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T400 for Law School

P

phialexa

n00b
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
35
Hello:

The configuration below is what I have currently chosen for my laptop for lawschool. Basically, the only demands that I have are that it be fast, able to run several programs simultaneously (OneNote/Word/internet broswer), and somewhat durable. I am not interested in gaming or media, so I chose the integrated video card, and I am not interested in purchasing a higher version of Vista (which comes with a free upgrade to win7) since I am going to be purchasing a multi-license version down the road. I also opted not to purchase the 3 year warranty due to the fact that I am on a budget, and I am somewhat computer savvy. How does this configuration look? Should any changes be made?

ThinkPad T400 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty

Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic US English
Display type: 14.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
System graphics: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
Total memory: 2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1DIMM)
Keyboard: Keyboard US English
Pointing device: UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Hard drive: 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Optical device: CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
System expansion slots: Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Wireless card: Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Mobile Broadband: Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
Battery: 6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord: Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter
Language pack: Language Pack US English

The total price is 803.00 w/free shipping due to my Intel shareholder discount.
 
That setup looks good, Thinkpads were made to last a really long time so its a good choice for a law student. Its a little bit on the heavy side but if you don't mind lugging it around it shouldn't matter. Only thing is you might want to get more ram down the road when it gets cheaper but 2gb of ddr3 should suffice for what your using it for.

If you will be away from your charger alot I suggest the 9 cell battery which will give you 7-9 hours of computing time but at the expense of the added weight 5.lbs 4.8oz (w/ 9 cell battery).
 
why a 7200rpm drive? won't that be louder+use more battery life?

I would definitely get the 9cell.

I love my t500. it is rock solid.
 
Adjusted the 7200 hard drive to a 5400 in order to cut down on energy costs/sound. Adjusted monitor to LED. Adjusted 6 cell battery to 9 cell battery. How does it look? Total is now 841.50.

Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8700 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ LED Backlight
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
 
phialexa said:
Adjusted the 7200 hard drive to a 5400 in order to cut down on energy costs/sound. Adjusted monitor to LED. Adjusted 6 cell battery to 9 cell battery. How does it look? Total is now 841.50.

Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8700 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ LED Backlight
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery
Click to expand...

I would just save 60 bucks and go with the P8400 processor. You won't notice a difference at all if you're just using programs like word and doing some light internet browsing. If you need a lot of programs open at once then you might want to get 2 DIMM ram since you can take advantage of dual channel, especially since your integrated graphics will be borrowing system ram.

Otherwise, it looks good. Which law school are you going to by the way?
 
The 7200 is worth the "cost," I promise. It'll make the entire machine much snappier and realistically the battery life won't be affected much if at all. The LED backlight won't do shit for battery life either, but the 9 cell will. People are under this silly belief that an LED backlight uses less power and gives longer runtimes, and realistically that's not the case yet because the technology is still considered to be relatively new. 5 years from now it'll have progressed to a point where yes, it can be more power efficient but, so far, it's not to any seriously noticeable degree.

The original configuration vs the new configuration will run about the same amount of time plus or minus a few minutes (with the 6 cell battery). With the 9 cell on the second configuration, that's where the money is.

Get the 7200 rpm drive, get the LED backlight (if you prefer such things, they look the same to me in my experience), and get the 9 cell and be happy with it. Personally I'd say get the 6 cell with the laptop and order a 9 cell secondary - have two batteries and not just one for really extended usage and run-time. No you can't have 'em both installed at the same time but, you can hibernate to do a battery swap and start back up exactly where you left off without missing a beat.

And I agree with the point made above about the RAM: get 2 sticks of 1GB if at all possible, it'll help with performance considerably over a single stick, even with DDR3.

Final suggestion: order it from Lenovo direct if possible, using that coupon code you can locate that gets you the employee or stockholder discount, save a few extra bucks if you can. Can't hurt to try unless you're absolutely dead set on getting it from Office Depot.
 
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Okay, here is the most updated build:

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ LED Backlight
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
No Bluetooth
Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery60
7417: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller

Are you sure that the 2.2GHz will not make the machine sluggish? I will attending Temple Law (in Philadelphia).
 
What do you think about Lenovo's upgrade to Win7 deal? Is it worth it to spend an extra 40$ to get an upgrade to Windows7 given the fact that I plan to upgrade all (3) of my computers to Windows7?

In addition, would I see a big performance jump from 2gb to 3gb (both in 2dim)? Worth the extra 40?
 
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phialexa said:
What do you think about Lenovo's upgrade to Win7 deal? Is it worth it to spend an extra 40$ to get an upgrade to Windows7 given the fact that I plan to upgrade all (3) of my computers to Windows7?
Click to expand...

Windows 7 is going to be great for laptops. It's optimized for batter life where as Vista is notoriously bad for it.

As far as the processor is concerned, you'll likely have Vista managing your processor's clock speed in which case it will never go above 2.0 ghz for your basic usage. I have an E8500 3.16 ghz desktop processor and it never goes above 2.0ghz unless I'm gaming or doing some type of hardcore processing.
 
With respect to Windows7, I am essentially asking whether or not it makes sense to pay 40 dollars more for an OEM windows7 for the laptop and then buy two more OEM's for my other comps, or to buy a multilicense and install on all of the computers.
 
A "multi-license" would be for the Retail software, providing support from Microsoft itself - OEM copies, even the System Builder OEM editions, come with no support at all, you're on your own, sooo...

While most people around here would never dream of calling Microsoft for support, that option with the Retail edition(s) would be preferred, I'd think. Plus you get to install it over and over again, moving it from machine to machine later on if you do decide to upgrade or replace - OEM licenses are not transferable to new machines. Once you install and activate an OEM copy on a platform, it's tied to that specific platform/machine forever.

Just a legal aspect you'd probably care about... all that licensing mumbo jumbo... :D
 
phialexa said:
With respect to Windows7, I am essentially asking whether or not it makes sense to pay 40 dollars more for an OEM windows7 for the laptop and then buy two more OEM's for my other comps, or to buy a multilicense and install on all of the computers.
Click to expand...

I would just go with whatever is cheapest unless you plan on doing the above.
 
Interesting, well I guess I need to find out whether or not Lenovo's "upgrade" is an OEM or a reusable Retail version of Win7.
 
Just got my T500 w/ the P8700 and ATI discrete card. I use the Intel integrated all the time though.

With the 9-cell, battery life is 6ish hours. I'd recommend the 9-cell over the 6-cell, but Lenovos battery life estimates in the pdf spec sheet are pretty accurate.

Also, I got the 5400rpm HD, for the love of god: get the 7200rpm or a SSD, 5400rpm CRAWLS for app installs. (course I'm used to VelociRaptor on the desktop...)

Beyond that, it's a damn good laptop :)
 
Lenovo is an OEM, just like Dell, HP, Gateway, etc are, they don't sell Retail copies of software to end users. The best they could sell would be OEM System Builder copies which aren't "tied" to the brand (only installs on a Lenovo, etc) but even so, that's still an OEM license. So the suggestion still holds... grab a multi-license Retail copy as required. The Upgrade they'd supply when Windows 7 is officially available on/after Oct 22nd will be an OEM branded upgrade version that will only install on that Lenovo machine.
 
Arkangyl said:
Just got my T500 w/ the P8700 and ATI discrete card. I use the Intel integrated all the time though.

With the 9-cell, battery life is 6ish hours. I'd recommend the 9-cell over the 6-cell, but Lenovos battery life estimates in the pdf spec sheet are pretty accurate.

Also, I got the 5400rpm HD, for the love of god: get the 7200rpm or a SSD, 5400rpm CRAWLS for app installs. (course I'm used to VelociRaptor on the desktop...)

Beyond that, it's a damn good laptop :)
Click to expand...

These days I would never buy a performance laptop without an SSD. The newest generation is energy efficient and ultra fast... not to mention really expensive though.
 
SSDs fast? Yes. Expensive? Definitely? Energy efficient? Not a chance in hell... at least not yet, same principle with the LED backlights. Both technologies are still considered in the infancy stages (and yes I know SSD technically has been around for 15 years, but not in its current "form" one could say), and as such both are nowhere near as efficient as hard drive technology and backlights, even the ages old CCFL.

That's why when you equip most modern hardware with an SSD and an LED backlight you get basically the same battery life at this point in time. In a few years, given Moore's Law, SSDs and LED backlights should be way ahead of hard drives and CCFL backlights given the length of time they've been maturing. What took hard drives and CCFL technology 20+ years to achieve will be done (and probably surpassed greatly) by SSD and LED backlights in 2, 3 years tops.

But until then, there really isn't that much of a difference currently, a few minutes at best. Most people are prone to snatch up an SSD or an LED backlight under the mistaken assumption that they'll get double-digit increases in run-time percentages, and it's just not happening... not yet.
 
So do you think it makes more sense to get a 14.1 WXGA+ TFT CCFL monitor or an WXGA TFT LED monitor for 17 dollars more? If there is not real difference between CCFL and LED, then wouldnt it be preferable to have the increased resolution? Furthermore, would the computer even be able to handle the increased resolution? (I am coming from building gaming pc's, and am new to mobiles)
 
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I'd go CCFL right now, more pixels FTW. The CCFL on Lenovos is nice and even and as others have mentioned, LED doesn't really buy your anything special (IMO I have yet to see a LED display that looks any better than CCFL)
 
I'd agree with that post above: get the CCFL WXGA+ (1440x900) and you won't regret it. WXGA (1280x800) is a bit bland, and when you're looking at a lot of texts, documents, etc, or potentially spreadsheets are required, you'll come to appreciate the increased "desktop real estate" very fast over 1280x800...

And the Intel 4500 video chip can handle anything you throw at it (save extreme games, of course). It'll play all your videos, etc, without breaking a sweat. It's a non-issue... sure you can get some gaming in, but you don't give the impression that you intend for this laptop to be a serious gaming platform, so that's why the Intel GMA stuff will work just fine.

If you need gaming capability, there are T400 models with discrete ATI graphics, of course, but the price goes up because of it.
 
Last question before I pull the trigger:

Do you think that 3gigs will give a noticeable performance increase over the 2gigs? Is it worth the extra 30-40dollars?
 
phialexa said:
Okay, here is the most updated build:

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
14.1 WXGA TFT, w/ LED Backlight
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with vPro
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
No Bluetooth
Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
9 cell Li-Ion Battery60
7417: 1 Year Depot Warranty - TopSeller

Are you sure that the 2.2GHz will not make the machine sluggish? I will attending Temple Law (in Philadelphia).
Click to expand...

You'll be fine with 2.26GHz - that's what I have, along with a discrete ATI card and everything runs fine, including the occasional CS:S game.

I have the 6-cell battery and I get about 5.5 hours with wi-fi on, 70% brightness, and Intel graphics. I've had my T400 for almost a year - I ordered it after college started in the fall because I thought that an old T43p would be enough for school - but it got slow really quickly. I've been extremely happy with this machine. I even ordered the same one for my brother who's going to be a freshman at Temple in the fall.

Highly recommended, can't even think of any negatives to put down. As recommended by others however, definitely get the 1440x900 screen. I managed to get the best of both worlds, 1440x900 and LED but it's hardly ever available any more. I guess one negative would be that I wish I had even more screen space than 1440x900 offers.

Edit: If you want more memory, get 2GB 1dimm through Lenovo, then get an extra 1GB or 2GB stick on Newegg and install it yourself. Cheaper and very easy to install. I've been fine with 2GB on my machine, but after long periods of up-time (10 day range) the memory seems to run out and I have to restard. So yeah, more than 2GB would be good
 
Agreed again: get the most RAM you can afford to get now, while it's still cheap. Nothing wrong with the suggestion given to get the 1 stick then add more on your own (as it'll be cheaper, of course). Fry's regularly sells 4GB of laptop RAM (2x2GB SODIMMs) for pretty cheap prices (under $80 most times, sometimes less after rebates) so, yeah, that should be a consideration, and yes it will help.

Vista and more accurately Windows 7 (when you upgrade to it) will make excellent use of any and all RAM you can throw at it, keeping the machine in tip top condition and your apps and data will be accessed pretty snappy.

Windows 7 doesn't experience the "issues" that Vista did/does with RAM management in most situations, it's just that much better now.
 
phialexa said:
So do you think it makes more sense to get a 14.1 WXGA+ TFT CCFL monitor or an WXGA TFT LED monitor for 17 dollars more? If there is not real difference between CCFL and LED, then wouldnt it be preferable to have the increased resolution? Furthermore, would the computer even be able to handle the increased resolution? (I am coming from building gaming pc's, and am new to mobiles)
Click to expand...

Ultimately, it's your decision, but I went with a 12" screen laptop when I was in law school (Houston class of 2007). It was easy to transport around and I could always use an external, larger LCD when I was back home. Keep in mind that while in class, you'll need room on your desk area for your laptop and at least a casebook (not small). If you go 17", I'd worry that the weight and size will be at issue during law school. Most of my classmates had the standard 15" Dell laptop our school recommended. I can't tell you how many offered to trade me for my tiny Sony R505.

My advice - get a small laptop that you can't game on and get used to using all your available time to study. Your first semester is critical to getting a good summer associate spot and a high paying job at a biglaw firm. Use the ~$28k you'll make in the summer after your first year and buy a kick-ass system after you've solidified your future.
 
at my school i was able to order vista ultimate for like 6 bucks. Check to see if the university you attend will allow you to buy a cheap version of windows 7 when it comes out.

Check both Law program and the general University software program.
 
Thanks PurduEE,

I am definitely on board with your suggestions. I will only be getting a 14.1" monitor, and I am definitely NOT trying to build it as a gaming computer. Perhaps I will eventually purchase a netbook as well, depending on my experience with the Lenovo.

P.S. My goal is to spend at least 60 hours a week on law school. I definitely plan on hitting law review/moot court, and hopefully a summer 1L associate position (if the economy permits for it).
 
Just pulled the trigger and ordered from Lenovo. Here is the final build:

1. Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8400(2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25W
2. Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
3. 4.1 WXGA+ TFT, w/CCFL Backlight
4. Intel Graphics Media Acelerator 4500MHD with vPro
5. 3GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
6. UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
7. 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200 rpm
8. CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
9. Intel WiFi Link 5100 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
10. 9 Cell Li-Ion Battery
11. 1 year Depot Warranty

With tax and 2 day shipping, total was 922.61 (stupid tax!). Thanks for everyone's help!
 
phialexa said:
Thanks PurduEE,

I am definitely on board with your suggestions. I will only be getting a 14.1" monitor, and I am definitely NOT trying to build it as a gaming computer. Perhaps I will eventually purchase a netbook as well, depending on my experience with the Lenovo.

P.S. My goal is to spend at least 60 hours a week on law school. I definitely plan on hitting law review/moot court, and hopefully a summer 1L associate position (if the economy permits for it).
Click to expand...

That's a plan that will pay-out if you stick to it. I also took advantage of all the extra activities to improve my skills - most of that stuff usually isn't available to 1Ls, but you'll need good grades to get into it in your second year. Law review (or any journal) will help you in your bluebook skills and moot court/mock trial can improve your writing (as a brief writer) and advocacy skills. If you have a science background, there's no harm in taking the patent bar while in law school.

I was an engineer for 8 years before I went back - second-best decision I ever made (first was marrying my wife). I love my firm, my career and the work that I do.

Good luck.
 
Sort of off-topic, but how was the patent bar exam? From what I have been led to believe, you definitely need a B.S. in order to attract offers for patent work. Is this true? Is it possible for a tech savvy individual with a B.A. to take the patent bar exam?
 
phialexa said:
Sort of off-topic, but how was the patent bar exam? From what I have been led to believe, you definitely need a B.S. in order to attract offers for patent work. Is this true? Is it possible for a tech savvy individual with a B.A. to take the patent bar exam?
Click to expand...

The patent bar is like most legal exams - a bunch of questions about various rules and regulations of some agency or forum.

Ex. - John files a patent application containing an oath, one claim, a drawing, and the appropriate fee on October 1, 1999. He receives an office action, mailed on October 31, 2001 setting a shortened statutory period of 60 days for response. What is the latest date that John can respond to the office action without incurring an additional fee?

The USPTO has requirements for taking the test on their website:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/olia/oed/grb.pdf

You'll want to look in Section III(B) to see if you're eligible.

I would say that a technical background is better if you're seeking to get into patent law, but if you have relevant work experience, that may work as well. We had a number of information systems guys take jobs in patent law from my law school, even though their degree doesn't allow them to take the patent bar.
 
As a law school grad I recommend you go lay down and let the feeling pass - the law field has too many lawyers and not enough positions, and is expected to get worse...

That said, I hope you did not make the mistake I did, by going to a place where I did not stand out.

Go to the local state law school, or if you have a specific field - go to the school known for that field. Why? Local state law school has advantages... Private message if you want explainations...
Going to be the Big Fish in the small pond is better than a small fish in a Big Pond.

Make absolutely sure your carrier services are not B.S.ing the stats, and placement actually does occur, and they actually do supply support in getting a job...

Good luck with that...

As for the laptop:
Get a BIGGER screen - why - you will have need to have two documents side by side to read and pull from. Hard to do with a 14 inch screen... Go 17+ inch high resolution

Discrete graphics and high power processors need not apply - the majority of your work will be Word or Word Perfect (legal edition) and surfing the webs. You will be a law student, not an engineer... or a gamer (time limitations...)

Better option: Get a cheap desktop at home and get a big screen for it - again for the researching and document creation... and do not get a laptop, unless required by the school. Many professors secretly do not like the invasion of the computer in their classrooms, as they find the average student distracted... which is true... and they also find the students overly reliant on the laptop, instead of their own minds and notes, which can be a b1tch when the professor grills you. (You get to stand, and NOT hold your laptop to respond...)
But, again, IF you get a laptop, basically the $349 Compaq 15.6 inch screen cheapo dualcores that go on sale about monthly will do you fine... and still get a desktop at home...
 
ah I know, but was hoping he had not fully ordered and paid for it yet... trying to save him some $...

But He thinks he can get on moot court and law review with a mere 60 hour work week... um, I hope he understands the full work load...

I just hope he went for Big Fish / small pond as if you are not in the top 10% of your class, your job opportunities are not that great...in this economy or for that matter, the future (3 years from now...)
 
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