Although Lenovo has been re-inventing itself as of late with its IdeaPad and netbook lines, it's still a company known for boxy, business-end ThinkPads. There's no shame there: the ThinkPad was revolutionary in its time, and the iconic (if plain) design defined the modern business laptop. It also put Lenovo on the map after taking the brand over from IBM.
Despite having similar looks to its predecessor, the new 14-inch T400s is markedly thinner and lighter than the original T400, creating a highly portable machine that still packs a full-powered Core 2 Duo processor under the hood, unlike the ultra-thin X301, which uses an ultra low-voltage (ULV) version.
Lenovo claims that the T400s can withstand a truck running over it (or so the company has advertised in some viral videos). While we haven't run over our test unit, we can say that it feels great in a backpack, is thinner than it looks and if it weren't for its lack of discrete graphics, it could be one of the best mainstream laptops we've encountered. One major drawback though is price; starting at AU$3195.69, it makes MacBooks seem like budget laptops by comparison. That's because they are: the AU$1899 13-inch MacBook Pro has superior graphics and better connectivity for a lot less. Other ThinkPads cost about half the price, so the premium here is considerable. Of course, this does include Lenovo's suite of business and security-minded software and hardware — which is a must for many business buyers (and often rules out consumer-level laptops from consideration).
Our particular model, with a Core 2 Duo SP9600, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, fingerprint reader, webcam, Bluetooth, Intel Wireless 5300 and Windows Vista Business, comes in at a wallet hurting AU$4191.19.
Like the ThinkPad X301, the T400s incorporates a carbon-fibre "roll cage" into the laptop skeleton, offering strong-but-light protective armour to the components. In casual office and travel use, the laptop felt pretty durable. Even though it's a 14.1-inch notebook, it manages to weigh under 1.8kg and is 21mm thick, despite having a DVD burner drive (a Blu-ray drive can be added for an extra AU$856.90). Lenovo credits this to the carbon-fibre chassis, but whatever the magic is, it works. The feel of the T400s is very comfortable, something Lenovo has quietly been an expert on for years. The extremely thin screen lid opens and closes smoothly on its hinge, and opens to a completely vertical position.
The keyboard on the T400s feels great, and makes no compromises on its size, having a perfect combination of springiness and click to them. Oversized Escape and Delete keys on the top of the keyboard are a nice touch, and the volume control buttons, while not terribly exciting, are in easy reach. When typing on a desk or on our laps, the laptop's weighting felt just right, and the ample plastic palm rests were comfortable. One of the biggest improvements: the touch pad, covered in a matte textured finish, is one of the most responsive we've used, and also is one of the best at executing multi-touch commands like two-fingered scrolling. The T400s is one of the few laptops remaining to also offer a pointing stick, and it also has its own set of discrete buttons over the touch pad. It's a nice option, but the rubberised nub sits between the G and H keys and gets in the way of our typing.
The 14.1-inch screen runs at a resolution of 1440x900, which is standard for a high-end screen this size (many less expensive 14- and 15-inch laptops have 1280x800 displays). It looks bright and crisp, and text is very easy to read on it. It's also matte, which is more than half of the reason why text is so readable in any light and is an option we wish more laptops had.
The stereo speakers, which Lenovo claims are boosted from the T400, sound fine but don't get very loud. Dual microphones built into the lid on either side of the webcam are made with better sensitivity to ambient noise than previous ThinkPads, with an eye to better VoIP speakerphone conversations. To continue the VoIP support, a light-up mic mute button and a function key for camera/mic settings have also been added.
In the ports department, the T400s comes with a sufficient but not spectacular spread of connectivity options. Two USB ports and a combo USB/eSATA port (one USB port is always on for charging when in standby) plus a card reader slot are offered, but there's no FireWire and, oddly, no ExpressCard (although one can be added in place of the card reader for AU$0.45).
VGA and DisplayPort are both included on the T400s. Also included are a biometric fingerprint scanner and a one-touch ThinkVantage button for launching a help centre, and a resource toolkit. Connectivity options include not only 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, but WWAN for all carriers except Vodafone for AU$137.50 extra.
The T400s, being a business-orientated machine, is focused on the CPU instead of the graphics card. This means a 2.13GHz SL9600 Core 2 Duo, but paired with an integrated Intel graphics solution — something you usually don't find in mainstream laptops in this higher price range.
Under 3DMark06, it scored 1109 — not amazing, but should run Vista's Aero interface just fine. PCMark05 though scored a massive 7662, most likely down to the 128GB solid-state drive included in our review sample. The T400s has quite a bit of power behind it indeed.
The T400s battery, however, ran for two hours, 29 minutes and 27 seconds on our video playback battery drain test, using the included six-cell battery. That's impressive for a laptop of this size, although the power-saving solid-state hard drive helps in that regard. Note that our battery test is a tough one, so you can expect longer life for casual web surfing and office work.
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