Computer Hope

Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: Whitie III on November 25, 2015, 05:33:28 PM

Title: thoughts on the thinkpad T440s
Post by: Whitie III on November 25, 2015, 05:33:28 PM
just bought a Thinkpad T440s with the mid range (from the list of choices) 4th generation i5-4300U cpu (like one or two up from the bottom?) and 4gb of ram for $400 w/ free shipping

(ya, it doesn't have true trackpoint buttons.... get over it! I never really cared for the Trackpoint yet)

I needed to replace my old compaq laptop with windows 7 (maxed out at 2gb of ram and slower than anything)


now what type of ram would you recommend? would like to put a 4 or 8 GB stick in it..... just basic cheap ram.....

and I'm thinking an SSD later on but that's already decided on.... an EVO 840 128 or 256GB.....

Title: Re: thoughts on the thinkpad T440s
Post by: camerongray on November 25, 2015, 08:01:17 PM
I use a T440s as my main laptop and have done for almost 2 years.  I love it!  I can easily get 10 hours of battery out of it, the Full HD screen is a joy to work on, it's really light and portable and despite that is still very well made, last Monday it went flying off my lap and bounced across a wooden floor (long story), still absolutely fine!

My machine is the touch model (albeit with the touchscreen disabled) with 8gb RAM, 250gb SSD (factory installed Samsung), Full HD IPS display, 72Wh rear battery and 3 cell internal battery. i5 4300U.  Backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader.

Definitely get an SSD and a RAM upgrade if 4gb won't cut it.  Just remember that it takes 1.35v DDR3L RAM instead of the more standard 1.5v memory so bear this in mind when buying the RAM.

As far as the touchpad, as a trackpoint user coming from an x230, I hated it, even as a touchpad it was so loud I felt awkward using it in lectures!  It's not something I could just get over, used it for over a year and never got used to it!  I'm talking in the past tense as I purchased the touchpad for a t450s and fitted it myself, I now have a much better touchpad (which I keep disabled) and more importantly for me, physical trackpoint buttons!  The hardware is a direct replacement, drivers under Windows are fiddly but supposedly can be done however I run Linux on mine (Debian Sid) which it worked with with only slight config changes to enable middle button scrolling.  The part was under $50, well worth it for me!

I wrote about my experience with the new touchpad here: http://camerongray.me/2015/02/fitting-physical-trackpoint-buttons-to-a-lenovo-thinkpad-t440s/ (http://camerongray.me/2015/02/fitting-physical-trackpoint-buttons-to-a-lenovo-thinkpad-t440s/)
Title: Re: thoughts on the thinkpad T440s
Post by: Whitie III on November 25, 2015, 08:21:46 PM
I believe mine has the the dual 3 cell with backlight keyboard and non-touch 1920x1080 panel and it does have the WWAN module which I may activate..... only thing i don't know is if it has windows 7, 8, or 10..... I can tolerate windows 8 but I think I might upgrade to windows 10 if it has windows 8..... it's free for the first year