T430s owners'/would-be owners' thread.

This pretty much sums it up. I've been searching for the right laptop and it seems like there is nothing but compromise wherever you look. I think the 430s had the least amount of any laptop for me. The problem is the bad screen is probably the worst or second worst to compromise on a laptop. It's just mind boggling that a good screen isn't even an expensive option. I'm sure many would be willing to pay for it.

tapatalk mobilized

 

Yeah it blows my mind that a computer can be so good with 1 blatant flaw.

What do people complain about on the t430s besides the screen? Maybe no HDMI slot but a simple converter fixes that. It can even fit 2 HDD's...I just dont get it.

Anyway, I'm going to call lenovo and see what happens.

 

Maybe, the front-load six-cell battery (for its relative short duration). Also, maybe, all ports sitting in the back.

 

That it will not fetch coffee or do laundry either?

 

Mine does laundry. You didn't order that option?



Here would be my feedback for improvement of the machine:

1. Include a Thunderbolt port on all models, not just the i7
2. Option to buy premium IPS screen
3. Not have to manually turn on the backlit keyboard
4. Change Optimus to work like the T420s and support driving more screens

 

Just got an i7 t430s for my girlfriend and we love it. Funny thought that with the default installation, getting to the last windows update cycle of 48 updates, 2 of them fail causing changes to be reverted back, and it won't get out of the cycle without some kind of intervention. Googled the error code, 643, tried some windows update fix, no workie. Don't feel like re-installing windows but it will likely come down to that. Otherwise great machine, just wish they would not put so much bloatware in it that messes up the OS.

 

Good points. I would like a Thunderbolt,

I actually like the ports in the back better than the sides. Much easier hooking it up to things IMO.

Yeah, there is a lot of Lenovo bloatware, but I actually like some of their apps.

 

I was looking at buying this laptop and upgrade to windows 8 but how well does the touchpad support windows 8? On the website it looks like the touchpad is the same as on a T420s - i tried a T420s with windows 8 and the smooth scrolling etc. just didn't work properly (even with the latest drivers etc.)

Many thanks,
Dennis

 

The Lenovo touchpads aren't very good. Some people have suggested scraping the bumps off the surface improves it but I am reluctant to do that on a new machine like our T430s.

The ELAN touchpad on my Samsung Series 9 is much better than our T430s.

 

mmm - I tried a Sony S this weekend which had a great touchpad in Windows 8, it was almost like a Macbook Pro!!

 

Hey guys, got my T430s today. Right now it has tapping enabled (ie, tapping the trackpad acts as a left click). I always disable it, but it looks like they changed the UltraNav menu, and I cannot find where to disable it. Help me out?

Edit: I updated the UltraNav drivers and the option came back. Problem solved.

 

I just installed the new Synaptics driver, 16.2.19.2 which was released today. After the install, the middle trackpoint scroll button doesn't do anything and it looks like the option to scroll or magnify has disappeared in settings. Is this just some kind of flaw in my install, or has anyone else seen this?

Also the new trackpad settings has edge gestures for windows 8 (swipe from right for charms, swipe from top to close app, etc) but I can't seem to get them to work. Am I doing something wrong?

 

I had a problem with the default (non-Lenovo) Synaptics ver.16 drivers when I clean installed windows 8 on my X220 Tablet, and I was also unable to get the edge gestures to work. So I uninstalled the new Synaptics drivers, installed the old ultranav drivers, then re-installed the new Synaptics drivers (over the old ultranav drivers), and somehow middle button scrolling came back. I still can't figure out what's up with the edge gestures.

 

I am not surprised that the functionality is not there in the standard synaptics driver but I just pulled mine from the system update utility. Does lenovo keep old driver versions archived somewhere so I can try to get my middle button back?

 

You might get more out of the monitor from the profile I posted here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/685419-t430s-monitor-profile-info.html

 

All,
How do I check if the latest drivers installed or not?

Thanks,
Jay

 

Pragmatic caveat: If your ThinkPad is running well, no need to worry about the latest driver updates.

Lenovo party line: Run the Lenovo System Update program. (I don't know how reliable/thorough this program really is.)

The nitty-gritty approach: Check your driver versions (Control Panel > System and Security > Device Manager) against the ones posted on the Lenovo drivers page for T430s. For example, I find this:

​

whereas the Lenovo Windows 7 drivers page shows this:

​

Should I feel inadequate? Nah.

 

Nrbelex,
I installed the profile you provided. I compared the red, blue and green using mspaint between the default profile and the one you provided. the colors look more real with your profile. Thanks for sharing the profile.

My t430s came 4 days ago. i love the laptop and I hate its screen. Viewing angle sucks. worst part is color tone is different at the top of the screen and the middle of the screen.

 

Yeah, I fault Lenovo big time for this. All 14" ThinkPad models suffer from this monkey business, not just the T430s, which is supposed to be slim and premium and all.

 

for most people, laptop is a keyboard with a screen where they can do some stuff...screen quality is a major part of experience since it lets one see one's work. why would lenovo screw up the screen? beats me...may be some Lenovo internal business case that showed tht a better screen did not pay back that well compared to this crappy screen?

 

Year after year. Not just a one-time screw-up. They knew the crappy situation moving from T420/s to T430/s, yet they didn't care to do something about it. In fact, they continue the monkey business with the X1 Carbon and the T430u.

Well, people keep buying those notebooks anyway. (I'm not pointing at you personally, but don't you agree?)

 

Keso, I agree.
My wife and I used dell machines so far and this is my first Lenovo. I knew that the screen was not the best, but was not expecting what I received with my T430s. don't get me wrong, this is a great laptop and has the record of reliability that these machines have demonstrated.
I think Lenovo lost a potential customer of thinkpad. My wife's first reaction when we looked our snaps on the thinkpad was "our pictures look crappy!!" Probably macbook pro for her!!

 

"Honey, get me a MacBook Pro with Retina Display."

 

My wife can't stand the Macs. She's totally a ThinkPad girl. The Samsung screen on the T430s she uses is just fine with her. I haven't even calibrated it.

 

laptopJay, glad it helped. I'm also not a fan of the panel Lenovo uses, but with proper tweaking, I can make it acceptable, if barely. The T430s panel should never be used when trying to match colors accurately. Most of the time I'm using a professional, wide-gamut monitor as my primary display, so anything color critical is there, while the laptop screen is a secondary.

I suppose the T430s is marketed to business people, not artists and designers, so Lenovo can cut corners on the screen with little complaint and use the savings for the solid chassis, keyboard, etc. that make ThinkPads such great workhorses.

 

That's all well and good, but they could offer high quality screen upgrades and they could even, you know, charge a little extra and make some money. Imagine that. Everybody wins. The deliberate choice not to do this is baffling.

 

I still don't understand this. Even if a company didn't want to spend the money for a higher quality screen they wouldn't have to since they're CTO. It worked really well for the X220/X230.

 

Agreed. I would like to meet the VP that makes these decisions.

 

I don't disagree - I would love to see high-quality monitor options. My only two points are that when Lenovo does research, I'd be surprised if the average (non-NBR) T430s user lists a better screen among top feature requests, and adding more screen options adds to production and support costs, which is why no major laptop is completely customizable. In theory, any feature can be added for extra cost, but the amount Lenovo would have to charge to modify the production line and provide support probably means the option would be outside a reasonable, acceptable price range.

NBR users are a very picky bunch, and Lenovo makes the vast majority of its profit from large corporate purchases, not individual CTO orders. As long as those making the purchasing decisions consider the screens acceptable (especially compared to the competition), Lenovo won't feel much pressure.

 

Nrbelex is right. Corporates really don´t care much about the screen. For the 14" ThinkPads, they would have to order those screens extra, and screen options cost money. Also, the X220/X230 isn´t a good example: For X220/X230, they just used the X220t/X230t screen.

 

Sigh... We seem to go through the same old discussions every 3 months or so. It only takes a new 14" ThinkPad user to comment about the "crappy" screen for the exchange of "exasperation" and "wisdom" to repeat.

 

I'll plead guilty I suppose, however Lenovo's thinking is a little too simple and myopic. Lenovo could look for ways to expand their markets and integrate efficiencies among their product lines. Lenovo is moving into the consumer market with Ideapad and Essential lines, where screen quality could be (Yoga = is) a selling point. Gaming/multimedia is another untapped area where I think for active young people/college students a TP build quality gaming rig would be very desirable -- seemingly every other thread in the What Notebook Should I Buy forum is 'college student looking for durable, lightweight, good battery life, some gaming for uni.'

In short, instead of keeping a, ahem, Chinese wall between their product lines, Lenovo could leverage their purchasing and integrate the best of their design elements to expand their offerings and markets.

(sorry, I know this is getting off topic for the thread.)

 

You are preaching to the choir here. Many of us would like the option of buying higher quality screens on a ThinkPad purchase.

Because Lenovo has not offered that, my personal light travel machine is now a 13.3" Samsung Series 9 with a PLS screen. I would prefer a 14" PLS or IPS screen on a T430s but that doesn't exist. The Sammy has it's share of compromises, but the screen isn't one of them.

Lenovo isn't alone though. What maker has a 14" model with a killer screen?

 

Vizio. Of course, it has a number of big detractions that make it a non-starter.

Just to bring my supposedly off topic comment above back on topic, wouldn't a T420s what top end video card and screen be the perfect uni notebook? Lightweight, rugged, backpack-ready, configurable for long battery life, good keyboard for writing papers but also usable for college-age leisure. Parents who use and know TPs at work would approve of the choice.

If they want to keep the TP name branded as a workplace product, then re-brand this version in a different name, or give it an XPS-like name suffix. Where is it written that the TP build quality can only reside in a TP?

 

Bad 14" screens are a very common issue across the industry. For example Dell and HP, the major business-notebook vendors aside from Lenovo, sell also no 14"ers with good screens. HP is even selling their 14" "mobile workstation" with a hideously bad screen with screen-door effect ( Review HP EliteBook 8470w Notebook - Notebookcheck.net Reviews).

A T420s with a top-end video card would burn your skin and melt in your hands. And students should be smart enough to know that gaming on a thin-and-light notebook isn´t a good idea. They should learn.

Thats what they currently trying with the ThinkPad Edge Series and what they tried with the SL Series.

 

Exactly. To get a good screen, you have to step down to 13.3" or up to 15.4 or 15.6". There are a number of wonderful screens on the market above and below 14". I have the Samsung 13.3" PLS, Samsung 15" Retina, and a 15" Boe-Hydis Flexview. I'd like a HP DreamColor.

I was really hoping Lenovo was going to put a 14" IPS screen on the Carbon. But since they haven't, it isn't in my collection.

 

Can a Thinkpad T430s boot off an SDHC card or off a USB 3.0 slot at USB 3.0 speed? I plan to run Ubuntu 12.04 as a live boot.

 

can some one help me please. which models have thunderbolt? only i7 WITHOUT nvidia gpus?

 

A majority of companies will give their workers external monitors to work with, so they don't care about the default screens on the notebooks. By the way, the external monitors are not necessary high quality, either.

 

Thanks for the wisdom. After years of owning ThinkPads since the IBM days, I never figured that out.

So, for those stupid users coming here to complain about "crappy" ThinkPad screens, just shut up and internalize the fact that you're wasting your money on the wrong notebooks. They are never created for you. They are created for office slaves who DO, not for those who ENJOY THE SCREENS.

 

Do I detect a note of sarcasm in your post? But this is right. Lenovos main customers for ThinkPads are corporates. The only segment who cares about good screens, the mobile-workstation segment, is also the only one who get good screens.

Thats also something that applies on IBM ThinkPads. Only the 15" performance machines got Flexview, the rest was settled with crappy TN displays.

 

You are welcome.

People can complain about whatever they want, but knowing the reality and why the status quo exists is also valuable. I also hope Lenovo will one day increase panel options, but until then I have to "internalize the fact" that I've made the decision to purchase a laptop which wasn't designed with my needs in mind - namely a high-quality panel. As a result, sometimes I have to get creative when an aspect of the machine isn't ideal.

This shouldn't surprise you or even be a point of contention, really. The top of the Lenovo T-series page says, "ThinkPad® T Series notebooks are Lenovo's Enterprise Best Choice, offering a thin and light design with no-compromise performance at an exceptional price." (Emphasis added). They are designed and marketed for corporate/enterprise environments.

It's like using a tampon to plug a nosebleed. You can DO whatever you want with it, and it will excel at certain jobs it wasn't designed for, but at the end of the day, it's still a tampon.

 

Thanks for repeating the same old wisdom. As I said, I was never able to figure out those subtle aspects of life by myself.

(At least I don't take myself too seriously. Preaching to the choir, preaching to the choir...)

 

Correct. My understanding is that it comes with the i7 based T430s with the integrated Intel HD 4000 gpu. It will not come on the Optimus based machines.

 

Could not disagree more. Lenovo must satisfy our needs at the expense of the enterprise market. Clearly we're more important and it is beyond human capability to do both. Leveraging your market rep to expand into new markets is for capitalist running dogs and will not be tolerated. Lenovo must stop supplying capitalist rope. The people must be served first.

Also, too, I demand Lenovo execs stop walking and start chewing gum.

/rant

 

No need to stress the point that the needs of the enterprise takes precedence. I think that Thinkpads are rugged and reliable due to the requirements of enterprise user. And the individual buyer benefit from that.
however, an option to pick and choose would always be great. The custom options of a new car is fairly larger than a laptop (I agree that there is some incompatibility within the price point in a laptop).

Apple too does not provide that many options and customizations. But with the configurations that apple put together (at a higher price point though), I'm not sure how may are complaining about some feature of apple laptops.

With all this being said, I like my t430s.

 

I have to agree with the comments on the screens. After being spoiled by the usage of IPS displays on my Microsoft Surface, the Nexus 7, and various smartphones, Lenovo needs to realize that consumers would like IPS displays on their laptops, too.

I would pay additional money for the pleasure, and I am sure many people here would too.

 

Yes, consumers. So, go for a consumer notebook, if you want consumer features.

 

You're a "consumer" too, pretending to be some important business/corporate/executive person.

(Pssst, many of those business/corporate/executive people are dying for "nice" phones and tablets with "beautiful" IPS screens.)

 

Hi everyone,

I'm excited about the 430s and would like to hear more about how those of you out there have made use of it, and specifically how good the battery holds up? Finally - I'm slightly aprehensive about Windows 8 - can anyone assuage my fears?

I got on the Mac bandwagon in 2008 after having used PC's my whole life (started with a 386 pc using Dosshell back in the early 90s). This is the 430s I just ordered today:

Processor: Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
Operating System: Windows 8 64
Operating System Language: Windows 8 64 English
Display Type: 14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit Anti-Glare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
System Graphics: NVIDIA Optimus Graphics (NVS 5200M, 1GB), Intel® Core™ i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
Total Memory: 8 GB DDR3 - 1600MHz (2 DIMM)
Keyboard: Keyboard (Backlit) US English
Pointing Device: UltraNav multi-touch touchpad & TrackPoint with Fingerprint Reader
Camera: 720p HD Camera Mic
Hard Drive: 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Micro Hard Drive (mSATA): 16GB mSATA Solid State Cache Drive

My reason for getting this is actually quite pragmatic: I've been making use of VBA and Macros in Excel for the most part of the year at my job (on PCs of course), and using Excel for Mac isn't just impractical - the software fails to run even intermediate macros. I've grown tired of this and decided to move to PC. I used a thinkpad just under a decade ago, and the hardware struck me as extremely sturdy and reliable. I hope you are all happy with yours.

Happy new years.