T430 Owner's Thread

I actually found that so creative from Apple to do a combo USB 2.0/3.0 port. Honestly, I felt so envious not having a Mac not just because of the USB 3.0 port but everything else. Unfortunately, I do not have patience and time to be productive with Mac after living my life with Windows PC

 

I'm not a owner of any USB devices or ports yet, but I had the impression every USB 3.0 port is also an USB 2.0 port.

 

That's true.

(My earlier post only said there's no need to color-differentiate the USB ports because, in that particular laptop, all of them are USB 3.0 (backward-compatible to USB 2.0).)

 

Hmmm, they changed "NVIDIA N13P-NS1 Optimus Graphics" to "NVIDIA NVS 5400M Graphics with Optimus Technology" and now there is only a 1GB option - when doing a custom configuration... what does that mean for those who ordered the 2GB option?

 

Wish they f... cared and added a FHD

Why does Lenovo offer the 135W adapter as an accessory for T430 though the maximum it would need when configuring it is 90W and it can actually work with 65W?

 

This! +1. Offer an FHD or at least an IPS screen on the T430 and this thing would be my last and only notebook machine.

 

+1. Okay!

People say that ThinkPad laptops are designed with the "big corporate/government users" in mind and those typing-only users don't need great screens. Well, the same people also say that ThinkPad laptops are awesome because there are all sorts of do-it-yourself upgrade options. Really? When was the last time an auditor working for KPMG swapped out her HDD for a SSD, or bought an UltraBay caddy adapter from eBay and added a second HDD to her company-asset laptop?

Anyway...

 

Well, I am new to lenovo but have had experience with alot of business laptops (buying and reselling). I had owned the Lenovo t420 for a day and upgraded to i7 2720qm then resold for some profit. Now I have a t430 coming in on Thursday with the nvidia 1gb gpu and i5 2520 . What I plan on doing now is putting a quad in there. I was considering the i7 3612 or be risky and try the i7 3610 for a little more power but unfortunately a little more heat. The t420 took the i7 2720 pretty well and this was using the single pipeline heat sink for the lower end models. With the i7 2640 models the dual pipeline heat sink would have been even more perfect but for resale value did not purchase it. If someone can figure out if the dual pipeline t420 heat sink fits into the t430 then it should be an easy swap and no heat problems. From their website both heat sinks almost the same but I havent gotten to take the t430 apart yet to fully analyze this. Let me know what you guys think!!

 

I think we should all buy our machines from you

 

I will not stop until I get my perfect laptop, there is tradeoffs everywhere:
The dell e6420 you can have manufacturer put in i7 but you get nvs 5200 which compared to the nvs 5400 might not be huge difference but I want 5400 if I am going to spend over 800 for a laptop. Laptop must have 9 cell battery and possible slice battery hence t430 suits well. Plus I have gotten to take apart dell e6520 e5420 and e6420 t420 and hp 4430s (others but these are only business laptops )and I have to say the heating for the t420 and 4430s were the best. The dell got hot on my lap with 2720 and 2820 and thats a no no for me. The 4430s I put a 2720qm in and let me tell you that thing had the best cooling and lower temps of all. Good quality fan. The lenovo t420 also had a good cooling so i am sure that will be passed on to the t430 hopefully. If anyone else has anymore knowledge on these cpu swaps let me know because I am willing to try this 3610 and 3612 if we can all figure out if the triple pipeline ( 3rd being for graphics card) found on ebay for the t420 will work with t430 so I can go ahead with upgrade. I dont mind forking out the money for a cheap QS if it works and resell the i5 2520 in it for easy 150. Warranty Shmarenty , we can do our own upgrades and fixing with the help of lenovo's website. If mobo is bad your screwed and not covered anyway from what I can tell.

One more thing!! if anyone ordered their t430 with the i7 3520 and are brave enough to look inside . See what the heat sink looks like. See if there is 2 copper lines going just to cpu. The i7 3520 is better than the i7 2640 and as I said above the t420 with i7 2640 came with dual pipelines. So it would make sense lenovo ships out the i7 3520 with dual pipes as well(even considering the small heat decrease of new ivy bridge) but I want to make sure of that. Thanks and look forward to everyones response!

 

First, I am not brave enough. Second, why Lenovo would not offer a quad core processor in this machine if it is safely doable and appropriate. Other companies do not do it either?!!!

 

That is the million dollar question! All I can say is the dell e6420 offered a quad core in 14in and the cooling just didnt cut it in my opinion, however that same processor I put in lenovo t420 ,which only marketed with dual cores , kept cool. Why wouldnt this same logic apply to t430 which utilizes ivy bridge a smaller die processing configuration that produces less heat respectively

 

im still hung up on why the 2GB 5400m option has disappeared... anyone got any dirt on that?!!

 

I agree with you and why would we go so far, New Sony Vaio E Series 14" did it with 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost). I guess it is just that some people can get things done and some prefer to sleep on the couch as long as there are stupid buying customers like me

 

Yea I looked into the Sony series and I was going to buy one because it came with free ps3 haha but the battery options is 4400mah battery with 4400mah slice for a total of 14hours which is good but Id rather have the t430 slice battery for 30+ hours !!

Brinox I was wondering the same thing, I guess they sold out basically because I am sure anyone who put out the 250 for a ded . gpu would just pay the extra 30 to max the specs on it. I got the 1gb unfortunately with 1366x768 model on ebay for cheap but already got the hd+ screen and cable to upgrade it when it comes in . The gpu though I will have to live with the 1gb version forever . Then again I will probably not play to many games which utilize more than 1gb of vram so whatever.

 

Do you really need the 30 hours battery life and are you actually buying the slice battery. I guess it depends on your priority but I would personally prefer processing power over battery life

 

It's almost like there are multiple groups of users served by the same products...

The end-user themselves? Dunno. Maybe some end-users do?

I do know from working in a ThinkPad-heavy environment that the ability for support to pull hard drives without voiding warranties or to swap out a broken CD-ROM drive in seconds instead of days is a major plus. Same for the ability to order a dozen or so ThinkPads, pull the drives, image them one after another, and pop them back in to the machines.

 

Anyone received their shipping notification today?! Please, update status. Mine was supposed to ship today but it did not I am getting sick of it!

 

I guess I am lucky because I ordered mine on the 6th of this month and it's on its way here. I remember having this same shipping issue years ago too when I tried to order from Lenovo. Btw, I want to know if anybody here is getting a mSATA ssd for upgrade?

 

I am f... up as I ordered at 5:00 am on the 6th and did not even get a shipping notification. No one including supervisors at Lenovo can help. "They know nothing about what is going on in the warehouse and they cannot help with expediting the shipping" and thanks to Lenovo, they even removed the 2-day shipping option, so customers have to suffer. I am really having a bad experience with their shipping.

 

I had to cancel my order because I was a dumb[butt] and thought I could swap my current notebook's Intel 6300AGN adapter into my new T430 - but there would be a missing antenna... so I just basically moved myself to the bottom of the build list

Anyway, I was able to figure out why the 2GB 5400m option is gone. Apparently there was a very limited supply during the launch and decided to take it off the ordering site(s) to alleviate a backorder situation for it.

LUCKILY I was able to get my order for the 2GB one in before it disappeared. here's to hoping my new order isnt backordered for months or something. one can hope!

 

No , I probably will never need 30 hours but I like the possible upgrade in the future for bus trips and such. What kind of processing power are you looking for with a 14in business notebook? Quad core computing power? The sony quad s series is the 3612qm and its an energy efficient quad. It performs almost equivalent to i7 2720qm which is pretty good . How come you didnt choose sony then? Dell managed to get the i7 3720qm to function in their 14in notebooks but Im sure there is a catch other then the price. Probably gets hot as hell and that durable casing it has is probably just as heavy as the last model

The Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN came with the t430 I purchased but I was hoping you could elaborate on the benefits of paying the extra 40 for your adapter or 20 for mine over the default options that are free. Is it just open source graphics and how well they work with linux that create the cost difference? I am a newb to wireless adaptors so anything would help. Thanks

 

Its possible that I stand corrected in this comment. mSATA cards with SATA III controllers are now popping up (albeit for a significant price premium) and supposedly work without a hitch on SATA III equipped chipsets that support the original mSATA spec.

See the review below - it could be that the mSATA implementation rides on whatever SATA revision the chipsets contain (on the mainboard AND the SSD).

RunCore RCP V mSATA T50 SATA III 120GB SSD Review - The RunCore Pro V 2.5" SATA III SSD :: TweakTown USA Edition


I do sincerely apologize Rezabrya!

You might have noticed that my original order (on the first page) listed an Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN) adapter. the 2x2 part is what torpedo'ed my idea of migrating an Intel 6300AGN adapter into it.

The 6300AGN card can get up to 450Mbps. It does this by using two frequency bands simultaneously, 2.4GHz and 5GHz (and requires a dual-band router on top of that, which are ALSO pricey ).

To accomplish the dual-band speed, a triple antenna array is required. This is why the 6300AGN option lists "3x3", and why the cheaper 2200BGN adapter lists 2x2. 3x3 means that there are three antenna systems built into the computer and the wireless card can transmit and receive on all three antennas, whereas the 2x2 only allows transmission/reception on two antennas. I am fairly certain the 6300AGN will work with two antennas connected, it will just drop down to the 300Mbps speed. However, I am not certain that the antennas would be the best ones for that specific card.

I just said eff it, and canceled my order and did it all right the second time around

 

Ahhh thank you for that clarification. I get my t430 tomorrow. Once I get it I am going to run a couple benchmarks and see how the nvs 5400m is and the system as a whole. Should be interesting since there isnt any benchmarks for it yet. Any suggestions for what to run? I can do 3dMark if you get me a link to a free version and any other if its free. Been a while since I have done that so I will just run stock settings along with stock settings on the laptop just so it will give better comparisons

 

If you have Battlefield 3, give it a try on it.

 

I am interested in diablo 3 wink wink

 

Unfortunately gamewise I only have vcod, cod2, and cod 4 mw1 and I am sure your not conscerned with that. I use to get about 250fps in cod4 with my gtx 280 and a cheap am3+ processor (desktop) so it will be neat to see this t420 with i5 will compare. Id say easily 100+ fps with medium settings for sure

Being extremely impatient I am about to order the i7 3612 quad core to test it out. Do you think running prime95 stress test could damage anything? I mean it would shut off before anything goes bad I would think but do not have enough experience with it. If it does pass the stress test then its good to go and would most likely run stable in the long run ?????

 

the system will shut itself down before it causes any damage to the mainboard in terms of heat, BUT prolonged usage at 100% load/thermal spec will decrease the overall lifespan of the laptop if you run it for days at a time like that. It really is the case that these notebook systems are not designed to handle a high processor/thermal load for prolonged periods of time.

that being said, Prime95 isnt exactly the king of 100% thermal load anymore. Google IntelBurnTest or LinX for what Intel uses to put their processors at the the highest of thermal loads. If you drop in that ULV quad core and it doesnt shut itself off relatively quickly, I am certain you'll be fine in the long run - however you may not use my technical opinion on the matter as a warranty because I provide zero support in that respect to your proposed configuration...

 

Hi guys. I ordered mine today!


ThinkPad T430 - 1 Year Depot Topseller Warranty



Processor Intel Core i5-3360M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Operating system language Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English

Display type 14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready

System graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000

Total memory 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - US English

Camera 720p HD Camera with Microphone

Hard drive 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

Ultrabay DVD Recordable

System expansion slots Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader

Battery 9 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70++

Power cord 90W AC Adapter - US (2pin)

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN

Integrated mobile broadband Mobile Broadband up

 

How long do you think I should intelburntest for and what settings? Is there anyway to tell if there will be any more ivy bridge processors being released soon? For instance, there was initially the i7 2720 sandy bridge and months later the 2760 came out as an improvement . I would rather hold off on spending if there is going to be an update to these processors soon

 

yes yes yes, benchamr nvs 5400m! Benchmark 3dmark06 please.

 

intel is always striving to better their bottom line by improving previously binned silicon into faster-operating processors. Price cuts are always happening every year as well. With Intel's Tick-Tock scheduling, you can expect there to be an upgraded processor in each marketing segment after the initial release. However, it usually replaces the previous "speed" processor at the same price point.

The example you already pointed out was the 2720 being replaced (pricewise) by the 2760. As time goes on, the processing power available to the end user grows, thereby decreasing the value of current procs and Intel has to continue to make money. So they bin some of the REALLY high clock-speed processors down to replace that 2720.


You have to ask yourself, is spending the same money now for a [2720] worth it to not buy now and wait 6 months down the road for something faster, at the same price point (potentially)?

 

i got one of these in for work today and i hate the screen! you cant get a proper setting (tilting it i mean) in which you can see all the colors properly....... i got the HD+, 1600x900......... =|

you guys are gonna dislike the screen. im predicting it. the corners are dark and you have to view the screen DEAD ON to get it to look almost right......... =/

 

Guessing it's just as mediorce as the screen for the T420/s, then.

 

I thought so. Sigh.

They focused their fricking energy on the "precision" keyboard. Bravo!

 

Im glad I bought a seperate hd+ screen to try. If this custom upgrade is an improvement I will let you know and you could try it. I will do 3dmark06 . I will be benchmarking the 1gb version though since thats what mine came with. I dont think there will be much of a difference though from the 1gb version and 2gb so you can judge from that.

I have never actually ran 3dmark06 before but I am sure it cant be to complicated and if I have any problems I can just ask.

I have a 128gb vertex 4 I will be putting in the laptop when it comes in tomorrow. Has anyone ever used clonezilla or any program to copy over the system recovery image? I want to use this harddrive over the 320gb mine came with . How difficult is it to use? Is there a simplier process to switching everything over to my ssd and I am not aware of it?

 

at full brightness, the colors look washed out as well.

comparing it to the t420 which i also have in front of me, idk why but i feel like that screen looks better to me... they're both hd+ though so i dont know what the hell is going on...

 

They use the same screen though... thats weird.

 

^^^ Well, they source the screens from different manufacturers, and there are differences. But that's no excuse for mediocrity.

 

How do you know they source from different manufacturers? I will take out my t430 screen tomorrow or when the new screen arrives and see who it is but it just doesnt seem to make sense to me to order from different manufacturers. That kind of defeats the purpose of large scale buying. Do you know the manufacturer of the t420 screen, if anyone has one or has taken an original out can you check? Either way your right they should definately put more effort into the one piece of equipment that makes it truly mobile.

 

if it makes any difference, the screen on the t430s is an AUO and the screen on the T420s is a LEN.

the device ID tells you the mfr that made it so they ARE sourced from different companies.

 

LG, AUO, Samsung... It's been like this over a few generations now. Check it out for yourself (with, say, HWiNFO64) and compare notes.

 

Oh well I stand corrected then!!

 

What one should do then. Each f... machine has a piece of sh.. to make one frustrated enough. This complicates the situation now and make it very difficult whether to keep this one after your comments but I will wait to see by myself.

 

yeah, sorry if i scared off some of the folks that bought the machine. im simply sharing my experience. who knows - you may love it once you recieve it. the machine i got is for work so i really dont care too much about it haha

when you get it, sitting directly in front of the machine, i think you will find it difficult (as i did) to get the screen to a perfect viewing angle. be sure to try different color backgrounds though because when i had a lighter background, the problem was less noticeable. but let your own eyes (and not me) tell you that

 

Wish I were able to adapt quickly to Mac OS and keyboard. This could make it an easy decision.

 

haha - i have been watching that machine very closely.... a lot of people are saying that because the screen is so hi-res, nothing has been made to adopt to it yet so many things seem blurry or not very sharp....

i personally have an hp dv7t that's about 4 years old and was considering switching up to the new retina macbook pro but i will not because of what i just mentioned.

have you considered HP at all? the dv7t's look amazing! they're more consumer-oriented though and not corporate-oriented like these lenovos...

i have never owned a mac in my life but after seeing a friend of mine's macbook pro 17", i fell in love. the quality of that display is incredible. i cannot imagine how good the new ones look like... i might stop by the apple store on my way home tonight for a sneak peak

 

Well, my problem with it and you may find this laughable is I cannot adapt to the OS and particularly Microsoft Office for Mac and the differences in the keyboard keys. If I can just adapt that, I am willing to pay for it though it wil brwak the bank.

 

I am wondering how the HD+ display in the T430 will compare to my current HD+ display in my T510?

 

your concern is definitely NOT laughable because I have been thinking about the same if i had made the switch... i am so used to so many shortcuts in windows that making the switch would definitely take some getting used to but, knowing me, i would be frustrated as of day 1...

i just took a look at the new retina macbook at the apple store and the screen is absolutely incredible. what i dislike though is that mac OS windows (like safari for example) dont open full screen like windows.... i know you can adjust them after they're open but this is a pain to do considering the number of apps i usually have running......

the pictures on websites are definitely a little blurry on the new retina screen but the text is incredibly sharp. i zoomed into cnn.com so much that i only saw like 5 letters on my screen and there was no sign of pixelation....... very nice, apple.

another thing -- i shut down the retina MBP... then i powered it up... and no kidding, i think my 4-year old HP with an SSD drive boots faster... im at 20 seconds with my HP, and i really feel that the mac took longer than that - maybe 25 seconds........ still fast but i was expecting to be blown away....

that was for the entry level machine - $2199... i think the higher end machine (the one that costs you your first born) would be much quicker to boot because of the higher speed but, more importantly, the 8mb cache as opposed to 6mb in the base model.... im definitely not spending $3k+ to find out though.