Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Notebook - Intel Centrino 2 vPro Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz - 14.1" WXGA+ - 2GB

I own this laptop with the LED backlit screen. I purchased my laptop directly from Lenovo March 2009 and installed Win7 almost a month after purchasing.

What's typical about win7 on laptops is the lack of battery life. It's miserable. On Vista I had near 12hours of uninterrupted use with the extended battery, while on win7 i'm lucky to get 3.5 hours on a dimmed screen. That's Microsoft's fault, not Lenovo's. So I'm going to say it's got EXCELLENT battery life with the supplied Vista operating system.

Now I've owned 3 thinkpads prior to this and I have to say the quality has gone down considerably since the IBM days. The keyboard is mushy, so are the wrist pads and overall construction is inferior to how it used to be. Deflation and poor manufacturing don't end there, last week my fan seized to work. It had rattled for a couple months before it seized so I knew at some point it would fail, but I don't think a year is good enough for a thinkpad. It commands a price and should live up to it.

As far as reliability issues go, that's about it. In a little over a year I spent $60 in fan, and $10 in screws on maintenance which is a bit unacceptable for me. I was hoping for at least 3 years before any maintenance was required. If I had sent the laptop in, there would be shipping and handling, inflated parts price, and labor which would probably cost even more.

For the good, it's a typical Lenovo generation thinkpad. Construction is still noticeably more robust than the competition and has the classic look. Hinges are strong and beefy looking, integrated periphrals are well placed and has the "think light" embedded into the top of the monitor which is surprisingly usable, however doesn't replace illuminated keys. And in this day and age, I don't think it's too much to ask for illuminated keys on such an overpriced computer (bang per buck is low) but I suppose this is the simplicity they are going for.

I could go on and on about it's shortcomings, but that's with any product I've ever bought. Overall, I think this is a genuinely good product from Lenovo, only if you can get it on a bargain.