Lenovo ThinkPad T410

Introduction
ThinkPad was THE business laptop when IBM owned it, and not much has changed since Lenovo bought the ThinkPad in 2005. Lenovo continued producing IBM’s laptop line, sort of how Ford bought Volvo; Ford kept its name and roots. If you are looking for a powerful full size business laptop that can take a beating, you may need to look no further.

If the ThinkPad T410 had its labels covered and painted Metallic pink, just picking it up I would instantly know it was a ThinkPad with a crazy owner. Looking at this machine with its oversized rugged rubber casing, it symbolizes the phrase “strictly business”. The ThinkPad lineup sort of reminds me of Nikon’s SLRs; even with the change from film to digital sensors, very little of the outside has changed. I can’t really complain though, both companies have found what works and stuck with it.
Specs:
Intel i5 M540 2.53GHz processor
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA 3100M with 512 MB RAM graphics card
14.1 WXGA TFT display 1440 x 900
320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive
5.5 lbs
13.13 x 9.41 x 1.09 inches
Outside
Brick from Anchorman once said: “I love lamp”. Well I love matte. But seriously, I’m very excited about the matt encasement in the ThinkPad line. Yeah ThinkPad has been doing this for years, but I have not appreciated how useful it is to have a matte laptop. Besides the fact that it is made from extremely durable hard rubber, it will not show fingerprints or any other cosmetic marks.
This ThinkPad is stacked when it comes to ports. It has everything from a 56k modem, a flashback to the nineties for me, to the modern display port that can be adapted to anything from a VGA port to HDMI. It really does have every port you would ever need; it’s the first laptop I have ever seen that has port/slots on all four sides. The front has an SDHC card slot that will be faster than any card reader because it is directly connected to the motherboard. The left side has three USB ports, display port, Ethernet port, and VGA output. The back sports the power in and the snazzy 56k port; I don’t know why some companies still include these, I have no idea the kind of person that still has dial-up would buy a $1000+ laptop.
The right side has an express card slot, esata port, wireless kill-switch, headphone port, DVD burner, another USB port, mini firewire port, and a Kensington lock slot. I can’t think of anything that Lenovo did not include. While I would have preferred an HDMI port instead of a display port, the adapter for it is cheap. The bottom has an easily accessible ( well with a screwdriver) access panel for upgrading RAM and possibly the graphics card if need be. Any peripheral you buy will be able to easily plug into this hunk of rubber.

Inside
Opening up the industrial strength clasp reveals an inside that matches the outside with a matte finish, including a gorgeous screen (it’s a matte screen) and a full size keyboard with additional useful keys. My favorite additional keys are next to the directional keys and go back and forth between websites. It makes my life much easier; that way if I type something (meaning I no longer can use the backspace to go back a site) and not have to drag the touchpad up to the back button. While this only saves per use, I do this a lot and save minutes off my day. If you work all day on your computer, little things like that can really pay off in the long run.
This keyboard is a pleasure to use. While it is unfair to compare this machine to something like the Sony X class which is about half an inch thin, the ThinkPad T410 takes the cake. While it is nice to have a thin computer for carrying around, the ThinkPad is just designed to work with all day. The way I see it, if your computer is more often on your back in a bag than in use during the day, then go for a thin and light computer. A great keyboard in combination with a fairly sized 14 inch HD screen with no glare equates to easily being able to work on this all day.
After using the T410 for a few hours, the biggest difference I noticed was that the bottom of it was not hot at all. This may be a thing of the past, but with pretty much any sort of use, my Macbook Pro gets scalding hot. It gets so hot I prefer to use it at a desk or table whenever I can; so if I had this Lenovo instead, I would be much more comfortable at any location.
Performance
An i5 processor in combination with NVIDIA 3100M and 4GB RAM should pretty much says it all. The Lenovo ThinkPad T410 will be able to handle any application at very quick speeds, even fairly graphics heavy ones. Lenovo placed the “ThinkVantage” right below the screen; pressing it opens a very useful toolbox of utilities that keep status checks of software, hardware, and viruses. This keeps everything working properly, and lets you know if something breaks down.
The speakers are fine for listening to music, but not good enough to warrant buying this machine for heavy music use. The touchpad is a pretty nice size; if you have read any of my previous reviews, you would know how much I love large touchpads. The right and left click buttons are duplicated above the touchpad, I’m assuming for easy use with the thumb-stick, with a programmable third button in the middle.
Recommendations
It’s simple, heavy, and it has an ugly battery sticking out the back; oh yeah, and it is extremely fast and works extremely well. Lenovo has kept the ThinkTank line standards to where they were with IBM; the best business computer PC available. It is very well made with the strong rubber incasing that will stand up to any traveling abuse you can throw at it. The matte screen, for me a blessing, will look good in the dark or outside in the sun. Lenovo really packed in an impressive processor and graphics card that will hold up to anything except for maybe the highest end games at high graphics settings.
ThinkPad was synonymous with business machine in the 90’s, and Lenovo has proved that today. If you want the best business laptop with reliability to match, I’d buy this machine in a heartbeat. For someone who doesn’t need the heft or solid rubber outside; I’d buy the Lenovo Y460 for the nicer speakers and duel graphics cards for battery savings and performance. The ThinkPad T410 will not disappoint in any setting demanding performance.

Posted in: Lenovo