Planning to buy a X230, but unsure about configuration

Hi All. I will be starting college next month, and want to buy a computer for use in school. I will be studying engineering, so I will need to use a lot of programs like Matlab, Autocad, etc.

I was initially interested in the X230 because of the fact that it is both lightweight, powerful, and well built.

However, because the thinkpads are so configurable, I am not sure which options will be the best for me. As I do not want to make the wrong decision, I thought it may be a good idea to ask others.

There is currently a sale (that ends on 8/1), and I must regret asking so late. After a lot of consideration, I think this is a good configuration.

1. Intel Core i5-3360M Processor
I think this is a good option, because it is the most powerful i5 that Lenovo offers for the X230, and I do not think I will need the i7 (i7-3520M P), because that is an expensive upgrade. Maybe someone can change my mind? I'm pretty sure that the i5 can run the required software though.

2. 12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) 2x2 Antenna
I am no doubt getting the IPS screen. I have heard that this is definitely worth the $50.

3. 4gb memory
I can buy another 4gb from Newegg and add it myself. No need to pay inflated prices for memory.

4. No backlit keyboard, No fingerprint reader
I think I will not use the backlit keyboard, or the fingerprint reader, simply because I do not see the purpose. Can current owners comment on the usefulness of these features?

5. 720p camera
I suppose it will come in handy to have just in case.

6. 128gb SSD
This is also another hard choice. While I have heard SSDs offer an improvement for laptops, it is a pretty big price premium ($280), and offers less capacity.

7. 9 cell battery
This is also another tough decision. As I am bringing it all around campus, I need the laptop to be lightweight, but I also do not want to lose power mid-day. This is a very tough decision for me. The big question is, will the 9 cell battery make the laptop *too* heavy?

This configuration would be $1060 with the current sale, and my student discount. I think this is a very good price, so I should probably buy it soon.

The biggest concerns for me is items #1, 6 +7.

Thank you for helping me with my decision.

 

I always say get the slowest of the newest CPU. That way you get the newest tech, but don't overpay for it. In this case that would be the 3210 and I don't think the 3360 is worth $110 unless you've got a specific need for something the 3360 offers that the 3210 does not. Virtualization might be an example of this.

Some people like the backlit keyboards, some don't. I myself wouldn't pay extra for it, but it's there if you want it. You still get the ThinkLight regardless of whether you get the backlit keyboard.

Unless you need WWAN I would suggest getting the 500GB 5400RPM drive and then adding a mSATA SSD. A smallish mSATA is probably less than $100. That way you get a SSD to use as the boot drive for speed and a platter drive in the main bay for storage where speed is not as critical.

A X230 with the nine-cell is still a pound and a half lighter than the T430 with the nine-cell. Going from the six-cell to the nine-cell is going from 3.3 pounds to 3.7 pounds. Weight is a personal preference. Some can carry a 15" notebook all day while others think anything over three pounds is overweight. The X220i I have and the X230 review unit I had both got about six hours of battery life when new, but a lot will depend on the settings. That will degrade over time. If you need more than the six hours regularly, I'd suggest getting the nine-cell. Good luck and welcome to NBR.

 

Hi Zaz. Your suggestion about the mSATA drive seems appealing, but because I'm not very familiar with it, it seems to be very confusing for me.

While keeping everything else, and simply dropping to the 500gb 5400RPM drive, my price drops to $858. I can use the price savings to buy a mSATA drive. However, many questions come up.
1. How will I install it? (biggest question)
2. Will I have to do a fresh install on the mSATA? (but I suppose this is not a big problem, since no important files are on it anyway)
3. How will the programs handle the two hard drives. For example, when I choose to install something, can I set the default HD to be my 500gb drive, rather than the SSD?
4. Where will I buy the drive?

I am sorry for asking such rudimentary questions. Thank you for welcoming me to the forum.

 

The mSATA SSD plugs into the miniPCI slot located under the palm rest. About half way down in my X220i review, there's a picture of the mSATA SSD.
You ca do a clean install or use the recover discs. I prefer a clean install, but the choice is yours.
Why would you want to install programs on the slower 5400RPM drive?
mSATA SSDs are widely available on the internet from NewEgg, eBay, Amazon, Buy, etc. It's just a matter of how much space you want/need.

 

I'm buying this laptop for college as well, and I'm a computer science major. Here's what I think of your choices:

Also, are you buying this from Lenovo Barnes and Noble? I'm fairly certain that's the lowest price available right now, unless you have some really exclusive discount.

Other thoughts: You should consider getting an mSATA boot drive (Crucial M4), so you can keep a HDD as storage, since it seems like you'll need the extra storage for your work. Personally, I chose the 320GB 7200RPM drive over the 500GB 5400RPM drive because I preferred performance/speed over the extra 180GB of storage for $10 more. Regardless, it's almost imperative that your boot drive and main applications be on an SSD, even if it's on the SATA II mSATA port, because it will be SUBSTANTIALLY faster than any HDD on the market.

 

Your price sucks, mainly because you added the SSD from Lenovo.
You can get a better price if you go through Barnes and Noble as mentioned by others.
Become a Slickdealer: Lenovo Thinkpad x230 | i5-3210M | 4GB RAM | 320GB HDD - $615.30 AC @ Lenovo Barnes & Noble - Slickdeals.net

If you don't add a fingerprint reader, they will stuff it with a cheap looking plastic dummy. It's only about $13 more, I would add that.

I tried configuring a system to my taste, it's $875 plus $68 for 3 year warranty.


Buy a 128GB msata ssd direct from crucial.com. It's $118.

I need virtualization so I chose i5-3320m, but if you don't need it or think you won't need it at all, then go with one lower.
500GB hdd with msata ssd is very good combination.
Backlit keyboard is pure awesome. It's not a gimmick, at least for me it isn't. I think it adds to the coolness factor. Two dim levels are real nice in the dark.
intel wifi upgrade is good. Thinkpads have wifi cards blacklisted, so you can't easily upgrade it after market.
Fingerprint reader is only $13, again, if you don't add it, they stuff a dummy in it.
9 cell battery for long long long long battery time and life.
3 year warranty because I know I'll be replacing the keyboard at least once, and the warranty is pretty cheap at $68 for three years.

 

Unless it's changed since the X220, as far as I know the palmrest is different for the no-fingerprint models, with no cutout for it. There's no plastic dummy. The webcam, though, is replaced by a plastic cutout if you do not opt for it. If you Skype at all, I think it's well worth it.

I don't think a backlit keyboard is necessary, especially for the price Lenovo charges for it. It's entirely down to personal preference though, since the Thinkpad still comes with a Thinklight.

The base Intel WiFi card should be a $0.00 upgrade. Go for that, and it should be more than sufficient.

 

I didn't know that the X220's palm rest is different. On my X230T, the fingerprint reader spot is on the screen bezel, and it is stuffed with a cheap looking dummy plastic. So I don't know about the X230.

Yeah, webcam is well worth it, at least for me it is. I need it because I Skype with my parents and my brothers once in a while. Besides, it's a okay quality webcam.

I welcome the backlight keyboard with all my heart because I'm a long time X61T user. They never offered backlit on the tablets until X230T, and no Thinklights on the tablets. I always envy'd my wife's X61S and X220's Thinklight.

The wifi upgrade to intel 6205 is good if you want to or plan to use 5GHz band. 2.4GHz is getting pretty crowded where I live, so I moved on to 5GHz.

Everything depends on what you want and need, and buyer should know what they are getting. For me, the battery is probably the hardest choice to make, between the 6 cell and 9 cell.

 

I recommend you keep the 320GB drive 7200 rpm drive as it will provide faster access for base pricing. Then upgrade the HDD yourself if you want more space. The mSATA is a great idea but you have to be willing to remove the keyboard and palm rest to access the slot.

I didn't get my laptop yet, still in transit. I get it tomorrow but I got the 9-cell because of this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG0jFsZrIhg

I think the 9-cell is definitely worth it for an ultra-portable. Never know when you need the extra juice.

 

Hi. Thanks for the comments everyone. They have helped me to choose a good build, which I think reaches a balance between price and power. The BN discount was definitely cheaper than my student discount. Thanks for the members who helped me to save money.

Here's a picture of my build.


After considering, I thought it would be best for me to simply upgrade the HD myself. I do not think it is worth having both a traditional platter HD, and also an SSD (whether it be via mSATA or expresscard). I think the best for me would be about ~200gb drive.

I looked at newegg, and I think these two (at 240gb)would be a good match.
Newegg.com - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Corsair Force Series 3 CSSD-F240GB3A-BK 2.5" 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

They are rather expensive though, at close to $190. Still, I get double the storage as compared to Lenovo's OEM solution, and I still save $100.

Does anyone have better options than this, perhaps something that is cheaper and/or a better performing.

I also opted to only get 4gb of memory, with the knowledge that it would be very easy to upgrade to 8gb. However, I'm not sure which one to buy. IIRC, any 204pin DDR3 memory should be fine, and the speeds do not matter so much (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Also, I chose to go with the 9cell battery. Battery life is very important to me, even after considering the additional weight (which I have heard is negligible).

 

In slickdeals.net, search for samsung 830 256GB, and you'll find the price ranging near $190.
Also at similar price, Crucial M4 7mm 256GB is a good one too.
But you have to make sure it's the 7mm height, not the more common 9.5mm height.
All Samsung 830's are 7mm height.

 

That doesn't make any sense. A mSATA + HDD will offer you more space at less cost and speed isn't as important for storage, which is what the platter drive is for.

 

Yep. The only downsides are potentially increased power usage over a single-SSD setup and slightly increased weight over a single-SSD setup.

I would personally opt for a 128 GB Crucial M4 mSATA drive (~$110 direct from Crucial) and couple that with either the base 320GB drive or the +$10 500GB drive for maximal storage, while also leaving plenty of space for programs and the OS. Either that, or I would use only the mSATA, since 128GB is more than I need (my 2 SSDs are only 80 and 64GB!), and save some weight.

Ah, yes, it is different for the tablet, where the FPR is on the screen bezel. For the non-tablet, the palmrest is different without the FPR, so that's a nonissue. I would encourage opting for the FPR on the tablet, as it adds to ease of use in convertible mode, but it does little/nothing for a standard laptop.

Yeah, the backlight is personal preference. I see no use for it as I touchtype, and if I really need to find a key, the ThinkLight is more than adequete.

For the X230t, the extended battery is extraordinarily bulky, but the X230's 9-cell is actually quite compact. I would go for the 9-cell, as it is much, much more expensive aftermarket than the relatively minimal difference you pay during initial order.

 

Hey, thanks for recommending the Samsung 830. That seems like a great option, and I have heard that it is one of the best performers for SSDs.

I have searched slickdeals, but unfortunately the sales have expired.
I need my computer to be ready before the week of Aug. 12th, so I will have to order next monday at the latest.

It is very unfortunate that the latest sale was just last week. Now, the cheapest price is $219, which, although is not a bad price, is more expensive that it was recently.

Does anyone know of any sales that I am not aware of?

 

Slickdeals will pretty much have all the deals you could ever hope to find. You still have about a week to order the SSD, but you should go ahead and order the laptop now. Even if it's cheaper tomorrow, you can get a price adjust from Lenovo.

 

Thanks. I'll continue checking slickdeals for any news this week.

I purchased the laptop yesterday night, and it will ship on Monday. You can see my build in an earlier post.

 

Add a deal alert for Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 so you get notified immediately when there's a new thread. I'm not sure what other SSDs come in 7mm sizes, but those are the two most common ones. I'm also not sure whether or not there have been deals on the 7mm version of the M4, but the 830 is always 7mm as mentioned earlier.

Slickdeals.net

 

1. Since MatLab only suppose dual-core for one application that I5 is still good, but if you have I7 then you can run four MatLab at same time.

2. No doubt.


3. Buy extra ram via. Amazon or Newegg. You need at least 8GB for running medium size parts in Autocad. I recommend 16GB only $90.


4. You will use backlit since you are in a college, especially engineering major.
Fingerprint will save you every 10 seconds for log in school email, account, etc. Which is a college student lifesaver.


5. You need it, professors like to chat via. Skype while they are away from school.


6. Definitely.


7. Definitely. Same as T420s 6 cells + 3 cells.


8. Dedicated Graph card: no need at 99% of time in my 3 years engineering at college so far, HD4000 is good enough.


9. X230 is too small for you, you will suffer the same problem as me as a engineering student, because you may face editing codes in MatLab, C++, Autocad, etc in multi-windows. 12 inches is so small, 14 inch is at least.

 

i7 for X230 is also dual core. Both i5 and i7 has Hyperthreading which appears as 4 cores in Windows, and helps up to 20% (in my experience) depending on what you do.

You mean at least a 14" with higher resolution than 1366*768. Otherwise, 12" or 14" would be the same if the resolution is the same. I'm perfectly happy with 11-13 inch screens since I have my own lab space, and a 27" external monitor both at school and at home.


For the fingerprint reader, was the Thinkvantage software that much useful for web logins and stuff too? I never used it because it didn't work so well with IE and Chrome. The only time I would use the fingerprint reader is to login to Windows, and that's only if I have it to enter password which I don't.

 

If you spent $50 for 12" IPS, then you will spend $50 for 14" HD+ same idea. But if you use laptop as a keyboard because you have multi-monitors then it's fine.


Fingerprint only work with the pre-install IE, do not update anything relate to IE then it will work years, everything just one finger slip.

 

since we're talking about SSD's in this thread, the mSATA SSD must be SATA II correct? can someone post a link of the popular model that people on this forum are using? thanks

 

I know a lot of people use the Intel 80GB ( Newegg.com - Intel 310 Series 80GB mSATA mSATA (mini PCIe form factor) MLC Enterprise Solid State Disk SSDMAEMC080G2C1 - Enterprise SSD) because of Intel's reputation for reliability. That's what I chose, and I am overall very happy with it. However, I think I would prefer this: Newegg.com - OCZ Nocti Series NOC-MSATA-120G mSATA 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I've notice more posters with this particular mSata, and frankly I could use the extra space for more applications.

 

The mSATA does not need to be SATAII, as a SATA III will also work. However, since the port is only SATAII, it will only run at SATAII speeds, regardless of the speed of the drive.

 

great, thanks for the reply tongdakfiend! oh, i get it scintillation. but sata II are cheaper than sata III right?

and also, just to contribute to this thread, this is my configuration. i actually ordered the wrong config the first time and changed it after doing some more research. the only thing i would've changed is to get the 9 cell, but i think i should be perfectly fine with a 6 cell for now.

Intel Core i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna
Intel HD 4000 Graphics in Intel Core i5-3320M Processor
4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
UltraNav™ with TrackPoint® and buttonless multi-touchpad
500GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
No Optical Drive
6 Cell ThinkPad Battery X44+
Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN)
Mobile Broadband upgradable
1 Year Depot/Express Warranty
3YR Onsite + 3YR ThinkPad Protection

 

Actually, one of the most inexpensive (and probably proven, given the 2.5" version's good track record) mSATA SSDs is the Crucial (Micron) M4 128GB. It's available from Crucial for ~$110, I believe.

 

Yeah, I forgot to list that. Good catch. I need to keep track of this stuff since I may purchase another laptop soon.

 

This is terrible advice.

 

Totally. I really find no use for the fingerprint reader along with the bloated Thinkvantage security software.

I think those would have been a good advice if it was couple months ago, or even a year ago, but not any more.
Crucial started selling M4 mSATA direct from their web since mid July, and that is the best price, and also performs much better than the intel 310 or the OCZ Nocti. M4 uses Marvell controller and in house (Micron) flash memory, and not that it matters but it's a SATA3 drive.
Memory upgrades from Crucial.com - Search Categories

 

Quick question guys (sorry I know I ask a lot lol bear with me ), but would upgrading the RAM and adding an mSata SSD void any of my warranties? These are the warranties I'll be getting with the laptop:

1 Year Depot/Express Warranty
3YR Onsite + 3YR ThinkPad Protection

 

That's the same question I have because I have the same warranty setup and I installed 2x4GB DDR3 1600 CL9 Dual Channel RAM along with a 60GB Mushkin mSATA III (purchased it for machine in my sig). With that and updates, my PC went from 5.1 to 6.5 WEI.

 

No, it won't void your warranty since both the ram and mSata are both user replaceable parts. I know people who've had keyboard issues and Lenovo just sent them a new keyboard and asked them to replace it themselves if they were comfortable. If they were not they could send it into the depot.

Attempting to replace or modify soldered on parts might void your warranty though. Or complex fixes such as motherboard replacements.

 

In the Thinkpad Maintenance Manuals, you can find a full list of what is customer-replaceable and what isn't. Replacing any of the former will not void your warranty, while messing around with any of the latter will. Both the mSATA drive and RAM sticks are customer-replaceable units.

 

Reapplying thermal paste also voids the warranty, the things you can replace without affecting warranty including hard drive, RAM, WWAN module, Wifi adapter, keyboard, battery (including CMOS battery), and ultrabay compatible devices.

 

That's good news! I was getting worried there that I spent all that extra $$$ on the warranty and didn't make sure if I would void it or not. I'm going to change the RAM and add an mSATA for sure. Later down the road I might also replace my 500GB HDD with a 256GB SSD or something like that.

 

Hmm, is $220 a bad price for the Samsung 830 256gb SSD? I need it pretty soon, but I don't want to buy it at an inflated price. I do not know if it will drop in price in the near future.

 

Well $220 is a decent price, but in the past month or so there have been specials on it for $170-190. If you need it now, get it. However, keep an eye out for the specials on http://www.fatwallet.com/ssd-deals/

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Being able to not only turn the laptop on and login to it with one swipe of a finger is key in my opinion

 

For those of you that received your x230 already, how long did it take for you to get tracking? I ordered on the 27th and it's been a week now and no e-mail regarding tracking

 

Key to what?

 

Mine took about 1 1/2 weeks to start tracking. It then took about a month, in total from order to being delivered. Mine was a 'CTO' (configured to order). It looks like it took 2 weeks in production, then 2 weeks in transit (delivered to AU)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

.
The price has not lowered; in fact, it has increased to $230.
This is really bad news, because I need to order it this week.

 

I'm also one of the guys thinking fingerprint reader is useless. Sure it works okay for windows login, and even when powering on the machine, but that's about it.
If you want to use fingerprint reader to power on the machine, it keeps using battery power (or AC power if plugged in) because it has to keep the finger print reader powered on all the time.

 

I highly agree with this post. I never found a fingerprint reader to be a very secure way to protect your data because your finger/fingerprint can be quite accessible. If you really want security, make a very complicated password and store in in your brain. Encrypt your computer with that password. No one will have access to your data but you. The only way a fingerprint reader protects your data is if you loose your laptop. The same is true for a password-encrypted PC.

 

Yeah, I did not see the reason for the fingerprint reader.

My laptop has not shipped yet. It said that the "estimated ship date" was 8/6/2012 (yesterday), and it still has not been updated with tracking information. Is this normal? I did not think it would take this long to ship. I am quite worried, as I need it by next week.

 

I would call lenovo and ask about it

 

If you want to get through in a short period of time, I recommend calling first thing in the morning when they just open the call center. It makes 10x the difference in wait times. I waited 5 minutes in the morning and 50 minutes in the afternoon. No lie.

 

This is great advice! I just called Lenovo about 20mins ago, and I only waited about 3 minutes.

The man said that although my estimated ship date was 8/6/12, it could actually be any time within the 48hrs after. He said that it would likely ship today or tomorrow, at the latest, and that there was "nothing to worry about."

In terms of the SSD, the price has not decreased, and has stayed at $230. I'm wondering if I should just buy it anyway.

 

I've got an x230 configured as below for $1013 (about $1065 after taxes). Should I jump or wait for a better deal?

X230 - 2306CTO

Intel Core i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)
12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 3x3 Antenna
Total memory 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
Keyboard Backlit - US English
UltrNav with FingerPrint Reader
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
6 Cell ThinkPad Battery X44+
65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
3YR Onsite Next Business Day + Accidental Damage Protection

 

exactly my config. don't think youll get a better deal honestly

 

Very bad news:
My system has been delayed, and it will now ship on Friday, Aug. 10.
My estimated delivery date is Aug. 16th, 2012.

This is VERY bad news, because I am moving in to college on Aug. 17th. If it gets further delayed, or if I miss the shipment, that would create a big headache.
Does anyone know if their estimated delivery dates are correct? Because if it ships on Friday, should it not reach me in NY in about 3-4 days?