YAWLQ: Yet Another Which Laptop Question

May 28, 2009 11:23 AM

Dell E6400 or Lenovo T400? Or will a newer, better product be out in a month or two?

This is embarrassing to admit, but after years in the techie world, I still don't know when new computer models typically launch, and my google fu has failed me on trying to find this out.

Here's the deal. My beloved little black friend, the Lenovo T42 just had its second hard drive blow on me. Bummer for me. The good news is that I have managed to recover from backup to a temporary machine. The other good news is that I get to buy a new computer. I can wait if a new model is around the corner, but don't want to run on this loaner machine for more than a month or two at most. So, if a new model is not around the corner, please help me choose between the Dell E6400 and the Lenovo T400. I get a couple hundred $ price break on the Dells through my business, but am still considering the Lenovo because I'm not sure I can give up the yummy keyboard. Here is what I consider important. Please help me decide:

1) Speed and reliability*****
2) Weight
3) Graphics
4) Keyboard and trackpoint feel. I do not use the greasepad
5) I will use a docking station with a DVI monitor
6) I like the idea of a backlit keyboard
7) Display crispness and ease on the eyes
8) Price

I am looking at a 14" screen, XP Pro, Intel P9500, DVDRW, 4GB Ram, 256MB discrete graphics, WXGA+

posted by maelanchai to computers & internet (9 comments total)

Can't speak for the T42, but I have an E6400. It dual boots Win 7 RC1 and Ubuntu. A few minor incompatibilites under Ubuntu, but runs great with Win 7.

1) It's been pretty reliable. I had a weird issue with the SD Card reader. It would occasionally spit the SD blank back out at me. Probably just my model, after a couple of months that seems to have cleared up, but I don't swap cards in and out a lot.

2) I use the 9 cell battery which adds a bit of weight. With the 6 cell battery, battery life is a problem. Running in power saver mode, I never get anything more than 2 hours. I generally have wi-fi on, but nothing else really drawing power. The 9 cell is recommended if you're going to be needing longer.

3) I don't do a lot of heavy graphics work on it

4) Keyboard feels good. I don't use the trackpoint.

5) My docking station support DVI

6) I don't have one

7) The ambient light sensor is annoying as heck. Maybe I'm getting old but it sets the screen too dim in almost all situations. I switch it off and set it manually. Once i do that the display is crisp and I've had no eye strain.

8) I think it's pretty good value for money.
posted by IanMorr at 12:04 PM on May 28

I have never been impressed with Dell laptops quality wise but perhaps things have gotten better in the last couple of years. The Lenovos are well built and reliable machines.
posted by caddis at 12:12 PM on May 28

Lenovo, without question.
posted by odinsdream at 12:41 PM on May 28

I just got the T400, but, as it hasn't arrived just yet, I'm not able to sway you with my experience. What I can say is that I have had many bad experiences with Dell. If you want a lappie for the next year, and then you want to upgrade to something new, then get the Dell for the price. If you want quality and you plan on keeping this thing around for a bit, get the Lenovo.
posted by eralclare at 12:53 PM on May 28

I have a Dell Latitude D630. I hate it and have had numerous problems. Dell quality control has become pathetic.
posted by distrakted at 1:00 PM on May 28

Thanks for the responses. Wondering if anyone can comment on whether the DDR3 memory available on T400 is really any faster. Also, the lenovo has Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache available on it and it doesn't look like the dell has this as an option. Will I notice a marked difference with it?

I'm running Win7 on one of my desktops, but I'll stick with XP on this laptop until Win7 is production released as it is my primary.
posted by maelanchai at 1:33 PM on May 28

I have a 14" T61, which preceded the T400/500 and has essentially the same characteristics (you'd have to be a huge Thinkpad geek to find all of the differences). I really do love my Thinkpad and despite what others would call an unassuming exterior, I love the design and I would probably not even trade it for a new Voodoo Envy or Dell Adamo. It's also great to see Lenovo employees blogging passionately about their product on Design Matters and Inside the Box.

1) The T400 takes advantage of the new Intel mobile platform, which is very speedy. My T61 runs on the older platform but it's definitely no slouch thanks to dual 2.4Ghz processors and 4GB of RAM. Absolutely the most reliable and fastest laptop I have ever owned. I installed Windows 7 on it and it runs very well. Lenovo offers great support in terms of drivers and productivity software and utilities. I like their Active Protection utility, which uses an accelerometer of some sort to stop your hard disk when it senses bumps or drops.

2) Not the lightest laptop out there, but lighter than consumer-grade models. I think the older Thinkpads were better in this regard. Still, I had no problem stuffing my T61 into my laptop to go to class and it has held up well over the two years I've had it.

3) You can configure the T400 for integrated or dedicated graphics. I think the new dedicated graphics are also hot-switchable so that you can fall back on integrated graphics to conserve battery power.

4) Tried and true. Love the Trackpoint.

5) I have not used a docking station.

6) Thinkpads have the Thinklight.

7) No complaints here. T400s offer LED backlit displays which seem pretty nice.

8) Lenovo often offers sales where you enter a discount code and receive a percentage discount. Even better, if you're in a hurry, you can buy now and do a pricematch later on.
posted by roomwithaview at 1:42 PM on May 28

Oops, I meant to say that the T61 and T400 have essentially the same physical characteristics.

As for Turbo Memory, you can Google for some comparison tests. I think the verdict was the performance gain didn't really justify the added expense. You can achieve a similar effect by popping in an SD card (if you have the Media Card Reader option) and use Windows ReadyBoost.
posted by roomwithaview at 1:45 PM on May 28

I had the same problem a few months back and decided to buy the Dell using their outlet since it was around half the price it would be brand new.

1) I have the P9500 processor which is great and there's no issue with speed. I had some weird issue with some combination of Windows Vista/Driver software and Windows Update for a while. It went through a period of having to use system restore on every boot up. Installed Windows 7 on it and haven't had any reliability problems since so I assume XP Pro will be fine too...

2) I have the 9-cell battery but I find it light enough for carrying around and going to university with it. The battery does provide around 5-6 hours which is really handy.

3) The NVidia NVS 160M is fine for everyday tasks but isn't terribly useful for gaming. I'm not sure if it's worth the extra outlay over the integrated option. I'm not sure if it's the graphics card but minimising/maximising windows seems a little less fluid than it ought to be.

4) Keyboard is sturdy and good. The trackpoint is good but I'd imagine that the Thinkpad's trackpoint is better. The E6400's is poorer than my circa 2004 Thinkpad R51's one.

6) The illuminated keyboard feature is useful for working in a dimly lit environment and is much much better than the Thinkpad's thinklight.

7) The display is very crisp and pleasing at 1440x900 and I've had no eye strain with it. It's also incredibly bright at highest brightness.

8) Well worth what I paid for it.
posted by Transparent Yak at 5:05 PM on May 28