T430s owners'/would-be owners' thread.

You would need to send the laptop in for servicing to get a new trackpad palmrest installed.

 

I this a prevalent issue? This is my first think pad and I like to use track pad :-(.

also, how do I protect my data in the hard disk? remove the hard disk and send it to service? Even though I have a password for the laptop, I'm not feeling very comfortable sending the laptop with the harddrive and with the data.

Don't want to erase the drive and restore it with the image later either.

Thanks.

 

You can send the laptop in without the hdd. I have seen a few cases where this has happened.

 

I have quite a few old drives and usually I restore the factory image to one and send it with that.

 

or you could do that. But usually i just send the laptop in without the hdd, if it was a hardware issue that need to be addressed.

 

So far my search for notebooks has restricted me to 1366x768 on this size notebook. I'm concerned about getting a 1600x900 because that resolution on a 14" screen is too small for me. I would plan on scaling up 125%. Does anybody do this who does web design, and does it introduce any strange artifacts?

 

Maybe you should try to look at some screens to see if you like the higher resolution. If you don't know anyone with one, you could probably go look at a 13" MacBook Air at BestBuy to see if you like it.

 

I see you've been trying to answer this question since your purchase last summer. Other than the screen what are your other core requirements?

With the trend towards higher resolution screens, it won't be easy finding a perfect match. Here's an example ThinkPad for your consideration:

 

The T430 is almost perfect, but it's a bit bulky. I think that if I could get the T430s with the resolution I want, I'd hop on that.

This machine is going to be mainly for business apps (Excel), some design (Fireworks), and maybe some coding. I currently have an HP TC4200 that I used to do a lot of work on, so I know the small screen didn't stop me. I would love an IPS screen, and have really considered the X230 route.

In terms of necessary features:

Light/portable (I would go for a light 17" IPS machine with Intel gfx if it existed)
Great battery life
Great keyboard (I hated the keyboard on the 17" Samsung Chronos that I bought)
Backlit keys (with manual control, I can't deal with auto-sensing alone)
I have a hard time with butt ugly aesthetics. I find the X1 with its large bezel pretty nasty. The X1C is awesome, but I don't like the screen resolution.

Some other considerations, and why I'm thinking of not buying an HP 9470m:

Durability (needs to be toddler-proof)... after 1 week our HP 8460p had dents on it. That's supposed to be a Milspec machine. All this aluminum crap is pissing me off. Our HP Compaq 6910p is probably 7 years old and almost looks like new.

 

17" screen, portable, and light in the same sentence? it's going to be a giant like my T520, 15 inch screen. I think T530 has those FHD screens which could be close enough to a thinkpad meeting your needs. Personally, i just would hook my thinkpad up to my dock with a 24 or 27 inch IPS monitor.

I just got the T430s i7 to future proof myself for a few more years with the 4yr onsite and tech support warranty back early Marxh. i noticed that the warranty isn't on the laptop yet when i look it up... is this normal?? i am guessing it takes time for it to registrar. I think the extra $180 for the extra warranty is worth having...

 

Thanks. I updated the driver as an attempt to see if this will fix the issue. It did! Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Alright, updated the drivers and BIOS to solve the automatic clicking of the mouse, now there I can hear audio only from FLV player and from no other software like VLC player, Jet audio etc. there is no audio even with windows sounds.

Anybody encountered this issue so far? Any ideas about rolling the BIOS backwards etc.

 

figured this one out as well..The issue was the Realtek audio driver enhancements. so, I tried all kinds of options and got frustrated, then decided to restore my computer to a previous date when the audio was working. AVAST did not let me do the system restore and the system restore failed.

Then I was fiddling with audio volume and it occurred to me to click the system sounds icon in the mixer. I got an error message that the realtek audio enhancements is causing the issue. I disabled it and the audio works!!

Thanks,
Jay

 

I just noticed that the dolby software is lost after the updates. I'm not sure how I can get the software back. Any ideas? Looks like the software was uninstalled automatically.

I could not find the software in the lenovo drivers and software page as well.
TIA,
Jay

 

If you're using Windows 7 and have access to (a copy of) the stock C:\SWTOOLS folder, you should find:

DolbyAdvancedAudio.msi
DolbyHomeTheater.msi​

in SWTOOLS\DRIVERS\AUDIO\PCEE4 .

 

Thanks Kaso, I installed the software. When I tried to start the program, I get an error that the driver is 7.2.8000.14 and the software needs driver 7.2.7000.11.

Rightnow, I'm trying to find that specific driver that the software looks for.

Solved it:
Rolled back the Realtek driver to previous revision in the device manager and restarted the computer and it solved it. Thanks Kaso for your help in finding the software installer.

Thanks,
Jay

 

Hi everyone. I just got done reading through this mammoth sized thread. I have ordered a T430s for myself and I wanted to find out if anyone has tried installing Ubuntu on this machine alongside Windows 7. Are there any difficulties in doing this? Please let me know.

 

No problems whatsoever dual-booting Windows 7 and any Linux distro, Ubuntu in particular. (Alternatively, Ubuntu can be run within Windows, or in a virtual environment such as VirtualBox.)

Welcome to the forum!

 

Are all components of the laptop detected correctly by Ubuntu? For example the fingerprint reader, is it possible to use it for authentication purposes (in Ubuntu)?

Are there specific instructions to follow when installing Ubuntu?

 

Profiled......

 

Are the screens really as bad as people make them out to be? Im trying to decide between this or waiting for updated models.

 

It is not bad for business users and anything like that.

If you need a wider gamut monitor and better colour accuracy this screen isn't for you.

And, if you'd like to wait for the Haswell lineup it'll be a long wait.

Lenovo is quite bad on the logistics side so if you want a new launch promptly as promised on their shipment estimates you can forget about it. It will be most probably will be a bad long wait.

Getting something on the current lineup will be a lot more hassle free.

Plus, you won't be a lab rat testing out early manufacturing issues, bugs and associated problems that's seen nearly everywhere in tech with early batches because there will be issues that aren't easily replicated or produced in test environments.

Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk 2

 

i just need it to do basic word processing and work for school, i have a powerful desktop that I do anything that requires any power, or proper colour reproduction.

 

I don't know if T430s is the right laptop for you but you won't be impressed with the build quality (except the screen) if that is what you're looking for too.

I'm not sure if the T430 is any better though, but better battery life is definitely a plus.

 

I have no issues at all with the screen. The default values inside graphics properties are not the best but with some manipulation the screen looks good. I read about people having problems with "screendoor effect" which I can not notice at all.

 

Hi, I recently bought a T430s and when I tried to insert a SD card it did not show up in my computer. I've tried 3 different SD cards the sizes are16 gb, 32 gb and 2 gb and neither of them shows up, to make sure the problem is not in the SD card I tried using the SD cards in 2 cameras and 2 other laptops. In all those devices the cards works.

I have tried installing these drivers from this thread https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T400-T...ess-card-SD-reader-missing-driver/td-p/794793 but it did not work.

I also tried following the instructions in this thread T430s card reader cannot read 16 GB SDHC card - Lenovo Community but that did not help either.

According to the device manager the Ricoh PCIe SDXC/MMC Host Controller is working correctly. The Ricoh SD Disk Device is also working correctly. Whenever I insert the SD card the Sound for a new device plays, and when i remove the SD card the removal sound plays.

I uninstalled Ricoh Media driver and now one of the cards showed up but Windows complains about that it needs to be formatted, but the size is 0 so that doesn't work either. Tried installing the driver again and now they show up in the device manager again and proudly says that they are working but the SD card still doesn't show up.

If I go into the device manager and forcibly update the the Ricoh SD Disk Device then it says:
Disc: Disc 1
Type: Removable
Status: Online
Partitiontype: MBR (Master Boot Record)
Capacity: 15807 MB
Non-allocated space: 0 MB
Allocated space: 0 MB

For the 32 gb SD card everything is the same but instead it says "Capacity: 30828 MB".

How can I fix this? I'm going away for 7 weeks with my laptop so I need to fix it ASAP and I dont have time to send the laptop back to Lenovo.

Edit:
When the SD card is inserted a storage device pops up in the device manager. The name of the device is just "Unknown device" and the status is that it can't find any installed drivers for the device.

 

Same here. The key is to set the gamma below 1 (I set it to 0.8). My screen is made by AUO.

My kids and I didn't see any screendoor effect.

 

I can't change the brightness of the screen anymore. Function keys and Power manager make no difference.

I got my faulty 44wh battery replaced with a SANYO that said 44Wh. Today I checked and it says 39 Wh.

Finally the battery life of this laptop is horrible. 2-3hours max.

 

Did you try re-installing the hotkey driver?

How long ago did you get the battery replaced and did you try recalibrating the battery?

The T430s is not known for it's stellar battery life. To make them thin and light they use smaller batteries, but they offer less battery life. There are many factors that effect battery life like the screen brightness and the CPU power level. You might want to fiddle with those if you want better battery life. The modular battery is another option.

The people here don't have ESPN. You'd probably help your cause if you gave more insight to your issues instead of listing a series of complaints.

 

Hello everyone, I purchased a T430 with:

1600x900 screen
4gb ram
320gb ssd
i5 3230m
centrino 6205 wifi
9 cell battery

also self-installing the following:

msata ssd 128gb crucial m4
additional 4gb ram 1600mhz



So far the only major issue I've had is more OCD than anything else --- the screw on the MSATA slot is not coming out and I have tried 10 different screw drivers already. I managed to install the mSATA ssd in there and load the OS and drivers just fine, but I am worried that the drive may come loose one day. Is there anyone that can offer advice regarding this issue?

Also a few other things I have noticed:

-The screen sucks (but that is to be expected with a budget business-class notebook)
-The fan does actually run quite a bit (doesn't really bother me, but I know it bothers others)
-The CPU tends to run in the 50C + temps even on little load
-The backlit keyboard is amazing, and the new chicklet style keyboard is something that I am very happy with
-The laptop is very back heavy - the majority of the weight is the 9 cell battery and surrounding areas
-Battery life of the 9-cell varies from 5 hours on full load to nearly 10 hours with light-weight usage


Overall I am quite pleased with the laptop and feel that I got my money's worth for $900 (laptop + ssd and ram upgrades self installed).

That being said, if someone could assist me with the mSATA screw problem, I would greatly appreciate it. If it is not that big of a deal, please let me know so I can sleep better at night haha.

Thanks!

 

I just use a set of small screwdrivers I bought at the local hardware store like this:



Did you strip the screw?

 

My E430 came from the factory with a 16gb msata in addition to the max allowable 8GB of RAM.
It's my understanding that the factory installed 16gb msata functions as "cache". ( not sure exactly how it works)

I have a 64GB Crucial M4 msata drive that I used for my operating system on my last E420 sitting unused in a closet because I gave the E420 to my mother. I bought the msata because I wanted the fastest boot speeds possible and to increase the overall performance of the E420.


Should I leave my E430 with the 16gb msata it came with from the factory?
Or, should I remove the 16GB, and replace it withl my 64GB Crucail M4 msata, and install the OS and programs on the 64GB msata ???

If I replace the msata, will the process be "plug and play" like it was on my E420, or will I have to make changes since I am removing the 16gb msata drive ???

 

I'm trying to determine what manufacturer made the screen in my t430s. I'm using hwinfo64 and unless i'm a blind I don't see anything about the screen. Can someone please have a look at this screenshot and let me know which screen I have.



Thanks

 

@jibs - you aren't looking where that information is; you can find it this way:

 

HWiNFO64 shows 2 windows. Close the one you were looking at, and you'll see the one A1X was telling you about. The "bigger" window that contains detailed information, including the screen manufacturer, sits beneath the "smaller" window.

 

A1X and Kaso,

Thank you for your help, When running HWiNFO64 I had never seen that hardware screen before because I was always selecting either Sensors-only or Summary-only.

Thanks again for the help

 

Hello all, I just recently ordered a T430s off of the Lenovo Outlet. Does anyone know where I can find a complete list of the specs for the system I ordered? I am beginning to question the possibility that this model does NOT have the backlit keyboard. The only identification I could find from the order was this: 2352CTR? 2352CTO?

What do these mean? The PSREF listings do not even show this as a build of the T430s, so I don't know where Lenovo came up with this model number?

Also, I ordered this Thinkpad to compare to the Y410p that I currently have. Basically, I will be deciding between these 2 models. Anyone's thoughts as to which one is better?

 

Hi All... I'm contemplating a T430s (unless a T440 comes out in the next few weeks), but the main worry I have is the battery life. I currently use a (non-s) T420 and I do not want to regress with battery life so I'm curious how long the the T430s lasts compared to a T420 (6 cell). Anyone have direct experience with the two?

 

Just a quick update for anyone looking for 1tb of storage using the T430s hard drive bay, I recently installed the WD WD10SPCX Blue 1tb slim 7mm HD and I have been really happy with the results. I moved my O/S to a 120gb msata drive and installed a 3 cell bay battery, giving me lots of storage and great battery life.

 

Awesome! I would do the same. (By the way, is that 120GB mSATA SSD a Mushkin?)

 

Nope I believe it is a Crucial, I don't remember off the top of my head but I was looking at Crucial or Intel for my msata

 

I'm trying to plug in an old mini disc player to my T430s using a cable from the headphone jack on the mini disk player to the headphone/mic jack on the left side of my laptop. I checked my recording devices and I had the option of microphone which was picking up my talking so I assume that is a built in microphone on the laptop, or microphone 2 which said it was located on the left side of the laptop which I assume is the headphone/mic port. I tried setting microphone 2 as the default input but it wouldn't let me, even after disabling the internal mic. I checked the Lenovo site and noticed that I did not have the Realtek Audio drivers installed, so I did that and now the only recording option I have in the list is the internal microphone.

Can someone please let me know what I'm doing wrong with this, I've done plenty of work with audio devices on my desktop but this is the first time I've tried to make sense of the combo port on my laptop.

Thanks

 

My employer gave me a T430s, with NVidia Quadro 600 graphics, i5 processor, 180 GB SSD, the 1600x900 display, and an ultrabay battery. The display seems to be identical to the 1600x900 used on the old T420 I had from my previous employer. Viewing angles left-right are excellent, tilt back is ok, tilt forward viewing angle is horrible (colors wash out immediately and then become silhouetted).

I am a big fan of the old T42 thinkpads from the golden age of thinkpads, and we have many of those at my home.

This new T430s seems to be a close imitation of the old T40-T43 systems. The thickness is almost exactly identical. The downsides are (a) The keyboard is too slippery and as a result I mistype passwords all the time, (b) An 85 square inch 1600x900 screen in 14" just sucks, it's the 85 square inches that sucks (the T42 had a 101 square inch 4:3 1400x1050 display). The rough trackpad isn't as good as the old smooth trackpad, and I don't use the multi-touch very much (it doesn't seem to work with Ubuntu, either.)

The upside is the brightness of the LED backlight and the 6-7 hours of real-life battery life that I can achieve with the ultrabay battery, which is better than the old thinkpads because there isn't a bulky and heavy 9-cell battery sticking out the back of this laptop.

 

I am having an issue where the laptop does not respond with the charger. It will not charge the laptop, nor will the charging lights come on. Once the new battery has drained, the laptop dies. The laptop will not work by plugging in the adapter and taking out the battery. SO, it does not seem that the laptop circuit is working. I tested and the adapter plug is putting out 20v dc. Any thoughts on my T430 issue?

 

Hi guys. I recently purchased a sealed T430s on eBay. I love the machine a lot. But I have a question about the warranty.

My machine has "IBM EZ Serv" service until 2016. But the warranty page doesn't specify if this is next business day on-site. I assume it isn't though.


I was looking through the options to upgrade the warranty, and was interested in accidental coverage with next business day service like I used to get on my Dells back when I used them. While I do see an option to upgrade to "3YR Accidental Damage Protection + Keep Your Drive" it doesn't say anything about next business day. Is next business day implied?

I'm accustomed to Dell's "Complete Care" with next business day service, that's what I use to get when I used to use Latitudes.

Thanks!

 

Greetings. First post for me. The problem with my T430: I press the power button and ONE TIME ONLY the power button flickers and the screen flickers. No fans or hard drive action. Solutions run the gamut from "Press the power button 10 times..." through "Get a new battery" to "Throw it away". Is the problem really a blown motherboard so go to solution #3? Any meaningful help/observations are welcome. I know that this is an old problem but it's new to me. Peace out.

 

Hi all, I'm new to the forum. I'm looking at the posibility to pickup a new T430s from a local store. However, I was wondering if there is a way to identify if the machine is a refurbished or a brandnew one. I'm afraid that I may buy a ref laptop at retail price. The retailer is not an authorized retailer for lenovo. The authorized ones does not have a machine that meet my requirements for spec.
The one that I'm going to buy is a 2353ABU unit, and the serial number starts with RYY...

Thanks for enlightment me in this matter