6 ms·

I've got an older brother, the T440s, also running Arch Linux. It's pretty good. The keyboard had to be replaced because a few keys broke off after 2 years; it

by wvh 9y ago

I've got an older brother, the T440s, also running Arch Linux. It's pretty good. The keyboard had to be replaced because a few keys broke off after 2 years; it got replaced on-site for free though. The feel is good but apparently and disappointingly, the keys are attached with tiny plastic teeth that aren't too sturdy. The screen is IPS but a different SKU and lesser quality than the panel the first reviewers seem to have gotten. Apart from that, it's silent, usable and reliable, and still not too hard to replace some of its components. I'd consider getting other one from the T4xxs line if it broke. I've got a T41 (I think) from the IBM time lying around. That thing is built like a tank; I wouldn't step on my T440s, but I'm reasonably convinced that old machine could take that sort of abuse. Great keyboard, but atrocious screen (like most old Thinkpads).

bpizzi 9y ago
Got a T440s myself too (running Ubuntu/Xmonad). It's mostly a great machine, my model has 14"-fullHD-mat / i7 / 12Gb RAM / 256Gb SSD / 512GbHDD. The only real caveat I can think of is the clickpad (no physical mouse buttons). That was a bad, bad decision. This piece of hardware has 0% usability, and under linux you need to tweak xorg.conf in order to get sensible defaults. Next generations of T4xx got it right however, trackpads with physicals mouse buttons have made their glorious comeback. Luckily I was already used to external keyboard/mouse, so that doesn't hurt as much as it could have been. Question for whoever inside Lenovo knows the real story: what was the rational behind that whole clickpad thing?
- shimon 9y ago
  They only made that mistake for one generation. We have to assume the rationale for the *40 models was "look, apple is doing it, clearly we can make this clickpad thing work". And then the rationale was "holy shit literally everyone who uses this hates it".
- nsriv 9y ago
  I had the exact same complaints about the Clickpad on my T440s, and replaced it with the pad from the T460s. You can find the part on eBay for around 45-60 USD and instructions to replace. It's a bit fiddly of a replacement, but mine works great!
  - hyyypr 9y ago
    Same here, and the procedure is pretty straightforward.
leeoniya 9y ago
i had to swap the panel on my T440S. the LG panel is crap and suffers from ghosting, image retention, small gamut & poor viewing angles. The AU Optronics is the much nicer one but hard to find a genuine one these days (had to get on ebay from China). i verified with the seller that the part was real. "NEW/Exact Laptop Lcd Screen AUO B140HAN01.1 14.0" IPS FHD eDP Matte B140HAN01.2" https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/4cnrde/anyone_know_a_link_to_buy_a_legit_b140han012/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/4cnrde/anyone_kno... be careful when getting one, most that are sold online (like amazon) are "generic" or "compatible" and not the genuine panels. https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/T440s-LG-or-AUO-Display/td-p/1371605 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/...
- mrbill 9y ago
  I have a T420s, and after maxing it out RAM/HD-wise, managed to get one of the adapter boards so I could put a FHD IPS screen (the same model you mention) in it. One of the reasons the guy stopped selling the adapter boards was the huge proliferation of "fake" screens being sold as specific models.
rrix2 9y ago
The T440 was probably the least pleasurable hardware I've used in a long time. Bad screen, bad touchpad (no dedicated buttons, disabling the trackpad disabled the buttons, the trackpad tracking was garbage), fragile keyboard. Waiting for that IT hardware refresh was the worst. I'm really glad Lenovo walked the trackpad back towards sanity with the 50 series onward, but I'm reticent to trust anything other than the 30 series. I've had such good luck with my personal x230, barring a dead CPU fan, which I was able to replace myself.
- leeoniya 9y ago
  the T450 trackpad is compatible with T440. it's a common swap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rkjtd6sMcA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rkjtd6sMcA
- michaf 9y ago
  While I really like my x230, the touchpad is practically unusable for me. It's just too small (or too jerky, if you use a large scaling factor). And while I have the higher quality IPS panel, it's still just 1366x768. Just give me the x230 with a bigger touchpad and a nice HD display, and I am happy (maybe x260/x270 would work? ...).

by wvh 9y ago

bpizzi 9y ago

Got a T440s myself too (running Ubuntu/Xmonad). It's mostly a great machine, my model has 14"-fullHD-mat / i7 / 12Gb RAM / 256Gb SSD / 512GbHDD. The only real caveat I can think of is the clickpad (no physical mouse buttons). That was a bad, bad decision. This piece of hardware has 0% usability, and under linux you need to tweak xorg.conf in order to get sensible defaults. Next generations of T4xx got it right however, trackpads with physicals mouse buttons have made their glorious comeback. Luckily I was already used to external keyboard/mouse, so that doesn't hurt as much as it could have been. Question for whoever inside Lenovo knows the real story: what was the rational behind that whole clickpad thing?

shimon 9y ago
They only made that mistake for one generation. We have to assume the rationale for the *40 models was "look, apple is doing it, clearly we can make this clickpad thing work". And then the rationale was "holy shit literally everyone who uses this hates it".
nsriv 9y ago
I had the exact same complaints about the Clickpad on my T440s, and replaced it with the pad from the T460s. You can find the part on eBay for around 45-60 USD and instructions to replace. It's a bit fiddly of a replacement, but mine works great!
- hyyypr 9y ago
  Same here, and the procedure is pretty straightforward.

leeoniya 9y ago

i had to swap the panel on my T440S. the LG panel is crap and suffers from ghosting, image retention, small gamut & poor viewing angles. The AU Optronics is the much nicer one but hard to find a genuine one these days (had to get on ebay from China). i verified with the seller that the part was real. "NEW/Exact Laptop Lcd Screen AUO B140HAN01.1 14.0" IPS FHD eDP Matte B140HAN01.2" https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/4cnrde/anyone_know_a_link_to_buy_a_legit_b140han012/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/4cnrde/anyone_kno... be careful when getting one, most that are sold online (like amazon) are "generic" or "compatible" and not the genuine panels. https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/T440s-LG-or-AUO-Display/td-p/1371605 https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/...

mrbill 9y ago
I have a T420s, and after maxing it out RAM/HD-wise, managed to get one of the adapter boards so I could put a FHD IPS screen (the same model you mention) in it. One of the reasons the guy stopped selling the adapter boards was the huge proliferation of "fake" screens being sold as specific models.

rrix2 9y ago

The T440 was probably the least pleasurable hardware I've used in a long time. Bad screen, bad touchpad (no dedicated buttons, disabling the trackpad disabled the buttons, the trackpad tracking was garbage), fragile keyboard. Waiting for that IT hardware refresh was the worst. I'm really glad Lenovo walked the trackpad back towards sanity with the 50 series onward, but I'm reticent to trust anything other than the 30 series. I've had such good luck with my personal x230, barring a dead CPU fan, which I was able to replace myself.

leeoniya 9y ago
the T450 trackpad is compatible with T440. it's a common swap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rkjtd6sMcA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Rkjtd6sMcA
michaf 9y ago
While I really like my x230, the touchpad is practically unusable for me. It's just too small (or too jerky, if you use a large scaling factor). And while I have the higher quality IPS panel, it's still just 1366x768. Just give me the x230 with a bigger touchpad and a nice HD display, and I am happy (maybe x260/x270 would work? ...).