thinkpad t410 ~$829

[0hsnap]

i'm thinking of getting the thinkpad t410. currently it's $829 on the leveno site. upgrading to a 3GB (+$40), camera (+30), 320 GB hard drive (+30) = $929. i didn't factor in shipping and tax and 10% off coupon.


the site lists it as originally costing 1,200. is this generally a good deal for this laptop? don't have heavy knowledge about laptops and the current market out there. can i expect it to go down or find a better deal on it later this year? i don't need a laptop right away and am willing to wait it out a little if i can expect a better deal sometimes later this year.

thanks

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

We are deploying t410s now.
It really depends on the actual model though as there are different specs.
Personally, I wouldn't waste the $30 on the built in camera or the $40 to up it from 2GB to 3GB.
You can get a better quality webcam for $30 and you can get 2GM DDR3 SO-DIMM from NewEgg for $45.
I've been happy with the T4xx series. I'm actually typing this up on one right n.....

 

[mrblotto]

The T400's/410's are still new here at work also, so I haven't seen very many w/hardware issues. It doesn't seem to be a bad little laptop, although I don't care for the trackpoint mouse button placement (the red ones, not the ones below the touchpad). They seem a little too recessed into the palmrest for some reason *shrugs*. Meh, prolly just a personal preference.

 

[arcas]

I've had a work-issued T400 for 8-9 months. It's pretty decent though clearly Thinkpad build quality has decreased now that they're made by Lenovo instead of IBM.

My main complaint about the T400 is that there is some flex in the left 1/3 of the keyboard. So while the keyboard is maybe a notch below earlier Thinkpad keyboards, it's still among the best laptop keyboards out there.

My other complaints are more nit-picky. The T400 uses a lot more plastic than my old Thinkpad T42p so it feels cheaper-made. And the audio jack is on the front instead of the side. This can cause problems if you're using it in your lap and your headphones don't have a 90-degree plug...

 

[zCypher]

T400 here at work for the past year and a bit. I found the same as arcas about the plastic feel, but it has been a good laptop. Hasn't caused me any problems whatsoever and it's pretty fast.

 

[0hsnap]

i'm rethinking my decision. i'm not really debating the quality of the laptop. but from a little research i can find other brands with the same or better specs for cheaper.

i mean the t410 are around 800-1000 depending on the sale or coupon. recently i've come across the dell inspiron 15 (1495) for like $500 bucks. and the dell seems to have better specs.

i'm not too familiar with laptops so i'm still kind of learning and researching stuff right now.

 

[Gibson486]

lenovo lowered it's price compared to the IBM days. but it's still higher priced than the competition.

 

[corkyg]

For what it's worth, a basic T510 can now be had for $899.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

The reason for the price premium is because they are more reliable than the Dells.
At my last job I must have had a call in on Dell laptops once a week. Here, Maybe once every few months with the Thinkpads.

 

[jihe]

The reason for the price premium is because they are more reliable than the Dells.
At my last job I must have had a call in on Dell laptops once a week. Here, Maybe once every few months with the Thinkpads.

There are a lot more dells than thinkpads out there.

 

[zCypher]

I can't speak for all Dells, but I had one for a brief period of time. It didn't feel as sturdy as my T400, but it worked perfectly just the same.

I found the same in my search, other brands offer a lot more on paper for less money. What I'm concerned about is buying a laptop and then not being happy with the build quality or reliability because I didn't want to spend more on a Lenovo.

After having used the T400 for some time at work, I would feel pretty confident buying one for myself. Although some of these refurbs are tempting, $599 for a Gateway with i3, 640GB, ATI 1GB... or $800 for another one with good cpu and 8GB ram. Is it worth spending more for less hardware in a Lenovo?

Sorry, this probably hasn't been very helpful..

 

[CurseTheSky]

After having used the T400 for some time at work, I would feel pretty confident buying one for myself. Although some of these refurbs are tempting, $599 for a Gateway with i3, 640GB, ATI 1GB... or $800 for another one with good cpu and 8GB ram. Is it worth spending more for less hardware in a Lenovo?

Yes. A cheap laptop is a cheap laptop. The internal hardware may be the same or better than its more expensive competitor, but the build quality is almost always far worse. You can have the fastest laptop in the world, but I won't touch it if the screen hinges aren't sturdy, the keyboard is mushy, the LCD panel is sub-par (bad contrast, horrible viewing angles, etc.), the chassis flexes and squeaks, etc.

I personally stay far away from anything made by Acer, Gateway, Dell's consumer line (Inspiron), HP's consumer lines (Pavilion, etc.), most from ASUS, etc. Business lines from various companies such as Dell and HP tend to be much better, and all companies will have at least one model which is exceptional (ASUS's Eee PC's are very good, for example, as are their U and UL series, and most of their gaming laptops). The key is to stick with what is tested and true, or do extensive research and read read customer reviews and complaints before you buy.

 

[anishannayya]

Hey, we just got a T410i, and it is a great laptop. The main reason why we went with this is for it durability. It is mainly a couch PC. After careful thinking, we decided that a netbook's keyboard and screen are too small.

In regards to durability, CurseTheSky has the idea. If you want quality, stick to the business lines. Dell, Lenovo, HP, whatever. Sure, it'll cost more. Would you rather have a $500 computer that lasts 2 years, or a $800 one that lasts until you need to upgrade it?

My T410i factory upgrades:

1. 6-cell battery
2. WXGA+ lcd
3. Webcam

Bought it through an employee discount program and stacked a 20 percent off coupon. Total price with tax was ~$700.

Aftermarket upgrades:

1. Intel 40GB SSD
2. 2GB RAM (brought total RAM to 4GB)

I also got an external enclosure for the 250GB HDD that came out of the machine. Price of these upgrades ~ $150.

So $850 and we got a very zippy laptop that can handle pretty much anything except gaming. If you shop around, I'm sure that you can find a much better deal. I'm happy, and am confidant that this will last at least 4 years before I need an upgrade. And with thinkpad quality, I know that it will actually last that long. We've owned 7 laptops, of which 3 (including this one) were thinkpads. The other 4 never lasted more than 3 years before they broke. No joke, we have a T43 running XP that is still used to this day.

One qualm: Thinkpad LCDs have always been of subpar quality. As long as you aren't going to watch too many videos, or don't care about color accuracy or viewing angles, then you should be fine.

As a side note: The machine took a ludicrous 4 weeks to get built. Then the damn thing was stuck in Louisville, KY clearing customs for over a week because Lenovo forgot to include the master invoice and had instructed UPS to never ship their items without a master invoice clearance. I almost canceled the order and got a chargeback from my CC, but I'm glad I didn't.

EDIT: If your company doesn't have an EE discount program, then you can still a get a hefty discount here: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrar...:Home?home=lenovofamily&affinity=lenovofamily

You can also stack a 10 percent off coupon they have going on right now.

If I were you, I would order it barebones (unless those components cannot be replaced) and then buy the upgrades aftermarket to save some $$$. In your case that would be the RAM. I would also consider investing in an inexpensive SSD. They offer amazing performance if you don't need storage capacity. The Intel one I used has shit poor write speeds, but read speeds are great. As long as you aren't editing videos, it will suffice. Don't forget an enclosure for your old HDD.

RAM:

1 GB Stick (total 3 GB): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148195
2 GB Stick (total 4 GB): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148192
4 GB Stick (total 6 GB): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231265

If you get an SSD, go for the 1 GB or 2 GB stick. If you don't, then go for the 4 GB stick, since your programs will launch faster since Windows 7 utilizes extra RAM to cache programs in standby memory. Remember that you need a 64-bit OS to utilize more than 3 GB of RAM.

SSD : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-025-_-Product

Go ahead and place an order. If you notice that the price drops, then you can simply cancel the order and place it again, as long as the machine hasn't shipped yet. You'll probably pay more than I did even though the base price has dropped, but you don't have an EE discount.

PM me if you have any questions.

 

[hans007]

the company i work for was just recently bought so they issued us new laptops this week. used to have dells

thinkpads are still good laptops, but they are not the thinkpads of old. i think we got t410s and w510s (i have a w510). dont really feel that much nicer than the dells other than the rubber skin on the back of the lcd is nice (it used to be on the entir emachine back in the day)

and wellt he keyboard definitely isnt the thinkpad keyboard i remember from previous machines i've had (x31 and t41)

 

[anishannayya]

Hans is right. When lenovo bought out the thinkpad line, they began using more plastics. Personally, I don't care since they are significantly cheaper than their IBM counterparts and the plastic is thick and just as durable. The interior cage, however, is still made of magnesium.

I have to disagree on the keyboard though. Unless you are banging on tour keyboard toy will not notice any additional flex.

Sorry if i made ant spelling errors. I al using mg new HTC Evo to send this message so that I can get the hang of using it.

 

[hans007]

Hans is right. When lenovo bought out the thinkpad line, they began using more plastics. Personally, I don't care since they are significantly cheaper than their IBM counterparts and the plastic is thick and just as durable. The interior cage, however, is still made of magnesium.

I have to disagree on the keyboard though. Unless you are banging on tour keyboard toy will not notice any additional flex.

Sorry if i made ant spelling errors. I al using mg new HTC Evo to send this message so that I can get the hang of using it.

i don tthink its the flex as much as the key travel and the quality of the plastics for the actual keys. I've had older thinkpads and my new w510 just doesnt seem to feel as good typing wise.

 

[corkyg]

Am just about fini8shed installing my new T510. So far, it feels great. Keyboard feels no different than the T60 it replaces. The LCD is LED lit, and non-glossy - very sharp and clear. And, color calibration is available for those that need it. The NVIDIA graphics are also very nice. The biometric security device is much better than that on the T60.


See my note on Strange Icons for additional info.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2097553