T430s owners'/would-be owners' thread.

For those with the NVS 5200M, what sort of battery life are you getting with the 6 cell battery? Also, what temperatures do the CPU and GPU reach during everyday tasks?

Cheers.

 

Olympia 14-inch Vertical Laptop Messenger Bag | Overstock.com

Cheap, utilitarian and fits the T430s perfectly + 90W brick + additional stuff... Just arrived though not sure about the durability but, hey, it's cheap

You must be American

 

I wound up with a Tom Bihn size 4 Brain Cell which fits the T430s perfectly and provides serious protection. It's a whole lot bulkier than a sleeve, but it's got both soft cushioning and a hard shell, so it seems pretty perfect.

It also clips into their Zephyr bag, which I've got ordered ( reviewed earlier on NBR).

 

I got this Lenovo top-loader bag (Part number: 57Y4309). It is slightly taller than needed but it looks good. It is quite light and padding is OK. It was $25 couple of weeks ago.

 

Hey everyone,

So I finally bit the bullet and ordered the T430s during the recent 3 day sale online. I just need some help narrowing down what kind of addons and accessories I want to buy.

Here is my build:
i7-3520M, HD+, 4GB RAM (Base), Backlit Keys, 320 GB HDD (Base), 500 GB HDD ultrabay, Expresscard (Base), 6 cell battery (Base), bluetooth 4.0, Integrated wifi 1x1 (Base).

Anything not mentioned I did not get. I just want some suggestions as to what people have been buying to upgrade their machines (btw I have around 230~ dollars gifted on Amazon, so stuff from there would be great)

First priority is probably going to be RAM, but not sure how much/what type to get. Also, not sure if I should bother upgrading the wifi as well as reviews seem to conflict. Finally a good SSD would help too.

Quick question about the ultrabay - I have already upgraded to a HDD, would getting a 3 cell battery now be mutually exclusive or can I use both at once?

Thanks!

 

I would definitely recommend the 3 cell battery. It makes a world of difference. I am able to use my 3 cell and my dvd drive by just popping the dvd drive in whenever I need it. It might be slightly different with a hard drive though

 

Yes, I also have this problem. It is just not responsive sometimes until change the volume from system task bar. Is someone has idea how to solve this problem? Thanks.

 

Yes, I also have this problem. It is just not responsive sometimes until change the volume from system task bar. Is someone has idea how to solve this problem? Thanks.

 

I received my T430s with a 180 GB SSD last friday. Unfortunately, I'm already experiencing a lot of stability issues without doing any actual work with the machine.

For those interested in my progress of trying to fix the isssues: I'm keeping a log on Tumblr.

 

If doing a true clean install (not recovery) doesn't fix your problem, it's time to send it in to the depot. It sounds like you may have a hardware problem.

 

Anyone know what the details were on the recent Lenovo sale was? I missed it and want to negotiate if I can. thanks.

 

anybody tried putting a memory card in it? my machine can't read beyond 4GB SD Card. I have 16 GB patriot class SDHC card which it couldn't read. found this thread but it doesn't apply to our machine as the card reader is different (our driver file is risdxc64.sys).
tried installing the driver from lenovo site but windows says latest is already installed.

 

If it is formatted with FAT then 4GB is the max it can handle, FAT32 should be able to larger partition.

 

the card is formatted as FAT32. I have 4 years old HP laptop that reads it fine. I suppose gotta find working drivers for this. did anyone else encounter this problem?

 

I can read a 16GB SanDisk card without issue. Using Ricoh PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller driver 6.10.10.32.

 

Of the four little "feet" supporting the T430s, one is fixed on the battery pack. The rubber fixed in the "feet-socket" of the battery pack on my laptop is slightly thicker than the other rubbers.

So when the machine sits on a table and the lid is open the area of the left palm rest is not entirely resting on the table. Each time you put your hand on the palm rest or you raise your hand you clearly feel the laptop going up and down.

Anyone ever tried to fix this?

 

That's interesting. My t430s doesn't have that issue. The battery rubber seems to be the exact same as the other ones attached to the laptop

 

It's probably a cooling issue: Blue screen on T430s during Office 10 install (possibly because of cooling issues)

FYI: I haven't attempted a true clean install. There is an appointment with a Lenovo engineer scheduled, though.

 

I tracked down the volume button not working issue, i believe its because of adobe flash in firefox (didn't test in other browser). on youtube if i click any part of vide then volume control button stops working until i click outside of firefox. aahh flash 11.3 has been nothing but problems. gonna downgrade to 11.2

EDIT: yeap, just downgraded to 11.2 and volume control works fine even if i play around with youtube video controls

 

I received a few questions about the T430s which I thought I could more helpfully answer here. Apologies for the quick answers; I'm traveling and answering on my phone.

1080 video has been absolutely no problem at all with the HD4000. It's more than up to the task. I haven't gamed with it, but reports online indicate that many modern games can be played with it, even if the graphic settings have to be adjusted to low.

The HD+ screen is perfect for this size laptop. Text is easy to read at the default settings, and web pages are shown in full. Two Word documents side-by-side will probably be cramped, but I haven't really tried this much. I would not go with the lower resolution option.

I went with the T430s over the W series for the portability. Originally I prioritized the screen quality, and the wide gamut panel on the W530 would have clearly won compared to the T430s (likely by a lot). But I decided being able to easily take the laptop anywhere is more important since I can always plug the laptop into an external monitor even better than the W530's, which is what I intend to do.

Haven't had the chance to install Photoshop yet, but I'll give my impressions of how the T430s handles it once I do.

 

What's the price premium these days for the T430S over the T430?

 

You and I both have the same problem, with the BSOD x124 error.... I've been trying to fix this problem for more than 2 weeks and finally decided to send it to the repair depot to replace the cpu and motherboard (past the return period, hopefully it doesn't turn into a horror story). I've tested the ram, the hd; i've installed new ram and ssd drive, clean install, and still got the problems. Everything updated. It even BSOD after clean install with no software or drivers installed. So i concluded that the CPU or motherboard is at fault. And also it says it windows event viewer "Probably cause by: Processor Core" Temps are not the cause, i've ran turbo boost+ and still got the error, and i also get the same error while idle or browsing chrome and the temps then were around 45. Tested with Prime95 that tests stablitly mostly used by overclockers, but it shouldn't BSOD when not overclocked, but does within minutes.... on stress tetsting the CPU setting. Will wait to see if the repaired laptop does the same thing or not...

 

Has anyone received a T430s with a working Thunderbolt port?

 

Mine works fine. Using a Seagate Goflex Thunderbolt adapter to shuttle virtual machines back & forth between T430s and Macbook Air for a while now ....


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Ok great. So many other manufacturers (Asus I am looking at you) have pretty much made the technology look like vaporware with constant shipping delays etc.

How are you finding the machine so far?

 

I absolutely love the machine, and I am not saying that because I am a reseller. For me it strikes a perfect balance between versatility, performance and portability. I agree with the general thought that the screen quality is average, but it is more than sufficient for my purposes (travel and virtualization). The rest simply is awesome AFAIC

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It just works, and works great Especially the performance of 64-bit Photoshop and 64-bit Illustrator in CS6 is superb.

 

I've just entered the horror story:

In preparation of the on-site visit of the field engineer I decided to reset the system to the factory image: 75% into the process I got the BSOD... There's no way to go back into the recovery tool (BSOD), no way of starting up Windows because the recovery crashed (BSOD). Booting a live Linux distro from CD works. The field engineer took my machine apart and made sure everything was correctly fitted, even took RAM out of a working T520 to test it in the 430s, to no avail.

Of course I didn't make install CD's/DVDs of the recovery image (yeah, I know...) and currently you cannot purchase T430s recovery images at Lenovorecovery.com

(Wanna hear another "funny" story? The field engineer - a great guy, btw - was told to bring a replacement LCD panel because when I called in I told the first-line support lady I had "blue screen" problems.. If the problem were captured correctly in the first place, a motherboard replacement would have been attempted)

The field engineer seems positive it has something to do with the SDD and will request Lenovo to provide a replacement part. But I need to SDD to be loaded with the factory image or else I'm not anyway near a stable system.

 

Has anyone here actually purchased a SSD upgrade through Lenovo when purchasing or has everyone sprung for the DIY aftermarket SSD upgrade?

 

I think you have a case for them to send you a free factory image DVD set, especially if they replace the storage drive. Worse case scenario is installing Windows 7 clean then using the drivers and software from support.lenovo.com.

I only use the factory image on the resale of a machine. I never actually use the image.

 

If your bsod problem is anything like mine, it probably isn't caused by your ssd, since I tested it on the factory installed hdd and after market ssd and both had the same bsod 0x00000124 "Probably caused by: Processor core" problem, unless both the factory hdd and my new intel 520 ssd are defective. I did lots of tests and the problem could be caused by an intel driver in conjunction with an unstable CPU or faulty motherboard. But your case could be different then mine. I would still ask for a motherboard and CPU replacement, not just a new ssd. You can clean install windows and possibly activate with the serial at the bottom of the laptop, use "Hearst's Guide to Clean Installing Windows 7 on the ThinkPad".
Hope everything is solved for you soon!

 

If the problem is a motherboard issue, couldn't you boot to a linux distro on the cd drive to test it? If it boots then it's probably the SSD, if not, then...

 

All i have to say is wow.

Got a Intel 520series 240gig ssd yesterday - Got the guys at the store to remove the 2.5mm shim - they happen to have the screws to reattach the top plate - installed + system restore - system screams now... lovin it..

Anyone know how to reset the factory restore drive to allow me to make another copy.. it would be appreciated - I created the disks on dvd - figured i would make a USB stick... any ideas?

 

So, I'm a few hours into setting up my new T430s and I'm loving the legendary ThinkPad build quality... when I happen to notic that the rear panel is significantly dented outward next to one of the USB ports It would be physically impossible for me to have caused this, so it must have left the factory that way. How does that kind of thing slip by? I think it might actually impact the usability of that USB port, so I guess I will have to exchange it.

This also led me to notice the issue of the bottom edge of the display having a rather noticeable curve (convex, relative to the outside of the lid), as reported by mirkot on post #405 of this thread.

I was (and still am) really excited to get my first ThinkPad ever, but these issues put a little bit of a damper on it

 

So, in terms of display quality, what do people think? I've got the Samsung LTN140KT03401 on my machine. Viewing angles are not the best, and contrast is below average compared with the TN panel I've got for my monitor for my desktop.

Anyone with an AUO or LG panel care to comment about their experiences?

 

Well, I'm joining your ranks in a few days! I've been debating/researching/contemplating/meditating on the T430 versus the Alienware M14X R2 and the T430 won. Now if I can only find a great 14" remote panel to set up 2 displays. Don't want anything bigger as I'll be traveling extensively with my new machine.

Gawain

 

@wditters

Good to hear it worked well for you, I was getting a bit paranoid when two other laptop models I was following discontinued Thunderbolt support.

On another note has anyone managed to upgrade the base WIFI card (Thinkpad 1x1 b/g/n) to something better successfully? I am looking at a bunch of Centrino WLAN cards on ebay less than 20 dollars and wondering if I should get one.

Does the performance difference justify buying a new card?

Thanks,

 

It's kind of a moot point unless you get a Lenovo-branded one. ThinkPads have a BIOS whitelist that prevents non-branded cards from working.

But yes, I would recommend switching to the Intel WLAN card if 1) the current card isn't working well for you and/or 2) you ever plan on running Linux (since Intel generally does a good job with Linux drivers.)

 

Could you tell me what brand the OEM lenovo ram was? Also, if you still have yours, would you sell it? Let me know!

 

How do you find out which model you have?

I just received my T430s a few days ago, and IMO the screen is perfectly fine for a business laptop. It is very similar to the one I have on my aging X31, except it's a lot brighter. I've definitely seen worse, on some Dell laptops for instance. It can be used outside on a sunny day without too much trouble, so that's good enough for me.

Also, one thing that was very annoying was the automatic display dimming when running on battery; you need to turn it off in the HD Graphics settings, otherwise you get terrible contrast whenever you're not looking at a page with a bright background.

Otherwise, I'm rather satisfied with the T430s so far; coming from the X31 it feels oddly large, but the 1600x900 resolution makes up for it. The key size and spacing also feels unnecessary large, though I'm getting used to it. I remember that when I switched from my 770Z to my X31, the keyboard also felt subpar, but after a while it felt really great, so I'll reserve my judgement for now. A quick typing test indicates I went from around 90wpm down to 60wpm, though, but it's hopefully only a matter of days.

Regarding the 6-rows layout... well, they're clearly favoring form over function, because it is inferior to the old layout in every way; I didn't think I used the Forward / Backward keys much, but on a couple of occasions I did hit the Pg Up key instinctively in order to go to a previous page. Being a developer, I'm really worried about how I'll adapt to the new top row, since I'm used to touch-type F5, F10, Shift+Home and Shift+End very frequently. I also find the Fn+F8/F9 combo rather inconvenient when you're trying to change the brightness in the dark, but the Fn+Space for the ThinkLight is fine.

One last thing, even though it's rather quiet, it's definitely not silent like the X31 is; I'm used to sleeping with the laptop running next to my bed (something like 50cm away), and the fan noise on idle is clearly audible. Does anyone know of an easy way to lower the CPU speed / fan speed on idle? I think it's running at around 1.2Ghz on idle, it would be nice if it could be lowered enough so that active cooling is not required.

 

I bought a Crucial M$ 256GB SSD, just went through the normal Windows thing and then downloaded drivers from online. I used an MSDN license key, but shouldn't there be a Lenovo OEM key for Windows somewhere on the laptop?

I'm used to Dell (and MSDN for all my MSFT needs), so maybe this isn't applicable to Lenovo.

 

Look inside the battery bay.


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HWiNFO64 will show you. Download at HWiNFO, HWiNFO32 & HWiNFO64 - Hardware Information and Analysis Tools

If the screen is perfectly fine, enjoy the machine.

 

Thanks; just ran HWINFO64, it looks like I have a Samsung panel as well (LEN40A1 / LTN140KT03401).

 

Has anyone replaced the wireless card inside their 430s with other ones (like the 6300 bought on eBay)?

 

Received my t430s, was wondering if anyone else has experienced the whites appearing as a more yellowish colour? At first I didn't notice, but when compared to my old t410 the whites appear much whiter on this model (t410) (especially noticeable on websites), does anyone know any particular settings that could correct this, or is this is normal / a screen issue?

Thanks in advance!

 

If anything, my screen had a very very slight blueish tint that I removed using Windows' screen calibration. Whites are clearly whites here.

Maybe check your screen model with HWiNFO?

 

Its hard to decide as when 6300 came out it was draft N and now its acc to final N spec. there are 2 FRU# (part#) floating on ebay for lenovo branded 6300, 60y3233 is what our machine has and is for $35-45 on ebay while older one is for ~$20

 

Lenovo contacted me today to announce a new visit by the field engineer to replace the motherboard.

Does anyone have experience with this situation? In the event that there is no usable OS on the HD: which tests are being performed by a hardware field engineer after replacing the motherboard?

 

HWiNFO64 came back with:

Monitor Name: Lenovo (Unknown Model: LEN40A1)
Monitor Name (Manuf): B140R102 V1
Serial #: Unknown
Date of Manufacture: Week 1, 2010
Monitor Hardware ID: Monitor/LEN40A1

any ideas what this can tell me / relevance to whites appearing more yellowish?