Lenovo ThinkPad T410: Built for Business
by Jarred Walton on March 26, 2010 4:00 AM ESTLenovo ThinkPad Classic: Business Defined
Having put the latest ThinkPad T410 through its paces, we're hardly surprised by most of the results. ThinkPad has always been renowned for their build quality and durability, and the T410 is no exception. It may not look as stylish as other laptops (depending on your definition of style), but no business user would ever feel bad about carrying around a modern ThinkPad. If you're in the market for a business notebook (or if you run an IT department), you'd be remiss to skip the ThinkPad without at least testing a unit.
The ThinkPad Classic is understated yet powerful, with useful utilities to help get the most out of your laptop. The fact that our test unit is able to run under full load with an i5-540M CPU and still keep noise levels at just 33 dB speaks volumes about the engineering. Unlike laptops where the fans will oscillate between low and high RPMs, the T410 has a fan that's quiet but effective at idle and doesn't change speed unless you run heavy load, at which point the noise output roughly "doubles" (a change from ~30 dB to 33 dB). Even with such a potent CPU, the T410 never got more than moderately warm; certainly it's not a laptop that we would be uncomfortable putting on our actual lap.
Besides the excellent build quality—the T410 feels like it could travel around a lot and never skip a beat—our favorite part of the laptop is the keyboard. The feel of the keys is great, and after writing most of this review on the keyboard I can say without a doubt that it's the best laptop keyboard I've used in some time. I did notice that it tended to miss letters occasionally when I was typing fast, as it requires a bit more "force" for clicks to register (basically, you have to make sure to press the keys down far enough). After a few minutes I became more used to the keyboard and didn't have as many missing letters, and 4000 words later I can only wish more laptops would go with this style of keyboard rather than the attractive but less functional chiclet and flat key designs.
The one area where we wish Lenovo had done better is the LCD panel. We're happy to get the option of choosing a WXGA+ resolution (it's standard if you want the NVS 3100M GPU), and we like the matte surface, but higher resolutions don't inherently mean higher quality. The contrast ratio in particular needs help. We know that there are better panels out there—look at the ASUS 1001p or the Dell Precision M6500 for example, and there are plenty more—but such panels will obviously increase manufacturing costs. All we really want is at least a 500:1 contrast ratio, with a maximum brightness of at least 200nits; anything more (in contrast or brightness) is fine, but you definitely get diminishing returns. And whatever manufacturers do, please stop putting sub-200:1 LCDs in otherwise high quality laptops!
Ultimately, the decision often comes down to price, which is the one area where it's a bit difficult to give ThinkPads an explicit recommendation. The T410 is a wonderful laptop for a business user, and if your company is footing the bill then by all means, enjoy! If you're paying for the laptop yourself, you'll need to think a bit more about whether the extra features and build quality are worth $500 extra compared to consumer notebooks. In three years, that same $500 could be put towards a new laptop that would offer better performance than current systems. In fact, you could very easily buy two $800 laptops for the cost of a typical T410! Obviously, build quality doesn't come cheap.
The good news is that at least through the end of March, there's a great sale on the T410 and other ThinkPad laptops at Lenovo. A system similar to our test unit will run about $1275 right now, down from the regular $1720 price. That will get you 4GB DDR3 with the i5-540M and NVS 3100M, a 9-cell battery, Intel 6200 AGN WiFi, a fingerprint scanner, and a 2MP webcam that works better than most webcams we've tried. And unlike consumer laptops, short of outright abuse like dropping your laptop or spilling liquids on it, the T410 will probably last the next five years or more. If you've always wanted a ThinkPad but couldn't quite stomach the price, you might want to look at the current offerings.
If you're interested in other Lenovo products, we have a few other reviews lined up for the coming weeks. Testing is already well underway, so I can safely say that for me the ThinkPad T410 is my favorite of the bunch. Still, if you're looking for CULV alternatives, the IdeaPad 150/450p and ThinkPad Edge 13 reviews might be more your style, so stay tuned.
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takumsawsherman - Thursday, April 1, 2010 - link
I don't know which Mac keyboards you've been typing on, but the current crop of keyboards are the easiest and most comfortable out there. I say this as the proud owner of many Model M keyboards, which are the standard in my shop, but are much too loud for modern offices.Also, the fact that you claim that a Core2Duo 2.5 is "1/3 slower" than an i5 2.5 shows that you have no actual business tasks in mind. What exact business functions are you performing that would allow the i5 that much of an advantage? Also, discrete graphics? for 1999, which is about what you stated for the Mac Pro (by upgrading to that 500GB HD that business users need, right?) you do get discrete graphics. The model you are really pointing to is the $1699 model, and what exactly does that business user need with discrete graphics? Oh yeah, 3D games.
Then you complain about Apple overcharging for upgrades. Well, Lenovo charges 80 to upgrade to the 500gb model, according to you. But you can buy a 500GB on the street for $75. Why doesn't Lenovo just charge the difference? Maybe because they are trying to make money? Honestly, the Macbook Pros I have put in, with VMWare and Windows installed for those who need it, aren't using even 30% of their disk space. And based on their typical tasks of emailing, creating spreadsheets, browsing the web, managing modest picture libraries, word processing, and accessing shared resources, they won't use more than 70% before the computer is retired. Meanwhile, they have VMWare snapshots (so long virus removals) and very few support calls.
So, I leave you to your very powerful laptop, which lacks the huge multitouch pad of the Macbook Pro, and of course is stuck running Windows 7, pig of an OS that it still is, and your games. Meanwhile, I can take care of more customers since I don't have to run around removing the latest Fakealert trojans (you know, like the ones that sneak through ad servers on the NY Times and Anandtech). Then, when I get home, I can play games on my desktop, which has discrete graphics and has a mouse and a Model M keyboard (no windows/option keys).
erple2 - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
Is HP really a "cheap" laptop manufacturer, at least when you're comparing the business laptops? I can see that with several of their consumer level laptops (dvxx) which I don't like at all. I haven't used any of their "Envy" brand ones, however.My work leases the HP Elitebook 6930p's. I have to say that other than the low resolution screen (1280x800), I __really__ like it. It is exceptionally solid and stable, plus the keyboard is top-notch (quite a bit nicer to type on than my wife's 6 month old 15" "unibody" Macbook Pro).
I would disagree that you can't build the elegance of a 15in macbook pro for less than the cost - the Elitebook I have now surpasses it in most categories (the screen being the only notable exception).
JarredWalton - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
Lenovo informed me that the T410s will indeed have switchable graphics but that it's not shipping until April. I specifically asked about that since the one page on their website advertises "switchable graphics" but the detailed pages show only the Intel HD Graphics. We'll see if that's correct or not in a week or two.OzzieGT - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
I just bought one. I am a software engineer so I need the nice keyboard and high resolution screen. I am going to keep it for 3-4 years and I carry it around a lot, so I need the durability. 13" is too small and 15" is too big. For the $1000 I paid, I couldn't find anything else which met my needs.damianrobertjones - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
The standard business user can barely open and sync email, let alone buy an overly expensive laptop, which can run windows without Vmware.If you owned a business and every penny counts, your suggestion is pure lunacy. I'm not meaning to offend, just seeing it from the point of view of an admin and s standard business user.
Penti - Saturday, March 27, 2010 - link
Standard business user get their laptops preconfigured from the company, I'm sure they can start vmware from a link. Self employed people might not buy a business-laptop at all though. Most aren't though.Elkvis - Saturday, March 27, 2010 - link
That is a ridiculous suggestion.Why would a sort of business buy Mac laptops just to run emulation to get business functionality.
Sure they are sexy, but no self respecting network administration team would think that is an acceptable solution.
Belard - Sunday, March 28, 2010 - link
Yep, you got that right.Spend $1500 for a notebook that equal to a $600~1000 PC notebook, strike one. Paying an IT guy to prep-it. Then if out on the road something wrong happens and the person doesn't know what to do...
Besides some of the performance loss. Most business people could care less about the shiny notebook with a glowing apple logo. Artist, student and more creative types - sure.
But a business user typically runs MS-Office, a browser and maybe a custom / specialized program. That's it. Why would he want spend the time and effort for a Mac + spend $100 for an XP license? What if he wants to run Windows7?
BTW, the ThinkPad T400s is very thin, under 1", 4lbs and with an optical drive. One of my clients bought it for his wife. She loves the look and size of the unit... and ThinkPads are one of the few notebooks that offer beefed up antennas that'll work in their mansion.
takumsawsherman - Thursday, April 1, 2010 - link
Actually, it makes a lot *more* sense. Easy deployment of images (VMWare images don't need to have the same hardware), snapshots to roll back to in case of infection or BSOD, and the fact that the Mac ends up with fewer support calls.The small amount of extra software required for those that *have to* run Windows is not that expensive. Most don't even require Windows, as the Mac version of Microsoft Office works fine for all those *intense* business tasks of editing and saving spreadsheets and reading/replying to email can, believe it or not, be accomplished on a Mac. The accounting departments usually use the PC version of Quickbooks, so that is one spot where Windows is needed, and then drafting professionals often use Autocad, but at around $k for the Autocad these cats aren't common. Most others get along just fine with the pre-loaded Mac software, and many don't even need to buy office with OpenOffice performing most tasks admirably.
Belard - Friday, March 26, 2010 - link
Lenovo customer support is very good. Their hardware is still very good. They cost less than an Apple and easily just as good if not better.Can run Hackintosh... :)