T430 Owner's Thread

I distinctively remember that the T430 hdd bay can only fit 7 mm drives due to the location of the usb and dp ports. It uses the same rubber mounts and drive as the X220 and X230. There must be two variants of the T430 on the market, why Lenovo did not tell me this.

 

Hmm, I seem to remember early reviews touting the standard 9.5 mm HDD slot in the T430 as an advantage over the 7 mm drives in the T430s. Am I remembering incorrectly?

 

I don't remember reading that. But it might be possible that they changed the specs of the T430 since release. That would explain why Kaso has encountered both types.

 

When I get a chance, I'll see if I can track down one of the early comparison reviews to verify my memory. I have crossed the 40 barrier now, so sometimes the memory can be just a little off...

 

There's usually FUD to at least some extent.

The most FUD is of course found in Washington D.C.

Talk about spin!

Thinking about it some more, I won't have to open the box with the M4 drive, just wait and see what the T430 unit, that actually shows up, can take in the way of thickness within the main bay. The HDD it's shipping with is 320GB, so likely a single platter drive and maybe only 7mm thick.

Meaning that I already have a 2 platter 2.5" 9.5mm thick HDD on hand, so I'll try to fit it into the main bay. If it fits I'm off to the races with the Crucial M4 SSD drive that is in the mail to me. If it doesn't fit, I'll return it and get a 7mm thick SSD.

Count me as not too thrilled in learning just how tricky it is to change (by yourself) a laptop in order to get what you want and save money in the process. Zowie!!

 

This, at least, is most likely no FUD.

It's all in your mind.

 

Well I just double-checked on my T430, and even with no rubber rails a 9.5mm drive won't fit in the main bay. I hope for your sake that you get a different version, but I doubt it since mine was ordered only a few weeks ago.

 

For each drive to be inserted, there are several parts. The drive itself, the Lenovo wrapper (sheet metal and mylar ribbon), four screws to hold the drive in the wrapper, and two rubber or plastic rails.

There are two types of wrappers. There is a slim version for 7mm drives, and a older more standard wrapper used for years with the 9.5mm drives. A 7mm drive can be used in either wrapper which is good if you have 9.5mm bays and wrappers.

Someone needs to confirm with Lenovo support what is going on with the T430. It seems odd they would switch in the middle of the model year from 9.5mm primary drive bays to 7mm.

But then again, this is Lenovo we are talking about.

Or maybe, just maybe, Kaso was actually wrong on something.

 

So this does beg the question of how some people saw a T430 with 9.5 mm stock drive in the main hdd bay.

Lot of review site is wrong because they dont even have a T430 to review they are just writing their review based on figures that are on the web. While other review sites have the machine but dont bother to look at it.

So this is why you should gather information from several sources, and preferably with picture to show you the evidence.

 

There are several possibilities. Here are a few:

1. People are mistaken and the bay has always been 7mm.
2. The bay size is determined by the CPU or some other SKU item.
3. Lenovo started with 9.5mm bays and switched to 7mm later in the model year.

All of the possibilities seem strange. Number one seems the most likely to me after reviewing the tabook.pdf, hardware guide, and pictures on lenovo.com. I always thought it was odd they moved the smartcard reader to the opposite side by the optical bay, but now this is starting to make more sense.

They really hosed the design on the T430. The T420 was much better in my opinion. And technically, the T420 is superior in my mind when you take Optimus into account.

 

forum.thinkpads.com • Thinkpad T430 or T430s?

I dont think you would mistake the 7 mm vs 9.5 mm drive if you are constantly playing around with the thinkpad, and upgrading it.

T430 wasnt my cup of tea, the fan noise on that was shocking. The T420 suffered from design issues too, and i am not too pleased with mine T420. I dont think i like the normal 14 inch T4x0 series since the T400.

 

Hey mister you be nice about the T400!

I love mine

 

Not just me, but many other Lenovo T430 owners also.

 

Lol. Sorry i meant i like the T400 but not what came after it.

 

That's better

 

Funny you said that as I feel the same with the T400. With the LCD roll cage protection, T61's solid backplated 7 row keyboards and 16:10 LED screens it was as good as it gets for the 14" ThinkPad. But with Lenovo slowly tinkering over time (loss of solid backplated keyboards starting from the T400, no more LCD Roll cage with the T410, switch to 16:9 screens with the T420, no more traditional 7 row keyboard from the T430...) I tend to get apprehensive with every Lenovo refresh of late.

 

So I guess we need a T61 with modern processors and USB 3.0...

 

The following is a quote Mr. Hill uses in his "ThinkPad 20th Anniversary" booklet:

 

Expectant owner of a new T430 that just shipped today! Hope I like it as well as the T61 I am still using.

I need to buy a single-link Mini DisplayPort to DVI cable from monoprice or amazon. Does anyone have a recommendation on one that fits well without blocking any neighboring ports, etc.?

 

I'm using this mini DisplyPort to HDMI adapter, and it works well. Maybe you could look into something by the same seller? Mine came from Yellow Knife Cables

Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI Adapter: Amazon.ca: Electronics

 

If/when my T430 shows up and can only take a 7mm drive in the main bay (either HDD or SSD), I'm going to give some very serious thought to returning it.

Meaning go back to square one.

There are plenty of other 14"/15.6" choices; Asus for one, and other biggies include Dell and HP and MSI and Sager/Clevo and Samsung and Sony and maybe even a different Lenovo. Acer is the only biggie that I'll avoid.

Still remains to be seen if I'm now somewhat wiser and somewhat poorer.

 

I went with the 1600x900 screen on my T430. Anyone have a suggestion for a different Lenovo 14"/15.6" notebook that'll take a 9.5mm drive in the main bay?

Good keyboard is very high on my list.

And if 15.6" screen, I'd want a 1920x1080 screen. I'm not worried about IPS screens (great color), just high(er) rez screen.

 

I bought one from monoprice. It carries both video and audio, but the color is very reddish.

 

T430u takes 9.5 mm drive, the T530/W530 also takes 9.5 mm drive.

 

1st thank you!

FWIW I had originally ordered a 15.6" Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (1920x1080), but that order got totally honked up by Lenovo (their fault, NOT my fault!), which is how I wound up ordering a Lenovo ThinkPad T430.

So I'm not all that sure that returning my T430 and then ordering a 3rd Lenovo notebook (i.e. from Lenovo within the last 4 weeks) is a smart idea. But to be totally accurate I started with a Lenovo Edge E535 but that was via Amazon and I got it cancelled before it shipped.

So I do have a very long attention span.

So why wouldn't I add a 15.6" Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (1920x1080) which clearly takes a 9.5mm HDD in the main bay, to your suggestion of: "T430u takes 9.5 mm drive, the T530/W530 also takes 9.5 mm drive"

???

 

seriously? an Ultrabook takes a thicker drive than a regular laptop? Makes you wonder...

 

I just got off the telephone with Lenovo sales rep and may have gotten my T430 order canceled. The rep did confirm that the T430 can only take a 7mm drive in the main bay, which is why I cancelled the order.

I'll give Lenovo that, great telephone support; just be sure to actually do an order on-line via Internet Explorer and not via speaking to a sales rep! Coz that's how I did my Y580 order, and that got messed up by Lenovo.

Just have to wait 1/2/3 days to find out on if the T430 cancel was in time.

According to the rep even if it does get shipped, I should accept the package but not open it, then call up and ask for an RMA on it, which won't cost me a penny to do. Lenovo will e-mail a free UPS return shipping label.

It will however tie up my Visa card for awhile, which is the least of my worries.

While I'll look at the T430u and T530/W530 units (thanks lead_org!) which all take 9.5mm drive, at this point I'm also looking at other 14"/15.6" choices; Asus for one, and other biggies include Dell and HP and MSI and Sager/Clevo and Samsung and Sony. Acer is the only biggie that I'll avoid.

I'll likely avoid the Lenovo Y580 as it's current order delay appears to be well over 5+ weeks.

 

i would avoid ASUS and MSI if you want to keep the laptop for a while, while Dell and HP Business laptops are great, Sager/Clevo has lot going for it at this price point (in terms of performance and quality).

I don't have IdeaPad and they are not sold in Australia, so i don't have much experience with them.

 

Some details on why you "would avoid ASUS and MSI if you want to keep the laptop for a while" would be much appreciated.

FWIW I just did a pre-order of a T530 (which does in fact take a 9.5mm drive in the main bay (and maybe even thicker?)), just to see the total dollar amount and more importantly the estimated ship date.

FWIW the T530 w/i7 and 1920x1080 screen presently costs $400 more than the T430 that I just cancelled. Current Lenovo "sale" price (wow how that word gets abused during pre-Xmas sales!) but has an estimated ship date of 12/13/12 )

So at this point I'm also looking at other 14"/15.6" choices.

Thanks for your above comments on "Dell and HP Business laptops are great", and Sager/Clevo.

Do you know if Sager and/or Clevo have their own web site?

All I've so far seen of Sager and Clevo is from 2 different independent notebook builders (xoticpc being one) and while I like the build options that they bring to the table, it comes along with a very high price.

I mean similar to what Lenovo and HP and Dell do on ease and low cost of ordering options like high rez screen.

And yes this is off topic to this thread, so I'll not persist with posting questions like this here in this thread.

Except of course for this very vexing 7mm main bay stupidity that Lenovo did.

Otherwise I'd be posting here on my experience with setting up a large 9.5mm SSD in the main bay.

 

MSI laptops just break easily, and driver support isn't all that great. ASUS overheat very easily, typically they run hotter for the same CPU/GPU specs, around 5 degrees or more, which leads to some issues of having premature fan failures, as these fan are constantly running to keep the laptop cool. Also keyboards on these machines aren't great, so be prepared to accept substandard keyboard.

 

Does that apply to the latest ASUS Zenbook Primes at ZENBOOK Touch U500VZ ??? Do you have direct experience with all of them?

 

Early model Zenbook Primes had problems with overheating when you stress the CPU and GPU, i was going to get it initially after i sold my late-2010 model MBA 13, but decided i was not going to get another lap warmer ultrabook (aka MBA 13). I like my X1C not because of the screen or its touchpad, but rather it has a good keyboard and doesn't heat up like crazy when you stress the laptop. I haven't used the Zenbook Touch so not sure about that (but ASUS Zenbook has very bad keyboard in general).

Regarding my credentials with ASUS laptops, i am sorry to admit that i was an ASUS fan for a while between 2007 to 2009, had a few of their gaming model laptops, as Alienware in Australia was still expensive then (for a while you had to get them imported), and Dell's XPS line failed on me multiple times with their graphics card issues (had the M1710).

What turned me away from ASUS? Two reasons why i left the ASUS brand behind. The G86 Nvidia GPU failures and ASUS's bad attitudes of refusing repairs initially then once approved they were slow to get it fixed, i can tell you there is nothing that turns away loyal customers faster than bad customer services.

I use to help my friend with his second hand laptop repair business during weekends, in exchange for cheap or free parts (and because he was my friend), i managed to get some cheap second hand ThinkPads from him. During those weekend stints working on the second hand laptops, most common problem we encountered with ASUS laptops were overheating and failed planar. This problem of overheating is still prevalent in many ASUS laptops today.

 

Jin,

I respect your opinion, but I think there have been some updates. My Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge MacBook Airs have never exhibited the heat issues of the 2010 era. Sure, you can heat them up nicely on an extreme task like a long encoding job, but that isn't really what the machine was designed for. Standard email and other IW apps aren't going to heat it up significantly.

I don't have any hands on experience with the new ASUS Primes, but I may add one to my collection in the new year after CES.

 

i am not saying that MBA 13 with Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge had the fan/heat issue problems like the Penryn CPU models. I was simply saying that the early model Prime had some overheating issues, and i don't like another ultrabook that has the same issue like the late 2010 model MBA 13.

In terms of ultrabook class laptops, Apple did a fine job of it (well they started this craze), and if MBA 13 gets Retina display i know i will be buying it.

I think ASUS knows about the issues of keyboard and overheating in their ultrabook, i think they would actively think of ways to overcome it. By the way, i love the Prime's FHD LCD and wished my X1C has the same thing.

Before i go off track with ASUS and Apple talks, i think we stop it here. But i fully understand where you are coming from.

 

One thing that is on topic in this thread is how mis-leading Lenovo's new sales verbal discussion can be.

New sales is option 1 at Lenovo's 877-958-4465 number and it seems they talk with you 24/7/365 for new sales.

Option 2 at Lenovo's 877-958-4465 number (is for information on an existing order) and is limited to Monday through Friday 8AM through 7PM and it seems I missed that 7PM time last night!

So I thought I had the order cancelled, but turns out that I don't have it cancelled.

I have to call up Monday morning at 9AM Eastern time to do that!

At least I had the brains to call them up again just now. Sheesh!

 

Have any of you had an issue where when on battery, at around 65-75% the laptop will randomly hibernate? When I boot it up again it will say that it was because I'm at critical battery level, but then it works fine.

 

Might be a calibration issue? Try recalibrating the battery and see if the problem goes away?

 

I could try that, is that essentially the "Reset Battery Gauge" option?
I'm a bit concerned because my laptop's less than a month old...

 

Seems I have to eat my above words.

Meaning that I got a 12:10AM e-mail this morning from Lenovo that my T430 order is cancelled!

Not sure how that happened, but suspect I have a USA person in Lenovo sales to thank.

So I managed to avoid the extra risk of having it shipped to me, and then having to do the RMA thing and then the risk of shipping it back to them unopened.

So I am very very very happy to have to eat my words.

I also looked around at other notebook brands and learned a few useful things.

But I still like what I see with Lenovo, especially the NBD and accidental warranty options, and am likely to place an order for a Lenovo T530.

Meaning not wait for some gangbuster deal after Xmas.

 

Hi everyone , so after searching the web it seems as though many t430 owners have battery life of more than 6+ hours with 9 cell battery. I am sure that this topic has been exasterbated but I was hoping some of you guys could point me in the right direction. I have a t430 with an ssd , 9 cell, nvs 5400, and i7 3615 which only leaves me to about 3 to 4 hours of internet surfing with full brightness before needing to hook up to the wall from a full charge to about 5%. The nvidia gpu shows none in the gpu indicator to describe activity , so the integrated is whats being used 100% of the time since I am not gaming and such. I did a fresh install of windows 7 when I got this and never installed the power manager because bloatware scares me haha

Should I install power management driver and power manager? I have heard of some problems it caused with optimus but if the benefits are substantial I may take the risk. I am running stock settings pretty much that come with windows 7 other than specific drivers for functionality. Maybe there is something to help maybe not, so thanks either way and it has been since t430 came out since I have written here so its nice to see some familiar names!

 

power manager is a useful tool. As for battery life, you may want to lower the screen brightness.

 

@bradyboyy88. Become acquainted with 'Threshold Settings.' Your battery will thank you for it

 

Is the T430's standard display any different than the one in the T420? I.e., if my daughter says the display in her sister's T420 is good enough to suit her, will she be any less satisfied with a T430?

 

So after going all out and starting to worry about my battery lifespan and trying to make each cycle last longer, I decided I better start using my slice battery I got back in August. I used it for about a month and a half and stopped using it since recently. I went to install it and noticed my slice battery wont charge and is at 0%. Could it be that this 160 dollar battery is DEAD? yes capital letters DEAD!!

I just dont understand and I installed power manager to see if there is a setting for this but it shows my 9 cell primary battery is 100% charged and battery 2 ( slice) is 0 % plugged in and not charging!

Any advice would be appreciate and thanks in advance!

 

Are you plugged in directly to the slice while docked to your T430? I may have heard if you are docked to slice and you plug the AC adapter directly into the ThinkPad your slice will not charge.

 

Sorry If this sounds dumb but if your referring to using a docking station no but if your saying using docking expansion port on bottom to connect slice then yes , I have my 9 cell extended battery in primary slot , then the slice directly under it. Then I use my 90 w power adapter to the wall and tried to charge. It use to charge but maybe a setting could have changed?

 

Is there any configuration of power manager you find best to have an equal balance of performance yet battery life? I know it is personal preference but either way it would be nice to have a rough idea of what to expect from this program and how to fully utilize it.

Thanks

 

No not dumb at all. I apologize also bc I'm in the middle of making lunch.

Does the slice have its own battery connector?

 

I set the screen to 50%-60% on brightness, and will turn off the screen if inactive for 1 minute. I also turn off the bluetooth. If I do not use wifi then I choose the airplane mode to turn off the wifi card. Hopefully that helps.

 

With the Lenovo Power Manager you can also set when your battery will charge and when it will stop charging. This is known as setting charging thresholds. The option to set 'start charge' and 'stop charge' are found by right-clicking on the battery symbol in your taskbar and choosing 'charge battergy charge mode/thresholds.' I set mine to start at 70% and to stop at 90%. This reduces wear-and-tear on your battery from overcharging it and from extensive cycling of your battery.