Lenovo T400 vs Dell XPS M1330

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melteye

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I am looking to purchase a laptop for use at the university so there a few things that are important to me:

1) Mobility: I will be carrying many heavy books and would like to keep the weight and size reduced.

2) Battery Life: I will be on campus for a good amount of the day so not having to plug the computer in every few hours would be beneficial.

3) Noise Level: I type relatively fast (80+ wpm) so I could generate quite a bit of noise which may distract other students... the noise level of the keyboards is a big deciding factor. The noise level of the machine itself is also important.

4) Light Gaming: On breaks I may be using this laptop for light gaming (IE: CSS, Warcraft, etc.)

I have been looking at the Dell XPS M1330 and the Lenovo Thinkpad T400. The Dell seems slimmer with the 6-cell battery but I beleive the 9-cell may be necessary. The Lenovo is larger (not sure by how much) but the only review I've read states i has superior battery life. Maybe I could get away with a 6-cell with the lenovo, thus minimizing the increased weight of the T400?

Anyone advice from those who have experience with either or both laptops would be greatly appreciated.
 
This review mentions that the T400 can get almost 10 hours of battery life when using integrated graphics mode and a 9-cell battery. The T400 also has switchable graphics so you can switch on-the-fly between integrated graphics for better battery life or the dedicated card for better performance.

I didn't compare it to the XPS, but that battery life is pretty darn good.
 
Ya. That's the review I read which intrigues me... I just wish there was more reviews supporting this claim. The "discrete graphics" function is what originally made me very interested in the T400. I just wish they shipped their laptops a bit faster. Also I have been watching the Dell Outlet for Refurbs and I was hoping I could get similar pricing with the Lenovo but thats probably asking for too much.

Also is the Lenovo portability comparable to the Dell?
 
The T400 is a good big bigger and heavier than the Dell. I haven't seen the T400 but we use T61s at work, and my girlfriend just bought an M1330.

The M1330 is way more portable. Much, much lighter and significantly smaller. She got the 6-cell battery, and battery life is very good. The Dell also has a quieter keyboard which is roughly the same quality as the T-series.

If I were carrying it around a lot, I'd definitely go with the Dell. If I didn't carry it around much, I'd get the Lenovo.
 
I can't help you all that much since I don't have either laptop (I'm looking at possibly getting a T400 myself). My guess is that the T400 is probably better in most regards except when it comes to portability (since the XPS is a 13.3 inch versus the 14 inch T400). I personally don't know how big of a difference it makes though.

On a related note, a quick Google search found this CPP code for Lenovo, which I found still works as of this morning. It seems to shave off a few hundred on a well-equipped T400.
 
kumquat said:
She got the 6-cell battery, and battery life is very good. The Dell also has a quieter keyboard which is roughly the same quality as the T-series.

If I were carrying it around a lot, I'd definitely go with the Dell. If I didn't carry it around much, I'd get the Lenovo.
Click to expand...

Anyone else second this opinion of the keyboard and battery life? I use my Toshiba in class sometimes and people give me dirty looks because of how loud the keyboard is :p.
 
FWIW, she just went from a Compaq V2403NR to the M1330 and we were both surprised at how quiet the keyboard is.

Dell also has a 9-cell battery that bulges from the bottom.
 
SockMan! said:
.
On a related note, a quick Google search found this CPP code for Lenovo, which I found still works as of this morning. It seems to shave off a few hundred on a well-equipped T400.
Click to expand...

That brought my configuration down to $1004.06, thank you.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W1
14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ LED Backlight, Camera
ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 with 256MB
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)8
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm4
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)5
6 cell Li-Ion Battery60
 
The weight of the 1330 is 4.3 pounds with the 6-cell. Would it really last through a three hour lecture?

The T400 with a 6-cell would be 5 pounds... I don't know if I should beleive the review but that would add much more hours then teh 1330.

As for the 9-cell that bulges from the bottom does anyone find this inconvenient when placed on a desk or lap?
 
My GFs M1330 gets about 3:00 to 3:15 with the screen about half brightness and wireless on with the 6-cell battery.
 
T400 in a heart beat. No question. Plus with the CPP discount there is no reason not too. :D
 
melteye said:
As for the 9-cell that bulges from the bottom does anyone find this inconvenient when placed on a desk or lap?
Click to expand...

No, it's quite convenient really. Only issue is it does stick out a bit more and is heavier, for when it's in your pack/case/whatever, though it makes for a nice 'handle'. My choice if I had to do it again would be to get both the 9 cell and the 4 cell, the latter for travel and to make me lust less for a Mac Air weight-wise.

The 1330's keyboard is quiet unless you mash the keys. It does have a very subtle 'click' response when the keys are fully depressed however, which will go unnoticed anywhere with reasonable ambient noise, but in say, a quiet library, will probably make the person next to you want to strangle you after a few hours (click, click click click, click click, click, click click *gurgle*).

Battery life with a new 9-cell is 4-5 hours unless you're hammering the cpu.

Best Buys and Staples carry (or used to) the 1330 if you want a hands-on preview.
 
Here is some information I have gathered:

Dell XPS M1330 vs Lenovo Thinkpad T400

Dimensions:
XPS 1.33” x 12.52” x 9.37”
T400 1.47" x 13.20" x 9.4"

Difference: 0.14" x 0.68" x 0.03"

Weight with Battery
XPS(4): 3.97 pounds
T400(4): 4.70

Difference: 0.73

XPS(6): 4.68
T400(6): 5.30

Difference: 0.62

XPS(9): 5.01
T400(9): 5.68

Difference: 0.67

Battery Life Inequalities

T400
"With the T400 you can reach 9 hours and 41 minutes with the wireless enabled, screen backlight at 60%, and the laptop in integrated graphics mode using only the 84Wh 9-cell battery... The 6-cell battery managed 6 hours and 4 hours and 28 minutes respectively."

"When watching XVID encoded movies off the hard drive the 9-cell had an estimated 6 hours and 45 minutes of battery life, drawing 13 watts of power."

M1330

"With Wi-Fi enabled and the screen at 6/8 brightness, the 6-cell battery lasts for 3:30 while browsing the internet and word processing, give or take 10 minutes, depending on how heavy the web content is."

"Wifi enabled, display brightness 6/8, idle - 12.6W (4:27)"

Conclusion

I am still unsure about the purchase. It seems the battery life on the T400 is better due to the discrete graphic option. As Vista uses the graphics card I would need to disable transparency, etc to salvage the performance on the M1330 while I could just switch to Integrated on the T400.

As these reviews were done by two different people I do not know what to make of it. Is the battery performance that much better with the T400 or is it just variables not taken into consideration? If the differences really are that great then the weight difference may be lessened... T400 with the 6 cell weighing in at 5.30 pounds compared to the M1330 with the 9 cell weighing in at 5.01 pounds. Thats 0.3 pounds more for the much better graphics card and faster processor for the price.

The second question: Is the 0.14" x 0.68" x 0.03" difference in dimensions really that detrimental to mobility?
 
You don't need to disable anything in Vista to "salvage" performance on integrated graphics.

And remember the T400 is about 1.5" thick front to back. The M1330 tapers smoothly from 1.3" in the back to 0.87" in the front.
 
If it helps, I have the XPS m140 which is pretty much the previous model of the m1330. I love this one other than the hinge problems (they get loose frequently) but they seemed to have fixed that. This one got about 9ish hours on a 9 cell battery with web browsing, IM, etc. The battery is now 2.5 years old and still gets about 3 hours which is fairly impressive (and lucky).

I was looking at the m1330 to replace this fairly soon but haven't found the need yet. The only minus I've seen is that the best graphics on the m1330 is an 8400GS which won't get you much in games and I assume not all that much better than integrated.

My recommendation on it though is to get the 9-cell battery and 7200rpm hard drive upgrades, especially with Vista.
 
kumquat said:
You don't need to disable anything in Vista to "salvage" performance on integrated graphics.
Click to expand...

I won't be using the Integrated Graphics. The 8400's improvement in performance is significantly better then the integrated (although still poor). Many reviews suggest that Vista's usage of the GPU decreases battery life, with transparencies being the biggest factor.
 
Any recommendations? I chose to bump the price above the $1599 mark so I can apply the 30% discount as opposed to the 20% discount.

I do not have a Wireless-N router... should I scrap the card completely or opt for the sound car upgrade? Also would the 7200RPM be noisy at all?

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
Slim and Light LED Display with VGA Webcam
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) Free Fall Sensor
High Definition Audio 2.0
Wireless Networking Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)

$1,174.60
 
wow, that battery life claim on the lenovo seems incredible

is there anyone who has this laptop and can vouch for that?
 
I won't be needing this laptop for a month or two. Do you think it would be best for me to wait and see or should I take advantage of the 30% discount which expires tomorrow?
 
prtzlboy said:
wow, that battery life claim on the lenovo seems incredible

is there anyone who has this laptop and can vouch for that?
Click to expand...

It was done by someone actually using the notebook, but everyone's battery life is going to vary (some times drastically) depending on what they're doing.

Although I haven't timed a rundown, my T400 with 6 cell has frequently shown an estimated 5+ hours left when fully charged. That does jump around some though so I can't give a 100% firm answer.
 
Which one are you getting?

Keep in mind a 7200 rpm drive will use a bit more power than a 5400 rpm.
 
kumquat said:
Which one are you getting?

Keep in mind a 7200 rpm drive will use a bit more power than a 5400 rpm.
Click to expand...

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
Slim and Light LED Display with VGA Webcam
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) Free Fall Sensor
High Definition Audio 2.0
Wireless Networking Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)

$1,174.60

True and I doubt I'd notice the speed difference except for program execution. Perhaps I should go with a higher density 5400RPM drive.
 
Stuck in a dilemma again. I've seen many reports that the M1330 has GPU failure with the 8400 graphics card. Anyone know if this has been resolved?

Now I've been taking a look at the Lenovo U330... but once again I can't find reviews.
 
After all this I've decided to buy the Lenovo U330 which comes out to be $976 after coupons and cashback... shipping of $20 and tax of $80 comes out to be: $1076 which is cheaper then both the Dell XPS M1330 and the Lenovo T400.

This U330's dimensions are: 1.14" x 12.5" x 9.33" which is actually slightly thinner (but not tapered), the same width and slightly less deep. With the 6-cell the U330 weights 4.3 pounds which is 0.3 pounds lighter then the XPS with the 6-cell. The U330 also has the discrete graphics mode which will help battery life. It also comes with a ATi Radeon 3450 which performs slightly better then the 8400 and doesn't have the problems reported with the 1330.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor P7350
2GB PC3-8500 1066MHz DDR3
DVD (DL)/CD Burner
13.3" WXGA (1280x800), Glossy, LED backlight
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD (user selectable)
ATI™ Mobility Radeon™ HD 3450, PCI Express® x16, 256MB
Intel High Defi nition (HD) Audio, RealTek® ALC269 codec
Intel WiFi Link 5100
Bluetooth 2.0 wireless
Full-sized keyboard
Lithium Ion, 6-cell 5200 mAH

Up to 3.5 hr (discrete graphics); up to 5.5 hr (integrated graphics)
 
I don't know if the 9-10 hour claims on the T400 with the 9 cell are correct or not... because I can't use mine for that long in a single sitting :p
 
That U330 is really sweet. I think I would have made the exact same choice.
 
All of these laptops seem to be great choices. The battery life on the T400 is amazing if true.
 
For the Lenovo U330 I received an estimated shipping date of October 3.
For the Dell XPS M1330 I received an estimated shipping date of September 17.

I think the 16 day longer wait is worthwhile for the U330.
 
Both the Dell XPS M1330 and the Lenovo U330 come with a one year warranty.
 
Every T or X series I've ever seen has been rock solid. My brother stepped on his and it didn't even crack. It's hard to go wrong with a Thinkpad, even if it costs you half a pound or so.
 
linuxizer said:
Every T or X series I've ever seen has been rock solid. My brother stepped on his and it didn't even crack. It's hard to go wrong with a Thinkpad, even if it costs you half a pound or so.
Click to expand...

My Thinkpad X31 is more reliable than my desktop. I haven't had a problem with this laptop yet and I toss it around while it's on and whatnot. I even managed to knock it off my bed (~2 foot drop) onto wood flooring while I was sleeping about a year ago. Didn't even damage the thing. :)

Please let us know how you like the U330 once it arrives, melteye.
 
The Lenovo T300 is now only $2 more then the Lenovo U330... *sigh* but the sale ends today. Now for more stress to figure out which one to use.
 
Have you considered the Lenovo x200? It looks like it'll meet just about all your criteria - with the possible exception of light gaming. Even then the x4500 looks as though it should be fine for older games. Price is pretty good too for an ultraportable.
 
The price is only $100 or so more then the U330 and T400 but I believe 13.3" is the smallest I'd like to go. I'm even debating on going for a pound more with a 14" screen to get the higher resolution and matte screen, not to mention the faster processor and better battery life.

U330: 1.14" x 12.5" x 9.33"
T400: 1.47" x 13.20" x 9.4"

U330(6): 4.30 pounds
T400(6): 5.30 pounds

When searching for an Ogio laptop bag the variability in bag weight was about one pound... which leads me to believe this difference may be negligible.

U330: 2.0GHz
T400: 2.26GHz

I doubt I'll notice the difference between these two.

U330: 13.3" WXGA Glossy
T400: 14.1" WXGA+ Matte

I will be in a classroom and outside setting so the Matte screen should give much better visibility.

U330: Radeon 3450
T400: Radeon 3470

Once again this is a secondary issue and either card would be fine for me.
 
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