The hypothetical T430s - Who's getting one?

As soon as Ivy Bridge launches, that is.

I got my T420 with the HD screen and Nvidia graphics last summer for $750. I plan to gut it of the SSDs and the extra 4GB of RAM I've installed and resell it for $800. The parts I gut out will be then put onto the T430s.

I will also sell the T430s's included mechanical hard drive and DVD drive, replacing the DVD drive with an Ultrabay battery (if the option is there).

I will forgo dedicated graphics this time, since it looks like Intel has bought its A game with Ivy Bridge in terms of graphical prowess.

That's about it, I think. Otherwise, I'm going to forgo the fingerprint reader and webcam. Also, I will be getting this with the lowest-end Ivy Bridge CPU possible.

 

I ordered a T420s but it was delayed internally... If these things are announced with firm availability soon I will hold out for the new model...

 

I think the new lineup should be here by June-ish. I believe Intel has also bumped up availability of Ivy Bridge, at least, that's what today's rumor mill has been sprouting out.

 

Depends if they changed the keyboard or not. Also if they upgraded the display to something better. Oh and of course price.

 

I had a T420s for quite a while, couldn't stand the display. I would only consider a T430s if they had new display panels of a much higher quality.

 

Not sure if the T430s would materialise, but i would love to get the T430u, if it has a 1600 x 900 LCD.

 

Without an SSD or the higher-resolution screen, you probably won't get anywhere close to $750 for it. My friend recently bought a new Core i5 T420 with the HD+ display and a 9-cell battery for $680 pre-tax.

 

It does have the high resolution screen. It won't be coming with any hard drives because I'll be stripping it of the SSDs I've already put into it.

Maybe the Nvidia graphics are actually worth something...

 

Perhaps. You could follow this trade and see what the final selling price of this similar laptop is and adjust accordingly.

 

An aggregate of $600 doesn't seem too bad - I did get my machine for a hair under $750.

 

If the 6 cell battery life is better than the current t420 6 cell, and it takes 9mm drives this time, then i might get one eventually

 

I just wish that the screen are better this time. I am not asking for the best of the best, but something that is decent viewing angle and a good contrast ration is deeply appreciated. I want to get it, but if it doesn't have a good screen it does not meet my requirement my next notebook purchase.

 

Was interested to note in the release notes for Thinkvantage GPS software, that one of the updates was "Added support for ThinkPad T430, T430i, T430s."

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/g1gp11ww.txt

 

I've spotted some specs of the T430s: Specs of Lenovo ThinkPad T430s Revealed | Laptoping

It has the dual-core Ivy Bridge i5 and i7, a HD+ screen, optional Nvidia Optimus, and a "modern" (probably AccuType) keyboard with backlight.

 

Backlit keyboard, mini DisplayPort, and dual fans. All nice options.

Not mentioned: screen technology

 

I could be happily proven wrong, but I don't think "dual vent" means two fans. I think it just refers to the rear and side vents in most modern Thinkpads (ie, the X220 has dual vents while the X201 and X200 did not).

 

No Thunderbolt, no buy. This is getting ridiculous :/

 

TB would be welcomed, but I wouldn't call it a deal breaker. I'd gladly live without it for better display...

 

Hey, we got mini DP. It's half of Thunderbolt.

Are we betting on the displays? I think we need a poll.

 

They can keep Tbolt. Just give me a better display than my X1! I am very interested in this. BTW, I love the keyboard in my X1. Not sure what they call it, but it is way better than Dell, Asus, Toshiba or Apple keyboards. Cannot for the life of me understand why the above mentioned others do not copy this awesome keyboard.

 

i would think T430s would use the same type of screen as the old T420s. It would make sense for them to use old parts. But given the new keyboard update, anything is possible.

if the T430s comes out, there is a possibility that either X2 or T430u won't come out.

 

It doesn't have seven rows, like the old beveled keyboards. Otherwise, I do prefer chiclet keyboards myself.

 

Everything is speculation until Lenovo makes an official announcement. Heck, until some machines get in the hands of some reviewers and customers it will be speculation.

If Lenovo doesn't improve their screens, I won't be buying one. There are other machines on the market that better fit my needs.

 

I find the screens to be adequate enough. Color reproduction is average, but for office work, web browsing, and the occasional game, they are fine. I'd much rather see a Thunderbolt port, a more dense battery, better discrete graphics, etc.

 

We all have our own priorities. For 2012 my top priority is a stellar LCD panel on my personal use notebook. Samsung is making some killer PLS screens and they are already on the market in the NP900X3B. The Lenovo screens are not adequate for my personal use device.

I don't think some of your priorities aren't going to get met in 2012.

If the rumors are true you can forget Thunderbolt. They act like they are doing us a favor for putting USB 3.0 in the silicon this year. Let's hope the Intel code is better than what we got from the NEC/Renesas code.

Discrete graphics? Good luck with that on a T430S. I don't know why they even bother with NVIDIA if the Intel HD 4000 can really display on three displays.

 

What is your line of work? I suppose if you are a photographer or graphic artist, I can understand why good screens that reproduce color accurately to the last pixel are needed. But, for the rest of us, these average TN panels suffice, and that is why most notebook manufacturers don't bother much with screens - most consumers don't care.

As for discrete graphics, they are important to me because I game. Intel's latest effort is a huge step forward, but it's still somewhat behind the curve, particularly in terms of drivers. I suspect Haswell will be when Intel finally displays its prowess in graphics, but till then, I'd like to see more powerful discrete options that fit within the thermal envelope of the T430s.

 

I'm with him on this. Intel's HD card, on paper, looks very powerful but they lack the specials features that games need. Sure you can run your COD4 on Intels HD card but scalability sucks and it all depends on the RAM. If some cheap company puts in slow ram in your laptop then the game will Suffer. Running Just Cause 2 on my Intel 3000 gets barely 5FPS in the same settings my 4200m gets at 45-50. So, for me, Intel better show me they better support games in drivers (which I admit, they have been proactively fixing bugs in games better lately) but.. I will still stick with my nVidia card.

 

High quality IPS, PLS or other screen technologies are desired on my personal machine because I spend a lot of time using it and it cuts eye fatigue dramatically. I prefer better color, contrast, blacks, brightness, etc. Clearly consumers do care. You might want to check and see what is happening in the slate market for proof. That is spilling over into the notebook market as well.

Photography and HD video are both often used scenarios for my machines. However, I would not buy a T430S for that workflow. I use a quad powered portable workstation for field work, and a desktop workstation for real work.

As for your gaming requirement, Lenovo has already demonstrated they simply don't care. I mean seriously, are you in denial on that? Look at the T400S, T410S and T420S. The T400S and T410S screens were good but the GPUs were feeble for gaming. The T420S screen is crap and the GPUs were only fair.

You really think the T430S is going to be a solution for your needs?

As long as you keep buying their product, they'll be happy to take your money and laugh all the way to the bank. Until you pick something else that meets your needs, they won't get the message. And Lenovo NEEDS to get a clue badly.

 

Well, I wouldn't complain if Lenovo offered higher quality screens at the right price. I would love to see better contrast on these screens, for one. I would buy them simply as a plus. But, you must remember that Lenovo is a primarily Chinese company, and the Chinese mantra is to cut margins and costs of production to the bone in order to gain market share.

The NVS 4200M is not a bad chip, depending on the rendering workflow. I have played Battlefield 3 on it. It's not as good as playing on my desktop computer with its GTX 560 Ti, but it still offered an adequate framerate. It was better than what the HD 3000 could pump out.

 

I don't know if it's just Lenovo though. The next GPU that is rumored to be in the T430 will be the NVS 5200m which holds the same specs as the GT525m (except being non fermi), which is a low end gaming card (or middle class) the memory speeds and specs will be the same as my old Toshibas 525m which ran games realllly well. They have to balance out the weight and size in regards to the GPU power and heat output AND.. they don't want to take away from their Wxxx series models either lol also.. I think it's still progress because the 5200m is the same card as the 1000m in the W520 ,they are both based on Fermi so it will outperform my old 525m. So I am still excited on that part. They want to keep the price the same by reusing as many old designs as possible so revamping the cooling system will raise the price enough to make it out of reach for people upgrading or going towards the old T420 instead of the T430. So there are alot of variables to give care too. Even if not for gaming, it's all a step forward to keep the performance faster than previous gen and keep battery life and price down all while keeping us picky people happy. (as best they can)

 

The use of the 64 bit memory interface in their discrete graphics is disappointing however.

 

The T430s and T430u are independent products; the release of one does not preclude the release of the other.

 

Do you have the specs on each? The initial look at the T430U prototype sure looked like it was very similar to what I would expect the T430S to be.

If the U really comes out, it will be interesting to see how it differs from the S, the X230, the X2, and any other slim ThinkPad notebook computers.

May is going to be a long month...

 

IMHO, in an ideal world:
The T430u should be a thin-and-light with no CD drive and an SSD standard.
The T430s should reflect the current T4x0s heritage (i.e. with a CD drive)
The T430 would be as we all know the regular T series

The first would compete with the Macbook Air; the second would be for those who would want a full featured laptop and will pay a premium for the slimness; the last one for all the regular joes out there

 

If the new model comes with a better display, I'm hoping it will be an easy swap for the T420 display.

Imagine, getting an IPS display in the T420...

 

I doubt it. Lenovo will continue to use average panels.

 

Looks pretty finished to me:

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u: Hands On - YouTube

so looks like it could come out soon.

 

Lenovo got lot of quite finished product that never launched. U1 for example.

 

I'm still hoping for a great X2.

 

The X1 is a nice machine, but the glossiness of the glass on the display combined with limited expansion capabilities and high price make it rather undesirable.

 

Glossy display, buttonless trackpad, switching to chicklet keys...

I feel like I'm describing a MacBook. I'll take these features on my MBP, but please, leave them out of my ThinkPad.

 

The screen will be matte in the final iteration.

I love chiclet keys, but yeah, the buttonless trackpad is disconcerting - which is why mice are the best.

 

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, no company has gotten a buttonless trackpad to work except for Apple. HP tried, and it's absolute rubbish. Acer has tried, and it's rubbish. Lenovo, rubbish. I honestly believe it's a driver issue, because the Apple trackpad is not the best under Windows either.

The texture on the Lenovo trackpad, however, is nice, and I do enjoy using my T420 trackpad & its physical buttons.

 

I hate Apple, but I completely agree. Their aluminum build quality and the amazing touchpad blows pretty much any consumer laptop out of the water. Apart from the trackpoint (subjective opinion) I haven't found any laptop with touchpad comparable to responsiveness and usability to Macbook's. It's somewhat surprising, since I consider it, together with the keyboard and screen one of the most important elements of a laptop.

 

Agreed, the keyboard and trackpad are the most important elements for me as well. It was part of the reason I sold my X220 for a T420.

 

FYI,

The ELAN touchpad on the 2012 Samsung NP900X3B and NP900X4B are pretty good. They aren't as good as the Apple glass, but they are the best I've used on a PC.

Hopefully Lenovo has been paying attention and will have a solid implementation on the Ivy Bridge wave of machines.

 

I agree that the trackpad for the MBPs are superior than most any manufacturer. At the same time, I can't stand the keyboards on the MBPs any longer. My wife and I cannot type on our last remaining Mac any more because the chiclet keyboard just feels wonky now (compared to the x220). Trackpads are nice for general web surfing, but I prefer trackpoints when working with documents. Otherwise, if given a choice, I would prefer a mouse to both.

 

They did say, I think, in that video that the screen will eventually be matte in their production units. What I miss on Macbooks is the proper dock station.

Thank you. I haven't heard much about these particular Samsung laptops, but their general reputation is pretty good.

 

"High quality IPS, PLS or other screen technologies are desired on my personal machine because I spend a lot of time using it and it cuts eye fatigue dramatically. I prefer better color, contrast, blacks, brightness, etc. Clearly consumers do care. You might want to check and see what is happening in the slate market for proof. That is spilling over into the notebook market as well."

I cannot tell you how much I agree with the above.

 

My review of the Samsung NP900X3B includes comparisons with my T420s. One design headache for the T430s is how can Lenovo provide a generous touchpad if they keep the prackpoint and its buttons. The pad on the Samsung has nearly twice the area of that on the T420s and that helps usability.

John