ThinkPad Edge S430 Lounge

Let's discuss about this unit here. The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430 is my most anticipated notebook of the year. The first windows laptop with THUNDERBOLT

Specifications - will be modified upon official release
Screen: 14-inches 1600 x 900 matte
Processor: Intel Ivy Bridge mobile processor Core i3 and Core i5 and possibly 35w quad
Graphics: Optional 2GB NVIDIA with Optimus (I think it could be one of these: GT630m, 635m, 640m & 640m LE - technically there will be 2 motherboards, one with iGPU only and one with dGPU & iGPU
OS: Windows 7 (Maybe free upgrade to W8 later ?)
Memory: 8GB RAM max from factory (2 DIMM slots)
Storage: SSD or HDD, interestingly, optional 1TB HDD (2nd drive in ODD)
Weight: Under 4lbs (1.8 kg) with tray ODD
Dimensions: 14.84” x 9.65” x 0.80” (W x D x H)
Ports: USB 3.0 (2), ThunderBolt, Ethernet, HDMI,
Price: Starting at $749
Availability: June 5th 2012

Thunderbolt eGPU anyone ?

Early hands on videos
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430 Tour - YouTube
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge S430 Hands-On - YouTube
ThinkPad S430 Hands On - YouTube

Some photos:






How foolish they put the FN button all the way left next to Ctrl

 

reserved for later

 

reserved for later

 

Glad that you did this, but there was already a thread about this laptop.

Im waiting for this model as well as you know, dying to see if the gpu is good enough, or if it isnt if it comes without it, I dont care that much about that, the HD 4000 is pretty enough for my needs, and if it isnt those pesky thunderbolt egpu should have come around.

The main problem that I see in this model is that the T430u could have those internals, and I would still prefer to own a thinkpad than an edge.

 

The thing about the T430u is it only comes with 1366 x 768 screen and low powered CPUs. Lack of dGPU and Thunderbolt. The first three are the main distinction.
Despite that, it costs a hundred more :/

 

the low powered cpus for me aint that a great loss, neither is the gpu (I still have a sore memory how lenovo didnt launch the e420s in the US with the 6630m, while all around the world it was packing the heat, hell even the e320 packed that card.), however to lose a potential great port is something that I dont want, thus thunderbolt is a make or brake feature for me right now.

And that is because I like to keep my system as far as they can go.

ps: I would also love the bump in the res if it comes with 1600*900

 

This made my day.

 

^ that's something you don't see elsewhere beside true ThinkPad

 

I am pretty sure that the screen on the T430u will have a HD+ screen. But the battery life will be better with ultra low voltage CPU. I believe that the T430u will be tougher than the Edge. The GPU and the Thunderbolt might be a secondary concern to some user. I would be more impress if Lenovo include a better LCD screen on their refresh, otherwise I would rather get the discount on the current models.

 

I was just taking a peak at the lenovo site, and was looking at the brazil portal, it says in the product showcase launch in may 2012, in the us it says june 2012

just some random info

 

^ yeah it's available for purchase in June (5th), they would probably have a showcase/press confe in the u.s in may , who knows


Sent from my wholly molly new iPad using Tapatalk

 

is there any particular reason you think it will have gaming graphics cards over professional graphics cards (if this laptop has 640m id buy it in an instant....even without it it would be interesting with some egpu action). Also it seems there is no msata port? Although that is not a huge deal here as we can just replace the cd with an ssd.

 

The edge line never had the quadro or firepro cards. And sincerely Im quite happy for it, the current low end quadro is basically a rebrand of last year.

 

Yes having geforce would be much better. If this has the gt640m or amd equivalent I will throw all of my money at it.

On a related note is there any word on if it will have the 4 channel thunderbolt or the 2 channel? Presumably some yet to be announced thunderbolt egpu could use all 4 channels in parallel right? If this were true, and since each channel is pcie 2.0 x4 would this be equivalent to the standard desktop pcie 2.0 x16 slot (basically does 4*x4=x16)

 

we dont know where is the bottleneck in the current system, a port or the cable can only support 2 channels. It still delivers pcie 2.0 x4 performance on that single port. what would be interesting is that if they put all that x8 bandwidth that exist in the channel.

 

The s430 looks very promising. I would not doubt its ThinkPad quality and brand, and I like that the look is business and reserved, but with hints of styling so it doesn't look exactly like, well, your grandparent's ThinkPad.

A GT 650M is promising too, but heck, I'd probably be okay with a GT 630M. 1600x900 matte on a 14", well, as someone already mentioned, it's a dream come true. The only intense usage for me is gaming, so I'm not sure exactly what benefit I could get out of Thunderbolt (I am vaguely aware of it's benefits and use though), but future-proofing is never a bad option.

I think a starting price of $749 is very low, I have extreme doubts that getting a higher 6xxM will come in less than $1,000. It just seems unrealistic given the current pricing of new IVB and Kepler releases, as well as premium pricing for ThinkPad - maybe the GT 630M will be just shy of the $1,000 mark. Purely speculation, I hope I'm proven wrong!

EDIT: Just watched one of the videos... only 2 USB ports? How much does a decent USB hub go for? I've never used one, but it brings up images of inappropriately used wall adapters, makes me a little hesitant to use a USB hub. Can anyone recommend a good one?

 

the 630m is rebranded 430m/435m/540m/550m/555m, I would like very much that it would be at least a 640m

 

Well considering that the S430 would most likely be using a dual core IB chip, the $749 seems reasonable. I would prefer a dual core chip paired with a 640M graphics card. That is all lenovo, and no cheap screen please.

 

not a fan of that glossy plastic bezel... its a total finger print magnet and clashes with the matte look of the rest of the laptop.

 

I am somewhat wary that it will even get the 640m. It's in the same position in the lineup as the 6330 of the 420s, except the s430 is significantly thinner, lighter, and has a full size cd drive instead of a slim slot loading drive.

 

regarding thickness indeed its much smaller, basically 0.4'' however its also 1.1'' larger in terms of width.

the e320 came with a 6630m, the e420s as well, just not in the US.

 

Any ideas if they will allow one to select spanish keyboard layout when purchasing in the US/Canada or if this chicklet will be interchangeable?

The extra < > | key next to the left shift key is what I'm after.

 

dunno, information should get more intensive when we close to the next month

 

this seems like (almost) the perfect laptop for me.

i've been plugging away on a 1st gen dell xps m1330 (summer 2007) for almost 5 years now, so any new laptop will be a huge upgrade to me, but i want my next laptop to last just as long.

-14" form factor is slightly big for my liking, but they've kept the weight down.
-chicklet keyboard is the future, so i wont complain.
-HD+ screen is a godsend
-hd4000 + discrete gpu should mean we're good for 2-3 years of gaming
-thunderbolt eGPU can extend the gaming life beyond 3 years
-that glossy bezel around the screen really pisses me off though.


question about ram - 8gb is just the factory limit, so we'll be able to stick 16gb (2x8gb dimms) in later if we want, right? What about memory clock - all IVB supports 1600mhz standard i think?

 

the mem clock is 1600mhz standard on ivy.

nobody like that glossy bezel I hope they change it

 

If they can get a 35W quad i7 and at least a 640M Kepler for ~1K, I think I can learn to love the bezel.

 

not realistic if the y480 only comes with a gimped 640m.. more likely its a 630m

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Well, hopefully the reports are right about the y480 getting a better card in June.

 

Im just going to hope that it packs a non gimped 640m

 

Me actually too, out of the upcoming 14" notebooks that we know of, this is the only one I would even consider, even with a slightly weaker GPU

 

Sony Vaio Z21 was the first and was released in July 2011. Long time ago.
Also Asus G75 can already be bought and has thunderbolt too.
That I known of no one can buy a S430 today.

 

the z2 dont pack thunderbolt it uses a similar logic, not thunderbolt. Now if it was thunderbolt, how come its using fiber? can I connect it using the cinema display or any of the available thunderbolt products out there? NO.

the g75 cant be bought with thunderbolt, yet. it comes with only a mdp port.

 

The Z was LightPeak and USB port I believe. ThunderBolt is LightPeak and mDP. Same tech, different port. Quite honestly, I think Sony's choice of port was much better than Apple's. Unlike mDP which is pretty much limited to Apple products, USB is everywhere.

Intel made a major miss step letting Apple go with mDP. A year in and now only are the first laptops with Thunderbolt coming out, and not even in any significant volume. I would bet that it would Thunderbolt would be widespread as an optional upgrade in the majority of midrange and standard on high end notebooks if they went with USB ports.

 

But mDP is going to replace DP on all upcoming ThinkPads.

Thinkpad Shop - Lenovo ThinkPad X230 Laptop

 

Despite the sony having a different port it surely has 100% a thunderbolt interface and sure it was the first non mac notebook to have it. Ofc kind of worthless but still it was really the first and no one can say the contrary.
Anyway the G75 is already around with many people using it. Can't see any Thinkpad with thunderbolt yet. I just hope they keep their promises and launch it in June.
I would love a X230 with thunderbolt... I would buy it now.

 

Uggh. Didn't notice that. So many cables to rebuy the next time I upgrade.

Interesting that they are switching to mDP, but still aren't putting ThunderBolt in these things...

 

lightpeak and thunderbolt were the same thing, lightpeak was the development name adopted by intel, the idea was to use fiber, however due to costs and power requirements a mixed cable was dropped and a more simpler approach using copper was developed and implemented.

the sony implementation is basically fiber using a mixed cable, quite different from thunderbolt as it is right now.


There were 2 partners in the development process, Sony and Apple. In the end Sony dropped out. Apple got the first batch, an ingenious idea. It would create desire and develop traction, couple that with high cost products. Off course the ideal scenario was that Sony launched some halo products with thunderbolt as well, but it didnt come true.

The adoption of thunderbolt is a 2 approach matter, the OEMs have to make space in their board designs to put it, the products launch with the connections should be another priority as well.

The problem right now is that due to unknown factors to us the product development has been slow, intel is restricting their support to major companies at this time, the small ones arent getting that, the issue with this statement is that a minor companies are already developing docks for macs, thus the argument that the egpu companies are having trouble to get their products is strange.

there are no asus G series sporting thunderbolt. They were announced with it, not being delivered currently. I repeat no asus g55 or g75 are sporting currently thunderbolt controllers, they have the mdp interface but no controller.

Well copper and fiber are the same thing then? There are no added tech needed to implement both? well you just solved most of the world problems regarding the transition from copper to fiber regarding networks.

The best use by far for thunderbolt is the docking scenario, basically connect multiple things in a standardized way, thus companies that have multiple suppliers which is and will be the standard in the next few years should push to thunderbolt equipped notebooks.

The idea of the employee choosing their working machines is one that will stay, and so far the OEMs have agreed to this, the consumerization of the enterprise class is a reality, and interconnection options will make it easier to all.

A dock from lenovo wont work with a hp, however using thunderbolt, its a simple thing, just plug it in.

So far in windows its not a simple plug and play, intel is currently working on it, to make it happen, thunderbolt is supposed to be easy, just connect the thing, have the driver in there and you are good to go. It should be that simple.

USB was a poor choice, it gives the illusion that the 2 standards are competing with each others, the hope is that hdmi and vga get dropped out and mdp becomes standard.

The connections in the future should be something like, USB 3, mdp, card readers. Even the power connections could be replaced by USB 3 with minor revisions that are already stated to happen with even backwards compatibility.

 

For those hoping the s430 will have at least a 640m including me will be disappointed, looks like its gonna be 630m unless that add an option to upgrade later

http://http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/311061/lenovo-thinkpad-s430-(n3b3emh).html#tab:info

 

Oddly that lists USB as only version 2.0

 

That better be wrong. I mean, they even have one of those Ivy Bridge i5s in that config. Modernize, Lenovo, don't dwell on the past!

 

regarding mistakes

-chipset is wrong, its using a 6 series, while it should be 7
-expresscard slot, there is none in this model
-vga connection, there is none in this model

those are the ones that I can point it out for sure, I dont know if they made some changes and put esata in there or whatever, but those are the ones needing either physical changes to the chassis, or are incompatible.

Lets hope that the 630m is another typo

 

next thing you know, it may sport a 640m LE LOL

 

Don't even joke about that.

 

I would love to pack all that 2010 power! gt 425m ftw!

Nah I sincerely hope that it comes with kepler

 

guys it seems the shop is correct! if you google the code from that shop link this one you find lots of shops which have the s430 already listed with its specifications!! (the code is N3B3EMH and is also on the nl lenovo productlist site lenovo

Check this out:

Bluelink shop

Thats the code for the 630m: NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M - Notebookcheck.com Technik/FAQ

Here are some shop links you find which all feature that code!

centralpoint

This one even says 630m alternate.nl

TP S430 i5-3210M 4GB 500GB/7200rpm W7P / N3B3EMH / Notebooks/Laptops / Lenovo - Blencom ICT Solutions

cdm-it.nl

There are alot more, seems most of them are in the netherlands..

So its kind-of confirmed that the s430 sports a 630m

 

arrrrrgghhhhhhhhh, why?! oh why?!! at least its packing thunderbolt, and the 1600*900 screen is for real

 

And its anti-glare! Its still a very good notebook especially when MSI releases their thunderbolt egpu adapter

Id seriously consider this over my lg xnote p330, which im really satisfied with except for the average display, the rest is really good (it has a 555m or 635m whatever you like to call it)

 

it's all messed up. fermi and kepler and 28nm and 40nm and rebadges and so on. I really can't understand.
where can I find the info INCLUDING power consumption data?

 

well... there is notebookcheck

 

The believer in me wants to say that none of these shops are legitimate, and it's just a case of "one website posts 'data', and 'data' spreads".

The believer in me will be very disappointed.