T430 Owner's Thread

Tell me about it... I am waiting for a retina MacBook Air

There is definitely an official part, as you can configure a T430 with an UltraBay HDD... but I don't know the FRU or whether you can buy it individually from Lenovo. It's probably 9.5mm, but it may take 12.5mm drives as well.

Look at mouse and keyboard in Control Panel. There should be an UltraNav tab.

 

T420/T520/W520/T430/T530/W530 UltraBay is 12.7mm. Ignore Wolf's random comment above ("don't know," "probably," "may be," "as well"... )

ThinkPad SATA Hard Drive 12.7 mm Bay Adapter III (0A65623).

The equivalent may be purchased elsewhere for much less -- like $15 instead of $60. I've been using some, and they are totally good. In fact, the non-Lenovo ones had been available way before Lenovo released one that does not shamefully leave a gap.

 

Sorry, my Google-fu wasn't strong enough to find that page -_-

But there you go.

 

Is there a way to replace a non-backlit keyboard with a backlit one for these laptops? Any compatibility/software issues? Anyone know the cost of a backlit keyboard?

 

It is really easy to replace the keyboard for this laptop if you just follow the disassembly instruction on lenovo's website. There shouldnt be any software needed for this kind of upgrade. Atleast from previous keyboard upgrades I did from non backlit to backlit there was never any problems. I do not see why it would apply now.

 

^^ Yeah, since Lenovo offers non-backlit keyboard as well connector compatibility won't be a issue neither.

 

I'm waiting for my new t430 to be delivered. Got it last week. It has a NVS 5400M and I was wondering how hot will it get when i play games. Will I need a laptop cooler?

 

90C+, get a cooler.

 

I've been wanting to upgrade my T400 for some time now. I was wondering if the 2 GB video option will ever be available again and I should wait or I should just go ahead and purchase it now. Also, I've been looking at the W530 as well and was wondering about the size of it. Do you think It will feel THAT much larger than a T430? For the upgrade in specs, I wouldn't mind paying for the difference in price.

Here's the specs I'm looking at:

• Intel Core i5-3210M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)
• Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
• 14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
• NVIDIA NVS 5400M Graphics with Optimus Technology, 1GB DDR3 Memory
• 4 GB DDR3 - 1600MHz (1 DIMM)
• UltraNav without Fingerprint Reader
• 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
• DVD Recordable
• 6 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70+
• Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
• Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN
• Mobile Broadband upgradable
• 3 Year Depot

This is for $870.40 before tax. How's the price sound?

 

Kaso got it right. It's 12.7mm

And using a third-party bay drive/caddy does not affect your warranty or support in any way. There really is no reason to get a Lenovo-branded one. I mean, you can if you want, but it's a total waste of money if you ask me.

 

Will the T430 Ultrabay HDD caddy take any of the HDD with height less than 12.7mm?

I am planning to move the HDD from my T410 to my T430, but to install it on the Ultrabay since it won't fit on the main HDD bay. I think it's 9.5mm. Will the T430 Ultrabay HDD caddy take a 7mm or 9.5mm HDD?

 

When I mentioned 12.7mm, I meant the height of the UltraBay's opening in the chassis, not the height of the drive itself.

Yes.

 

I have compared a W520 with a T420 and I can definitely feel the size and weight difference in hand, the same can be said for W530 and T430 since their sizes hardly changed. I got my T430 with almost the specs as yours except I got webcam, backlit keyboard, no 6205 and no 3 year warranty. I paid $690 plus tax so I think your price is about right, probably a little more than when the price was cheapest in mid July, but not too bad.

 

Just buy a standard 12.7mm caddy on ebay ( I bought mine for $8) and it'll work with either 7 or 9.5mm HDDs.

 

Is the VGA input or is it only output


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It's only output. If you want a video input you'll have to get some sort of TV tuner or video capture card.

 

If your worrying about that extra 1gb of vram for gaming reasons then just stop .The gpu itself is going to bottleneck before the vram does. The nvs5400m is pretty decent for it being in a business laptop but after trying arma 2 on it and seeing bf3 benchmarks I wouldnt think twice about getting the 2gb vram over 1gb. Yea it sounds better to have 2gb of vram but since this gpu is already not that capable of handling the most demanding games no reason to stress about something that wont be utilized effectively anyway.

 

Hello all.. so I had my T430s ordered, but have cancelled it to first solicit folks' opinions/advice. Below are some configuration changes I am considering, as well as the original configuration. I appreciate everyone's advice. Thank you in advance.

POSSIBLE CONFIGURATION CHANGES?
(i) Upgrade to 6300 WiFi card? Only $40 to future-proof it. Paying an extra $20-40 to boost signal while traveling etc. is probably worth it as well. However, I've read about other W/T430s having problem with the 6300( http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/683913-t430​-wifi-defective.html). I don't want to upgrade my wifi manually in the future vs. getting it done right the first time around.

(ii) Downgrade from Nvdia 5200 to the Intel 4000? I'm fine paying extra cost for the 5200 (I think its ~$125), but I'm wondering if the increased battery usage is not worth it. I'll be using Adobe Lightroom and occassional Photoshop and occassional video editing. I do not game, that said I want to future proof my laptop (to last 5 years, or until Windows 9...). I've read the Intel 4000 is pretty good on its own. But I've also read the 5200 can switch off its GPU when not in use, and is pretty good battery life as well. I won't be so careful to manually turn switch off the entire 5200.

(iii) Backlit keyboard? I imagine this is just cosmetic, but is it worth the $40 to anyone?

(vi) Keep my plans for factory installed 128 SSD + 500GB HDD (7200 RPM)? My plan is to install O/S and any applications onto SSD. All media files will be on 500 GB drive. I figure this will speed up my computer markedly, increase battery life (despite a 2nd HDD?), while still letting me keep personal media files on the computer (and not purely on an external drive). On my current laptop I am using ~130GB, including ~40GB of music/files. I figure my storage needs for media will increase 50GB/year going forward. Thus, my new computer will "only" have 90GB taken up on the 128 SSD (130 - 40), with plenty of room for adding applications, and plenty of room on HDD for media file growth. However, it won't be necessarily "future proofed". At some future point in time, I could then swap out the 500GB HDD with a 300GB+ SSD (when prices come down), which would then "future proof" it (albeit via two drives instead of 1). Lenovo's price/size for the factory installed primary 128 SSD is not ideal, but I don't want to go through hassle of creating a clone etc. with an aftermarket 250GB SSD -- I don't have the experience or really many hours to figure this out..I love idea of clean factory install as well. That said 250GB aftermarket install will be about the same price and give me plenty of primary hard drive storage, to point where i won't even need a secondary HDD for 2+ years. Lenovo doesn't currently offer a 250GB option, only a 180GB option for a pretty penny.


EXISTING CONFIGURATION
T430s 2352
Windows 7 Professional (64), 14" HD+ screen
Nvidia Optimus 5200M, 1GB
4GB DDR3 (I will be upgrading this to Crucial 16GB myself)
128GB SSD (SATA3) - Primary hard drive
2nd 500GB HDD (7200 RPM) in ultrabay
720p HD Camera, 4-in-1 Card Reader
6 Cell batter T81+
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN)
No integrated mobile broadband/bluetooth

 

Do you have the specific link to that unit? $8 is a very good price!!

 

couple of questions for you... Are you trying to decide between the T430 and T430s hence posting in this thread? If you're deciding between s and non-s then the graphics card choices are even better at the expense of about a pound of course. Are you aware that you can run a 256 gb msata ssd for ~$200 along with the stock 500 gb hdd? It isn't that bad to DIY on this, the instructions can be found here.

 

I think this is where I bought mine.
NEW SATA 2nd HDD HARD DRIVE caddy for 12.7mm Universal CD/DVD-ROM adapter DV25 | eBay

 

I am definitively going with the T430s, and then deciding between the Intel or Nvidia graphics card

The DIY off replacing the primary drive makes me nervous.. a clean install is much preferred. Upgrading RAM I can do (been doing it since 1999)... a built a computer from components in 2002... since then I haven't really touched a computer chassis... and I am beholden to some idea that fresh-off-the-manufacturing line computer will be cleaner/work better than me tinkering with reinstalls etc..

Thank you!

 

In the ballpark: this one or this one. (I've bought some like the latter.)

Thinkpad chassis design makes it very simple to replace the primary drive and/or adding a second drive via the UltraBay caddy adapter. I find ThinkPads the most upgrade-friendly notebooks.

Oh? The phrase "clean Windows installation" implies that such installation is indeed cleaner (smaller, lighter) than the one provided by Lenovo on the stock HDD. But, it's your preference.

 

My suggestion would allow you to buy with the cheaper 500 gb hdd and leave it in there. Then install an msata ssd in addition. The advantage here is this type of ssd is very similar to ram in the way it is installed. I just ordered the T430s and it was cheaper with the NVidia card so it was a no brainier for me. Like Kaso said this computer is engineered for you to be able to do these things easily. Search newegg.com for 128 or 256 gb msata ssd. There may be a pic to show you the form factor of msata. Finally, when you receive the notebook burn your recovery media from your oem install. Format the disk install the msata then use that recovery media to restore the computer. Or, you could do the clean install of windows... Either way it's not a difficult process. Besides you have an entire forum behind you dedicated to making sure you get through it unscathed.

 

I am actually referring to the Blu-ray drive sizes. I am seeing 9.5mm (0.374 in) and 12.7mm on Ebay. Based on Kaso's response, 12.7mm will work?

 

Thank you! I have the gumption now to move my butt in gear. It all seems doable.

What about just ordering the 300GB HDD... replacing that with a 256 SSD from Crucial (from what I read online -- don't get the kit).. and then just leaving the 300GB HDD on the side... when my memory needs warrant, I can then add in the 300GB HDD in an ultrabay or add in a 2nd SSD in the ultrabay (which presumably have since dropped in price).

This way my laptop has no HDD, less weight, less power consumption... and 256GB can probably tide me over for another 1-2 years (depending on how efficient I am with deleting unused RAW format camera photos ).

Thank you for the vote of confidence.

As an aside: upgrading wifi to 6300, keeping NVidia card, and added a backlit keyboard to not pinch pennies on what (hopefully) will be a phenomenal computer.

 

I can say that I'm mightily impressed with my T430 and the 9 cell battery.

I forgot/didn't charge my battery last night and it still pushed through a fill 7 hour day of school (on for about 4 hours today)


Total of approx 3.5-4 hours the day before than on 'sleep', mode till I went to bed when I turned it off to hibernate.

Still has about 10% battery right now.


For reference I have the base i5 model, 4GB of RAM, using the IGP, 500GB HDD and have the HD+ display.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Same concept, regarding anything you shove into the UltraBay. If you buy the drive with 9.5mm height, there will be a gap. So, 12.7mm it is. Bonus video.

 

I wouldn't do it the way you suggest, but if that is what you want it should work out just fine. Note on my reasoning: I grabbed a 128 GB msata and went to my lab to weigh it. The msata drive weighs in at 8.6 grams and that is in its plastic/protective packaging, and I wouldn't think the 256 GB would be that much heavier, if at all. Adding it to your laptop with the existing drive will give you the speed and performance of SSD for your OS and apps leaving your HDD for mass storage that should easily last you for the life of the laptop according to your calculations while adding a mere pittance of weight. Assuming no discount is applied, the $40 upgrade to go from the 320 GB to the 500 GB 7200 RPM drive is small enough that I couldn't resist $0.22/GB at 7200 RPM. All resulting from one upgrade now as opposed to iterative upgrades over the long haul.

I can't say I agree with these selections more. I have all of them in the unit I ordered. I also added the i7 3520 (I can calculate pi to a million decimal places a few seconds faster that you, ha ha. J/K) smart card reader for CAC access (needed for work), bluetooth (haven't ordered a computer without it in years, not sure why. I used to use windows mobile phones and that was the most convenient way to sync... Moved to iPhone years ago...), and 3 year accidental damage + priority onsite warranty (I hate mailing my computer in, I like to give the tech a bit of space in my office or my dining room for all repairs and watch the repairs like a hawk.).

I think it will serve you well however you choose to go...

 

Thank you for this.

I've read a lot on the web and it seems that lots of folks have different views on mSATA + HDD or SSD + HDD. It strikes me that the benefit of going mSATA + HDD, is that the mSATA saves ~100grams of weight vs. going SSD + HDD. These weight savings, and different brands of memory available (e.g., Crucial M4 is not in mSATA form factor, only SSD) are the only differentiators between mSATA and SSD.

So why would anyone go with SSD over mSATA? Are the only reasons price (doesn't strike me as being price), capacity (no 512GB options?).

Can you install apps and files on mSATA, or just the O/S?

Why not just install a 256GB mSATA and exclude a HDD outright for weight savings?

So questions:

(1) Why ever go with 256GB SSD over a 256GB mSATA? T430s is mSATA3 compliant, so assume no computing compatability issues
(2) Why include a HDD at all, if immediate storage needs don't warrant it? Won't this suck up some power etc.? And you can keep all files on the mSATA?

Thank you. This is blowing my mind.

 

Crucial M4 is available in mSATA form and in various capacities.

mSATA SSD is a solid-state drive. That means you can use it to store anything you want, from boot record, to operating systems, to applications, to data files like documents, songs and movies. In brief, an mSATA SSD can be configured as a boot drive, or a storage drive, or both (like most typical HDDs in the last 20 years or so).

Certain users opt to have mSATA SSD + HDD because they want to keep the optical drive.

If you have a large enough SSD, then, yes, you can forgo the HDD. The idea of combining SSD and HDD has been popular for a few years because SSDs were so expensive, so users "optimized" cost/benefit by using a small (like 64GB) SSD for boot/OS/apps, in conjunction with a slower but much larger HDD for data storage.

The landscape is changing rapidly with SSD prices dropping significantly. So, if you can afford a large enough SATA SSD (256GB or 512GB) for the main bay, then it is the only drive you'll need.

Forget the rest.

 

Kaso made a lot of the comments that I would have in my absence. One point of note that may or may not be an issue. I've read that mSATA interfaces in some systems performed analogous to SATA II not SATA III. I'm not sure if that applies to the T430s. If getting the weight down is a primary goal then by all means eliminate the standard HDD/SSD completely and go with msata. Might as well drop the DVD rom as well using an empty HDD caddy or a blank in it's stead. You may be able to get it down to the X1C's weight...

 

A 128GB Crucial M4 mSATA is all I have in my T430. My HDD bay is empty, and my Ultrabay is empty with a weight saver. The total weight my T430 is now 4.39lbs.

Going SSD will not necessarily improve your battery life, high performance models such as the M4 and Samsung 830 doesn't really offer any power saving over efficient HDDs.

The weight saving is important for me, the difference between mSATA + HDD and 2.5" SSD + HDD in Ultrabay caddy is significant because you not only have to count the weight difference between 2.5" and mSATA, but also the added weight of a hard drive caddy. In terms of mission flexibility, if you have 2.5" SSD + caddy HDD then if you need to use the DVDRW you'll have to eject the HDD, or get a slim SATA to USB cable for the optical drive. Price wise a 7mm SSD is still pretty expensive, plus you'll have to buy the caddy, so the two configurations should yield almost the same price.

The downside of using mSATA in T430 is that the mSATA is only 3Gbps, but it's not really a bottleneck since I still get almost the same as the advertised performance out of my M4.

Here is a picture of my Crucial M4 in the memory/mSATA bay.

 

The Intel QM77 chipset supports 2 SATA 6Gb/s and 2 SATA 3Gb/s. Lenovo assigns the former two ports to primary bay and UltraBay (as it wants to offer second drive in UltraBay as a legitimate CTO option) and one of the latter two to the mSATA PCIe slot.

So, the SATA 3Gb/s speed is by design in current-generation ThinkPads.

Well, we're one step behind the fruity guy that offers flash-only notebooks -- just a bunch of quiet, cool, flat, lightweight memory modules, some persistent, some volatile.

All those "accessories" will go the way of the floppy disk drive. Lots of people still hang on to them!!!

 

That's something to think about! When a 512 GB msata module is available I wonder how low my T430s will go! Hmm...

@Kaso,
I thought that it was relevant to the T430s. Didn't remember where I read it... Thanks for the clarification.

 

When Micron announced the C400 mSATA SSD (commercial version of the Crucial M4) 512Gb is the maximum capacity, it's just not yet released for retail sale. We probably will see it in the next a couple of months.

 

Thanks for the previous assistance.

Two questions/quandaries.

Question 1: CORRECTION -> Could someone please tell me what the performance delta would be using a SATA III SSD (MSATA or SATA) on a SATA II controller vs a SATA III controller? Are we talking miniscule increase in performance or are we talking a significant increase? I understand the increased bandwidth from 3G to 6G, however doubt I would be pushing very disk intensive apps. I do like IOPs however. I simply need fast, low latency access.

I currently have the Mushkin Enhanced Atlas Series 60GB and will be swapping with either the ADATA XPG SX300 mSATA 256GB SATA III or Crucial M4 mSATA 256GB SATA III. I would add the Mushkin 256GB MSATA into the mix, but it is just so out of line price wise. Besides, the A-DATA seems to match up in performance.

That being said, ADATA/Mushkin use the Sandforce chipset. Phenomenal performance and great reviews. Suffer on data that is not compressible. I see no noticeable issues on my Mushkin 60GB MSATA. Then again, I have not done any -for-tat testing.

The Crucial cards seem to handle that non-compressible data better and appear to be a thread favorite. However, they do come at a lower overall IOP penalty.

Question/quandary 2:

Recommendations on experience?

My end goal is to have 250+GB in MSATA and 500GB in spindle. I do a lot of virtualization so having a larger disk is important. Before anyone asks, I do plan in putting a Blu-Ray drive, so a dedicated HDD in that bay is out of the question.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

^^I've never used SATAII mSATA SSD, but my 128GB Crucial M4 was clocked doing 272 reading and 191 writing in Crystaldiskmark. It's bottlenecked by the SATAII interface in the T430 but not by much. The mSATA SSD / HDD combo is a good setup, I don't have it in my T430 but it's in a family member's E220s, 64GB mSATA + 320GB HDD, she needs the storage so that's the best combo, but battery life suffers a little bit since those performance SSDs are quite power hungry.

 

Thanks.

I should clarify - I meant the performance delta using a SATA III SSD (MSATA or SATA) on a SATA II interface vs SATA III interface. I corrected it in the original post.

 

can you please expand upon your battery life comments?

Thanks

 

Basically, the current draw for today's SSDs and conventional HDDs is the same, and there is no battery life improvement using the SSD over the HDD as it was at the introduction of SSDs.

 

The Crucial M4 is not the most power efficient SSD out there. I have not noticed any change in power consumption in my T430 after replacing the OEM Seagate 7200.4, in the E220s I saw slightly increase in power consumption which is not surprising since you are essentially using two drives in it. Modern conventional HDDs are so refined over the years that their power consumption is actually very good.

Here is StorageReview's quote on the Micron RealSSD C400 mSATA SSD, which is the same as the Curcial M4:
"Micron lists an average active power consumption of less than 0.2 watts and an idle power value of 0.085 watts for the RealSSD C400 mSATA. In our lab we measured an average idle usage of 1.43 watts, with write activity using 4.41 watts, sequential read using 3.43 watts, random read needing 1.74 watts, and startup consuming 2.26 watts."

And here is a piece from the same review site comparing the Momentus XT hybrid with the standard 7200.4:
"Read activity was slightly higher on the XT, drawing 3.28w over the 7200.4’s 3.06w. Write activity and random read activity were actually less, with 3.11w and 2.63w respectively on the XT and 3.19w and 2.67w on the 7200.4. Idle power consumption also saw a decent drop, measuring 0.55w on the XT and 0.89w on the 7200.4. "

From the above two paragraphs Crucial mSATA SSD vs Seagate 7200.4 HDD in terms of:

Idle: 1.43w vs 0.89w
Write: 4.41w vs 3.19w
Read: 3.43w vs 3.06w
Random Read: 1.74w vs 2.67w

It's easy to see that except random read figure the mSATA SSD consistently uses more power than a Seagate 7200.4 HDD.

 

I was wondering what other's experiences have been in the wait time between ordering a Lenovo system and the actual ship date. So far they have given me two ship dates only to push it back again so now I have my third estimated date. Thanks.

 

This is consistent with my experience. In all, I think my ship date was pushed back three times. I placed my order on August 13, it shipped on August 30, and I just received it September 5. Once it actually ships, the package moves fairly quickly, considering it is coming from China.

 

Okay, thanks for the reply. I can't wait to get my brand new T430. :thumbsup:

 

Hey

I've been using my T430 for a couple of weeks now and it is pretty nice. After installing TPFancontrol and while using battery the fan rarely comes on. I have one concern though which is the HDD. It is simply (a bit) too loud for my cup of tea.

I am planning to install a Crucial M4 mSata 128 SS or similar to have OS and programs on. And then only the HDD for backup. Is it possible to turn off the HDD when I'm not using it. Like a USB device ?

Im running Windows 7

 

If you only use the HDD for backup why not remove it from the machine to save some weight? Just get one of those SATA to USB cable and plug it in before you back up. I bought one of these: USB 2.0 to SATA 7+15 Pin 22Pin Adapter Cable For 2.5" HDD Hard Disk Drive | eBay

 

Well Im not troubled about the weight. I quess it is only about 150 gram I will get rid off if I take out the HDD ?

But is it possible to have it in the laptop and not having it running before I demand it ?

 

Can anyone recommend an effective laptop cooler for the t430? I'm trying to play Civ 5 on low specs (i5 3210m and NVS 5400m), but it still seems to be heating up.

 

Install tpFanControl and manually set the fan state to 64.