ThinkPad T431s / X230s Leaked

euro, peso, pound, lira, livre... whatever. (Funny, they say "pound" and write a stylized "L." The Romans still rule.)

 

Now I'm curious. Why are you adamant about having the dGPU?

 

sure. I am one of the many strange members of the market ripe for lenovo's taking! lol

Basically, I want to play a round of "total war" games in between my many long hard days of writing and during my commute home. I am about half ready to just do it with an iGPU, but figured if i can find something with the dGPU and it would make for a better experience, why not wait?

 

Off topic, no we haven't - and hopefully never will abandoned the pound. Or, as you prefer correct terminology - the Pound Sterling. The £ logo is derived from a capital L, which stands for Libra - the Latin word for weight. £1 was originally one pound (lbs) of silver back in the year 750 - give or take a decade.

Back on topic, I quite like the sound of the T431s, seriously considering one in a couple of months, once some reviews are out.

Having never set eyes on a ThinkPad, what are the materials like on the palmrest and lid? Dell have switched from hard magnesium (which I liked as it was durable and resistant to finger prints) to a sort of rubber texture which I gather is similar to ThinkPads? Although this feels nice to the touch, it's a real fingerprint and grease magnet. How does the ThinkPad stack up on this front?

 

The X230 I recently tested has the same awful ABS plastic as always. I just hate that stuff, it get's so shiny and oily after a while, it's probably best to have 10 new spare palmrests in your cupboard, just in case.

I liked the X1C more, it was rubberized, unlike the X230 or T430. I'm really hoping the T431s is rubberized too. As for the lid, it's probably carbon fiber or something similar.

 

I'd prefer to have a dGPU as well, but it seems the better Intel gets at building a good iGPU into the chipset, the more NVIDIA waters down their companion dGPU.

The T430s implementation of Optimus is an utter joke. The NVIDIA dGPU is almost never used. It would not be so bad if you could use it for external displays.

I am looking forward to the Haswell implementation. That also means most likely ignoring the T431s and waiting for the next gen device. It's going to be a long summer.

 

geez. finding out t430 optimus is a joke a week after I almost bought it is kind of scary. lol. good thing i didn't do it.

If the haswell can turn something like the x1 carbon (which i love, don't kill me) into an something to occasionally game with, thats where i would be.

I know that I can find other pc's out there that can give me this, but I just want the quality craftsmanship and aesthetics of the carbon (i really do like it, lol) that lenovo offers. Apple has it, but I don't feel the need to pay for the added screen specs when I won't really be able to use it for gaming.

 

I'm sure you meant "onto the same CPU die" -- like the MMU earlier, and who knows what's next. (A chipset, handling ancillary functions, sits elsewhere on the motherboard.)

The trend is interesting, driven by small form-factor devices.

OT.

 

I was speaking generically.

 

Me: @lenovo Any update on when the t431s is going to come out? Thank you.

Lenovo: @IrredeemablyNBA Nothing official yet, Mando, but most likely we'll see it in May.

 

Hardware Maintance Manual X230s: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/x230s_hmm_en_0c10860_01.pdf

English version of the Userguide: http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/x230s_ug_en.pdf

 

2 batteries...

Interesting.

 

X230s: no larger resolution display, so sad

 

Wow 1366 x 768 better be the low-end spec. That resolution needs to die, especially in a 12.5" powerful/nonultrabook form-factor that is the x230. 1440 x 900 would be the lowest resolution I'd consider. And VGA connectors are stupid, I haven't needed one for for over 3 years, and if you do need one, you could always carry around an adapter, problem solved. Great to see mini-displayport though, congrats lenovo, now show me the x240.

 

Agree on all counts. Hdmi and Displayport would be a better combination IMO (it's what my current laptop has). It's kind of weird how Lenovo is transitioning/updating their thinkpad lines, on the one hand we have the Thinkpad Helix with a 1080p 11.6" screen, and then we have this T431S with 1600x900 and X231s with the unspeakable resolution :-(. Personally I would love something in the 14" range with 1080p but I guess no one really makes screens of that resolution and size yet so it's pretty unlikely. 1600x900 isn't terrible though, but 1366x768, especially on cheap 15" laptops, makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

I would be quite happy with a thin version of the T530 I think, but I don't know how much of a market there is for that.

 

The Acer S7 Ultrabook has a 13.3," 1080p, touchscreen display: Acer S7 Ultrabook with Windows 8 and its killer 1080p display | Windows Phone Central

And I quote from the article: "...it’s a lot nicer looking than our MacBook Air or Lenovo T420S."

Why can't they just get this right?

I hope the ThinkPad Haswell release includes a simple, consistent lineup, but with some deviation from the past. IMO they should just merge the Y series GPU options with a single 14" and 15" laptop to push more pixels. Apple did that long ago and sells them to anyone and everyone dumb enough to pay the high price. If lenovo can make a solid ThinkPad competitor that isn't a gaming-specific design and doesn't take away upgrade features (docking station, SSD, RAM, battery, access to internals, etc...), it will sell.

 

Except for those of us that need them a lot then built in is more convenient and gives better peace-of-mind than an adapter. It's stressful to make sure you remember to bring the adapter. I also worry the adapter will break or not work with some projectors. My new laptop only has HDMI and I miss having VGA - the adapter stresses me out since it is critical for my job that it work.

It's just reality that most conference rooms and training rooms still only have VGA. Even if the projector supports something better than VGA, most places only run VGA from the projector to the podium. With VGA built in, you're presentation is always safe ;-)

I'm probably in a minority though as I give a lot of presentations.

 

I agree, for presentations vga cables are still very necessary.

 

Which is why you can buy a whole host of DisplayPort, Mini DisplayPort, and HDMI to VGA adapters. Having a VGA connector on the machine is convenient but strictly speaking isn't a requirement for many people.

I would personally rather have a thinner machine with no optical disk and VGA connector.

 

Well, both are very thin and still provide the VGA connector and an Ethernet-Port...

Having VGA on the machine is maybe not very important for some individual users, but companies have often still their old VGA projectors. And since ThinkPads are still company focused, I think we will see VGA on ThinkPads until 2014 or 2015, which is when Intel and AMD will no longer support VGA.

 

Sigh, the resolution...

Is there any chance that Lenovo would offer a higher-resolution option? If not, Lenovo has lost my business for my next laptop, unfortunately

We're no longer in 2004 with 1366x768 screens. Even 10" tablets have 1080p screens now.

 

My good man, we've had laptops in 2004 that offered 1600x1200, and one even with 2048x1536...and IPS at that...progess? I think not...

 

Can't I say I really expected a higher resolution screen on the X230s, if it was going to come it would be on the next refresh the X240.

 

lenovo rep on live chat mentioned a may 9th release for the t431s.

anyone have any clue on pricing at all? any hints?

 

The T431s will be starting from 949$ in the US. That is without any coupons of course.

 

It's funny they don't include a hdd indicator but they include a FN lock function/indicator. Very nice feature btw,I was waiting for someone to use the brain and bring this to us, is this the first lenovo that have it?

 

Thinkpad helix has it too. I guess helix is the first one in thinkpad realm.

 

What purpose does a FN lock serve?

In the earlier ThinkPad models FN + whatever key was binded to it would either shut down the laptop, lock the laptop, pull up the bluetooth/wireless off and on menu, switch between internal and projector mode(s), pull up the trackpoint/touchpad disable-enable menu, eject the ThinkPad from the dock, or suspend (hibernation mode).

Not sure how a FN lock would work in the more recent ThinkPads.

 

Any idea when the x230s will be released. I was checking out what models support Intel widi and noted on their support site that the x230s was now supported
Intel Wireless Display for Windows 8 (32-bit, 64-bit), 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) - ThinkPad

 

The T431s is now available to purchase via lenovo.com :
ThinkPad T431s | Lenovo | (US)

 

Thanks for the heads up. The EPP configurator didn't include options for warranty upgrades. A 1 year depot isn't going to cut it.

 

Disappointing but then again, it's what we expected...interesting that the i7 version comes with 4GB on board RAM plus 1 SoDIMM slot for 8-12GB total RAM.

Likes: Build quality and overall design looks great. Trackpoint is still there (despite lack of dedicated buttons). Very thin and lightweight, yet comes with "docking adapter." DisplayPort ftw.

Dislikes: Another crappy 1600x900p display. Thinness sacrifices battery size. Intel HD4000 graphics are sub-par for a $1500, 14" notebook (not to mention the uselessness this creates when docked to another display). Relatively small SSDs (128, 180GB)...256GB should be the minimum for Haswell notebooks.

All in all, I'm asking myself why anyone would buy this laptop for $950, let alone drop $1400 on the high end model (and that's after coupons), especially with the coming wave of Haswell laptops.

 

If you can put in an SSD yourself it's not bad, but otherwise wait for Haswell. That's what I'm doing anyway, all the laptop releases for the next few months are going to be awkward for those who follow CPU releases.

 

We can expect Haswell ThinkPads to look very similar to the T431s, perhaps even identical. Lenovo just released the T431s because otherwise, we'd have to wait until the end of the year. That would mean lots and lots of whining from impatient people.

 

First of all, thanks to the community for helping me choose a Thinkpad. I'm a red-nipple lover from way back, so there was no other choice. For days, I was agonizing between the T430s and X230. Yesterday, I was winning an eBay auction for a loaded T430s at $700, and went to the shop.lenovo site to see what the price would be new. Imagine my surprise to see no T430s, but only the T431s. I didn't up my bid and the auction closed at $745. After reading most of this thread, I bit the bullet and ordered the new model. We'll see if being an early adopter bites me in the butt. The ship dates moved from May 20'th yesterday to June 5'th today, when I ordered. So, it will be four long weeks before I'll be able to report back, but will write up what I find. I'm coming off a T410 with SSD, so have high expectations.

 

What warranty did you order?

 

There was no choice. 1 year depot. Hopefully that changes and I'll have a chance to upgrade later.

 

Pretty desperate. Not like a hot sale was going on, or something.

 

Yeah, am pretty desperate because I need a new laptop by the end of middle of June and had some fear that the delivery date could slip past that. On one hand, I'm glad I'll have a new model to play with, because the T530s and X230 were both compromises. With the 431, the weight gets closer to the X230 yet has the 14" screen. The battery life concerns me and I'm sure I'll get used to having no DVD player - and will likely upgrade to a SSD. But, since it is a first run product, I accept it may have to go back for repair or replacement.

 

Hi,

I have few questions about this product if you have received it later:
1. How is the LCD quality?
The predecessor model T430s' LCD has bad viewing angle and washed out colour. I would like to know if T431s suffers same issue or is there quality improvement in T431s?

2. The battery life?
T430s' battery life is kinda dissapointing for a portable machine, so again, I would like to know if T431s suffers same issue or not.

3. The speaker quality?
Same question like previous.

 

The T430s does not have washed out colors. Some people just don't realize the screen needs to be calibrated due to the wrong color temperature setting. T431s has a 47Wh Li-Po Battery whereas the T430s offers 45Wh in form of a Li-Ion. Battery life should be similar, perhaps hovering around the 5h mark.

Speaker quality will be roughly the same since it has 1W speakers. I think they will sound worse since they point away from the user AND towards the table at the same time. Reflection from the screen bezel won't make it any better, if at all only a bit louder.

 

I prefer a machine with hardware that is ready to use without any much hassle of configuration especially for a premium class product. Even if the screen can be calibrated to make it looks "normal", it's still a bad screen from the first place.

 

True, but if you are looking for OOTB usability, then a ThinkPad is the wrong machine for you. A MacBook would suit your needs better.

 

Other than having a thinner chassis, does this laptop provide any benefits over the t430s?

 

- Lighter
- Better and bigger TrackPad (for TrackPad users)
- Smaller
- Rubber-Lip around the display
- Small display-bezels
- UVL CPUs (if battery-life is more important for you than CPU performance)
- New SSD formfactor (M.2)
- 9.5mm HDD/SSD possible
- Dropped optical-drive, so one weak-chassis point less

Well, some are maybe minor, but these are some of the improvements. Since the T431s is an Ultrabook, you loose also some things compared to the T430s (UltraBay, hot-swappable battery).

There are more improvements if you compare the T431s to the first T-series Ultrabook, the T430u.

 

How, in your opinion is the T431s better than the Dell Latitude 6430u? Both are on my short list.

 

Hm, yes, I think so. Both have some pros and some contras on their side, but I think in the end the T431s is better. The Dell Latitude 6430u has a bigger battery, thats the main advantage over the T431s (60Wh vs. 47Wh), and the battery is hot-swappable. But the Latitude lacks the DockingPort, you can only install one mSATA SSD (compared to the T431s, which has the ability to use a standard 2.5" 9.5mm SSD/HHD and a M.2 SSD), the keyboard got mixed review from notebookcheck. And the Latitude is heavier and bigger than the T431s. So, yes, overall I would choose the T431s if I would be interested in this segment now (but I am not, I bought the T430u and I am happy too ).

 

You also loose the hdd and wireless indicators.

Im my opinion this laptop is a backward progress. So at the end and comparing to T430s I'm loosing a lot of ESSENTIAL characteristics for having a laptop with 200g less and a M.2 possible upgrade:

- no optical drive
- no removable battery
- no additional battery/hdd caddy
- no hdd or wireless indicators
- no trackpad buttons
- same display
- same insane price (at least on my country, see: http://www.paratupc.es/ordenadores/.../20aa000esp-t431s-3687u-240ssd-pid954316.html )

PD: waiting for a T440s with full hd and same characteristics from T430s.

 

Sounds just like an Apple notebook, don't you think?

Well, they can try. But, as long as they don't do anything serious about the screen... dream on, baby.

 

What if T440s is not much different from T431s? . Would you wait for another year?

If T431s' market response is positive then we can expect next TXXXs will be an ultrabook as well.