The Upcoming ThinkPad X230, X230i, T430, T430i, T530, T530i and W530?

Hey everybody. Just saw online ( 51nb) that the next generation ThinkPad is PTCRB certified:


T430, T430i, Mar. 7, 2012


T530, T530i, W530, Feb. 21, 2012


X230, X230i, Mar 8., 2012

When do you think the new series will be ready for sale?

 

maybe after win 8 is released?

 

No T430s? Perhaps those who want something thinner have to go to the ultrabooks.

John

 

Personally I don't see sense for Lenovo to have 3 different variants of the T430, I probably think the T430u will fill the niche for the slimmer 's' models though I could be wrong as its still early days.

 

Very few ultrabooks have more than 1368x768 resolution. Plus the advantage of the T4_0s was it had full voltage CPU's in a thinner chassis, as well as having a slim optical drive where you could fit a modular bay battery. Ultrabook is too much of a compromise IMO. But perhaps the s line of T series is finally going away, it's always been a niche model, just like X30_ series, maybe Lenovo could not justify a refresh of the T430s. It really is a shame, as my T410s despite the poor cooling and 1.8" HDD was really thin and light.

 

Which is why I'm following this with considerable interest (there is also a 13.3" 1600 x 900 version with the Samsung PLS (IPS equivalent) display).

John

 

I'm guessing July. The consumer Ivy Bridge laptops will start shipping on April 29th, it usually takes 2-months for ThinkPads to follow the first consumer notebooks with a new Intel. I'm guessing they'll announce them in April and give the availability date at that time.

John, the Lenovo S430 might also be considered a close cousin and follow-up to the T420s. Since the starting price is $749 (rumored) I'm guessing it won't be the same build quality though.

 

Doubt they'd wait that long.

Wouldn't be surprising. The two would be largely redundant, and the T4x0s series has long been priced too high and had too short of a battery life.

 

I'd say a couple months after Ivy Bridge is released. Lenovo will probably do the same thing with Windows 8 as they did for when Windows 7 was coming out by giving users a free or discounted upgrade.

I'm most looking forward for the X230 and W530. The design will probably remain the same although I'm really hoping for just a trackpoint or at least an improved touchpad for the X230.

 

X220 certification was done mid-Jan. If that's any indication X230 would release in May.

 

People that know, can't say.

 

Aww. I was hoping for a T430s.

Guess I'll hang on to my T420 then.

 

I got tired of waiting... I know the screens are going to be spectacular among other must haves now that I've ordered the T420s and will have had it for months by the time the T430s sees the light of day...

 

And drops to a normal price? T420s and T410s were like 1300-1400+ when they were first released.

 

wishes for T430S or similar model:
1. fully compatible with lenovo docking systems (like 420S and unlike ultrabooks)
2. better battery life than T420S
3. better screen, resolution actually less important than viewing angles, contrast and brightness for use outdoors (and Please non-glossy)
4. HDMI, USB3, etc
5. better environmental rating; HP is best so far and they are getting better and better at producing high quality laptops; looking at them and Samsung but my wrists still survive best with Lenovo keyboards, so we'll see in next few months

 

any reason to upgrade from x220i to x230i? (i think i might skip it this time)

 

Tempting...But I will wait until the next refresh at the earliest. My beefed up T500 is still kicking it without any hiccups.

The biggest reasons that would persuade me to upgrade would be better battery life.

 

Battery life could be improved, but no one can say until they're announced.

 

Not much of a reason if it is just an Ivy Bridge upgrade. Ivy Bridge is only a 15% CPU speed upgrade, which is not all that much in the grand scheme of things. I bought an X220 last month because I did not anticipate X230 to be a big jump, and, with its IPS screen, X220 already addressed my main complaint with previous X series laptops. X220 is pretty perfect in my eyes, and most of my issues with it are very minor.

(If you need better graphics performance, Ivy Bridge would be somewhat more attractive. However, even though Ivy Bridge integrated graphics is rumored to be significantly faster than Sandy Bridge graphics, it is still quite slow, and Intel traditionally has poor graphics drivers.)

That said, it is possible that Lenovo may introduce new features or design changes in X230, which may (or may not) make the upgrade more tempting. We will know in a few months...

 

Hopefully they do something about the trackpad.

Adding a screen latch also seems like a welcome addition.

 

Usually Lenovo will keep the same design for at least 1 generation. I would hope for the lid latch and a good touchpad.

 

I am looking forward to seeing what upgrades are available in w530. I am looking for a desktop replacement as a second laptop. In reality, I don't need one, but the x220 and my Galaxy Note has been getting my gadget loving genes going again. Also, sadly, I want to Diablo 3 despite me getting up there in years.

 

It isn't going to happen, but I want the no touchpad option back for the X230. The lack of a screen latch really worried me at first, but I don't really care much now.

 

any news on the t430u?

 

I hope this happens, OR they get a decent touchpad for the X220, like the ones found on _60/61 series ThinkPads. I would prefer the lid latch, as laptops like my Vostro 1500, Latitude D600, ThinkPad Z61t I can kinda just slam down the lid to close it, I don't do that with my X220.

 

Does anyone know if any of these ivy bridge laptops will include any Thunderbolt connections? I've google fu'd around but most of the descriptions do not go into great lengths about what ports they are providing or configs.

 

Only the new Edge S430.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

TB is not a high important on Think brand as they want legacy stuff. Believe it or not, I still use serial, LPT and 56k modem at my work for testing out certain functions.

 

Do you want to have desktop GPU power for engineering programs; professional soundcard, etc without sacrificing weight, portability,ventilation and such.
TB is the solution to all that

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Three Words!

Touchpads With Buttons!

 

My guess is that we may see some sort of implementation on the workstation/15" T-series Thinkpads. Since space is so tight on the 14" Thinkpads port-wise, I doubt such a niche port will make its way to any smaller Thinkpad, but we could be surprised.

It's sort of like how DisplayPort was only implemented on the T500/W500 to begin with.

Well, so far. We haven't heard about any of the core Thinkpads yet.

 

One word,

Trackpoint.

 

I doubt Thunderbolt is going to find its way into smaller Thinkpads soon. Looking at my X220, I have a hard time figuring out where they could put it in. The beauty of Thunderbolt on Mac is that it uses mDP. This can happen no where else since Apple is pretty much the only company using mDP. I think letting Apple choose this is one of the worst mistakes Intel could have made. Every other company is now either going to have to switch to mDP (unlikely in the near future considering that DP/HDMI haven't even managed to replace VGA despite their advantages), add another physical port on all their machines (unlikely, especially on smaller machines), ignore Thunderbolt altogether (likely, at least in the near future), or make their own LightPeak ports (likely, but not compatible with anything else. Think Sony Z2's PMD). It would have been much better for them to have used full sized DP or HDMI so everyone except Apple would have had an easier time implementing.

So just use ExpressCard.

 

Actually.. It's just Apple uses the smaller version of the chipset on their MBA. Intel controls this, they have two versions of the Light Ridge 82523EF/EFL chip, small and big (Small - 2 channels ; Big - 4 channels). Regular big chips go into MBP as you see and smaller one in MBA. Their 2012 replacement is Cactus Ridge L3510. I'm not sure if Intel still split it into two versions base on size this time.
So it has nothing to do with Apple now. Asus and Acer are also releasing TB ultrabooks this year. By the way LightPeak is just early prototype of TB, difference is it runs over fiber wire. And it is TB early stage name.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Even the MBP's use mDP as the Thunderbolt port. That is thus still a problem for people implementing Thunderbolt. Either switch to mDP, add an mDP, or don't bother at all.

 

Why do you feel this is a problem?

 

Just to clarify, Intel universalizes the TB port to be the same as DP. BECAUSE you can daisy chain devices with TB port, get a adapter/dock (Belkin,whatever, when it's out) and hook up your monitor and whatever peripherals (pcie, etc) you want. It will work just fine if you have enough bandwidth for devices being hooked to the TB port

 

Well, first of all, mini-DisplayPort is currently used only by Apple, so I doubt other manufacturers will rush to adopt it as well. Also, having multiple different connectors to implement one "type" of port is building on the problem that TB is supposed to resolve ("one port rules them all"): a Sony Vaio Z TB implementation is not compatible with a MBP's.

 

That is incorrect. HP uses mini DisplayPort.

 

EliteBooks have full sized DP + VGA and everything else is HDMI + VGA or VGA, except the Spectre which has a unique HDMI + mDP combo.

 

A dock is the solution to all that. The question is, whether it's enough of a problem for Lenovo's customers to warrant said solution.

 

Lenovo could always ask their customers what they want. I know its a novel concept.

 

Novel, indeed.

However, with many Lenovo "experts" who can explain eloquently why Lenovo does what it does, Lenovo doesn't need to ask.

 

Nothing new unfortunately. This is one of the few ultrabooks coming out Q3 2012 that I have my eye on though. If they could stuff a slot loading optical in there it would be perfect, but I'm not complaining.

The more I read on Ivy Bridge, the more I expect that these won't be available for purchase until August / Sept. timeframe.

 

Not to join the pile on, but Dell also uses it in the XPS 13 Ultrabook.

 

Can you point me towards some? I'd love to know why on earth they decided to change the optical drive positioning in the latest 14.1" T series and why they decided to make the optical drive bay less useful with each bloody revision...

I suspect they do. I just don't get the sense that I'm the sort of customer that they care very much about (for ThinkPads, that is.)

Personally I'd like to see Thunderbolt on ThinkPads if only because I want to see the adoption of a fast, multi-purpose interconnect that's not manufacturer specific. I'm not sure I'd use it, but I'd love to see it.

 

Yea, moving the Ultrabay on the T420 wasn't a good move.

As for Thunderbolt, I would love the ability to plug a single cable into a notebook and have a couple of daisy chained LCD panels, a fat external hard drive, a Blu-ray burner, and video dock.

 

what's the problem?

 

The bay, and the optical drive open button are right where most people naturally grab the machine to move it. Hence the tray opens and annoys most people.

 

When can we see a thinner X230i/T option with ULV Ivy Bridge CPU please? And also a thinner 6 cell.