Thinkpad Ultrabook T430u

they need to announce all the products whether real or evaluation sample or mockups, much like car makers announce their new products during large car exhibition events, due to the need:

1. To show that there is a huge line up of new products coming and that the company has invested sizable funds into R&D and committed to new product development.

2. Not to be outdone by competitors.

3. To allow potential customers to save up their dough to make a purchase in the future when the product gets launched.

4. To capture the best marketing opportunities in the calender year.

5. To appease the boss.

etc, etc, etc...

 

Engadget mentioned a ThinkLight I believe.

 

its true these apple products sell....only based on quality and brand. but in reality they're crap with the main comments i hear is that they are "easier to use than pc to do the same thing on windows" As a windows user that can have endless freedom in the ay they want to use the product that cannot compare plus its cheaper, not because its not as good as. i own an iphone 4 and its build is nice its simple to use. but it certainly does not do what i want it to do. if im going to pay £400 for a phone. it must have functions like a £200 where it is easier to use and unlock besides jailbreak (and even then you have to do this to make it on par in terms of functions as a normal phone.

when a person goes from mac to pc because mac are exspensive.....its because the value for money is not there imo. If you was a mac freak. would you pay double for the same hardware as a windows laptop or nearly as good as hardware.
So in uk. £1000 vs £2000 for the same tech. but you spend £1000 more because you want brand and build. id rather spend my money on sleek dell precision or hp elitebook if i wanted a laptop with performance and just as good build wise.

thats just me. personally i say more the idiot that buys a mac. but has to go all out and get other tech to match it all up in there home. when you spent 1000s to get it. new hardware comes out and your 1000s of old tech just get left behind. you cant justify or commit to doing that on regular been an apple fan and always having the newest and top end models on what you buy because then thats all you work for.....to say i go the newest models.

anyway. t430u looks really nice. reminds me of the sony sa when the lid is shut. hope they have a very solid gpu and i might buy one of them.

 

According to a video from CES, the keyboard design is not finalized...
7-row keyboard PLZ.

 

the same thing can be said about Windows Phone when compared with Android. WP7 is easy to use, expensive, underpowered and restrictive as.

 

People are willing to pay the price, if they feel that they got their money worth and the product or service they bought will bring a positive change to their lifestyle.

Lot of people buy Apple products because they specifically like the design of the machine and the OS.

Just like people are going to buy Rolex, Omega, Vacheron Constantine watches that costs loads of money when it performs no better then a digital watch costing 10 dollars when it comes to time keeping.

Basically you have to also consider the psychological and marketing factors when you are discussing Apple products versus non-Apple products.

 

What? Most phones are releasing around $300-$350 now after subsidy. Especially Android.

 

And worth $100 the day after on eBay.

 

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u: Hands On - YouTube

Lenovo's official hands on video for T430u.

A lot of the stuff we already heard was said, but:
1. The keyboard isn't finalized.
2. It will be island.

Adding that to the fact that it seems that Lenovo has already dropped the arrow key block down to where it should be, I'm predict that the Thinkpad T430u will feature a 7 row chiclet keyboard.

 

He meant to say the ethernet port wasn't standard for ultrabooks, not thinkpads. He also meant to say he hadn't noticed it had a glossy screen and was hoping no one else would, either.

 

The final version will have matte display.

 

Once again I hope that they have a better matte display than what they are offering this moment.

 

Now let them just release a t430s and we shall see if its worth it.

 

Is there any word on what display they're going to use for it, IPS? That's normally the one complaint that I have with Lenovo is that the T-series laptops are an excellent product but they ruin it with a less than average display.

In response to the island/chiclet keypad, I currently own a E420 and I absolutely love it. I still have a T60p with the traditional keypad and having used that for several years, I was skeptical about the chiclet keys at first, but after using the E420, I can say that Lenovo did an amazing job at making the new keypad just as good as the traditional one if not better.

 

If it ships with HDMI, it ships with an AntiGlare/VibrantView option. I will stake my entire Rep Power on that statement. (Grabs popcorn and waits for JaneL to reduce Rep Power to zero)

 

(peers at mod controls and ponders the possibilities)

 

This could have the best IPS display the world has seen, stupendous thinness and build quality.. but at 14" and 1366x768 none of it matters. The T430u is a gimmick product. Everyone who said the Thinkpad brand is being diluted are being proved right with this model. No one will buy it when the T430s will be only marginally thicker and heavier but have much higher usability.

 

Well, that's assuming that Lenovo doesn't cut out the T430s from the product line, or the T4x0s in the future.

 

very true and there is a good chance of that.

 

I doubt Lenovo would kill the T4_0s. You are right a T430u without a high resolution is pointless, offers nothing over a T420s besides a slightly cheaper price, but T420s are now cheap, people were getting them with 160 GB SSD for 1100 brand new.

What evil deeds are you planning now JaneL, and when is my induction into LI-6 going to commence??

 

Where are you seeing this deal?

 

I got a deal equivalent to that on Cyber Monday.

 

I've just spotted specs of the T430u on Vietnamese Vatgia.com. If the source is to be believed, the T430u will surprisingly have a standard voltage i5-3320M processor, instead of an ULV. They also list 1366x768 resolution.

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u at Vatgia.com

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u Listed with Non-Ultrabook Intel i5-3320M CPU | Laptoping

 

I really wish this was a thinner and lighter version of the T4x0s series. Drop the optical drive and the trackpad buttons from that model. Make the trackpad larger while keeping the ultranav buttons up top. Prefer a regular keyboard but a 7-row chiclet would be suffice I guess. Display should be matte and 1600x900.

I'd be pumped for something like that.

 

You just described the Ultrabooks many are now making. I'm sure Lenovo has something cooking. I guess we'll see if something hot comes out of the oven this summer.

 

I do agree with you on that, why break something that isnt broken? Also carry on the same keyboard from previous Thinkpads.Ultrabooks though are not really desktop replacements, I rather pay to get a regular laptop.

 

Does anyone know if this has an m-SATA slot?

 

First they came for the Thinklight,
and I didn't speak out because I was in well-lit rooms anyway

Then they came for the 7 row keyboard,
and I didn't speak out because I rarely used Insert/Delete/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn

Then they came for the docking port,
and I didn't speak out because I couldn't afford their expensive docking stations.

Then they came for my T-series
and there was no one left to speak out for my T-series.

 

But still They still make the regular Thinkpad. I guess they are trying to expand the Thinkpad brand toward people who doesn't care much on some of the feature that make the traditional Thinkpad great. I guess as long as they are the same toughness and a very great keyboard, I would not be bother that they put it in the T series. Just so long as they still produce the regular T series with traditional keyboards. I am wondering how long does the trend going to last, since they are increasingly moving into the space of traditional Thinkpads. First it was the Edge, then the X series netbooks, 13" X series, and finally the 14" T series. I guess we will have to see if big corporate company is buying the T430u vs T430s(assuming they are still going to make that model).

 

The mockup T430u has a chicklet keyboard which I don't consider to be a "traditional" keyboard.

I don't think Lenovo would drop the traditional keyboard from all of their machines. That would be suicide.

 

Define "traditional ThinkPad".

 

My definition would be a Thinkpad with Thinklight, the non-chicklet 7 roll keyboard, dock connection, the rough construction, and the red Trackpoint. I guess what I am trying to get at is their design philosophy of function over aesthetic.

 

Corporate suicide frequently happens. Like Lemming.

 

So I guess IBM produced several non-traditional ThinkPads. Fair enough.

I'll reserve most of my judgment on the T430u 'til I've seen and used the final mechanical -- something that, at least as of CES, pretty much nobody has done. So far I like what I see, and apart from the loss of the ThinkLight I think it appears to be every bit as worthy of the ThinkPad name as some of its predecessors.

Is the island keyboard really that big of a deal? I get that people think it doesn't look as good -- I'm divided on the aesthetic aspect myself -- but unless it's very, very different from the ones Lenovo's already shipped it's not a major change in terms of mechanism. It's still a scissor-switch design, it still has a (relatively) long throw, and it still has a very pleasing force curve. The biggest difference is really the key caps, and Lenovo's done well by not using flat-top ones (which is my and others' biggest issue with many other "chiclet" designs.)

 

If it aint broke. Don't fix it. Metal lids, no latches, island key's, no thinklight, it's the biggest departure from the traditional T-series since lenovo took over. 2 of those changes make it LESS durable. I thought we were supposed to be going the other way!

 

The T430u has a thinklight.

The T430u is not going to be a replacment for something. It´s just an addition.

Re: The new T430u - Ultrabook That?s All Business! - Lenovo Community
Acording to Lenovo they have designed it to be a ThinkPad T with some Ultrabook-Features. A T-Series Ultrabook. They will release a T430s too.

 

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Huh? What's wrong with metal lids? Every T-series up until the T61 had a metal lid...

 

There's nothing wrong with metal when it's titanium or magnesium composite like in the T40/1/2/3(p) lid and titanium reinforced CFRP in the base. The 60/61 14" dropped the titanium reinforcement with just a CFRP base, and the 15's had only a CFRP lid/base with some having SEPC instead of CFRP for the lid. However there IS something wrong with metal when it's aluminum, not reinforced, and no lid rollcage. Drop a book on both of them and see which one has a nice dent in it when you're done. It's no better than an MPB lid now. Think car in a hailstorm.

Also, other thinkpads like the T20 and 30 series may or may not have used plain metal lids I'm not familiar with those series (I highly doubt it though seeing as how every other T didn't), but the direct predecessor the the T series was the 600 series, and those used CFRP lids.

Not a TP.

It's cool though, as long as these changes don't eventually trickle into the other T-series, they can add all the pseudo TP T series they want; they've already molested the crap out of the X line. If they do start implementing those changes into the the main T series though, which has historically been THE thinkpad staple product for generations, I imagine a lot of consumers and business will eventually shift over to lattitudes and elitebooks.

 

The T4x series did indeed have titanium reinforced bases, but the majority of the base chassis was plastic (the PSREF states "titanium-reinforced CFRP in bottom cover", and if you disassemble the chassis you can see exactly what's what.) The T6x onwards also used CRFP base components, but also added a magnesium endoskeleton. Ever wonder why the T4x models die of planar flex and its successors don't? It's not because the later designs featured a worse choice of materials...

As far as whether a metal lid is "reinforced"... what do you mean? The T series machines with metal lids had no reinforcement apart from the lid: there's just a sheet of coated alloy, the hinge arms, the LCD, and the bezel. That's it. Take one apart if you don't believe me.

I'm not wild about aluminium, but you do have to consider the niche that this is fitting into. The "ultrabook" category is very much a category which places emphasis on aesthetics. The ultimate strength of the laptop lid will depend on a number of factors though -- and since they're not using pure aluminium and since neither of us know what alloy they're going to use, perhaps we should reserve judgment of its durability?

The PSREF states "Titanium Composite in the top and bottom covers for enhanced strength" for both the T2x and T3x series.

Interestingly enough, many previous generations of ThinkPads didn't have carbon-fiber reinforced plastic -- just plain PC/ABS. I suppose those aren't "traditional ThinkPads" though. Other "non-traditional" ThinkPads like the 570 featured CFRP/GFRP without any titanium/magnesium reinforcement.

So I guess really, only the T2x, T3x, and T4x are "real" ThinkPads.

 

Whatever the traditional ThinkPad definer formerly known as Nonny says it is.

 

Interesting thread, up until last year, I was a long-time Dell user (and Mac, at home), but after a few presentations from Lenovo (and price negotiations, obviously!), I switched our entire company (~1500 users) over to them as the single supplier for notebooks and desktops. For notebooks, we settled on the X220, T420, T420s and the T520, based on various 'typical' user needs. The X is the odd one odd to some extent (but needed for the execs), but my reasoning was:

- They're tougher than the Dells, with MIL-SPEC's to prove it. My users are mean to their notebooks
- They don't change design. Right now I'm on a 420s, and there's a T60 on the desk next me, which I guess must be 6+ years old? Sure, there's differences, but not enough to invoke the typical upgrade-envy that my users experience
- Price was much better than the Dells
- The ability to specify global CTO builds, which makes support/deployment a lot simpler
- Consistent dock (aside from the X220)

After a year of using a T420s (and obviously, I don't have a lot of experience with the heritage ThinkPad line), my observations would be:

- The ThinkPad light is no substitute for a back-lit KB. To me it just feels old fashioned.
- The KB on the T420s is great, but it's very noisy, more so than the T420. I'm often on concalls, but have to type very s-l-o-w-l-y to avoid annoying other participants. for that reason, I'd welcome a chiclet kb.
- The mousepad isn't great. Slightly better than Dell's (although I prefer a smooth pad), but still not great. Basic multi-finger gestures to scroll & zoom are very hit and miss. I hate to say it, but I prefer my MBA pad (and I'm not a huge fan of MacBooks, or at least OSX).
- I'm sure you're all used to the Fn key being where the ctrl key is on every other brand of KB, but my God, it's the biggest single complaint I get from my users!

Anyway, we don't even specify an optical drive in the T420s, so I would be very happy with a T430s if it was slimmed down to similar proportions to the 430u, but with a dock port (tricky, I know), removable battery (essential in an enterprise environment) and a better screen option.

I agree with most on this thread, the T-series is (IMHO) supposed to be a rock-solid business-class of notebooks. Not bleeding edge, but with plenty of options, and enterprise-friendly features. I do not think the T430u fits this category.

 

All current models can have this swapped (FN and CTRL) in the BIOS.

 

Wow, I never knew! Now the question is, is it too late for me, I've got a year's worth of muscle memory, and only hit the Fn key incorrectly maybe 10% of the time....gives me an answer for my users though, thanks!

 

The T430u will be to the T430 and T430s as bears are to lions and tigers in The Wizard of Oz. Different in significant ways, but more than holding its own in customer-facing enterprise scenarios.

 

Rats. Was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a Samsung Series 9 15" or the new Vizio 15.6" Thin & Light and then I see on these specs this guy's got/capable of 16GB RAM. Aluminum aside if they'd just do the 1600x900 resolution it'd be what I've been waiting for, for a long time.

 

Check the Synaptics driver. It looks like they do not update automatically, or at least not frequently. Touchpad scrolling on my T520 was pretty bad until I updated driver manually.

Synaptics UltraNav driver for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Vista (32-bit, 64-bit) and XP (32-bit, 64-bit) - ThinkPad

 

Having bought a refurbished X1 on eBay to do for the interim, can very definitively say if the T430u does not have HD+ it will be an #epicfail and I'll go with the X1C which will be coming out this Saturday the 4th.

 

The T430u will be HD only. There are some T430u listed in other countries, but all with HD. In the official presentation of the T-series there is only HD mentioned.

 

Until Lenovo releases specs and the information around the different model types, this is pure speculation. Especially given the timing (way off) and the pending launch of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

By the time T430U launches, I'll be spending money on Surface RT and Pro. The Lenovo Yoga had a shot, but I doubt I'll consider it now.

Sorry, the T430U is so far off my radar it isn't funny.