T430s owners'/would-be owners' thread.

LOL, Lenovo T530 - YouTube

How could anyone lug that beast around. Sounds like hes gonna break the table when setting it down...sounds so heavy..

 

1.5V.

Don't mix voltages when it comes to RAM. RAM of different speeds is fine, but use RAM of the same voltages only.

 

Thanks for the video. I do not think it is significantly different in weight from T430. Both of them are heavy and I may end up with it if based on the very negative comments everyone is saying about the display of T430(s).

 

Honestly, the T430s isn't so bad once you calibrate it. It will never pass muster for graphics work, but for your everyday stuff, it's absolutely fine.

But, if you are so concerned about the display, why not the X230 with IPS?

 

I do not do graphics or video and I also do not play games. I thought about the X230 but the very small palm rest and trackpad made me concerned. Also, the resolution is low. Finally, I feel that it is not slim though it is light and still it's price is more than T430.

 

So far I am really enjoying my T430s, but I do have some issues...

The battery life seems dismal. At 50% display brightness I'm only getting 2 hours of battery life. What kind of battery life are all of your getting? I have an i5 processor with the discrete graphics, 2x4GB 1.28V memory and the 500GB HD. I feel like it should be longer than that. 2 hours is really too short, especially since it seems lenovo fudged the rapid charge feature.

The other problem I have been having is only being able to have 2 monitors running at a time. I have tried 3 and 4, but despite having the discrete graphics it seems the intel chip is pushing its 2 monitor limit on the system. This is not as big a deal for me since 2 is all I need, but I was expecting to be able to have more.

This is concerning to me...

 

Have you tried installing the Power Management driver? It does help, from my experience, especially on a fresh Windows install without Lenovo's drivers.

 

This is from the original factory hard drive actually. I was messing around with an mSATA, but noticed poor battery life, so I pulled it out and tried with the original drive to see similar results. I am performing a guage reset now though. Hopefully that will improve things...

And thank you for the response. I appreciate all the help these forums have been giving me these past few weeks.

~Hanry

 

If you look at my previous posts, it appears that the 5200m graphics on the T430s don't actually connect to any of the display adapters (other models use the discrete graphics to power the displayport). As a result, we may be stuck with only two displays. A very strange and unwelcome change from the T420s.

I haven't been using my machine on battery enough to wear it all the way down, but at 75% brightness with standard battery power management (Lenovo power driver and utitlity) I am looking at around 2-3 hours on the main battery, and another 1.5-2 on the bay battery. Certainly not great, but not too different from my T410s. I may try disabling the Nvidia graphics to see if that makes a noticeable difference, but I rather doubt that it will.

 

Which model T430S do you have? When you say you have discrete graphics, do you mean is has the dual GPU Optimus graphics?

 

Do you mind posting your calibration settings for others to try.
Thanks.

 

Which model T430S do you have? When you say you have discrete graphics, do you mean is has the dual GPU Optimus graphics?

 

I am not sure of the exact model number, but when I say I have discrete graphics I mean I have just the one Optimus GPU. the 5200 I believe the number is.

 

Can you try setting the BIOS to integrated only and disable Optimus and OS detection for Optimus. This setting essetially converts it to an Intel HD4000-only machine. I am curious to see whether the T430s can then still drive 2 external displays.

When I do this on my T420s optimus on a Series 3 Plus dock, limitiing it to Intel HD3000-only, I lose one of two external DP displays.

 

Results with the i7 t430s and integrated Intel HD 4000 Graphics (16GB RAM)
WEI: Processor: 7.2, Memory: 7.5, Graphics: 6.5; Gaming Graphics: 6.5, Primary hard disk: 7.9
3DMark Vantage: P4200 (Graphics 3464, CPU 11570)

Now it seems obvious why the Nvidia Optimus is not an option on the i7 T430s. $200 seems like a lot to pay for improving the score by less than 200 on a benchmark like this...

 

@s1148625

Are you able to run 3 displays simultaneously on your i7? If so, what is your graphics driver version and how did you configure it? I find it strange that the i7 integrated graphics option may be required to power 3 displays rather than the i5 with dedicated graphics, but that may be the way it is. If so, I may push for a return and get the i7 instead.

 

Disabling Optimus in BIOS makes no difference. I can still only power 2 displays total, either external (internal LCD off), or 1 external + internal.

 

I can power 3 displays at once, but not at their highest resolutions. See my previous post in this thread for detailed info.

 

Your previous post is about the WEI figures.

Regarding the displays, what three external displays are you using? How are the connected? What are their native resolutions?

 

Hi. Would you please share which 16GB kit you ordered and from where?

I want to add a single 8GB to make it 12GB in total (4GB original).
Does anybody have suggetsions? Just wanted to make it compatable with the original Samsung 4GB RAM. Thanks

 

I think Thors.Hammer and I are in the same boat. Can you detail how you configured 3 displays? I understand that you aren't getting full resolution, but I can't even get 3 displays at any resolution, and I'm trying to figure out if I'm just configuring them incorrectly, or if the i7 has more capabilities than the i5.

 

You've got to look further back in the thread:

And, to clarify, the three displays include the internal laptop LCD.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...wners-would-owners-thread-36.html#post8627248

http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...wners-would-owners-thread-37.html#post8627570

http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...wners-would-owners-thread-37.html#post8627642

http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...wners-would-owners-thread-37.html#post8627686

 

So you are able to just go into the Intel graphics control panel and set 3 monitors under "multiple displays"? I only have the option to set a primary and a secondary.

Thanks for helping to sort this out.

 

Yes, I can set 3 monitors in the Intel control panel.

 

Well, since we are both using the same dock and general setup, and I have the newest Intel drivers, I can only assume that it is the i7 that makes a difference. Strange, as both chips are supposed to support the same HD 4000 graphics.

 

Hi. Would you please share which 16GB kit you ordered and from where?

I want to add a single 8GB to make it 12GB in total (4GB original).
Does anybody have suggetsions? Just wanted to make it compatable with the original Samsung 4GB RAM. Thanks

 

This pair is appropriate.

 

My work IT dept ordered it, and since it hasn't arrived I've not sure exactly what model was ordered. Still, any 204-pin DDR3 PC3-12800 RAM should work. You can always use crucial.com to check the specs if you are unsure.

 

Thanks for the clarification. That's what I was afraid of. I am looking for confirmation three or more external displays is possible.

It's also really disappointing to see the DisplayPort connections to your monitors didn't work (at native resolutions).

 

The displayport monitors work at native resolutions, but only when the internal LCD is disabled.

 

Sorry, I haven't read every post in this thread and I certainly don't have them committed to memory.

I guess this is what happens when you blindly buy a machine with no documentation on the real capabilities. Early adapters find this stuff out the hard way.

Lenovo has not published the updated guide on multi monitor configurations. As least not that I have found. I'm guessing this is going to get interesting.

 

To be fair, I did review the T430s manual, which incorrectly states that you can enable external monitors with the Nvidia control panel. In addition, I chatted with a sales rep that said multiple monitor support was possible with the Nvidia card on the T430s, though I don't rely too heavily on what those reps said.

I'm mulling over whether to ask our IT department to return it or at least exchange it for an i7 version due to the incorrect information that was available. I can deal with one monitor at a lower resolution more easily than being stuck with only 2 displays.

 

Well, at least I now know a reason to return without a restocking fee if I really don't like the screen. ;-)

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk 2

 

A note about Intel's beta graphics drivers for Windows 8:

Do not install them onto your T430s if you are using Windows 8! They lock up the computer at random intervals (mostly during text input).

 

Through the Color settings on the Windows control panel, I simply dialed down the gamma when prompted. That makes the display look much nicer.

 

Also, a note on battery life: With the default battery and the bay battery installed, I'm getting only around 5 hours of battery life on Windows 8. This is with the Power Management Driver and Intel chipset driver installed.

 

I have not done a real world test by using a stop watch to time it.. but my meter reads about 4 - 4.5 hours. I was hoping at least 7 hours with bay battery.. but oh well.

 

Lenovo claimed up to 10 with the bay battery... right.

 

13 hrs, if i remember reading one of the documents correctly.

 

Where does it say a T430S gets 13 hours of battery life? That's a good one. I needed a good laugh. I almost spewed my beer.

 

Lithium Ion 6-cell, supports optional Ultrabay Slim battery as 2nd battery, HW authentication
6-cell (43.2Whr): up to 7.6 hr; 6-cell plus 3-cell Bay battery (31.3Whr, 0A36310): up to 13.2 hr

From the tabook;
http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf

I was expecting half of that with the 3 cell bay battery, i guess not :\.

 

I burn through my three-cell in less than two hours.

 

Lenovo has overstated the battery life of their ThinkPads for years. They use some mysterious test that isn't anywhere near real world.

I would suggest trying the machine under real conditions. If you get 7 hours you'll be doing good.

 

I find these numbers crazy and not sure how those manufacturers do not find it stupid to declare these numbers. In my opinion, the only way to get these numbers is to test the machine while it is shut down!

 

Funny. I can get approximately the quoted amount for my W520.

As for everyone else, run
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\ngen.exe executequeueditems

 

just replaced stock 4gb ram with 16gb Corsair Vengeance and i'm very happy with the results, I could feel that the system is much snappier... less loading mouse sign.

Windows experience index for ram speeds jumped from 5.1 (or 5.9, I could not remember but it was a huge jump) to 7.5!

and desktop performance for Aero jumped from 4.1 to 6.6

highly recommended

 

right, thats why i'm disappointed. As i'm getting 4hours of battery life with pretty conservative settings, that's nearly 150% over statement of their battery life. lol.

 

computers are like people they all have there faults you just have pick the one with the faults you can live with

 

Or pick several but never let the meet.

 

Does anyone know what thunderbolt controller comes with the t430s??

Thunderbolt Controllers: Five Flavors, All Intel : Everything You Need To Know About Thunderbolt