Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 Notebook Review

[ferodynamics]

I've had this laptop for years and I'm still happy with it. My only complaint, my 1.8GHz model gets hot. Some people say it's quiet but maybe they have a Celeron model or maybe they live in a cold climate. I live in TX and this laptop's fan is always on. While researching fan control, I just realized it's not REALLY a ThinkPad. Google this text "Despite the Thinkpad name, the SL series laptops actually contain IdeaPad firmware, making it incompatible with the thinkpad_acpi modules."

[ferodynamics]

Try Crunchbang (Debian) boots in just a few seconds.

[jasonloden]

can load firefox and word quickly?? NO WAY!! my macbook pro does it in 1 sec and boots up in 20 sec

[medeiom]

Are you serious? Take a nap while it boots up?? What? Does it take 20min to boot up (nap estimate) or do you just nap for a min or so??

Terrible review..stick with a Dell, drop the thing and then get back to me on performance.

[mattpryor94]

So that is why my school is using them there cheap and a peace of crap!!!!!!!!

[weiwei6969]

you're pretty hot

[buckwheat40]

fuck the notebook, I want to see more of her, and you have the sexy exterior baby

[brady8500]

Umm nice an you make a vid on the SL410 plz

[palebit]

i tried it at compusa had one stock for $500, cute machine for the price

[JasonWylde]

Get a T400 other models reek

[Kyocera234]

I've been using one of these out in the field for a while, company issue. I've been a thinkpad geek for years and a moderator on thinkpadsdotcom. This is definately not a thinkpad. It is however a decent laptop, but a bit bulky feeling and as mentioned cheap to the touch. The LCD is nice, bright and clear. It does run win7 beta fine. I never had the long boot times experienced here though, with XP or Win7. Worth about $500 imho.

[pbharat84]

hopeless laptop.. never ever think of buying it.. takes hell alot of time to boot the VISTA.. n to load the GADGETS.. System is very slow dont know what exactly made this system go slow. U have to change the Windows Theme and shud use Classical theme for an improved performance.

Its an horrible piece to say the least.

[battistotti]

well I have one sl400 and its very good. 2ghz core2duo, comes with 1gb RAM but I put 4gb ddr2 800. my model don't have the nvidea graphic card, its a 4500HD on board. Runs the vist very well for me.

[deltafreelancer]

Vista boot up is a nightmare long time, I take my macbook with me on the run. Don't get me wrong, my desktop runs Vista.

[tehbible]

OMG its sarah palin!

[simon1234simon]

This is not a ThinkPad. They may be selling it under ThinkPad brand, but it's not a ThinkPad, they stopped making them in 2005.

[mikeello35]

They still make thinkpads. what are u talking about??. Lenovo still makes High Quality Thinkpad laptops.

[smellytoilet1996]

for example my R61i

[Pilifo06]

Oh damn, I have forgotten to mention...Sexi reviewer! :-p

[Pilifo06]

I have just bought R500 and I'm sattisfied with the build quality. The battery life is about 3 and a half hour and even more with wi-fi off. The cooling system is also great and makes this notebook really cool. So definitely a good buy for me.

[meherdad]

What about the Battery Life.....A Laptop review without the mention of its battery life is unforgivable.

[mikeello35]

the usual battery life is around 3hrs max performance. and u can get around 5 on max battery settings. i know because my dad works 4 lenovo and i have 2 thinkpads myself

[puchucho1]

Are you kidding? My battery life is about 3 hrs on max battery life, and max perfomance, about 2hrs.

[MarshunMartin]

Glossy ThinkPad? Nooooooo...

If you want a ThinkPad, then just pay the extra money for a T series. It's completely worth every cent.

[anirudh153]

hi

i have a sl400 with pretty good specs

as mentioned it takes time to boot up (thats coz bloatware) with a few tweaks it can be reduced to half

the system loads much faster i tried with just windows 7 RC and avast

also the plus points i observed compared to T&R. the keyboard is not CLUMSY and is well organized unlike T&R

the laptop was quiet even after 3 hours of web surfing and videos

its fan hardly makes any noise, the system doesnt get heated often

Again no offense it's just my opinion

[zerojoker]

I wonder what it's like if you play a (simple) game for example, that uses 100% of the CPU all the time. How can the fan handle that? Is it noisy and does the unit get hot?

[anirudh153]

yes playing high quality games made the system very hot... but that very normal i guess..

but the cpu was at 40-50ish % all the time when i generally play WoW with wmp playing songs at the back :)

the normal flash games werent any load on the system.

hope u find it useful

[Satoshi321]

hey i have the sl400 can you tell me how to do the "few tweaks" to reduce it to half?

[hiromiao]

i got the sl400 cuz i deiced to T series was a bit more expensive.

But if u can shell out a couple hundred more get t series the build quality on the T series is much better less flex and feel more heavy duty.

:( wish i wasn't so cheap

[featofsound]

i had the same problem too with the slow process. im deciding to use windows xp instead of vista.

[coolcatzanoynomous]

i got this computer and its prety good

[itsCheeze]

On the Digital Trends website you make note of the loud noise the computer makes when you plug in the power charger. If you plug in the wall outlet while the adapter is already in the laptop this is true, but it's solved by plugging in the wall outlet first, then plugging it into the computer and it won't make a sound, which is usually how I do it anyway, so I didn't even know there was this sound until I played around with the charger trying to figure out what you guys meant.

[DigitalTrends]

ItsCheeze,

Thanks for that information! I think those weird little things like that can be hard to notice unless you spend a LOT of time with the product. More than the week or so we spend reviewing the product at least!

Thanks for that and for watching!

[anirudh153]

did u mean a beep sound that comes every time u resume from hibernation or plug ur charger?

[iAbsolution]

This machine will fly with Windows 7 installed.

[Viperidae]

If your main problem with this machine is slow loading times then just do a clean install of Vista or XP (or W7 :D). With the amount of bloatware Lenovo packs onto this thing in the factory it's a wonder it loads in a minute in the first place, especially on Vista. The power manager especially seems to be a hog. Lenovo provides XP drivers for the SL line on their site, so if performance is your bottom line, use XP.

Your site also says it comes max with 3gb of ram. It's up to 4gb now.

[JoeyRamonerulz]

"This thing can cut through whatever business applications you can throw at it in Windows" HAHA, does this mean it can't run any "business applications" in, say, Linux? I know for a fact that it runs Ubuntu like a charm. Also, "applications like Firefox and Word open quickly" ... I just don't know what to say to that... is that even necessary to say in 2009, that a PC can open the web browser fast? Ah well, shit review, awesome computer.

[DigitalTrends]

Hi JoeyRamonerulz,

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy the review more. The Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 did earn a 7 out of 10 on our site, which is pretty good by the Digital Trends standards. The full review is available on DigitalTrendsDOTcom if you search ThinkPad SL400.

It's great to hear user feedback and thanks for letting our viewers know what you think! Thanks for watching and leaving your comments!

[DelSolSea]

Enough with the slick gloss!

Damn OEM need to quit with the fingerprint magnets!

[AllEyezOnMe1994]

how thin is the sl400? the modern notebooks are around 1.5 inches thin? is this any thinner?

[DigitalTrends]

The information I could find cited that this particular notebook is between 1.3 and 1.5 inches thick.

I hope that helps!

[oppossumsrock2]

one minute and thirty seconds?

patience is a virtue folks. COME ON?!?!??!

[AllEyezOnMe1994]

how thin is the sl400? the modern notebooks are around 1.5 inches thin? is this any thinner?

[Meshflesh20]

1min and 30 seconds is long?? This lady is spoiled.

[wongsmokesbong]

thinkpads have preinstalled stuff ya?

also most fingerprint readers are a bit dodgey :S

[sheikhbond]

the fingerprint reader is awesome! i have literally forgotten what my password is and the fingerprint reader never fails to read my fingerprints. except when they are wet or have have oil or other stuff on it.

there is this really easy technique to it but it varies from user to user. so if you practice a few times, you will never be failed.

the best thing i like about my thinkpad is the fingerprint reader...and its sturdiness. and waterproofness ^^

[DigitalTrends]

Sheikhbond,

Thanks for adding in your user insight! It's always good to hear from users and I'm sure the rest of those watching appreciate it as well.

Thanks again for watching!

[sheikhbond]

i bought an sl500 on the weekend. am waiting for it to arrive in 10 days. thanks for the review of the sl series. cant wait to create my own review of the computer ^^

[Rundfunk90]

@Meshflesh20 20 seconds is the maximum acceptable boot time to me. os'es can start in 10 seconds

[jasonloden]

@Meshflesh20 its not spoiled, competitors like macbook pro, mine boots up in 20 seconds. it's not spoiled, we want what our hard earned dollars paid for.

[Anton338]

Yeah, but the hardware on this thing it THE SHIT! All of the flaws is because of Windows Vista. As soon as i get mine, i'm upgrading the ram to max and puting xp on it. Thoes fingerprint scanners all fail epicly. I'd get one without it.

[oppossumsrock2]

i know as soon as i get mine. its being wipped out and installed w/linux!

[kentorwow]

i know as soon as you get yours, you'd wish you should have gotten a real thinkpad

[oppossumsrock2]

yeah okay...right

[banstaman]

So this model doesn't have a roll cage?

[DigitalTrends]

Hi banstaman,

If you head to digitaltrendsDOTcom you can read the complete review.

Thanks for watching!

[johny018]

I read that review and term "rollcage" did not appear at all in that article...

[johny018]

but on official web of lenovo you find out that SL series HAVE rollcage

[dzava]

It just cant compare to the R series...

[JCWATL]

How so? I'm getting a R series in a couple of days and am curious.

[dzava]

R series were the budget models. But since the SL series are even cheaper, the R series could be the the middle class. Good model for less money.

You can still have classic thinkpad keyboard and good old thinkpad design .

[DigitalTrends]

Hi Dzava,

Thank for answering questions on our site! I hope you enjoy the videos and thanks for watching!

[neo1mantra]

R61 is now the R400/500 - go for it its awesome

[lukaszsw]

In this video you can clearly see how thick this system is.

The figerprint reader looks a bit different from other Thinkpad series but I would say its a matter of getting used to it - then it is much quicker and effortless way to log in.

[bshitter]

Sorry, not this low level crap. I will get the higher class model.

[bshitter]

I will get one when the price comes down.

[kupay]

wah? i just got my SL400 and its amazing!

runs vista nicely and if u downgrade to xp, it just flies!