By Ong Chin Han

Lenovo has always positioned the Thinkpad series as a line of tough as nails, business-centric notebooks and the T400s is no exception.

The T400s is a slim and classic-looking notebook. Some may think the classic look is boring but I think it fits the professional look.

The top of the notebook has a rubberised feel that makes it easy to grip and the external of the notebook feels sturdy overall.

On the inside, the keyboard is well-spaced and buttons are easily accessible. Lenovo even managed to cram enough space at the sides to accommodate two speakers.

But the real sturdiness of the T400s comes from the internal rollcage system that they employ. The rollcage is made from a combination of carbon fibre and fibreglass. Carbon fibre is stuff you find in F1 cars and space shuttles and is lighter and stronger than titanium.

After a short research online, I found that some folks even tried to drive an 11-ton truck over it.

The T400s didn't survive even though it looked unscathed as it just wouldn't boot up.

The testers then extracted the hard drive and inserted it into another T400s. Lo and behold, Windows booted up - that's "excellent durability and protection for your data. The keyboard is also spill-resistant. There are three drainage holes at the bottom of the T400s that drains liquid out of the system if you spill anything on it.

Hardware specs

The T400s comes with a Core 2 Duo P9600 (2.53Ghz) processor and 2GB DDR3 RAM (expandable to 4GB easily just by opening up the underside and slipping in a new memory module).

With such firepower, the notebook is very capable of running all the business and productivity apps that you toss at it.

For storage, you get a choice of HDD or SSD options. The review unit came with a Toshiba 120GB SSD. There are options for 250GB HDDs or SSDs as well.

However, these drives are 1.8in wide so it could be a tad more expensive finding replacements should the hard drive fail since standard-sized ones are 2.5in in width.

It also comes with a DVD combo drive but it would have been more useful if they had included a DVD writer instead.

We mentioned about the rollcage and sturdiness of the T400s but there are other features that ensure the data on it stays safe. You get McAfee Antivirus and ThinkVantage Active Protection System that temporarily stops the hard disk if a strong shock is experienced.

The built-in fingerprint scanner allows you to manage your passwords with a single touch. You can even assign different fingers to different passwords. My fingers usually don't get past thumb scanning machines because I have a little skin problem but the T400s managed to differentiate my finger. That's a pass!

The human touch

The T400s was made to be easy to use. The keyboard is easy to type on and the Function key gives you quick access to a plethora of features and tools.

Every Thinkpad comes with the ThinkVantage suite of programs which can be accessed by hitting a key next to the Power button.

Beside the ThinkVantage button, you get volume mute, volume control and microphone mute buttons.

If you're working on a plane and need to dim the screen, working in a pitch black condition with no backlit keyboard could be difficult. Just turn on the Thinklight which is a small little white LED beside the webcam that will light up your keyboard area.

We are also familiar with the little joystick-like nub called the TrackPoint that controls the mouse cursor.

If you can't get used to the Trackpoint there is always the touchpad to fall back on.

The touchpad on the T400s is a little different. Most touchpads have a smooth surface to glide your fingers across but the T400s' touchpad has little bumps on it which gives it a nice texture.

In addition, you can do "pinching" and "pulling" actions to zoom in and out with most programs.