David Hill once again takes us behind the scenes of how some of the new ThinkPad T400s’ design changes came about. This time he’s taking a look at the all new VoIP (mic & webcam) mute button.

In my review of the T400s, I found the refreshed system buttons a nice upgrade over the cheaper, uninspiring ones found on the T60-T400. This was true not only in aesthetics, but also in usage. The mic & webcam mute/disable option is EXTREMELY handy if you are any type of frequent VoIPer or even just a hair paranoid. You don’t have to worry about whether you’re on mute or if your video conference mates see you picking your nose.

Hit the link for an insightful look into more of the T400s’ design process.

Source: [Design Matters]

As I touched on in my recent review of the ThinkPad T400s, Lenovo updated the touchpad in the T400s along with everything else. To keep the thin profile desired with the T400s, there was literally no room for a recessed touchpad. To keep usability intact, they came up with a unique texture for the touchpad that would allow users to discern between the palm rest and the touchpad.

David Hill just published a blog post about the design process behind the touchpad redesign and has some interesting pictures as well.

Source: [Design Matters]

It’s been a busy week as far as Lenovo is concerned. The ThinkPad T400s announced earlier this week, we reviewed it, and covered a lot of other tidbits around the new thin & light. Both the IdeaPad S12 and IdeaPad U350 CULV became available for purchase, and on sale to boot. Lenovo even managed to win some business in Turkmenistan.

As part of the flurry of T400s information, a couple of Lenovo’s own published some blog posts about the new machine. Matt Kohut over at Inside the Box admits he hated the ThinkPad X301 he had switched to, after not being able to find a suitable T Series when the 4:3 models went away.

I hated my time with the X301.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine box — for someone else.  I’m a T series user through and through.  The X301’s screen was too small, the processor too slow, and the battery was too anemic.

He also writes quite a bit about his experience with a Win 7 Lenovo preload beta. VP of Corporate Identity & Design David Hill also posted up on Design Matters and talks about the design process behind the recent keyboard redesign on the T400s. As you can tell from the comments, it certainly is a mixed bag in how customers are receiving it.

If you haven’t come across them yet, check out all the Lenovo Blogs for some interesting insights into the company that brings you ThinkPads, and thus the entire reason this site exists.

Lenovo’s new ThinkPad T400s does feature a hot swappable Ultrabay, which can be changed between an optical drive, second hard drive, and battery. What wasn’t initially clear is which accessories were compatible with the T400s and if the optical drives sold with the T400s were compatible in other machines.

While the T400s uses a 1.8-inch drive as its primary disk, you can get a secondary 2.5-inch drive in for extra storage via the Ultrabay. You just need the “ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter III” (PN 43N3412) and a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive. The good news is that this adapter is compatible with all the other current model ThinkPads. List price is $59.95.

You can buy the T400s today with a choice of a DVD multiburner or Blu-ray recordable drive (for an extra $560!!). The DVD burner is officially named “ThinkPad DVD Burner Ultrabay Slim Drive II (Serial ATA)” and can be found under the part number 43N3229. This is standard equipment on the T400s right now, although Lenovo’s press materials did list an available CDRW/DVD-ROM. The shape of the bezel is very distinct from other Ultrabay optical drives and that might be why it is only compatible with the T400s. The individual list price is $169 and you can find detailed specs on it below.

Maximum data transfer rates

Write speeds:

CD-R media              24X ZCLV       3.69 MB/Sec
CD-RW media             4X CLV         0.61 MB/Sec
High-speed CD-RW media  10X CLV        1.53 MB/Sec
Ultra-speed CD-RW media 16X ZCLV       2.46 MB/Sec
DVD-R media             8X CAV        11.08 MB/Sec
DVD-R DL                4X ZCLV        5.54 MB/Sec
DVD+R media             8X CAV        11.08 MB/Sec
DVD+R DL                4X ZCLV        5.54 MB/Sec
DVD-RW media            6X ZCLV        8.31 MB/Sec
DVD+RW media            6X ZCLV        8.31 MB/Sec
DVD-RAM media           5X PCAV        6.93 MB/Sec

Read speeds:

CD-ROM                  24X CAV        3.69 MB/Sec
DVD-ROM                 8X CAV         11.08 MB/Sec