jack on the right side of the laptop.
How to enable the audio jack on the back of the dock?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Huge Slowdown On T520 After Updating Through TV System Update

I recently updated a whole bunch of things on my T520, and afterwards experienced a significant slowdown in everything -- startup time as well as just general work. There's often a long lag when opening programs or documents, right clicking, etc. Part of this seems to be due to higher CPU usage. While idling (i.e. just sitting on my desktop) and looking at Task Manager, CPU usage seems higher than normal on some things -- SynTPEnh.exe will consume 3-8% of CPU, one instance of svchost.exe will take up to 10%, etc. My total idling CPU usage is generally 15-25% now. (I have a quad-core i7.) Also, my battery life dropped precipitously; it used to be upwards of 5 hours on a full charge when just doing general web browsing and word processing, but now it's less than 2 hours.
Going around in Process Explorer and Task Manager, I've found a few things that seemed somewhat unusual: A lot of my processes have many page faults -- slightly under 15 minutes after starting up my computer, SynTPEnh.exe has about 250,000, SimpleTap.exe has over 50,000, the instance of svchost.exe with the Base Filtering Engine, Diagnostic Policy Services, and Windows Firewall has about 250,000, and Process Explorer itself has about 250,000. There were also some items that seemed like they might be taking up more memory (Private Bytes, in Process Explorer) than they should -- dwm.exe is using about 150 MB, and SimpleTap.exe is using about 115 MB. Also, my CPU percentage of Interrupts jumps around, most of the time staying between 2-5%.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: ThinkPad T520 - How To Reduce Screen Brightness Below Standard Level

How to reduce screen brightness below standard level in ThinkPad T520 ?
I think it is possible somehow, but I don't know how. I reduced brightness to zero using Fn key + End key, but it's not enough, I want to make screen darker, because my eyes get tired.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T520 / Windows 7 - Suddenly Receiving Random BSOD And Applications Crashing

I've been running on a T520 4239-CTO for a little over a year now without issue. I've been getting lots of random bsod and services crashing in the last few days; even Windows 7 cannot validate itself anymore.
I ran all the hardware checks in the provided Lenovo utilities and it all seems to pass. I didn't trust this so I manually checked the smart values on the hard disk and noticed around 2400+ reallocated sectors so I decided to replace the hard disk.
It should be noted that there are no viruses/malware on this machine. After receiving the new hard disk I did a factory restore using the dvd backups I made when I received the machine. Upon booting the new factory install on the new disk I'm still getting the same random bsod and issues with Windows 7 not being able to validate.
I notice that everytime I boot now on the newly restored os that the 'Microsoft Software Protection Platform' service has issues and cannot start. I started doing some updates using the Thinkvantage tools and they're crashing too.
This machine is currently on pass 4 of memtest without any errors so far.
I've replaced the hard drive and from the looks of things so far the ram seems fine. Where do I go from here?

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: ThinkPad T520 Reconnects To WiFi After Wake Up From Sleep But Web Pages Load Very Slowly

My Thinkpad T520, Windows 7 Pro takes over a minute to load any webpage after waking from sleep. The wifi icon shows that the network has connected to the internet after about 10 seconds from wake up. But if I attempt to use a browser to load any webpage, I must wait nearly a minute before the page will load. After that, pages load quickly.
This problem occurs in multiple browsers (FF, IE, Chrome). I am using Intel Centrino Advanced N-6205 wireless adapter. I've updated the wireless driver and BIOS. I've cleaned out my registry using CCleaner, and I've defragmented.
One bit of advice I've read that I've tried from these forums does NOT work: Uncheck from Device Manager under the Power Management tab for my wireless adapater the option to Allow the Computer to Turn Off This Device to Save Power. Unchecking that option (which would seem to keep the driver on) makes the problem worse because the wifi will not reconnect at all.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: Where To Insert SD Card

I can`t find out where the SD Card slot is! On Lenovo T400

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: SIM Card Not Recognised In T431s

I inserted a mobile broadband SIM card into the slot of my T431s, as described in the user manual. The SIM Card (EE 4G) works fine in my Huawei Mobile Wifi E589.
The Laptop is installed with WIN7 64bit Professional and all WIN7 updates are installed. I gave the laptop to our IT department, who called Lenovo Helpdesk and we got the reply that they can give us a brand new image of the harddisk which MAY fix it. Our IT department as well as myself tried everything including the obvious such as access connections. The WIFI module in access connections is greyed out. It seems that the SIM Card is not recognised. We tried also SIM cards from different providers, which do not work.
Having just spent some time installing my programmes and files, I am reluctant to have the whole laptop wiped and re-imaged....

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: How To Stop Express Card From Popping Out

I bought an ExpressCard 34 USB 3 card. However when I plug a USB cable in the card springs out.
I can't see a way to stop this from happening.
I need a CF card reader ExpressCard but can't afford for it to keep popping out.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T430 Low Cpu Clock When Using NVidia Card

When I'm using any aplication with Nvidia card (Photoshop, 3D Max, etc.) or switching to external monitor (Display Port) my CPU sets down to minimal values: 1.15Ghz.
This issue very important for me, because working on such speed is impossible ....
[ T430, Core i5-3210M, Nvidia NVS5400, Windows 8 x64 PRO ]

Lenovo T530 T400 / T500 :: Use Wireless Operator's SIM Card?

I have a SIM-card slot which is supposedly for WWAN, but I don't have a WWAN modem. Can I use the SIM slot in this state for WLAN (HSPA) and such (with Intel Centrino?), or do I need to buy an USB modem from a wireless operator?

Lenovo T420 T400 / T500 :: Replace 4-in-1 Card Reader With 5-in-1?

my 4-in-1 card reader (04W1701)is on the fritz, can't find any on ebay, but there are plenty of '5-in-1' (FRU 45M2658) to be had. Can I use that instead?
T440p Core i7 4700MQ @ 2.4 ghz 8 GB Samsung 840 EVO 240gb SSD 14' Intel HD Graphics Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T530 Photoshop CC 2014.2 Can't Detect Nvidia Card

I have up-to date Windows 7 x64 SP1 ENG version of windows.The problem poped up 2 or 3 revisions of Nvidia driver ago with original version of Photoshop CC 2014. As you can see updating program and video card drivers to date, do nothing. And yes, i tried to launch PS with mouse context menu and forcing to use Nvidia chip. In control panel of video card PS is assosiated with Nvidia card too.

Lenovo T440p T400 / T500 :: Ericsson N5321gw Doesn't Recognize SIM-Card?

my new T440p with built-in WWAN Ericsson N5321gw doesn't recognize the SIM-Card. I'm running Win7 64 Bit and in the device manager, I can see the Ericsson device showing up without any errors. Once I launche Access Connections, I receive the error message there's no SIM card inserted and I should insert the SIM and try again. The SIM is inserted as shown next to the slot (although I tried other ways, too). I tried two different SIM-cards just to be safe, both SIM-cards are working in my phone.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T430 - Upgrade To Wireless AC Card Intel 7260HMW Runs On Failure On Boot

is theire an possible option to get an Intel 7260HMW card (wireless AC) up and running on Lenovo T430 - Type: 2350-1B6 - Bios: G1ETA5WW (2.65 ). I runs on failure on boot, assuming this is related to the BIOS, but i use the newest one.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: No Display After Installing Win 7 Home Premium On T400

Bought a refurb T400 and installed a PNY SSD in it. It POST's okay and I can access bios. I can also read/install Linux from DVD just fine.
Trouble is when I insert my win7 home premium DVD into the drive and boot it, I get POST and then I get a black screen. It seems to be reading the drive and when I interrupt with the Esc key or open the DVD drive, I get a Windows menu explaining that the installation has been interrupted.
I've looked at the bios options and can't see anything obvious that should be changed.

Lenovo T400 / T500 :: T400 Corrupt Windows System Files

I have tried to make a fresh Windows 7 installation, but after installing updates via Lenovo System Update the system gets corrupt.I replaced the hard drive on an T400 and loaded a image that I had on to the drive. After a installing a few updates and program I noticed strange system beaver. So I did a system file check and it came back that files was corrupt and cold not be repaired.So I did a new fresh Windows install. But it to became corrupt after just running Windows Update and Lenovo System Update.So I ran some hard drive and memory diagnostic without find and problems.
Then I did a new Windows 7 install again. After I installed all recommended updates from Windows Update I did a system file check, all OK. The I installed Lenovo System Update and all its recommended updates and did a new system file check, Windows system files corrupt. What Lenovo update is destroying the system?

by Kevin O’Brien

The new 14-inch ThinkPad T400 is the latest Lenovo notebook based off of the Intel Montevina platform. This computer offers all new features such as hybrid graphics, LED backlit displays, and power-saving refinements that let the notebook get extraordinary battery life. With all these changes taking place, Lenovo has also managed to keep the notebook looking as classic (boring) as ever, just how ThinkPad lovers like it.

Our ThinkPad T400 specifications:

• Screen: 1440 x 900 WXGA+ LED Backlit (Matte finish)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.83GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)
• Memory: 2GB DDR3 RAM
• Storage: 160GB HDD (7200rpm)
• Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
• Wireless: 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0
• Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 w/ 256MB (hybrid switching)
• Built-in web camera
• Battery: 84Wh 9-cell and 56Wh 6-cell
• Dimensions: 13.2″ x 9.4″ x 1.47/1.12″
• Weight: 5.lbs 4.8oz with 6-cell, 5lbs 10.8oz with 9-cell
• Retail Price: $2,189

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Build and Design

The design of the T400 has changed a bit. The changes are subtle to the untrained eye, but they are there. The right side is now gently sloped similar to what can be found on the older T4x series, where the sides angle inward instead of dropping off flat. First clue about this is the optical drive bezel which sports a nice beveled edge. The rubber feet have also been slightly tweaked, now feeling softer, and you get an additional springy nub. Getting past the minor case design changes, the ThinkPad is every bit as boring as all of those preceding it. We have the same paint, same rubbery texture, and we still have our ThinkPad logo.

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Upgrade and expansion is a step harder than most notebooks, but still very simple. To gain access to all user-replaceable parts, you simply remove five screws and carefully remove the palmrest and keybard. Here you gain access to an open WWAN slot, another for Turbo Memory or UWB, two DDR3 memory slots, and your wireless card. At this stage you can also see the processor and heatsink, but a few additional items must be removed before you can lift those items out. Although this setup does seem like Lenovo is trying lock the user away from upgrading parts, they fully allow anyone to handle upgrading or adding components to their notebook without voiding the warranty. Processor swaps or messing with other advanced components might not be as kosher though. The hard drive is the only item accessible from the outside of the case (besides the battery) and is easily removed with a single screw.

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Build quality is very similar to the previous generation T61, with all of its strengths and weaknesses. Fit and finish are great with most parts, but you still have a good amount of battery wiggle in the back, as well as the cheaper feeling plastic LCD lid. The molded plastic panels throughout the notebook feel sturdy, with only mild flex near the card slots. On our particular configuration with the SD card reader taking the place of the PC-Card slot and we get a cheap plastic blank instead of a spring loaded flap. Without the plastic blank in place the palmrest does want to bend down at that location under stress. Another odd trait I noticed was additional flex on the right side of the keyboard, where my T60 is solid as a rock, but the T400 wants to give in just a bit. It is still very strong compared to other notebooks, but not as rock solid as the older model.

What still works and what doesn’t

Those who have older ThinkPad accessories from the T6x/R6x generation will be happy to know all of the older docking stations are still fully compatible with the new notebooks. I can’t say for certain that the older equipment won’t be replaced with newer revisions that offer different connections, but at least you won’t need to upgrade.

The optical bay connections have changed from the previous generation, moving more towards a SATA style connector, rendering older drive incompatible. The power connection for use with the UltraBay battery remained the same though.

Display

The display on our review model is a 6-bit LG LED backlit panel. Lenovo’s official spec sheet lists this screen as 300:1 contrast, but the LG specification is 500:1. Overall the panel is easy on the eyes with even light distribution and a wide adjustment range for the LED backlighting. The highest backlight setting is very bright, easy outshining my IPS FlexView panel by a wide margin. Colors are vibrant, although the whites do lean heavily on the cooler/blue side. Vertical angles are better than average, with a modest sweet spot before colors start to invert and wash out. Horizontal viewing range is better, with colors washing out slightly, but still staying accurate.

T60 screen (left) and T400 screen (right)
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For those curious about sunlight readability, I ventured outside on a very bright and sunny day to snap some pictures of the T400 at max brightness. The picture makes the screen out to be just a tad dimmer than it looks in person, but it is perfectly serviceable outside. The only thing that would really prevent you from seeing the screen is reflections blinding you from just being outside on a sunny day. You should also note that max brightness chops about one hour of battery life away from the 9-cell model where it would otherwise be pushing close to 10 hours at 60% brightness.

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Comparing this screen to the older WXGA+ screen is no contest, with the newer LED backlit model being better in many ways. Whites look cleaner, colors look better, backlight is more even, and best of all is bright enough to view in sunshine. It is well worth the extra money, and you would be foolish not to get it if you are configuring the notebook yourself. Below are comparison images showing the T60 screen (left) and the T400 screen (right).

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard layout has stayed the same, with only very minor changes in the feel of the key presses. Some of this may be attributed to the differences in keyboard suppliers (NMB, ALPS, and Chicony) though, as my T60 came with the “clickier” Chicony keyboard, whereas the T400 is much quieter. The keyboard strength seems to have changed, with more flex present on the right side of the keyboard. To find the culprit of this flex, I took apart the notebook and inspected the keyboard area.

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To my great surprise, I found Lenovo had completely redesigned the keyboard, with weight savings as the primary goal. The old design has a much stronger back-plate, which is removed on the new revision. This cuts weight by 25 percent (6oz to 4.5oz) from the old model, but at the huge disadvantage of tarnishing the long-standing ThinkPad keyboard reputation. For now I am leaning towards weight savings, instead of cost savings as the main redesign reason, but I still don’t like it. Anyone who knows the ThinkPad name knows at least two things; boring business notebook and great keyboard. If you take away the keyboard and make other weight reducing or durability reducing changes to the notebook design, you will no doubt alienate many of your followers. I really hope Lenovo takes notice at this, cause I would take a brick glued to the bottom of the case before over a keyboard change such as this.

T60 keyboard (left) versus T400 keyboard (right)
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As with older models, the liquid drains are still in place, ready to get your notebook out of harm’s way if a stray coffee or soda spills all over it.

The touchpad has grown compared to the T61, expanding to the width of the lower touchpad buttons. With the ThinkPad touchpads always being the runts compared to other notebook designs, this change was very welcomed (even if they did paint scroll arrows on it). The texture is identical to the older touchpad, and sensitivity is just as good. Compared to my T60, the touchpad buttons feel much firmer, and have more support from edge to edge. On the T60’s touchpad, the far left and right side tend to sag slightly, while the T400’s touchpad buttons have equal support from side to side.

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My only disappointment with the touchpad was the lack of red strips. After seeing the X300 and X200 that offered “legacy” red strips on the touchpoint buttons, I was upset to see that Lenovo didn’t include that finishing touch on the T-series keyboard.

Performance

Our Lenovo ThinkPad T400 came with the Intel T9600 processor, clocking in at 2.8GHz, and jammed packed with 6MB of cache. For graphics, Lenovo included an ATI Radeon 3470 video card with 256MB of GDDR3 memory. A speedy 160 GB 7200 RPM hard drive was also included, which helped applications load without much lag. This notebook was outstanding for day to day use, and had enough power to handle most games around the office to kill some time. Half-Life 2 in native resolution (1440×900) kept above 30FPS even in heavy action scenes. Portal was another favorite that worked very well at native resolution, keeping framerates above 40FPS throughout most of the game.

For users who don’t wish to have as much 3D acceleration (or power consumption) during day to day work, you can switch between the Intel X4500 integrated graphics and ATI 3470 dedicated graphics. This switch can be made on-the-fly without a reboot. Not using the dedicated graphics resulted two hours of additional battery life.

wPrime is a program that forces the processor to do recursive mathematical calculations, the advantage of this program is that it ismulti-threaded and can use both processor cores at once, thereby giving more accurate benchmarking measurements than Super Pi.

PCMark05 comparison results:

3DMark06 comparison results:

As an added bonus, we also tested the T400 with the new PCMark Vantage benchmark, and the T400 with ATI Radeon 3470 enabled returned a score of 4,374.

HDTune storage drive performance test:

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Speakers and Audio

Audio performance is one category the Lenovo T400 did not excel in, which is pretty common for business oriented notebooks. Bass and midrange were lacking and they weren’t even able to get to loud volume levels. For watching the occasional video or listening to a webcast they would be fine, but headphones come highly recommended.

Battery Life

Lenovo T400 Memory Slots Upgrade

I don’t think I have ever used the word “insane” to describe battery life before and there is no doubt that the 14″ T400 falls into that category. To get 10 hours of battery life from a notebook this size, most people think you would need a huge battery attached to the bottom of the case, another battery taking the place of the optical drive, and a big battery sticking out the back. With the T400 you can reach 9 hours and 41 minutes with the wireless enabled, screen backlight at 60%, and the laptop in integrated graphics mode using only the 84Wh 9-cell battery. In this situation the notebook is only consuming roughly 8.5 watts of power. In dedicated graphics mode under the same settings battery life falls by exactly 2 hours down to 7 hours and 41 minutes, and power draw increases to 10.5 watts. The 6-cell battery managed 6 hours and 4 hours and 28 minutes respectively.

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I don’t really know how long your average work or school day is, but 10 hours of juice is more than enough to get me through my day.

For those thinking about gaming with the T400 on battery power, you should have no problem with the 9-cell battery. Playing Portal with all GPU and CPU at peak performance levels the notebook estimate 3 hours of battery life remaining. While it is a big drop from nearly 10 hours under normal circumstances, you have more than enough time to play around through a few classes or meetings if needed.

Frequent travelers will enjoy the T400 as a movie playing notebook on flights or just trying to pass time wherever. When watching XVID encoded movies off the hard drive the 9-cell had an estimated 6 hours and 45 minutes of battery life, drawing 13 watts of power. Plenty of time to cover two full length movies. For those who must still use optical media for movies, you lose more than an hour of battery life with the optical drive needing to spin throughout the video.

Ports and Features

Port selection rates average on the T400, with 3 USB ports and no digital video output. You do have VGA, but it is not the best option if you want to hook the notebook up to an HDTV. As mentioned about in the Build and Design section, the T400 with the SD-Card reader option nixes one the PC-Card slot. For those thinking about using legacy external cards, you may want to reconsider that option.

One feature that has been on ThinkPads almost forever is the ThinkLight, which is a small white LED located above the screen that illuminates the keyboard. On every other model we have reviewed that has this light, it works as intended and gives a little light on the keys. On the T400 the shroud in front of the LED isn’t big enough, and the end result is a light blinding you. Your night vision is taken away and in the end it is a useful feature turned worthless by lack of proper design. Not exactly sure how it made it past quality control, but unless you have the screen tilted forward to an extreme degree you end up as blind as a bat.

Front: Firewire, Wireless On/Off, Headphone/Mic

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Rear: Kensington lock slot, AC Power

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Left: VGA, Modem, LAN, two USB, Expresscard/54, SD-Card Reader

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Right: Optical drive, one USB

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Heat and Noise

The cooling system seemed greatly improved over the prior generations, letting the notebook run whisper quiet and very cool to the touch under most circumstances. I say most, since gaming did seem to make it run on the high side. When not gaming, one thing really working towards the system temperatures advantage was the very lower power consumption. Consuming almost half the power of the previous generation really helped reduce overall temperatures.

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Heat under normal conditions (listed in degrees Fahrenheit):

Conclusion

The Lenovo ThinkPad T400 proved to be an exceptional 14″ business notebook, giving almost unheard-of battery performance under modest running conditions. Nearly 10 hours of runtime with the extended battery easily puts this notebook into the all-day computing category. System performance with the Intel T9400 processor and ATI 3470 graphics was great, handling everything we threw at it, even some video games. The T400 is not without its flaws though, having a decent amount of keyboard flex and a keyboard light that blinds you. Even with its flaws, with a starting price under $1,000 this notebook easily outperforms any other computer in its category.

Pros

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• 10 hours of battery life with the 9-cell battery!
• Very bright LED backlit LCD
• Under normal conditions is very cool and quiet
• Hybrid graphics that let you switch between great 3D performance or great battery life

Cons

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• Keyboard flex in a ThinkPad … the end of an era.
• Keyboard light that blinds you instead of just illuminating the keyboard