Mental technology has certain advantages over standard technology, but it also has certain disadvantages. Because it is based on the mind, it is essentially as different as the human brain is from a supercomputer.
Mental technology has advantages in sensing and communicating. Because the communication is telepathic, which is based on quantum tunneling, the quantum tunneling effect is inherent in Mental tech. This fact was used to produce the quantum tunneling drive, in much the same way that graphics can be generated by the math functions of computers.
The disadvantages of Mental technology are much more numerous, however. Because of their complexity, the electrical pathways must be much smaller than in conventional technology, which means that you can use significantly less electricity in mental devices than in conventional devices. This means that things which use large amounts of electricity, such as warp drives, engines, weapons, and shields can be used at much higher energy levels than they can in Mental versions of them. Because of this, ships that rely on conventional tech tend to have much more powerful generators to drive the larger energy uses of their devices.