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Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 (Core 2 Duo Processor T5670 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM)

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List price as of Oct 14, 2008:
S$1498

Product Summary

Very good

7.5

out of 10

The good: Doesn't strip away too many traditional ThinkPad features despite low price point; uses current Centrino 2 platform; antiglare display option; same great ThinkPad keyboard you've come to know and love; optional 9-cell battery provides long life; optional WWAN.

The bad: Magnesium-alloy roll cage absent; Draft N Wi-Fi not offered; optional 9-cell battery brings weight up to a relatively hefty 2.7kg.

The bottom line: Lenovo didn't shed too many features in rolling out its cheapest ThinkPad to date, the 14-inch SL400. Don't let the glossy lid fool you, there are a lot of familiar ThinkPad touches that make it a good bet for business users.

Read full review of the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 »

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CNET Asia Review

By Matthew Elliott, CNET.com
Oct 14, 2008

Take the ThinkPad R series, remove the internal roll cage and the TPM chip, add dedicated GeForce graphics, an HDMI port, and a glossy lid, and you get the ThinkPad SL400. This 14-inch laptop is Lenovo's play for small business buyers, trading in enterprise features such as the aforementioned security chip, stable images, and hot-swappable bays for an improved multimedia experience. It makes sense, given that small business users don't have a need to manage a large deployment of ThinkPads and might expect their laptop to pull double duty as a productivity machine by day, entertainment unit by night.

The ThinkPad SL400 is built on Intel's Centrino 2 platform and a midrange Nvidia GeForce graphics card. This machine delivers decent overall performance and--with a 9-cell battery--lengthy battery life. Despite the design departure with its shiny piano black lid, the SL400 serves up familiar ThinkPad touches including an excellent keyboard, the trackpoint and touch pad tandem, and a boxy chassis. Road warriors who heap abuse on their laptop may want to go with the R61 or another ThinkPad with the magnesium alloy roll cage that protects the internal components and display, but for more sedentary small business owners and operators, the SL400 offers a lot of ThinkPad goodness at very approachable prices.

Editors' note :

This review is based on tests done by our sister site CNET.com. As such, please note that there may be slight differences in the testing procedure and ratings system. For more information on the actual tests conducted on the product, please inquire directly at the site where the article was originally published. References made to some of other products in this review may not be available or applicable in Asia. Please check directly with your local distributor for details.

Design

Slide the ThinkPad SL400 out of the box, and you might think you mistakenly purchased a particularly boxy Sony Vaio. Open the laptop, however, and you'll soon discover it's a standard-issue ThinkPad that Lenovo has outfitted with a glossy black lid. Without the magnesium-alloy shell protecting the back of the screen, the plastic lid feels soft and flexes when pressed. The plastic wrist rests, however, feel much sturdier. Overall, the SL400 feels like a substantial machine; it's bulky and rather thick for a 14-inch laptop, running from 33mm thick along its front edge to 38.1mm thick at the back edge.

Starting price	S$1,498 (US$1,063.84)
Processor	2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400
Memory	2GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
Hard drive	160GB, 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel GL40 (Centrino 2)
Graphics	256MB Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS
Operating System	Windows Vista Business
Dimensions (width by depth)	336 x 247mm
Thickness	33 to 38.1mm
Screen size (diagonal)	14.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.53kg / 3.1kg
Category	Mainstream

Like all ThinkPads, the SL400 boasts an incredibly comfortable keyboard, a red trackpoint, and blue Enter key. Below the keyboard sits a touch pad and second set of mouse buttons. The touch pad's matte finish and vertical and horizontal scroll regions make it highly functional, and the mouse buttons are soft, quiet, and responsive. To the left of the keyboard sits a blue Lenovo Care button that calls up a small window with helpful links to system management and security tools. Below the Lenovo Care button are volume up, down, and mute buttons.

Tags: Intel Core 2 Duo, Laptop Computer, IBM ThinkPad, Touch Pad, Keyboard

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