Computer, Software, Hardware, Laptop, Printer

by Jason K.

The Dell Vostro 1400 is a 14.1" screen business notebook recently released. Dell is targeting small business buyers with the Vostro line of notebooks, but given the sturdy build, excellent price and option for installing Windows XP and less bloatware, models such as the Vostro 1400 might appeal to consumers as well.

Specifications:

• Core 2 Duo T5470 (1.6Ghz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
• 14.1” Wide Screen XGA LCD Display with TrueLife
• 1GB DDR2 667Mhz
• 128MB Nvidia Geforce 8400GS
• 120GB 5400RPM SATA
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
• Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
• 8x CD/DVD Burner w/ double layer DVD+ write capability
• Integrated High Definition Audtio
• Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card
• Integrated 2.0 mega pixel web camera
• 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
• Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)
• 1 Year Limited Hardware Warranty with Mail-in Service

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Reasons for Buying:

Ever since selling my XPS M140, I have been keeping my eyes open for another notebook deal. For a while, I was seriously considering the Asus W3j, but I just couldn’t justify the high price. Instead, I bought a desktop to hold me over.

I wanted a notebook that was portable and had good battery life (4 hours or more was my goal). I also wanted something in the $600-$800 range. I wanted my future notebook to have a 12-14” widescreen display, have discreet graphics, have a built in webcam and microphone. The Vostro 1400 met all of my needs and at a great price!

Shopping

I had my eyes on the Vostro 1400 ever since the day of release and before that. On the day of release I was playing around with different configurations, all which came out to be around $850-$900. The next day to my amazement I saw that it had dropped down to $700 for the configuration that I wanted. I ended up ordering the notebook for $700+ tax.

Between ordering and delivery it took about two weeks for me to get my notebook. I selected shipping via DHL 3-5 days, but it took only about 24hrs to get to me!

First Impressions

The Vostro 1400 came nicely packed in a brown Dell box. As I opened it up, the power supply CD’s and some instructions were revealed. Underneath that was the notebook itself. It was surrounded by 1" thick styrofoam.

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Construction:

I pulled the notebook out of the Styrofoam and examined it very carefully. The looks and everything exceeded my expectations. Though one thing I did notice right away was that the battery didn’t snap in very well. It rattled a little bit after being inserted and was not a snug fit, but it’s something I have seen in other notebooks as well. I found a simple, but inelegant solution to the problem. A small wedge of paper between the notebook and the battery solved the problem and was not visible, unless removing the battery was necessary.

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Everything else on the notebook felt very sturdy. The build quality greatly exceeds the Inspiron e1405 (Dell’s previous 14” notebook). There is little to no keyboard flex. There is very little screen flex. The screen and hinges feel especially sturdy. The notebook’s lid closes very nicely. Unlike previous Inspiron notebooks, the Vostro 1400 has no latch, which is very nice for easy one hand opening and closing.

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Ports and layout:

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The picture above shows the front microphone input and headphone outputs. On the left is the 9in1 card reader.

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The picture above shows the Optical drive, s-video out, two USB 2.0 ports, and an RGB output.

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The picture above shows the kensignton lock slot, the AC input, a heatsink, an IEE 1394 firewire port, two USB 2.0 ports, and an express card slot.

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The picture above shows several blue activity LED’s, the 9in1 card slot, and wi-fi catcher button.

Keyboard:

The keyboard is a typical Inspiron keyboard. It feels just like the e1405. I personally am not super picky about the keyboard. Although it is not a high-quality Thinkpad keyboard, it still is very comfortable to use, and is relatively quiet (good for taking to class).

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Touchpad:

The touchpad is very similar to the Inspiron e1405, it is dark grey in color. The touchpad is easy to use and I haven’t had any problems with it. I still prefer an external mouse if I’m using the notebook for extended periods of time.

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Screen:

I selected the Vostro 1400 with a 1,280 x 1,024 WXGA display with TrueLife. I love the display. The colors are very bright, images and text are crisp, and it provides quite a bit of contrast. There is minor light leakage around the edges.

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The viewing angles on the Vostro 1400 are good from left to right. But if you look from the top, the screen looks dark and it is hard to make out anything. The backlight is very bright.

Webcam:

Built into the trim of the screen, I selected the 2MP webcam (a $30 upgrade at the time of this review). The webcam is more than worth the money. It does exceptionally well at taking pictures of close up objects and people. When taking pictures of landscapes, it doesn’t do as well. The camera can capture at resolutions up to 3200x2400. However, there isn’t much point of capturing pictures at this resolution as the quality is about the same as at 1600x1200.

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Here are some sample pictures I took:

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As far as video recording goes, the 2MP camera can record up to 1600x1200 resolution at very low FPS however (Around 2-3FPS). Video quality at this resolution is quite blurry when there is movement. The video does reasonably well at 640x480, and very well at 320x240. When using the webcam over an instant messaging client, you can select for the camera to use face tracking. With face tracking it will actually zoom into your face and pan in and out as you move.

The webcam also features a blue LED indicator light, that tells you when your webcam is active.

Sound:

The Vostro 1400 has two tiny speakers on the left and right side above the keyboard. They appear to be quite a bit smaller than the previous Insprion e1405 speakers. For their size they really do quite well, and on max volume get loud enough to easily fill a small to medium room. The quality of the speakers is just average. The volume these speakers put out is more than enough for one to enjoy a game or a DVD.

Microphone:

The Vostro 1400 comes with two digital microphones which are located in the top trim of the screen, on both the left and right side of the webcam. Both microphones capture audio very well. This is great for skype or other VOIP applications.

Operating System:

I selected the Vostro 1400 with Microsoft Vista Home Basic. I have never used Vista much besides the Beta versions. There are some really great features that I like a lot in Vista. But some of the features in Xp that I am used to have seemed to disappear or are harder to find. It will take some time to get used to, but it sure is a nice looking interface.

Software:

Dell finally started listening to their customers as far as software goes. You have the option to select if you want various Dell utilities installed on your computer. Dell also gives you the option to select or not to select trial software and other freebies.

I said no to all of the freebies and trial software. I did go ahead and opt for installing a couple of Dell utilities. Even though I didn’t select much, the computer booted up and was running about 60 processes! In the past when I have purchased a Dell notebook, the first thing I always did, and advised others to do, was to reformat. Dell would just install so much junk that it made a new computer seem slow. Out of the box, the machine booted up in about 35 seconds. After adjusting the startup processes using Microsoft’s “msconfig” utility I was able to shave that number down to about 30.

Benchmarks and Performance

I ran Super Pi to 2 Million digits of accuracy and got 1m 10 seconds as a result. That’s nothing super fast, but it's not bad for a budget processor.

Super Pi comparison results:

PCMark05 comparison results:

With stock drivers, out of the box, the notebook scored 2,942 on 3DMark05

3DMark05 comparison results:

HDtune:

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Heat and Noise:

The Vostro 1400 is very quiet. The fan stays off unless I start playing a game or run some other demanding application on it. It puts out a little bit of heat out from the left side of the notebook, but for the most part it runs cool and I can’t feel any heat coming out.

Battery Life:

I ran a battery benchmark application that maxed out the CPU to 100% load and put the sytem under a lot of stress, including the graphics card as it rendered 3D graphics. The notebook kept going for 2 hours 24minutes, until it shut down with 3% battery life to spare. This would be the worst case scenario. I can’t imagine ever getting under 3 hours with the 9 cell battery.

Dell claims that the Vostro 1400 can get up to 8hrs. So far the longest I have seen is 6.5hrs.

The battery is an 11.1 Volt, 9 cell 85Wh Li-ion battery. The battery cells were made in Japan. Similar to previous batteries, there is a battery tester right on the battery showing you how much of a charge it has. Right under the battery, I was surprised to find a SIM card reader. I didn’t pay extra for it, and don’t think it is active, but there might be a way to enable it.

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Service and Support:

The day after I purchased the notebook, the price dropped by $50! So Immediately I went to the Dell small business site, and tried to chat with someone from Dell small business. I was connected with a guy from Dell home, who was unable to help me request a $50 refund, or to help me cancel my order and re-order. He just gave me Dell small businesses’ number and told me that they only work Monday-Friday. So, I was unable to contact them. I eventually decided just to write Dell an email asking for $50 credit back.

The next day I was surprised to receive a response, I thought Dell Small Business only worked Money-Friday? In the email, the rep told me that he would issue me a $50 refund after the notebook had shipped. I agreed and waited. A few days after I received the notebook, I got my $50 refund, which dropped the price down to $650+ tax! (I also used fatwallet to save an additional 1.5% or $10)

What I have concluded from this and previous experiences with Dell is that, they are really hard to get a hold of usually. You will usually have to play the Dell “game” of phone tag, or wait online from a rep and chat with them. It usually takes a few tries to get a hold of someone with the authority to address most problems. Once you do get a hold of them, they are usually quite responsive and help you with the problem right away! In the past, I have had Hard drive replacements and optical drive replacements sent next day air by Dell, and arrive the next day!

Conclusion:

The Dell Vostro 1400 is an excellent choice for the price! It offers a wide variety of special features, including a webcam (optional), microphone, discreet graphics card (optional). It also provides impressive battery life for its size and price. The notebook is very business looking and has some tough features which include: a magnesium alloy chassis, spill proof keyboard, and shock resistant hard drive.

Pros:

• Excellent Price!
• Impressive build quality
• Optional Webcam and dedicated Graphics
• Great battery life, especially with the 9 cell battery.
• Great looking screen, bright and crisp

Cons:

• Battery didn’t snap in as tight as it should.
• Notebook lid easily smudges and shows your fingerprints
• Dell’s always hard to get a hold of

by Andrew Baxter

The Dell Inspiron e1505 is a 15.4" widescreen notebook now available with the impressive Intel Core 2 Duo processor. The Inspiron 6400 is available through the Dell Business site and is the same as the e1505. The e1505 is a well rounded mainstream notebook, highly customizable and available at a competitive price. Now that it comes with the Core 2 Duo at similar prices to the original Core Duo you'll be getting even more value for your dollar.

Dell Inspiron e1505 (view large image)

The e1505 reviewed here is configured as follows:

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 at 2.0 GHz per core.
• 15.4" Ultrasharp WSXGA+ display with TrueLife
• 1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM in dual channel mode
• ATI X1400 256MB graphics card
• 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 8X DVD +/- dual layer recorder
• 9-cell lithium-ion battery
• Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
• Dell Wireless 1500 (802.11n)

Build and Design

The Inspiron e1505 matches much of the Dell lineup clad in painted silver with white trim on top and a black underside. The color scheme is simple and there's nothing to rave or rant about honestly, I'm not a huge fan of the white trim "bumpers" though.

The notebook is sturdy enough to feel comfortable lifting it by one corner. It's not rugged or as well built as many business laptops, such as a ThinkPad or Dell's own Latitude line -- the screen latch is plastic as opposed to metal on a Latitude for instance. But the e1505 is not flimsy by any means, the only real flex I could find on the casing was at the top just above the keyboard.

Left side view of e1505 open (view large image)

The back of the screen is plastic, but very sturdy and a hard push won't make ripples appear. The hinges seem sturdy and well damped. As mentioned before, the screen latch is plastic, but I'd rather have a plastic latch than the magnetic opening mechanism that some manufacturers are using -- they're so invariably hard to open.

Screen

The screen on this e1505 is the WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Ultrasharp with TrueLife (glossy). The Ultrasharp screen is listed at having significantly higher viewing angle, higher resolution, and slightly higher brightness. Overall the screen is very sharp with nice saturated colors and high contrast. Brightness is excellent, next to my everyday ThinkPad T43 it certainly stands out as being much better. There is some light leakage near the bottom of the screen, but nothing major. The backlight in use must be quite strong because I can actually feel quite a bit of heat coming from the bottom of the screen. You could bump the brightness down (using Fn + Arrow Down) to level four of seven and still have very comfortable viewing.

Speakers

The speaker performance of the e1505 is fine. In the world of notebooks, they are quite good even. Of course there is no bass but they seem to play low enough to make voices sound natural. They also play loud, for a notebook, without distortion. They point forward, and project the sound into a room so several people could easily watch a movie.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and Performance / Benchmarks

The Core 2 Duo is fast, no doubt about it. It appears to be about 10% faster than the proceeding Core Duo. That's probably not enough benefit to rush out and get a new processor if you already have Core Duo, but if you're using a Pentium M machine the extra performance and 64-bit capabilities of the Core 2 Duo might tempt you to upgrade sooner or later.

The Core 2 Duo processor in the e1505 is the T7200 that runs at 2.00GHz. For the sake of comparison I'll use a ThinkPad T43 using a Pentium M 760 that also runs at 2.00GHz. Below are the laptops relevant stats that are being compared:

Dell Inspiron e1505 relevant stats

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7200
• 2.0GHz
• Dual Core
• 32-bit or 64-bit support
• Front Side Bus: 667 MHz
• L2 Cache 4MB
• ATI X1400 256MB graphics card
• 120GB 5400 RPM HD

IBM ThinkPad T43 relevant stats

• Intel Pentium M 760
• 2.0GHz
• Single Core
• 32-bit support
• Front Side Bus: 533 MHz
• L2 Cache 2MB
• ATI X300 128MB graphics card
• 80GB 5400 RPM HD

PCMark05 CPU Test Suite Detailed Results

Not surprisingly, notice that when we start dealing with Multithreaded benchmark tests (highlighted in aqua) the Core 2 Duo trounces the Pentium M. In the single core CPU tests we see about 10% performance boost from the Core 2 Duo. In Multithreaded tests it's a 100%+ performance increase in every case.

3DMark05 Overall CPU Results

To factor out the fact the e1505 has a better graphics card, we should deemphasize the graphics tests and look more closely at the CPU related scores. In the CPU Test 1, CPU Test 2 and overall CPU Score we can see performance increase is about 75% in regards to the processor performance for 3DMark05.

Screenshot of final 3DMark Score for e1505 (view large image)

SiSoft Sandra 2007 CPU Results

SiSoftware Sandra is an information and diagnostic utility, and can be used to benchmark your PC. We used two different benchmarks from Sandra 2007 -- the Processor Arithmetic and Processor Multi-Media tests. Only parts of the benchmarks that were comparable and use SSE2 instructions were used (the Core 2 Duo can support SSE4 while the Pentium M does not).

Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
Processor Arithmetic Dhrystone ALU	18,150 MIPS	6,366 MIPS
Processor Multimedia Float x4 iSSE2	58,852 it/s	20,561it/s

The Core 2 Duo floating point operation dominance is quite clear in these numbers.

Screenshot of processor arithmetic results for e1505 Core 2 Duo(view large image)

Cinebench CPU Results

Cinebench is a good rendering benchmark tool based on the powerful 3D software, CINEMA 4D. Its rendering tasks can stress up to sixteen multiprocessors on the same computer. It is a free benchmarking tool, and can be found here: http://www.cinebench.com. The basic CPU test provided the following results:

Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
Single Core rendering mode	325 CB-CPU points	222 CB-CPU points
Dual Core rendering mode	592 CB-CPU points	not available

In single core mode the Core 2 Duo wins quite handily, in dual core mode utilizing both processor cores to render an image, the Core 2 Duo almost twice laps the Pentium M.

Screenshot of Cinebench benchmark results for e1505 (view large image)

Super Pi Results

And we won't forget our perennial favorite benchmark, calculating Pi to a few million digits of accuracy. Our usual calculation to 2 million digits shows the Core 2 Duo to be 42 seconds faster in calculating Pi to 2 million digits of accuracy than the competing Pentium M 2.0 GHz processor.

Pi Calculation Test	Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz	ThinkPad T43 Pentium M 2.0GHz
32K digits	0s	0s
64K digits	1s	1s
256K digits	05s	08s
512K digits	11s	18s
1M digits	25s	45s
2M digits	1m 02s	1m 44s
4M digits	2m 23s	3m 55s

Dell e1505 Core 2 Duo Super Pi Results

ThinkPad T43 Pentium M Super Pi Results

Noise:

The Dell e1505 is commendably quiet -- most of the time. Even while watching a DVD, the fan remained off. The hard drive makes a subdued, but noticeable hum.

Only under heavier tasks does the fan come on. It has three speeds. The lowest is very quiet, and more of a pleasing low pitched hum than an annoying whine. Running benchmarks (which can cause sustained full processor usage, something most programs rarely do) will often cause the fan to quickly bypass first and kick into second and then third gear. It seems that when the fan starts, the CPU continues to warm for a few moments while the cooling begins to take effect, triggering a higher fan speed that is not really necessary. After a while it will slow back down and stay there. If the fan is already running at a lower speed when the benchmark starts, it usually won't speed up. After 10 minutes of simultaneous 3DMark05 and Super Pi, the fan did go from the lowest to the middle speed.

Heat:

After about two hours of DVD watching, both sides of the palm rest became warm, but never got hot. The keyboard and area under the screen generated more heat. The underside of the notebook was also slightly warm at the front and warmer, but not hot at the rear. As with all notebooks, heat is more of an issue when used on an insulating/air-restricting lap. Overall the e1505 can be commended for keeping its cool.

In terms of processor heat, the Core 2 Duo actually stayed much cooler than the Pentium M in my T43. The e1505 T7200 processor idle temperature was about 35 C, after running Super Pi it went up to 42 C, and the hottest I saw it get was 46 C (temperatures were taken using Notebook Hardware Control). The Pentium M in my T43 hit 56 C after running Super Pi to 2 million digits. Cooling and heat dissipation in the e1505 is easier since it's a thicker notebook though, a lot of the heat buildup is as much a factor of the overall hardware design and cooling system as the processor itself. Thin and light laptops with a Core 2 Duo will obviously run warmer as they're notoriously harder to keep cool.

Battery:

With the 9-cell battery and a powerful new processor the Dell e1505 lasted longer than expected. At maximum brightness, it played a DVD for 3 hours and 12 minutes. With normal light tasks such as wi-fi on and the screen dimmed to half, I was able to eek out just over 4 hours of battery life. The 9-cell is a greater capacity than the standard 6-cell, but this type of battery life in a 15.4" screen notebook is excellent, so I highly recommend the 9-cell if you can afford it. The 9-cell battery is flushed with the back of the notebook and does not stick out.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

Dell Inspiron keyboard and touchpad view (view large image)

The keyboard has good tactile feel and is firm -- there's no mushiness to it. The touch is light which allows for fast typing -- but contrarily provides easy chance to mistype if you're not accurate. There is almost no flex, except at the very rear where the whole notebook casing flexes in when pushed hard.

The touchpad is slightly recessed so it's hard to accidentally touch. There is a vertical and horizontal scroll area. The two mouse buttons respond well. I miss having a pointing stick like I do on a ThinkPad, but such an input device is the realm of business notebooks and not consumer.

Ports:

The E1505 contains the standard array of newer, non-legacy ports. The four USB 2.0 ports are split between the rear and right side of the notebook, which is much better than all in one place. There is no old parallel printer port or serial ports. Sadly, the e1505 lacks the DVI port of its big brother the e1705, although the external VGA connection is capable of driving a big 24" LCD with 1920x1200 resolution.

Dell Inspiron e1505 left side view with optical drive (view large image)

Right side view of e1505: ExpressCard slot, SD card reader, microphone jack, headphone jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire port (view large image)

Dell Inspiron e1505 back side view: Power jack, modem jack, ethernet jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, S-Video port, VGA monitor out (view large image)

Dell Inspiron e1505 front side view: Multimedia buttons, speakers (view large image)

Wireless:

The Dell wireless e1505 under review came with the new Dell 1500 802.11n card. 802.11n is a new wireless range that is an improvement on current 802.11 technologies (such as 802.11b and 802.11g). The faster speeds and increased range of 802.11n are enabled by a sophisticated antenna system that manages the transmission and receipt of multiple simultaneous data streams (Multi-Input, Multi-Output or MIMO). Dell is using the Broadcom Intensi-fi implementation of 802.11n as their guaranteed compliance implementation. Wireless routers, such as the Netgear WNR834B RangeMax router that Dell provided me with for testing, are already available that support the Intensi-Fi 802.11n implementation.

Netgear draft-802.11n wireless router with Intensi-fi compliance (view large image)

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I don't have much use for exchanging files fast over a home network, I just don't transfer large files wirelessly between PCs or other devices that often. For those that work with multiple computers networked wirelessly, 802.11n is the way to go for improving throughput and sharing files though.

What I do have use for is the longer range offering of 802.11n! I just so happen to live on the top floor of an apartment building and have access to the roof on which I'll sometimes sit and lounge to watch the world go by. With my 802.11g router I'm not able to detect my wireless from the part of the roof I'll sit on. With the 802.11n I can -- what a treat to surf outside on Wi-Fi! Well, if the sun isn't too direct and bright thus washing out the screen that is. I'd estimate I can get good range and download speeds on the 802.11n up to about 150 feet away, while on the 802.11g I'm limited to about 100 feet. This will make a big difference for those in a house that really want strong Wi-Fi coverage throughout. 802.11n is definitely the way to go to make sure all the kids can get a wireless signal in their bedroom. Make sure you get the right 802.11n router to work with your 802.11n card though.

If you opt for an 802.11n Dell 1500 card it will still work with 802.11 a/b/g wireless routers as well so your flexibility and future proofing is maximized.

Operating System and Software:

Dell includes "Media Direct" software that can be accessed without booting into Windows. Media Direct allows you to play DVDs, access and play music files from the disk or simply to view images on your hard drive. The advantage is very fast startup time if you don't need full-fledged Windows. This is a nice to have.

On the desktop and system tray there is a fair amount of bloatware -- junk that many people won't use. Dell did install Google Desktop, which can be useful. It finds files on your computer far faster than a Windows search does, and includes other useful features. One day, Google will rule the world. Overall though, I'd prefer to do without 90% of the preinstalled stuff. Oh well, it indirectly keeps costs down for Dell to include this software so we can't have our cheap laptop and eat cake too I guess.

Conclusion:

The Dell Inspiron e1505 with Core 2 Duo and X1400 graphics card is a great performer for the price. If you can utilize this notebooks dual core capabilities for applications such as Photoshop and other rendering software, or if you do lots of multitaskng and gaming, then the Core 2 Duo offers a big advantage over the 2-generation old Pentium M. If your only concern is how fast Internet Explorer opens when clicked, then you'll notice little if any performance advantage because the Pentium M could already do that just fine. At the end of the day, the greatest thing is that Dell is offering the faster Core 2 Duo e1505 but charging about the same price we saw on yesterday's notebook configurations -- and who can argue with paying the same but getting more?

Pros:

• Top-Notch computing performance with the Core 2 Duo, great for multi-taskers
• Very respectable battery life
• Quiet under normal use
• Mostly cool running
• Good keyboard
• 802.11n wireless offering

Cons:

• Not much of a looker in terms of design
• No non-glossy option for high resolution or expanded viewing angle
• Some annoying pre-installed software (AOL, NetZero, MusicMatch etc.)
• No DVI port

Pricing and Availability:

The Dell Inspiron e1505 is available from Dell.com and price varies depending on configuration. You can also buy the Inspiron 6400 from the Dell business site which is virtually the same as the e1505.

by Alex Chiu

Introduction

Thinkpads. They are the Hummers of business laptops. Only until recently did the Thinkpad name come from IBM. In 2004 Lenovo, one of China's biggest PC makers, took ownership of IBM's "Think" PC division, including the ThinkCenter and ThinkPad business. Ever since then, Lenovo has been changing the existing lines while also introducing their own. They have still maintained to keep IBM's level of quality, performance, and ruggedness to maintain the Thinkpads’ legendary status.

Reasons for Buying

As a college student, I wanted something that would last me through my education as well as through the daily tasks and environment of a college dorm. While I would be mainly using it for simple tasks like note taking and internet usage, I did want to have the power and capability to do more if necessary.

Being an employee of Best Buy, I had seen many of the multimedia laptops that we carry and decided that I would not want one that had the fancy webcam, dual mics, and special media controls that were mainly seen on laptops such as HP and Dells. I essentially wanted a business laptop - a no-frills laptop that has plenty of power and ruggedness to last. After looking around at HP's nc8430 (I had heard that the fan on this laptop stays on quite often due to the X1600 video card), Dell's Inspiron 6400 (I did not like the asthetics / bulkiness), I finally landed on Lenovo's website, and immediately became attached to the T and the Z series. The Z series was most interesting because it had an option for a titanium lid, which appealed to me as I have a few titanium products that have proved to be very durable. However in the end I decided on the T60 Widescreen as it was more inclined to my needs and it was also lighter/thinner as well.

Purchasing

I bought my T60 Widescreen laptop direct from Lenovo on their website. The buying process was very easy - I went into the notebooks section, chose the Thinkpad line of notebooks, then the T series. From there it is very much like any other CTO website - you have options which you choose and the price gets updated. After ordering I found out that I wouldn't be getting my laptop for nearly a month! While I was somehwat disappointed in that (HP and Dell had both quoted delivery within 2 weeks), I did learn that all of the system building / parts will be coming from China. The funny thing is that in the end I received my laptop only FOUR days after leaving Hong kong, China. My laptop consisted of the following specs: (Note: Just like any notebook manufacturer, Lenovo does not use one exact brand for some of the parts. I will be listing the brands of specific parts, as they are "the best" according to feedback I have received in learning from the forums)

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.0Ghz CPU
• 2 x 1 GB DDR2 667 RAM
• 15.4" 1680x1050 LG Phillips Widescreen Display
• NMB Lenovo Keyboard with UltraNav
• LG 8x DVD Dual Layer Burner
• Thinkpad 802.11 a/b/g (Atheros AR5006EX Chipset) mini PCI express Wireless Adapter
• ATI 128 MB X1400 Graphics Card
• 100 GB Seagate Momentus 7200.1 8MB Cache 7200 RPM SATA HDD
• Integrated soundMAX audio chipset
• 9 Cell Sanyo Battery Pack

Unpacking

While it took nearly three weeks for the laptop to be built, it took only four days to come all the way from Hong Kong, China to my university in Merced, CA. Talk about fast!

It’s here! (view large image)

Accessories Box: 9-cell Battery, manuals, phone cable, AC adapter, misc manuals/documentation, screws for securing UltraBay, and UltraNav eraserhead caps (view large image)

UltraNav eraserhead caps – default cap not shown. (view large image)

The T60 Widescreen. (view large image)

Left ports, from left to right – Exhaust vent, VGA, modem, Ethernet, Kensington Security slot, Microphone, Headphone, USB, and Expresscard/PCMCIA slots (view large image)

Right Side: 8x DVD DL Burner, 2 x USB Ports (view large image)

Laptop open (view large image)

Top View: You can see the 9 cell battery poking out the back. (view large image)

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UltraBay: The LED to the left of the 2 USB ports lights up when the unit is powered on and there is a device in the UltraBay, which in this case is the DVD Burner. Pressing the switch to the left of it releases the lever underneath the burner, allowing you to hot-swap and pull out UltraBay devices with the laptop still on.

Closeup View: Infrared and Wireless Switches. Note that the green is painted, and not an LED, although there are LEDs for the Bluetooth and WiFi on the lower part of the front screen bezel. (view large image)

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Underside of the laptop – Note how there are no direct vents for the fan, but rather several vents located throughout the laptop’s underside to help cool the entire laptop.

Software

This is one spot that I believe that there is a bit too much. There was a lot of software on here from Lenovo, while it may not have been as excessive as some other manufacturers, there was still quite a lot. Because I use my computer a lot I did not want to bog my computer down with so many programs, and therefore proceeded to uninstall nearly everything that came with the laptop except for Lenovo's Access Connections, Active Protection System, System Update and ThinkVantage software. I kept these programs as I thought that they were the most useful for my needs. Lenovo did include other software, such as Client Security Solution (a solution designed in part with Symantec, giving you Symantec Antivirus Corporate edition, which is a nice touch, as well as Symantec Personal Firewall), and Rescue and Recovery. Another note about the software - a majority of the Lenovo software was outdated! I had to update and restart several times to be fully updated with the software that I had chosen to keep on the laptop. Lenovo does constantly improve and update its software, though, as nearly 4 updates have been released since I received my laptop. The one gripe I have is the video card drivers. ATi's Catalyst drivers are not the latest on the T60, and while I probably can simply download Catalyst 7.2 directly off of ATi's website, their online tool says that I should stick with Lenovo's drivers instead.

Rescue and Recovery

There is a 4.5GB hidden partition on the hard drive that contains restore information as well as other tools offered by Lenovo as part of the ThinkVantage technologies. By pressing the blue ThinkVantage button upon startup, you can backup, restore, and even browse the Internet through a limited version of Opera! One thing I did like is that even though I uninstalled Rescue and Recovery from my laptop, it is still part of the hidden partition, meaning that despite it not being accessible through Windows I can still access it through the bootup ThinkVantage. Being a computer enthusiast, I use Acronis True Image Home and had no problems backing up / restoring my laptop using the full image that I made, which took about 8 minutes to create, and 20 minutes to restore.

Usage

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If there's one thing that Thinkpads are extremely well known for, it's the keyboard. They are supposedly the best keyboards in the world for laptops, and I have to agree. As I am typing this review right now on my laptop it is very comfortable to type on. It is not noisy and provides ample amount of feedback. In particular, the keyboard that my laptop came with was made by NMB. Lenovo uses three different manufacturers for their laptops, NMB, ALPS, and Chicony, and best to worst is in that order.

As for the mouse, the UltraNav system is excellent. I have become accustomed to using the eraserhead and was surprised to find out that there is a feature for the eraserhead similar to the tapping mechanism available for touchpads - simply tap the eraserhead and it will register as a click! The touchpad is also equally as useful, although I seem to be using the eraserhead more as it is more convienent from a layout perspective. I would have to agree with the popular opinion that the touchpad is a little bit on the small side. I have a roommate who has a Dell Precision M65, which is built to a similar grade and caliber to my T60, and his touchpad is substantially bigger. However, his is also bigger and heavier. The laptop also came with two other caps for the eraserhead, although I am using the default one. Carrying the laptop around is very easy due to its slim size and weight. While I carry it in a slip case picking it up and taking it with me is not a problem at all.

Heat and Noise

I always use my laptop on a flat surface and not directly on my lap. Even so, the laptop barely gets warm, even after extended use. The only moderately warm areas are the lower right palmrest (hard drive underneath) and the upper left, where the vents are located. One interesting note is that unlike most laptops, there is no direct vent in which the laptop's fan sucks air in from. There are a multitude of intake vents located all across the underside of the laptop from which the fan pulls air in from and then expells it out both on the left upper side as well as out the back vents. The vents themselves are very open and free flowing. As for fan noise, there is very little. The fan comes on only every now and then, and even when it does it is barely audible even in a near silent study room. So far I have only been able to distinguish two different fan speeds, and again both were very quiet. I would like to make a point that I am very sensitive to noise, and therefore a quiet fan to me is most likely near silent to others.

Wireless

In the wireless arena, Atheros is one of the best. I can say from both experience as well as opinions from many users that Atheros does easily beat the Intel wireless chipsets in performance. That said, my laptop easily accesses the university's A, B, AND G networks without any problems, especially with the help of Access Connections, a client utility from Lenovo that manages profiles and adapter settings. The only problem that I have yet to solve is that one of my friends owns a 5 month old Gateway tablet PC with a Intel 3945ABG wireless chipset, and when we are both on the A network with our laptops next to each other connected to the exact same access point he is able to get nearly 25mbps down whereas I am only able to get 6. I have tested with several other laptops running Intel 3945ABG and Broadcom chipsets and they have produced results similar to mine. Maybe my friend is running a hacked firmware, I don't know ;)

Battery Life

I went with the 9 cell for my laptop as I knew that I would be using my laptop for long periods of time without being able to plug in. That said, the battery on my laptop lasts about 6 hours on medium brightness with the wireless on and using mainly Word, Excel, and Firefox. I believe I could probably get about 7 or 8 hours if I dimmed the screen to its minimum and disabled the wireless (and maybe even undervolted), however those options make the laptop uncomfortable to use as the screen becomes *very* dim towards the lower settings. One good thing about Lenovo's Power Manager utility is that it does have an option to optimize charging for maximizing battery lifespan. It also includes the usual settings for dimming the screen after a set amount of time of inactivity, turning off the screen, sleeping, turning off the hard drive, and even has a PowerPoint presentation mode.

Screen

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I am exceptionally happy with my choice to go with the WSXGA+ resolution for my laptop. I have become so accustomed to the WSXGA+ resolution that anything less makes me feel as if everything is extremely large. Even after using my laptop for a while returning to my 21" LCD makes me want to get a 1920x1280 24" LCD! The contrast is excellent, there were no dead pixels on my laptop. There is minimal light leakage along the bottom, and is overall a great LG Philips panel compared to the Samsung panel that I have heard so many bad stories about.

Speakers

There is nothing really much to say about the speakers here. As most have said in the forums, the speakers are a bit on the quiet side. Even at maximum volume they are similar to desktop speakers at normal volume. As with most laptop speakers, they lack bass, but still do sound pretty decent for playing music with nearly no distortion at maximum volume.

Other Thoughts

Thinklight in broad daylight with display off. (view large image)

Thinklight at night with lights off and display showing blank screen. (view large image)

One thing that I was not aware of was the ThinkLight. It caught me off by surprise when I first opened the laptop. I had thought that it was only an option on the Z and R series, and that I believe one of the series uses an orange LED whereas the other uses a white. In my case, mine uses a very bright single white LED to illuminate the keyboard, and does a very good job of doing it. Granted, some may see it as a gimmick, but it has come in handy every now and then, especially in some of the classrooms with very dim lighting or no lighting while the instructor is giving a presentation via projector. The picture makes it look brighter than it really is, but needless to say, the ThinkLight is a great feature.

Another surprise was the fact that the T60 comes with BOTH an ExpressCard AND a PCMCIA card slot. Granted I do not think I will ever need to use either slot, it is exciting to know that the laptop has support for both expandability options for laptops available nowadays. One last thing about the laptop that is somewhat of a letdown is the lack of FireWire / few USB ports. Granted, the T60 is designed for business users who would not have a need for FireWire at all, and would also use very few USB devices, it is still somewhat of a letdown.

Performance and Benchmarks

The Seagate 7200 RPM HDD is extremely repsonsive and quick. It is also very quiet in comparison to the Hitachi 7K100 that my roommate has in his Precision M65. The Active Protection System is also responsive, parking the heads of the hard drive to prevent damage when it detects any sudden movements. Following is the performance results from HDTune for the hard drie:

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3DMark06 Graphics Results

I ran 3DMark06 at the default ATi driver settings and default 3DMark06 settings:

PCMark05 System Results

PCMark05 was also run with the default settings:

Detailed results from PCMark05:

Conclusion

In closing, I believe I made the right choice in purchasing a Lenovo. It has performed beautifully to my standards and surpassed my expectations. After customizing it to my preferences, I believe that this laptop truly is one of the best laptops out there overall. While it may not be appealing to the gaming community, for everything else this laptop has it. I finally have my dream laptop. :)

Pros:

• Extremely sturdy
• Comfortable keyboard
• ThinkLight
• Quiet fan
• Thin and light
• Great screen

Cons:

• Few USB ports
• Small touchpad