Lenovo ThinkPad T410 – A Review

The new Lenovo ThinkPad T410 is the very latest in its range of business notebooks. This 14.1 inch laptop, with its Core i5 CPU and sleek design, promises high levels of performance. The design of this particular laptop is rather nice – the sides are angularly shaped, and there is a new stylish keyboard/LCD light layout. The system, as a result, looks not only attractive but also more modern. This laptop also promises to be more durable, because of the materials used. The lid in the chassis is made from ABS plastic and a strong carbon-fiber reinforced plastic bottom. And if you are worried about your notebook getting damaged, don’t worry as there is an internal roll cage.

This laptop weighs about 5.2 pounds, there is a standard 6-cell battery, in size and weight it’s almost equivalent to the Lenovo ThinkPad T400, but this one is different in the sense that it is more compact, and far easier to carry around. This is probably due to the tapered edges as well as the plastic bottom.

You will see the ThinkPad logo on the black rubberized screen, the shiny matte-black chassis and palm rest are also there – as with previous models, and of course, the strong and visible stainless steel screen hinges are also there. But there are more ports than with previous models, and also some new types of connections. The bottom of the laptop has also changed – there is now a user-access panel which allows you to install more RAM, or even a wireless card, without having to open up your notebook.

Overall, the build still seems more or less the same – but there are a few negative things to say here. Firstly, the screen lid seems a little weak on the left side – thus pressure applied to the lid shows as distortion of the LCD. This is just true for the left side of the screen cover, though. Another point is the access panel at the bottom – this is quite weak because it bows slightly when installed, and flexes much more than any surrounding panel. Perhaps a metal panel might have worked, who knows?

All the T410 models come with LED backlighting now. But there hasn’t been much change in the increase or decrease of display quality, from the previous models. There is good color reproduction as well as contrast, on the WXGA screen, but unfortunately there is a slight blue tint as compared to a neutral white. The speakers are also of pretty good quality – you can easily fill a small room with the sound, but the bass and the midrange seem a little low.

The keyboard is also pretty much the same – but there is a new function key layout, for example the Escape and Delete buttons have been increased in size, and a backlit power button and a microphone mute button have also been added. In fact, if you are one of those people who like the Control key being the last in the row, there is a new feature which allows you to change the Function and Control keys through specific software!