Today we have here the brand spanking new Lenovo ThinkPad T400s. This machine has been leaked to high heaven for the past week or so, but hopefully you will enjoy it in its fully announced splendor. Do stay tuned for additional articles around the T400s, as we dive deeper into some of its features and give it a proper comparison to its portly brother the ThinkPad T400 and its hot cousin the ThinkPad X301.

The T400s is already on sale, with a 15% off coupon that brings the starting price to just $1359. Click here to configure your T400s, then enter the following coupon code at checkout: USP48HOURSALE. The coupon code expires today, June 23rd, so hurry!

Lenovo ThinkPad T400s

• Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 6MB Cache, 25W TDP)
• Genuine Windows Vista Business 32-bit
• 2GB DDR3 1067MHz RAM
• 80GB SATA SSD
• Intel 4500MHD graphics
• 2MP webcam
• DVD multiburner
• Integrated fingerprint reader with LED
• 6 cell battery
• Intel WiFi Link 5300 / Bluetooth / AT&T WWAN

Design
It’s a black rectangle. Just kidding, but the external design is the same as pretty much all ThinkPads. The exterior of the T400s is identical to every other current ThinkPad, save for the number of LED indicators and port placement. When you get inside is where you notice some real changes.

ThinkPad die hards will ask themselves, “What is this?” Redesigned keyboard? New system buttons? New TrackPoint? Only three LED indicator lights?? Yes, my friends, this is not your parents’ ThinkPad.

Starting at the top of the keyboard, we have a brand new system button design. All the buttons are larger, round, and pretty flush with the system. They also all have a very small amount of travel, which can make you question if you’re actually pressing them. To help with this, the Mute, mic/webcam disable, and power buttons have LED’s which light up to let you know they’ve been activated, in addition to on-screen indicators. The ThinkVantage button is also redesigned, smaller and more flush. Comparing them next to the smaller, silver buttons on the T400, they definitely look higher class. I’ll cover the new keyboard design later, but you’ll also notice the red stripes and blue dots have returned to the TrackPoint (previously absent from the T400). ThinkPad purists rejoice.

Focusing on the LCD for a moment, I imagine some will be thrilled that the LCD is once again in the center of the frame. Previous T Series 14-inch widescreens had an LCD that was off-center and it irked some.

My last comment around design is about the LED lights. For me, ThinkPads had a veritable dashboard of LED indicators. You knew if the system was powered on, whether the AC adapter was connected, which wireless radio was on, and the like. Those capabilities have been greatly reduced. The exterior now only has two LED’s: a battery icon that indicates system power, charging, and discharge, and a sleep icon. On the inside, there are only three LED’s below the display: WiFi, some type of “personal area” wireless (which seems to only indicate if Bluetooth is active), and hard drive activity. Lenovo touts of a reduction of LED’s from 15 to 7. Personally I see the loss of the AC adapter and individual wireless LED’s as detrimental, however I doubt most will miss them. They did at least add a Caps Lock indicator to the Caps Lock key itself, like on the X300 models.

Keyboard
Yes, the vaunted keyboard. ThinkPads are world renowned for their keyboards and if there is one thing the die-hard users have cried for, it is for the keyboards to be left alone. Not to rest on the laurel of “world’s best keyboard,” Lenovo felt some improvements could be made. After extensive user testing and research, they made a few key changes which might improve typing for some.

If you look closely, you’ll notice that the Esc and Del keys have been enlarged and a couple other keys moved around. Esc and Del are literally almost double sized, which is said to improve typing accuracy considering just how frequently they are used. To make room for the larger Esc key, the Function keys were moved in closer to each other. Those who use Function keys F1-F4 on a regular basis will be most impacted by this, particularly F1 and F4. I personally use Ctrl+F4 quite a bit and this new layout is an adjustment, but one that could be made without too much trouble. The change made for the new super Del key was to move the Ins key up a row, so if you use Ins a lot you will also find yourself in trouble.

The other major change made was to enlarge the base of the keys so that there is no room for crumbs to fall in between the keys. This worked out beautifully in my opinion and I’m glad to know there won’t be years of gunk built up beneath the keyboard of a T400s.

Some will remember how when the T400 first came out, Lenovo introduced a “weight saving” keyboard design that was then deemed the “flexing keyboard.” Users were unhappy with the typing experience and Lenovo ended up shipping the old keyboards for a time, with a more permanent solution coming later. No such problem exists on the T400s, with its very thin and stiff chassis and an overall wonderful typing experience. If you can move beyond the key layout changes, you will love this keyboard.

Pointing device
Being a full-size notebook like the T400 or X301, the T400s sports both touchpad and TrackPoint pointing devices. As with the keyboard, Lenovo felt some tweaks could be made here for improved usability. Both devices, collectively termed UltraNav, have been enlarged for what should be better usability. The TrackPoint buttons have been flattened and curved more, whereas the previous design saw more of a sharp peak to the keys where you would press them, and the middle button appears mostly unchanged. The travel of those keys might be a bit less than the previous design, but I have noted absolutely no impact on my usage of the TrackPoint. (Note: I use a TrackPoint constantly on my ThinkPad X61)

Citing the need to be as thin as possible, the touchpad was raised nearly flush with the palm rest and is substantially larger than the regular T400, which many had criticized for its undersized touchpad. Since the touchpad is now flush, Lenovo added a fairly subtle texture to it so that you would know when you are on the touchpad and not the palm rest. This does not feel like the IdeaPads’ touchpad and the texture feels very natural, not impeding usage at all. The new touchpad also features multitouch including zooming (pinch in and out), rotating, and scrolling; all use two fingers. They work as advertised, for those who are into such things. Lastly, the touchpad buttons do their job well, albeit with a little less travel than previous models.

Display
This is another area of keen interest for ThinkPad fans, as displays have certainly had their up’s and down’s with ThinkPad. Extremely bright? Check. Good color reproduction? Check. Viewing angles…errr…sorta.

Let’s start with the good: wow, this display is bright. It has the full range of brightness levels that all other ThinkPads have, but those last couple ones really go from bright to BRIGHT. I’m very glad to see this as I was able to maintain an optimum level of brightness in any environment.

As you know, the T400s features a WXGA+ 16:10 LED backlit LCD, running at 1440×900 resolution; the same resolution as the ThinkPad X301 incidentally. The screen real estate is great and those who don’t have the eyesight for the X301′s 13.3-inch panel at the same resolution will appreciate the larger text and easier readability on this machine. I’ll have a comparison with the T400 and X301′s screens in a separate article.

Color reproduction is excellent. Everything is bright, vibrant, and sharp. I can’t go as far into true accuracy for proper photo editing and production, but I think most people will be very satisfied with the colors on this LCD.

Now onto the only sore spot: viewing angles. This has been a challenge for Lenovo ever since the celebrated FlexView/IPS panels disappeared, and unfortunately the T400s is not immune from it. The LCD has a sweet spot for viewing angle, with both lights and darks viewed optimally. If you shift more than a few degrees in any direction, you will start to see some minor dark color inversing, although the light colors (say reading black text on a white background) remain perfectly viewable. Push the display out a little more and you lose most detail in the dark images on screen, followed by complete dark color inversing. I will say that I don’t feel as though I am constantly adjusting the screen a degree or two to get the optimum angle; once you are happy with it, there is enough room for normal movement (readjusting the position of the laptop or yourself) that you don’t have to fiddle with it often.

Having used an X200 extensively, I was regularly annoyed with the viewing angles on that machine and how I was constantly adjusting to make sure I was seeing all the detail in the images. That is not an issue with the T400s.

Multimedia
ThinkPads have never been known for their multimedia capability, and the T400s really won’t stand to change that. While Lenovo’s press information touts speakers that are “2X” louder than T400, I had the two side by side playing Pandora streaming music and there is no way the T400s was twice as loud. In fact, I dare say the T400 sounded a bit louder at full volume. Both machines were running on battery, so it could be that power savings affected this – if I find that is the case, I will update this section. Sporting a full-size 9.5mm optical drive, the T400s has the option of CD/DVD combo, DVD burner, and Blu-ray drives. I question the logic of putting Blu-ray in a laptop with Intel’s not-so-hot 4500MHD graphics, but the choice is there. DisplayPort and VGA outputs are available and I discuss the DisplayPort choice in the next section.

Maybe not quite multimedia, the new T400s does have a focus on VoIP that is unique to this model. The separate microphone and headphone jacks are combined into a single unit to save space. There is also an entirely new button that solely mutes the mic and disables the webcam, if so equipped. This is a great way to remove yourself from the video conference when it’s time to take a bathroom break in your PJ’s. Regarding the microphone, the T400s sports a dual-array mic built into the top of the display that is angled downward and covers a wide 60-degree field in front of the laptop. This placement helps reduce the noise picked up when typing, which is an issue with the previous placement near the keyboard. The webcam has also been upgraded, sporting up to 2.0 megapixel resolution and improved low light visibility.

Features & Technology
The ThinkPad T400s is based on the current Intel platform and offers a choice of two Core 2 Duo SP9x00 processors, both of which have 6MB cache and a 25W TDP. The SP9400 runs at 2.4GHz, while the SP9600 included in our unit clocks in at 2.53GHz. DDR3 RAM is standard on this platform and you get the choice of SSD, FDE SSD, or 5400rpm mechanical disk drives. If you are wondering why the mechanical drives are 5400rpm only, it is because the T400s uses 1.8-inch disk drives. This limits expansion options and means performance with the mechanical drives will be a step below the full 2.5-inch drives, which are already generally slower than the SSD’s. Hopefully pricing of the entry-level 80GB SSD will be competitive with other thin & light notebooks to make the T400s uber-competitive in the market place.

The graphics chipset is limited to only the GMA 4500 MHD, Intel’s standard integrated graphics, to reduce power consumption and heat generation in this thin chassis. Wireless connectivity is available in any flavor you might want: WiFi (three different Intel cards, one Realtek card), WWAN, WiMax, Bluetooth, and UWB. I’d suggest opting for the Intel card so you can take advantage of the My WiFi feature. A 2MP integrated webcam is available and you get to choose between a 34mm ExpressCard slot or 5-in-1 card reader. If you don’t mind spending a little extra cash for a separate ExpressCard 5-in-1 reader, then you can have an open slot and a card reader when you like.

As with many ThinkPads, the devil is in the details. A number of new notebooks are coming with eSATA/USB combo ports and the T400s has one as well. eSATA is something many have been looking for in a ThinkPad, although unfortunately I don’t have the means to test it at this time. Another very unique and handy feature is a selectively powered USB port. Within Lenovo’s power management software, you can enable the port to be powered on even if the system is in standby, hibernate or powered off. I was all excited about this until I read the fine print in the Help file: the port only works when the system is connected to an AC adapter. I can understand the desire to prevent unintentional draining of the battery, but for this feature to be truly useful you should be able to enable it under any circumstances for emergency phone charging, rather than just convenient phone charging.

Even the fingerprint reader has been innovated, again in a useful manner. There are two LED’s integrated into the fingerprint reader now. Once you enroll your fingerprints and enable the biometric security function, a green LED on the left part of the swipe pad will light up when it is waiting for a scan. If the scan is unsuccessful, an amber/orange LED on the right will light up to let you know to try again. Why was this hardware-based communication needed for fingerprint recognition? Because you can now power up and login to your system with a single finger swipe. Before you had to power the system on, then swipe your finger either at the BIOS or once Windows had loaded. Now when the system is in standby, hibernate, or entirely off, you can swipe your finger and watch your system power on and login. Schweet.

Connectivity & Ports

Right side (front to back): Wireless radio switch, optical drive, lock slot

Left side (front to back): ExpressCard34 slot, mic/headphone combo port, USB 2.0

Rear (left to right): AC adapter, VGA output, Ethernet, powered USB 2.0 port for phone charging, eSATA/USB 2.0, DisplayPort, fan vent

Software Preload
Those who have used a ThinkPad before know what to expect: lots of unique Lenovo utilities and relatively little junkware. You get the same here and it all works as well as on every other ThinkPad. You also have some Roxio multimedia software for working with video, audio, and pictures, as well as corresponding software to put that data onto some CD’s or DVD’s. Intervideo is the DVD player of choice and trial versions of McAfee antivirus and MS Office 2007 are also included. I’m perfectly happy with the ThinkPad preload, although I do generally uninstall a few things that have zero value to me, like the Message Center or Productivity Center. Compared to the IdeaPad preload, it is very junk free.

As far as Windows options go, many of you will be happy to know that Windows XP Professional “downgrade” is still an option! So are all the Vista 32 and 64 bit options, although Ultimate wasn’t listed in our press materials; I’m sure it will eventually be available. No word on Windows 7 future upgrade options at this time.

Real-World Usage
So, we have an uber-thin and light T Series with a revamped keyboard; an evolved and enlarged ThinkPad X301 if you will. How does it do when put it through the usual notebook paces? Excellent.

Typing has been as comfortable and efficient as ever on a ThinkPad keyboard, save for my sore spot of Ctrl+F4 to close errant browser tabs and the such. I miss the extra LED’s that tell me all sorts of useful information, but I won’t rant about that anymore. Performance on this T400s is excellent; the combination of the SSD and 2.53GHz Core 2 CPU make for a speedy Vista experience, even with “only” 2GB RAM. Connectivity has worked flawlessly, as one would expect.

The ThinkPad X301 had to resort to a slow ULV processor and 7mm optical drive to get so thin and light, whereas the T400s uses a standard voltage processor and 9.5mm optical with a full complement of connectivity options. While a mere 0.82 inches thin, the T400s has no trouble with heat and is comfortable to use for hours on end in your lap. I don’t typically work in “quiet” environments, nor do I notice fan noise most of the time, but I did pull the T400s out in a quiet office and loaded up some SuperPI instances to crank up the heat. You could hear the fan get progressively louder and if you’re pegging the CPU in a quiet room, you will hear it. That said, I don’t anticipate most users will have any issues with fan noise.

Battery life is respectable given the weight of the machine, with most run-times lasting around 4 hours give or take. There is an optional bay battery that can replace the optical, which will probably add about 50% to the run-time. In a perfect world, we’d like to have seen the T400s with a battery design that allowed for larger capacities, as in the traditional ThinkPad designs. However compromises must be made and to get this sexy, sleek machine, you can’t slap a lard-like 9-cell battery on it; nor could you necessarily adjust component placement to allow a battery to stick out. Designers and engineers are working with millimeters of space here, so flexibility is not exactly in abundance.

I understand why Lenovo is equipping most ThinkPads with DisplayPorts rather than the HDMI ports that come on IdeaPads, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. In the end, it comes down to DisplayPort being a better long-term standard for the connection of digital displays like monitors and is cheaper & easier to implement than HDMI. For a more in-depth explanation, I highly recommend Matt Kohut’s post on the subject. But in the end, with a ThinkPad (other than the SL models) I cannot have a single notebook to use for work and play, as part of my ‘play’ includes hooking it up to my HDTV for Hulu and other wonderous things the internet has to offer for my TV.

As for the argument that regular LCD monitors use DisplayPort, a quick search on NewEgg.com shows one monitor with DisplayPort and fifty-one with HDMI. Even a search of Dell’s monitors, who is supposed to be a big supporter of DisplayPort, only reveals two monitors (both of which also include HDMI). At least Lenovo’s top-of-the-line L2440x monitor has DisplayPort. Maybe I’m missing the mother load of DisplayPort equipped desktop LCD’s, but for now I am remiss over the lacking HDMI output. In Lenovo’s defense, you can get a relatively cheap adapter to go from DisplayPort to HDMI, which doesn’t appear possible the other way around. I have one of these adapters on the way and will let you all know how it works out.

Conclusion
Looking at the T400s as just another new notebook model, and not judging it by its lineage, it is an impressive one. You’d be hard pressed to find another 14-inch notebook that is as thin, light, and well equipped. It is fast, quiet, and highly portable. Battery life is respectable and the overall package is just right as a “full size” primary computer, with everything needed to go with you and serve every need on the road as well. The departure from a regular, even if not full sized, keyboard may be a bit of a mixed bag, but should really do no worse than the ever changing keyboard layout found between different laptop manufacturers.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad T400s likely comes as a bit of a surprise to many who know and love the ThinkPad brand. Some will see the changes made to the iconic design as blasphemous, others will approach the changes with a more open, if still critical mind. A number of new features have been added, and a sacred design point (the keyboard) changed in the name of improvement. I’ve heard the argument that one should not mess with what isn’t broken, and instead focus on other areas that do need improvement (*cough* display *cough*). I understand that argument and agree to an extent, but I cannot outcry against a change that should actually provide an improved experience for a number of users and not greatly affect most of the rest. If anything, one can see this as another hallmark of ThinkPad innovation, putting function over form.

If you are shopping for a full sized thin & light notebook, and the T400s is in your budget, you owe it to yourself to seriously consider this machine. If you can get beyond the black rectangle design, which is a non-issue for me, it offers a ton of features in a versatile chassis that oozes quality and reliability. Pricing starts at $1599 in the U.S., which will be for a model that uses the 1.8-inch 5400rpm hard drives. We don’t yet know pricing on the baseline 80GB SSD, but pricing to upgrade to the 64GB SSD on the T400 still sits pretty at $250. Here’s hoping for a subsidized upgrade or economies of scale on the 80GB SSD.

Stay tuned to ThinkPads.com for more articles featuring the ThinkPad T400s. We have a T400 and X301 on hand for some back-to-back testing and comparison, and will also put some of the T400s’ other features to the test. As always, if there’s anything else you’d like to know or would like us to focus on, leave it in the comments!

The T400s is already on sale, with a 15% off coupon that brings the starting price to just $1359. Click here to configure your T400s, then enter the following coupon code at checkout: USP48HOURSALE. The coupon code expires today, June 23rd, so hurry!