My X230 experience after 11month of ownership

I just wanted to make a short little post on my experience with the X230 that I purchased last January. Specs are: Intel i5 3320M, 4gb ddr3, 120gb msata, 320gb hdd, Intel Advanced N6205, IPS display with webcam, Backlit kb.

Build
The build quality did not quite live up to my expectation. The lid feels quite flimsy and flexes laterally. The steel hinges do work well. The plastic base held up quite nicely to daily use. The only damage visible is the silver LENOVO branding on the lid (bottom left) - Part of the letter 'e' chipped off. Keep in mind that I have never dropped this unit.
The keyboard works well with very little flex, but I do prefer the tactile plastic of the older keys rather then the new chiclet smooth plastic ones. However, the back-lit keyboard is a great feature that I use daily. The volume, mute and PWR buttom feels very cheap and flimsy although the PWR button does light up.

Screen
The IPS screen is very nice with crisp colors and wide viewing angles. The low resolution did not both me very much. What does bother me is 4 specs of dust/dead/stuck pixels throughout the screen. It is terrible and I will be sending it back for warranty (thinkpad requires a minimum of 2 or more dead/stuck pixels). The other thing that bothers me a bit is the pressure points. Fortunately, it isnt visible unless your background is white. I have two pressure points.

Performance
Performance is fantastic especially after installing an msata ssd. The only thing that I find performs extremely poorly is the WIFI card. The reception is complete garbage under windows 8. I have not tried Windows 7 or older versions. The reception is very weak thus causing it to perform slow. I notice this most when trying to connect to WIFI at hotels. My wife's MBP's wifi unit is leaps and bounds ahead. I'm very disappointed and will make a mention to lenovo when sending the unit in for warranty. I have Centrino Advanced-N 6205 and yes both the antenna leads are connected.
The fingerprint module is completely fubar. It failed a few months ago. Will have to get this covered by warranty.
The battery life is also mediocre and after 11months of owning the unit, it still net's about 1 1/2 hrs of 1080p avi and some net surfing simultaneously. There is no powermanager windows 8 so the only software that assess the battery condition is Lenovo Solution Center. All it says is: Health: Good.
No idea on what the charge capacity is currently vs when designed.

My last thinkad was a T500 which I've had for 5years. It was much sturdier, tougher, and everything performed well throughout the 5years. It has sustained a few bumps and drops over it's lifetime and held up well. The X230 however did not meet my expectation and it is hard say if my next laptop will be another thinkpad.

I don't mind paying an extra premium for a more premium product. Lenovo, don't forget the roots of the THINKPAD line. It is the only thing that differentiates you from other makes such as acer, HP, etc.

 

Just a tip, Power Manager does work on Windows 8. Even though it's not offically supported by Lenovo. Have it running perfectly on mine.

 

If you do move on from Lenovo, and find yourself a brand that makes a 'better' product in the ways you have mentioned, please do share - I'm very curious to know which other brands make a better product than Lenovo too.

 

I think the X220 and X230 is okay. There are some design issues with it. But overall i think they have held up pretty well to the rigor of daily abuse that i put them under.

1. The letter e that has chipped off, can be repaired by the depot. This was a quality issue with the sticker used, the production released a new sticker that resolves the issue.

2. For the keyboard, the non-backlit version uses a matte finish.

3. IPS display is prone to have the white pressure mark.

4. The wireless reception should be excellent, ThinkPad has the best wireless reception. So if you having a poor wireless connection, either the wireless card is connected properly to the antenna, or there is a driver setting issue.

5. Battery issue. With my X230 on 6 cells, i can get about 5 hrs of good use of it with windows 7 installed, in windows 8 about 4 hrs is the average i get. For FHD movies, i remember i can get about 3 hrs.

 

I have X220 for about 1.5 yrs and haven't experienced any problem you mentioned. So probably yours is defective in someway from the very beginning.

 

I had massive WiFI issues on 8. Didn't tried 8.1 though because it keeps disconnecting. Got back to 7 and connection is stable now. I did download all the latest drivers and almost tried every solution presented on the internet.

Rubber coating on the sides is peeling off, nothing biggie. Aside from this, build quality is topnotch.

Replaced my motherboard already under warranty because it would not turn on. Was replaced with a lower-specced processor (an i3 instead of an i5, they reasoned that it was being a CTO so specs aren't updated), got back to the service center again and it finally got the correct one.

 

I used to own an X220 IPS as well. I agree with Jin, the X220/X230 is really okay, but nothing compared to a "proper" ThinkPad. I recently bought a T500 like the OP, and he is right. This thing is a thousand times sturdier than the X220. The quality of the materials used is much better as well (plastic doesn't wear off that quickly) and the overall experience is just much more satisfying. If I had payed 2000 bucks for a new T500 5 years ago, I'd be very happy with my purchase and would not regret a single thing. It's worth every penny. The X220 however, which I bought new for 850$, never made the impression like it was money well spent. After two years I sold it again and am on the look-out for an X1 right now which has a much better build quality and is more fun to use. (I was able to test one for a week)