LENOVO THINKPAD T400

Cream-of-the-Crop Biz Laptop

Nothing epitomizes classic more than a ThinkPad. Lenovo is the one laptop maker that would be castigated for changing its flagship brand's color scheme, so no one will complain that ThinkPad T400 sticks with a basic black case design.

The differences are inside. With a widescreen LED display and a 56-Wh extended battery, the T400 still weighs in at a mere 5.2 pounds, so it's one of the lightest 14-inch business laptops. It packs in features: three USB ports. a FireWire port, a webcam, a fingerprint reader. a dual-layer DVD burner, a 7-in-1 ExpressCard media card reader, and Switchable Graphics. It covers the gamut of integrated 3G services from Verizon, AT&T. and Sprint. It delivers an untouchable typing experience—and it offers an amazing starting price.

The T400, like many of its siblings. earns our Editors' Choice. The T400's performance is propelled by its 2.8-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 processor, its 160GB (7,200-rpm) hard drive, and Centrino 2's Switchable Graphics (which lets you choose between the Centrino integrated graphics—to boost battery life—and the ATI Mobility Radeon 3400 chipset).Switching made a huge difference on our MobileMark 2007 results: The T400 lasted 4 hours 12 minutes with the ATI chipset but yielded 5 hours 20 minutes using the integrated graphics. And you don't need to reboot to switch.



But the T400's excellent performance isn't limited to battery life; it also did superbly on Adobe Photoshop CS3 and the video-encoding tests. In fact. this system's scores edged out or came close to those of one of its main competitors, the HP Elite-Book 6930p. With performance like that, combined with excellent battery life, light weight. phenomenal user experience, and an unexpectedly low price, the T400 just makes good business sense. —Cisco Cheng



Specs: 2.8-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9600; 2GB DDR3 SDRAM; 160GB, 7200-rpm hard drive; ATI Mobility HD Radeon 3400 Series,256MB; 14.1-inch, 1,440-by-900, wide- screen LED display; Intel WiFi Link 5100; 52 pounds (6.1 pounds travel); three USB ports, one FireWire port; 56- W11,52-Ali lithium ion battery; Windows Vista Business.

PC Magazine January 2009