Laptop choice: "stinkpad" T400 vs "hell" E6400

[Miguel]

Hello everybody,

I'm replacing my aging Dell Inspiron 8600 as soon as possible. It's not that it doesn't work well, which it does, but it's getting a bit long in the teeth. This is especially true considering I sometimes run some nice calculations on my computer, which would massively benefit from multi-core 64bit processors. The specs of my old machine are: 15.4" WXGA screen, 1.7GHz Pentium-M (2MB cache), 512Mb ram, 60Gb HD and an ATi Mobility Radeon 9600 with 128 Mb VRAM.

Given that I want something much faster, much lighter, with better battery life, and with a much higher build quality has left me with the aforementioned options: a Lenovo Thinkpad T400 and a Dell Latitude E6400. Both are "thin and light" (not too thin, but weigh 2.15 kg with a 6cell battery and a CD-ROM, less than a MacBook) with a 14" screen. I'm especially interested in getting the P9500 processor (maybe it's T) because of the increased cache but 25W of TDP. I'm also interested in at least a 1440*900 LED screen.

Pros of the Dell E6400

• Cheaper. I can get a nice set up now for 1200€. This includes all hardware requirements.
• I can order it now in Spain.
• It will hardly need 1.5 months to get home (time reported by users in notebookreview.com )
• Slightly better looking IMHO.
• The Ctrl key is where it should be, in the bottom left corner.
• The touchpad has a third button, which is very useful in Linux.
• Easy to get in Spain, and maybe I'll get a deal through University
• The P9500 is available here, while the thinkpad makes me choose between 3Mb cache P8000 parts or 35Watts T9000 parts

Pros of the Thinkpad

• It's a thinkpad. The Dell may have a magnesium alloy, but thinkpads are *tough*
• The keyboard has worldwide fame (I'm not unsatisfied with my current keyboard, but I hate the Sony laptop keyboards and dislike Apple's). I'll type a lot.
• Hybrid graphics with an ATi (this is mostly useless with nVidia, since their driver replaces so much stuff). I'd support both Intel and ATi for their OSS efforts. If I have to choose, tough, I'll go Intel.
• Known reliability, plus tons of connectivity options (I only need bluetooth and 802.11g, though)
• The thinkwiki for linux stuff
• I originally wanted the thinkpad

So what's your oppinion? Is the wait for the thinkpad worth it? Please take into account that I'm leaving to Switzerland in September and this would mean that November is the soonest I can get the laptop.

EDIT: Forgot about the Control Key on the T400

[tamoneya]

i strongly recommend the thinkpad. The only thing that makes me hesitant is the availability of the thinkpad in spain which I really cant comment on. As long as you dont have a dire need for it I would wait for the thinkpad.

[conundrumx]

T61p here, love it. Thinkpad all the way.

[abgemacht]

I currently have a T60p running Hardy and a X61t. I love them both.

The T60p was extremely easy to configure and anything that wasn't obvious, I figured out pretty easily from http://thinkwiki.org (and of course, this site)

I'm pretty new to linux and the lenovo/ubuntu combination was great for me.

[cardinals_fan]

Thinkpad > * > Dell

I hate Dells

EDIT: Post #888!

[K.Mandla]

I've owned both Dells and Thinkpads. I've had good luck with Dell's service, so that would be the reason for me to pick a new Dell.

However, if I'm buying secondhand and service or repair plans aren't a consideration, I'd take a Thinkpad any day.

[Miguel]

OK, thanks for your answers. I'll wait for the first real reviews to appear for both laptops and then I'll make a choice. It seems most people here agree that the wait for the T400 should be worth it. I'm sorry for being so doubtful, but having to wait two months for the Thinkpad is somewhat off-putting.

By the way, what happened to Flexview screens? I'd love to have an S-IPS screen (or S-PVA) on a notebook, but it seems only MacBook Pros have currently non-TN screens.

[Miguel]

I'm not so sure of getting the Thinkpad now. A first look at notebookreview.com stated that the T400 keyboard flexes much more than the one in the T60 (according to the forum posts they have changed a metal plate for a plastic one for liquid draining and this shows) and the hybrid graphics switching is all software and Vista only. It doesn't work in XP, so I fear it's useless in Linux.

EDIT: Added first look link

[Bachstelze]

I'm personnally very happy with my Asux

[RiceMonster]

My Dell works really well, but I've never really tried a thinkpad. My friend has one and hates it, but I wouldn't listen to him. They must be tough because he treats it like crap, throws it on the ground, etc, and it still works fine.