Thinkpads Forum

Hello All!

Considering purchasing a used T400 on eBay. In a perfect world, I'd really like the LED screen though... so is there any way to be able tell if a given system has the LED screen, by the manufacturer number perhaps? A lot of the sellers on ebay clearly have no idea of what the specifics of their machines are.

Almost every listing has a paragraph at the top that was taken from some Lenovo website stating that their labtop has a 1280x768 (or so) LED screen, even when 4 lines later they state it's a 1440x900 screen. Is there a way that I can tell if a given laptop has actually got the LED screen?

Thanks!
G

Welcome to the forum!

Many of us have had similar frustration with various models over the years. For the T400, assuming the seller can't identify it, the best way to determine the screen type and resolution is to request the exact 7 character model number for the machine. It can usually be found in both the first BIOS screen and on the bottom on the serial number label. If the model happens to be a CTO (custom to order, meaning the last three characters of the model number are CTO), then you will also need the 7 character serial number. From there, you can look up the exact build parts via the Lenovo support pages. Finally, you can cross reference the exact LCD screen part number with the T400 Hardware Maintenance Manual (HMM) - or other online resource to be sure about the manufacture, type and resolution of the LCD.

All that being said, at any point since the machine was sold, the LCD and/or entire LCD assembly may have been replaced or swapped for various reasons (desire, damage, failure, etc.) So, in the end, if the seller can't confirm the specifications, you may not know until it arrives!

The silver lining is that sometimes you get more than you expect! I consider all of these variables part of the sport of eBay!