Cannot agree enough. I have ordered the T440s and after playing 2 days with it I sent it back and started a hunt for a T430s. I was lucky to get one through a distributor where it was used for demonstration.
For me the absolute no-go was the lack of physical trackpoint buttons - as I am a trackpoint user and normally always switch off the trackpads. So on the T440s (and I believe on all the new Thinkpad series) if you switch the trackpad off you do not have buttons any more (under Linux)! WTF! And if you switch it on, then the click on the virtual buttons is moving the mouse cursor when you try to click on it! It drew me absolute crazy. Even under Windows, where the virtual button support is better, the use is way more unergonomic than before (for example you cannot anymore keep the thumbs on the buttons and click by pressure - now you have to lift and then press the thumbs). Unlike other Thinkpad users I actually like the feel of the new keyboards, but Lenovo managed even there to screw things up, with every model: On the 30s (T430) they forgot the spaces between groups of 4 F-Keys. In the 440 they have them, but they screwed up the trackpoint-buttons. And on the new X1 Carbon they do not have F-Keys anymore at all! I still do not understand how they could screw up the most distinctive characteristics of the Thinkpads (absolute best keyboards, absolute best trackpoint + accessible design).
May I cite you in my blog? You pretty much nailed it down!
Maybe some remedy for you: Managed to somewhat re-enable the
old "IBM" design by making the top 10% of the the touchpad
insensitive to mouse movement, while still detecting _where_
you press. So I basically "emulate" three buttons at the
top, while the rest of the touchpad, truly is a touchpad:
dude - that config is awesome. I have T430s which is better by far (sorry !), but here's my config to configure the touchpad sensitivity, disable two finger right click, etc.
For me the absolute no-go was the lack of physical trackpoint buttons - as I am a trackpoint user and normally always switch off the trackpads. So on the T440s (and I believe on all the new Thinkpad series) if you switch the trackpad off you do not have buttons any more (under Linux)! WTF! And if you switch it on, then the click on the virtual buttons is moving the mouse cursor when you try to click on it! It drew me absolute crazy. Even under Windows, where the virtual button support is better, the use is way more unergonomic than before (for example you cannot anymore keep the thumbs on the buttons and click by pressure - now you have to lift and then press the thumbs). Unlike other Thinkpad users I actually like the feel of the new keyboards, but Lenovo managed even there to screw things up, with every model: On the 30s (T430) they forgot the spaces between groups of 4 F-Keys. In the 440 they have them, but they screwed up the trackpoint-buttons. And on the new X1 Carbon they do not have F-Keys anymore at all! I still do not understand how they could screw up the most distinctive characteristics of the Thinkpads (absolute best keyboards, absolute best trackpoint + accessible design).
I hope they will wake up.