Review: ThinkPad T410 Hits Right Note

Built with 4 GB of memory at 1066 GHz, a 2.53 GHz Core i5 M540 CPU and pre-loaded with Windows 7 Professional 64 GB, the ThinkPad T410 scored 4517 when we ran Primate Labs Geekbench 2.1 benchmarking software -- making it close to the top-performing dual-core notebooks we've had the ability to review in the CRN Test Center lab.

Weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces, the notebook is built with a 14-inch screen that is bright and clear and provides strong viewing capability indoors or outdoors. The ability to read it outdoors comes in handy, too, as Lenovo has provided support for both Verizon broadband access (it's built-in), and WiMax (it's built-in, too.)

We continue to like the flexibility and choices Lenovo provides in its ThinkPad lineup for connectivity, and its Access Connections management console - - which provides a nice, graphically pleasing map-style view of wireless access points -- is the best notebook connectivity tool we've seen in the industry.

Running the standard CRN Test Center battery life test for notebooks -- which is to shut off all power-saving utilities and run a video from the hard drive until the notebook shuts down -- the ThinkPad T410, with its 6-cell Li-Ion battery -- provided 3 hours and 20 minutes of battery life. That puts it near the top of Core i5-based notebooks we've viewed.

Thermal testing on the unit showed a notebook that disperses heat well as the Core i5 notebooks we've seen have tended to run a little warmer than earlier-generation Intel-chip-based systems. The front of the notebook that serves as a wrist-rest only felt a little warmer than room temperature after a couple of hours of use. (Our infrared thermometer actually measured it at 86 degrees Fahrenheit.)

We only had one very minor complaint. The integrated Webcam, which we tested using Skype, produced video that was a little grainier than we'd like. All things considered, some might think that's hardly an issue to raise.

Lenovo's lineup of ThinkPad T410s, which come with memory ranging from 2 GHz to 4 GHz, ranges from standard list pricing from $1,845 to $2,644 (although Lenovo's Internet sale price on the notebooks brought the range down to $1,399 to $1,963.20 when as this was written.) Even at a sale price, the T410s still are priced at the upper range of business notebooks. But our view is that given the performance, the sound engineering, and the connectivity options that are built in, it's a solid value.

The bottom line: Lenovo, like IBM before it, has invested an unfathomable amount of money, time and effort into engineering, design and production of its ThinkPad notebooks and each new generation, it seems, is built upon strong strides made by all the previous generations. In other words: they just keep getting better. The ThinkPad 410 with Intel's Core i5 processor is a strong product that we can highly recommend.