Product Notes: Lenovo ThinkPad T410

January 7, 2010

In January 2010, Lenovo announced the ThinkPad T410 14.1-inch widescreen, which is based on Intel's Calpella notebook platform. The ThinkPad T410 supplants the ThinkPad T400 and is a significant update.

Design and Changes

The ThinkPad T410 retains much of the same basic design of the previous generation ThinkPad T400 14.1-inch widescreen notebook. It weighs from 5.0 to 5.4 pounds, depending mostly on battery size with a travel weight (which includes power adaptor) ranging between 5.9 and 6.2 pounds.

The biggest single change for the ThinkPad T410 is that this generation of the T-series moves to Intel's Calpella notebook platform. The most visible change is that the T410 now has a symmetric display, unlike the off-centered display of the previous T-series systems. Another obvious change is a yellow-colored USB port. This port is always-on; it remains active when the ThinkPad is in suspend/hibernate to allow charging of smartphone or other USB powered accessories.

The ThinkPad T410 is optimized for videoconferencing use with dual noise canceling microphones, low light sensitive cameras with auto white balancing, and a lighted microphone mute switch on the keyboard. Every T410 comes with an LED backlit display.

The Think Pad T410 trackpad inherits multi-touch capability and a slightly dimpled surface from the ThinkPad T400s. It also has the keyboard layout that debuted with the T400s: keys are spaced more tightly together, ESC and Delete keys are larger, and Caps Lock and Power switches are lighted.

The ThinkPad T410 is EPEAT Gold-compliant and Energy Star 5.0-certified.

Ordering Notes

Several notes when ordering a ThinkPad T410:

1. The T410 uses the same power supplies that the T400 used but implements the Series 3 docking solutions that debuted with the ThinkPad T400s.
2. All T410s include Arrandale versions of Intel's recently introduced Core i5 processor.
3. Having at least 3.0 GB RAM is essential for the optimal functionality of a modern mid-weight notebook.
4. ISC strongly suggests purchasing the T410 with a discrete video card. All ThinkPad T410s with a discrete video card support NVIDIA's hybrid graphics, which allows switching between discrete and integrated video for performance and battery life considerations.
5. As with any mid-weight notebook, ISC suggests that LSPs consider purchasing both a high-capacity (9 cell) and a mid-capacity (6 cell) battery along with an extra AC power adapter for the T410. Providers also may wish to consider Lenovo's range of peripheral accessories, such as port replicators and mini docks.
6. The T410's connectivity options including 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Gobi multi-vendor WWAN connectivity, and Bluetooth 2.1. After a seven year development process, the 802.11n standard was finalized in September 2009, so currently shipping 802.11n products may not work correctly without a firmware update. ISC believes that Bluetooth is a relevant protocol for most notebook users and that WWAN connectivity is useful for many "road warriors".

See ISC's Notebook Purchasing Guide for more configuration hints.

ISC sees the ThinkPad T410 as one of the better mid-weight notebooks available in early 2010, though competitors continue to close the gap. The ThinkPad T410s is also now an attractive alternative due to the availability of discrete graphics. The University's Computer Connection will have at least one T410 configuration available to order as soon as possible.

ThinkPad T410 graphic courtesy of Lenovo

--John Mulhern III, Lead for Client Technologies, ISC Technology Support Services (January 7, 2010)