T431S. Played with trackpoint

Two things:

So, I visited my grad's school's computer store and played with a T431s for a brief minute, like maybe 5.. All I really wanted to play with was the trackpoint and buttons. I must say it is hard and I am not sure if it will always be hard to use or if is something that takes getting used to. The trackpoint buttons I feel are more spaced out and the angle at which to hit the right click is hard to figure out. Matter of fact I did not figure it out in the brief time I used it. That sucked because on thinkpads in the past they just worked. You clicked the right trackpoint and it gives you the right click options. You may have preferred the touchpad but the buttons worked. In the brief time that I used it seems you have to hit it the button or "area" right on top and in the middle to right click. But it was almost impossible to use. BUT for those who don't use the trackpoint the quality is amazing, the screen looked great and it was very THIN and LIGHT and I would buy it and recommend it for any touchpad users or those who use a mouse and still want Thinkpad quality. ...But I can't give up just yet.

My predicament now is this. I am not sure whether to get at T431s or a T430s or both. I was dead set on the T430s because of the DVD, ability to add on an extra battery and now I took for granted how well the trackpoint buttons works all the time and does not take a learning curve. But after touching and picking up the T431s I fell in love with how thin and light it was and the solid build quality (i use T430 at work, edge, and T43 at home) So back to my predicament. Lenovo is now running a promotion that ends June 30th(today) that allows for FREE returns no restocking fee. Because of this promotion I now want to order a T430s AND a T431s. I know I am going to like the T430s so no problems there I may not even open the box. The questions is now do I order the T431s and attempt to get used to/adjusted to the right click button and then return it if I don't like it? or am I just being indecisive? A part of me does not like the concept of buying two laptops knowing that I am going to return one I have to receive the laptops . What would you do?

 

Try to love the buttonless trackpoint no matter what, because it is an executive decision

 

Thank that is what I am thinking also.

 

It depends what's important to you in a laptop. Personally, I love so many things about the T4x0s that has been removed from the T431s:

• Ultrabay for exchangeable optical/hdd/battey
• Thinklight
• Trackpoint buttons
• Easy access to the hard drive bay (1 screw)
• Easy access to RAM and PCI/mSATA slots
• Easily replaceable keyboard

For me, giving up any of those things for a little less weight or thickness is not a trade I'd like to make--the T430s is thin and light enough for me that being any thinner or lighter at this screen size wouldn't make a difference. It's sad to see great technical features removed from a technical user's laptop--I hope Lenovo continues to make models that continue to play to their traditional strengths.

 

Thanks for replying.

1. I had/was literally ordering a T430s last week so it could arrive before I moved but Lenovo botched my order. Twice! Same day the error occurred I had to book an urgent flight to my grad school to secure an apartment so I decided to wait before reordering (and the charges on my credit card to drop) and check out the T431s in the on-campus computer store last weekend.
My biggest reason for ordering a T430s was because of the DVD drive and extended battery. I knew though that I would be buying the swappable extended battery because I consistently heard the average battery life on the T430s is 4 hours (or less). That was unacceptable. That was the average of battery life of my first thinkpad (T43) in 2005. After some thought and asking around I guess I could live without a DVD drive. Especially since the majority of the time the extended battery would in there anyway. So I said why not check out the T431s which seems to get 5.5 hours. The extended battery on T430s costs more than an external dvd drive. 3.5 to 4 hours with a standard battery is not acceptable considering my T series laptop got that 8 years ago.


2. Two years ago I bought a refurbished Edge 14 because I was at home I just needed a regular laptop but could not live without the Thinkpad trackpoint and keyboard, my T43 had me sold. I missed the Thinklight(but I got over it considering I payed 3x less for my Edge than I had for my T43. It was staple on a Thinkpad but I can do with the backlit keyboard.

3. The trackpoint buttons are HUGE for me and will be my point of contention. I now plan on buying the laptop at my school on tax free weekend in a month and plan on paying special attention to the 5 day return policy. I am giving myself 5 days to get used to the trackpoint buttons.

4-6. I have not heard about how difficult it is to get to the internals but I do know that they are upgradeable so I am up for the challenge. Not sure how hard it is but I haven't seen videos or comments about that yet. I changed the keyboard on my T43 twice and added ram. I had to replace they keyboard on my Edge 14 and that was hard yet still simple (definitely lost a screw). Where is the extra RAM slot on the T431s? I could have sworn that on a model that came out 3-4 years ago the ram slot was really hard to access but then Lenovo made it easier again or people stopped complaining.
I would definitely like some links for articles or posts about the ease of upgrading if you have any.

Funny after writing my thoughts out in the post it seems that I have totally dropped the T430s from the running. So maybe not sure what I will do if I never get used to the trackpoint on the T431s. It may be the only Thinkpad for me. Still sucks that it is something that I have to get "adjusted" to and learn the exact way to press the flat buttons as opposed to the old way........ we will see. If it wasn't for the Thinkpad Accidental Protection I probably would check out other brands but I can't. Sometimes it's the little things.

 

Let's not forget that the T431s is an ultrabook. It's not designed with modularity in mind. That said, the T431s is probably one of the most modular ultrabooks on the market.

 

I would recommend you highly to wait for Haswell. buying an ultrabook (or any laptop for that matter) just a few months before Haswell is simple stupidity.

 

^

listen to this guy.

 

Yawn. Definitely not stupidity. Thank you. Don't need the latest and greatest. I believe I need a laptop for school and school starts in August. Life will go on. There will always be something new right around the corner.(although I heard Haswell is a big deal) And I doubt they are going to make it another T series, S model months after the T431s came out. (Based on this forum most people don't have one yet, still waiting for more professional hands on reviews from more websites. Not a good marketing/sales strategy. Please let me know when in history any computer company has done same exact model within, let's say 7 months of each other? Different models with updated processors maybe but not the exact same model. I have googled "T440" and nothing has come up. It seems based on this forum the T431s was known to be coming in January and announced in March, and then it went on sale in April. And then of course one has to a couple weeks to ship so let's say in our hands in May. 4-5 months.

I actually read a little bit Haswell (via macbook air) and it really seems like an upgrade I would want to wait for (battery life is guaranteed to be better). But like I said school is starting, I was just about to order a T430s, and the Haswell models have yet to be announced or even legitimate rumors.

Above I said I "believe" I need a new laptop because I have an Edge 14 series that works well but has about 40 minutes of battery life. Honestly, I plan on pulling out the laptop in the library (with a nearby outlet) much more than I do in class so I could maybe survive. But in the beginning of August is a tax free weekend, and I will save about $90 on my purchase. That is alot of money. There are just way too many incentives to buy it now rather than later.

 

Have to agree with ibmquality here that Haswell ThinkPads are quite a ways from our doorsteps. Like he stated, a ThinkPad leak happens, then 2 months later an early reviewer gets to play with a prototype. 2 months after that, the ThinkPad is officially released. It then takes another 2 months for Lenovo to get the product in production and shipped to your door. It will probably be around December or January until a Haswell ThinkPad is at your mailbox.

If you need a laptop now, go for it. The early reviews for Haswell-based PC's are a bit disappointing (see anandtech.com ( AnandTech | A Look at Intel HD 5000 GPU Performance Compared to HD 4000) for more). Battery improvements are great, but performance wise you'll see an average of 15% improvement. It's still good, but nothing as dramatic as people are making it to be.

 

Well, thats not always the case, particularly not with the Classic "Mainstream" models. For example, the last years lineup was announced in May on Accelerate 2012 and they were widely available in August.

This problem is more present with niche models (like the Helix or the X1 Carbon for example). But when they release their Mainstream-lineup, they can quickly free the production capacity because they can begin to discontinue the production of the older models. If you look for example on the T431s: It doesn´t replace a former ThinkPad, it is an addiction to the line, so Lenovo have to take away some production capacity from other models.

 

I hope you're right about the faster release cycle my X301 is approaching 5 years of use yet I haven't been able to find a notebook yet to match it in overall usability. It's size, weight, screen and overalll finish have yet to be matched, although the X1 Carbons are getting close.

 

I always wanted an x301.

 

To me the biggest shocker is why can't Lenovo duplicate the X301 with today's family of processors. The X301 had a 13.* screen, TWO external display ports, a spare bay for either a DVD or extra, full Ethernet and all of this for under 3lbs. Not only that, the X301 has the best pair of speakers I have yet to hear on a laptop.

I've tried out the most recent generations of laptops including the X1 series and also the T4*0S series and although most are obviously faster than my X301, they still lack the overall usability, feel, and basic ergonomics of the X301.

Lenovo, if you're listening please give us a modern an X301. The ONLY thing I can think of that would make the X301 perfect (not counting modern day speed) would be a docking port connector. Then the laptop would hit all major points that many users are looking for.

(sorry for going off on a T431s thread, but just was hoping the T431s would be a modern day X301; alas the wait continues)

 

There is E330, it has pretty good design imo. The only drawbacks are the display, no ultrabay, and average build quality (hey, it's the Edge btw ).

 

Well guys. I still stand by no one is stupid for not waiting to buy a laptop. But the T440s was somewhat announced. It actually showed up on their website. (That is big right?)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/724451-t440s-up-lenovo-website-ips-screen-1080p.html

A part of me wants to wait. But I need to know how much IPS costs? When I ordered my T43 back in the days there was the option for an IPS screen that you could view at all angles. That was like a $200+ upgrade. So between the costs of T440s being higher than the T430s to begin with, and then an IPS screen,and taxes it may still have to come down to the T431s. We'll see what is announced by August 4th. (I would then wonder if my school would get that model too??? time will tell)

 

This.
But then again, such neo-X301 would likely come with an island keyboard and a half-trackpoint (as discussed in this thread)... so I'd end up not buying it.


To the OP
If you're thinking about the T440s, and plan on keeping it for a long time, you'll want to get the IPS screen anyways. Why not try to spare some money for that, even if that means waiting a bit longer to get your hands on it?