Just bought a T530 !

Well, not for me, for my parents

Their old Dell ( that was originally mine, but I gave to them, it's in my sig. ) crapped out yet AGAIN ( it's already on its second hard drive, and is srating to heat up constanstly, SUPER SLOW, etc., so I just ordered them a new Thinkpad).

I'm hoping they will like this new computer more than the Dell. I REALLY wanted to get them a Macbook, but at a STARTING PRICE of $1200+ I didn't really see it happening. I ordered them a T530 with a Core i5 Ivy Bridge 3210M processor, 4 gigs of RAM, and Windows 7 64bit OS. They don't use the computer for anything but playing online games and sufing the net, so this computer should be perfact for them. My T61 is now over 5 years old, still looks and works like the day it got dropped off brand new that long ago. It's gonna be interesing to see the feel of the new island style keyboard ( I have yet to play with a THinkpad any newer than my X301 ). I hope the build quality is like that of my T61, then again, thier computer will most likely never leave thier desk anyway haha.

That is all, just figured I'd update everyone here on my new Thinkpad T series purchace

 

You sure they will not complain of the chiclet keyboard and 16:9 screen?

 

lol I don't even think they know what that means hahaha

I know that want a good, solid computer. Since they NEVER go anywhere, or upgrade thier computers very often, I figured a nice T series would be great for them ( they didn't want a desktop, already asked ).

 

Very nice!

You going to give it a run and let us know what your impressions of it are?

 

Congratulation Mikes!!! T530 for your parents now that will eat your X301 for breakfast in terms of performance.

 

Thanks !!

I was actually wondering how much better thier new T530 will perform comparing it to my T61. I'm guessing it should blow it out of the water as well lol Then again, at almost 10,000 power on hours, and almost 5,000 times being turned on over 5 years, I think maybe the hard drive is getting old Another thing, my parents leave thier computer on ALL the time. The Dell has like 5 times the power on hours in the course of 5 years that mine has. Will this be an eventual issue with thier new T530 ? Their old Dell also had an AMD processor ( if that matters ), and always ran HOT.

 

I leave my W series on all day except when taking them to work or site. So it should be okay.

AMD CPU is known to run a little bit hot, which is one reason why they couldn't compete with Intel's more power efficient x86 CPU.

 

Should arrive Monday ! Already have a Fed Ex tracking number

I ordered it with a Windows 7 Pro downgrade from the Windows 8. Never used Windows 8, and the parents are used to Vista, so I figured I'd just stick with Windows 7. As soon as I get it I'll set it up for them and report back here with my impressions of it. Keep in mind my newest Thinkpad is my now 4 year old X301. And I only use that a few times a month. My primary driver is my T61. I can't wait to see how this new keyboard feels. If I like this one, I MIGHT just order a W530 for myself

 

On Monday will there be any all-day parking yourself near the window overlooking the walkway???

I kid- I am excited for you and your parents. Your parents have a good son

 

Thank you !

Nope, I have to work all day unfortunately, but my father should be home to sign for it ( if it even requires a signature. If I remember from ordering my T61 and X301 I believe someone had to sign for both ).

 

You should have bought them a Samsung Chromebook or Chromebox and saved yourself a ton of cash.

No, I'm not kidding. ChromeOS is incredibly perfect for their needs. But they now have an expensive machine they will never realize the potential of, I guess. Future-proof for sure, but overkill, IMO. I love Lenovos but man did you overpay with this one

 

Welp, she came in today, and the Dell is officially retired !

I was surprised to see that it came with a color sensor ( that I didn't order ), Windows 7 Pro ( that I didn't order, I ordered it with basic home edition ), and Windows 8 backup recovery disks. All in all, I got charged the same for some nice little upgrades. Anyway, I took some unboxing pictures, and some photos of the unit itself. I also took one next to my T61. At first impression with the keyboard . . . it's defiantly different. It feels like any other island style keyboard I've used. If this was my new laptop, it would take me a LONG time to get used to that, and the new layout of the buttons.
So, compared with the T61, I've noticed the screen is defintaly brighter, and the computer itself is much thicker. It also blows it away as far as downloading simple YouTube videos and browsing the web in general. Super fast start up times, and all around a much more modern looking machine. I think my parents will be happy with it. Here's the pictures :



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I doubt that it is a color sensor. Rather, it is a color sensor bezel -- a piece of plastic that fills in for an actual color sensor. This palmrest FRU is shared between T530 and W530, but the color sensor option is only offered in W530 configuration.



But then, life is full of surprises.

 

Ah yes, that's it then ! The palmrest does look exactly like the photo above. Ok, so no go on the color sensor, damn, thought we got lucky there for a minute

 

The color sensor shows as clear plastic cover with a lens sitting underneath.



The color sensor almost triples in height going from W520 to W530.

Anyway, it would be much better if the palmrest is clean, without the plastic bezel, but Lenovo being Lenovo.

 

W530 I've seen had clean palmrest, no plastic cover for the missing color sensor (but they had Finger print reader).

It's hard to be Lenovo: they have to produce palmrests for all combinations of Color sensor/Smartcard reader/FPR.

 

Yeah, my W520 palmrest has a fingerprint reader and no color sensor (which is not a silly hole that gets filled up by a stupid piece of plastic).

What I meant by "clean" is a palmrest that has no color sensor hole/bezel (and no fingerprint reader).

Not like someone puts a gun to their heads. They are fully responsible for the rationality of their product designs.

 

And there are such W530s too. Yet, for the same configuration (W530, FPR, no CS, no SC) it's apparently also possible to get one with the plastic cover - Notebook Reviews - Laptop Reviews and Netbook News Picture

I don't know how the internal kitchen works, but could be related to the final assembly time. The ones I saw with 'clear' palmrest, without CS holes covered, were recent CTOs.

 

Just in case any one is interested it is possible to purchase replacement palmrests in any configuration. You can even purchase a palmrest with the color sensor. Now whether it works on a T530 I do not know but you can purchase one.

 

Duh. Open the FRU BOM document, pick the FRU you fancy, call IBM Supply, tell the customer service agent the FRU number and your credit card number. About $130 (and up) a piece, plus shipping. Anyone interested?



If you do your homework, you can get a really good T530 for about $700. Then, spend over $130 extra on a palmrest?

Have fun!

 

Kaso, my only point was that if you really want to you can replace it. I wasn't suggesting that it was a good idea, although for those of us who have had our new T530's palmrest crack we may not have much choice. So, it is nice to know that we can replace them even if it is crazy expensive.

 

Well, practically any ThinkPad part can be replaced. Just have the FRU number and your credit card ready.

The sore point about cracked palmrests is that they are considered "wear and tear" and are not covered by warranty. When you call Support and tell them about a crack that has recently appeared on the palmrest of a new ThinkPad, they will almost invariably ask, "Did you drop the notebook?" They then give you the Supply 1-800 number and tell you to order a replacement.

 

Since you seem to have ordered one, what's Lenovos ballpark charge for a new T530 palm rest part???

Please please just state an approximate USA dollar number. Thanks in advance!

 

Approximate USA dollar number: 130.

(Already mentioned in previous post on last page.)

 

Well, the T530 was sent back today. Kept having odd issues with the mouse ( everytime you would use the computer for more than 5 minutes the left hand mouse button would act like the right, and the right wouldn't work at all. We'd re start the computer and all was fine then 5 minutes later, same thing. Then Internet Explorer kept crashing, I would have to reset the settings for the IE once a day. My parents didn't want a brand new computer with issues already showing up, so we got an RA number and back she went.

Upon using their T530 for a little while myself, I came to the conclusion that I HATE the new keyboard, and I do NOT see myself getting another Thinkpad in the future. Plus, with them getting rid of the back / foward buttons next to the arrow keys, getting rid of the top row of keys, etc. makes for a completely different ( and very much less desirable ) form of use. My next computer will be a 27" iMac, and as for my parents, they are going back to thier ancient Dell.

 

Original post...

So, what are you planning to do about the Dell crapping out?

I would consider an Inspiron 15R Special Edition. Pretty good value, in my opinion.

 

The Dell is currently with my IT friend to see what he can do with it to fix it. My parents original plan was to get the T530 as the primary computer, and when the Dell got fixed they'd have two computers. Now they are just waiting for the Dell to get back and they will use that as they did before.