Lenovo ThinkPad T400s (Multitouch)

A Well-Executed Multitouch Laptop

TheT400s (Multitouch) incites lust among business users. It has the ThinkPad X301’s exquisitely thin dimensions, with a 14-inch LED widescreen to boot. It’s the lightest business laptop in its class—and that’s with the internal optical drive. The latest edition (and bear in mind that this is not a convertible tablet) takes advantage of Microsoft’s Touch Pack and other touch-friendly applications made for Windows 7 and is, bar none, the best implementation of a multitouch panel yet on a laptop. The T400s is considerably thinner than the ThinkPad T400, measuring 13.3 by 9.4 by 1.1 inches (HWD), but weighs a bit more than the original T400s—4.4 pounds versus 3.9. Unfortunately, the T400s had to unload certain features to achieve this thinness; it has only one memory card reader slot and no FireWire port. It does, however, have every wireless technology built-in—3G, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a GPS chip. And hard drive options include a 128GB SSD.

But the big story is obviously the new multitouch gestures. By tapping two fingers on the screen, you invoke a series of icons called Simple Tap. You can also customize screen icons for commonly used apps and tasks. Though Simple Tap could be a bit temperamental, otherwise the touch features worked like a charm. In our testing, high scores were split between the T400s and the T400s multitouch version. Video encoding scores improved by a margin of 6 seconds with the T400s (Multitouch) and outperformed the original T400 by 2 seconds. On MobileMark 2007, the multitouch T400s scored 4 hours 20 minutes, which trails the T400s by 11 minutes (4 hours 31 minute). There is no support here for an extended battery. And the multitouch T400s met our criteria for a Green Tech Approved product, with Energy Star 5.0, EPEAT Gold, and RoHS certification, among other factors. Though finding the right business implementation for the multitouch screen could prove a challenge, this new T400s is nonetheless an exciting look ahead for Windows 7 systems.


Lenovo ThinkPad T400s (Multitouch)

Pros : Multitouch panel works well. Exquisitely thin. Modular optical drive included. Fast, energy-efficient processor. Nice resolution. Tough as nails. Phenomenal typing experience. Excellent green credentials.

Cons : No FireWire or extra card slot. No extended batteries available.


Source of Information : PC Magazine 2009 11