Thinkpad Ultrabook T430u

Or the Windows 8 Thinkpad Tablet 2 which just passed FCC certification.

 

Actually very interested in getting a thinkpad tablet 2 as both an organizer and a pdf reader/writer. Last yr almost pulled the trigger on thinkpad tablet 1 because of the stylus but held back after playing a number of android tablets and finding them not very smooth.

 

Everyone and their dog will have a Windows 8 slate (my prediction). I'd probably wait until Christmas or after to see which one rises to the top.

 

Releasing at the end of the month starting at $779.. I'm a little confused. Is this really supposed to be able to compete against the T430s which is marginally lighter but has a HD+ screen.. starting at $773.

Lenovo's 'ultra-portable' ThinkPad T430u will be available later this month for $779 | The Verge

 

It's one hell of a disappointing machine taking into account they're branding it as a T series. They try to make a huge deal out of it's discrete graphics but if they're using the GT620M with the 64bit bus then it will be akin to the NVS5200M found on the T430s, if its 128bit then it will be just under performing the NVS5400M found on T430/530's. You're basically paying extra for a thinner machine thats more fragile, in other words: it's a cheap X1C

 

^^ yeah sounds like a cheap x1c, actually with all those different versions trying to hitch a ride on the T series brand, I'm surprised Lenovo didn't market the x1c as something like T430C.

 

Seems like all they did was stick a "u" on a t430s just so they could call it an "Ultrabook".

 

For anyone who is interested to know the official complete specs of the T430u, here is the official link from Lenovo Israel. Took me very long time to try different countries!

http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/WW/EMEA/merchandising/pdf/en/T430u_DS_EN.pdf

I am glad that we now have a clear picture of how to compare the X1C and T430u and for me I am disappointed with both especially with my high hopes for the T430u being thicker than X1C and I was expecting more power and 'non-ULVs' dual-core processors in it and at least the same display of the X1C. For me the T430u will be born with defects!

Hope you enjoy the link

 

Thanks for the link. I have to agree with you, the spec sheet for the T430u listed leaves a lot to be desired. I was waiting to see if the T430u could have been a powerhouse alternative to the X1 Carbon, but I think the X1 Carbon is still the better choice for me.

 

T430u does have dual core processor, even the base model's i3-3217U is dual core.

 

Let me correct that and use accurate terms. I meant that it only has ULVs and my expectation and it is basically rational to have non-ULVs dual-core CPUs. I will edit that to prevent confusion.

 

Would be nice to at least get a fast dual core like the i7-3520...

 

What ? No backlit keyboard on the T430u !!

I'm out.

 

A rep told me there will be an option for 1600x900 on this!

 

I wouldnt get your hopes too high. The T430s has a 1600x900 screen but it's nothing to write home about

 

That gives me hope. Still holding out on this one over the X1C given the ability to upgrade RAM and HDD both. Think I'll ask myself tomorrow and hopefully hear it a second time to increase my confidence.

 

Where did you hear that? I highly doubt it won't be available.

T430s offers it and X1 has it, why wouldn't they offer it on the T430u?

According to this Lenovo Feature Comparison the T430u will only come with backlit keyboard.

Laptops | Professional-Grade PCs | ThinkPad T Series | Portable Powerhouse | Learn | Lenovo (US)

 

Can anyone confirm whether the drive bay on this will support 9.5mm HDDs, or it will require the slimmer 7mm height factor?

Thx.

 

Considering the much bigger T430 requires 7mm HDD I'm almost certain that this one requires 7mm drives too.

 

Latest exchange with Lenovo Sales this evening is release has been pushed out to the first week of October. When it does go GA I'm buying the minimum configuration, putting a 512GB Crucial M4 in it and doing the 16GB RAM myself. Assuming, of course, it comes out with an HD+ LCD. Otherwise, I'll finally knuckle under and do an X1C.

Here's hoping.

 

I guess the technical specs sheet is very clear on all Lenovo websites that there is no HD+. It is only HD, so do not give yourself any hope. For me, this baby has been already born with defects. Do yourself a favor and get the X1C or if you need a powerhouse, get one of the T series if you cannot do without at least an HD+ like me. There is no need at all to wait and see!

 

It would be simply amazing if they choose to skip the HD+ LCD on the T430u.

First week of October has past !!

If the T430u specs are correct, the T430s, makes more sense. It will be the same weight. You can get more powerful CPU's and an HD+ LCD.

 

No luck. The T430u is going to have an "HD" display (two AUO FRUs, one CMI).

 

not really an ultrabook since it is the same thickness of the T430s and weighs 1lbs more

 

i had a play with the pre-production T430u last week, and i can say that the build quality on the T430u is excellent. The best i have seen of the recent ThinkPad since the X30x machines, and light years ahead of the T430s/T430. The only real downside of the T430u are:

-Low resolution LCD -> which maybe fixed by DIY upgrade?
-No thunderbolt/expresscard port
-only 2 x usb 3.0 usb port

 

Sometimes i just don't understand Lenovo.

Why have your laptop with the highest end build quality be hampered by the lowest end components?
With a 1600 x 900 screen, a couple of more usb ports, and a full voltage processor this would fly off the shelves.

Why would anyone bother getting this over the thinkpad t430s?

 

But then they would loose the Ultrabook-Name.

 

Because if it had those things you mentioned 1) it wouldn't be an "ultrabook" 2) people *would* bother getting it over the T430s.

This is product stratification. That's how it works. You make a high-end model that's expensive, has a higher margin, and offers some features that most people don't need. To push people towards the higher-end model, you make a mid-high model which has *almost* everything that people want at a price that's slightly cheaper than the cheapest high-end model. People say "this is perfect, except it doesn't have ____ -- $high_end_model does and it's only a few bucks more so I'll get that."

This is done all the time in the automotive world (the Nissan 350ZX is a lovely car... but if you want some key comfort features you have to move to the Infiniti G35. Same car, but some of the more desirable features are only available under the G35 badge.) It's been done quite a lot in the last decade or so in the consumer electronics space too.

 

Fun fact: In China Lenovo will release the V490u Ultrabook, which looks EXACTLY like the T430u, except for the color an the missing Trackpoint. http://www.zzibm.cn/thread-30374-1-1.html

 

Of course it's similar because it's the competing design to the T430u's current design. Yamato Labs choose the current one for the T430u, and the loser is trickled down to the Yangtian series business laptop for sales in other markets.

 

Do you have a source for that? To me it looks just like a non-Thinkpad T430u variant.

 

Lenovo V490u? Silver white? Chiclet keyboard? No trackpoint? Trackpad without keys? Hinges still large, but likely plastic? (One thing remains the same: lousy screen.)

Ah, the genesis of near-future "ThinkPad" notebooks.

 

I don´t think so.

 

Doubtful, although there does look like a good degree of part sharing between the two.

 

Heh heh, you never know. There will probably be a blog article telling die-hard ThinkPad users to "give in" to the new design!

 

Yeah, all information all along has said HD, not HD+, but I've been holding out for over five months now hoping (hoping beyond hope?) that they'd wise up and offer an HD+ option given the uproars I've been watching in the X1C threads on other hardware aspects. This unit's appeal to me over the X1C was the ability to go to 16GB RAM and a 1TB HDD, both of which I would readily give up the extra 1# for given my needs. The more and more I've looked as of late though, it's looking like the T430s is a no-brainer.

Unless a Lenovo sales rep (over the phone or in chat on the side) can give me something besides the standard "we have no specifications on this unit right now until the release date" before next Tuesday, Wednesday latest (yeah, I know, it's being released on the 26th) I'm going to pull the trigger on a unit on eBay (substantially cheaper than pricing on Lenovo.com [of course] or even refurb pricing).

 

I'm preparing to buy one!
Did anyone get it? face any problem? how's build quality? This would be the first ThinkPad I buy, very excited

 

And there it is, four base models, all with HD (1366x768), no option for HD+. Yup, this puppy is for the consumer class and pulling the trigger on the T430s was the best decision for me.

 

Yes, Lenovo have a big problem: They have too many 14"ers, which cannibalize each other. So they gave the T430u this bad resolution to not affect the T430s sales. But it is really weird: Even the budget-ThinkPad L430 has the option for a HD+ display.

 

Listen to the expert. They should hire you to run Lenovo! So I suppose they give T430 bad screens to not affect X230 and T530 sales?

 

No. The problem is that T430s and T430u have a very similar target-segment. X230 and T530 have a different size than the T430, so they have a different target segment.

The bad screens on the T430 has to do with 2 points:
1. No competition from the other business-manufacturers, their screens are as bad/good as the T430 screens.
2. Companys don´t ask for better screens, so Lenovo won´t put them in.
It easy.

Yes, of course! ibmthink for president äh Lenovo-president!

 

Which segment? The segment of people whose visions fit into a 14" screen? Size = market segment.

Yes sir. I would never be able to come up with that business explanation.

 

Just bought a T430u with i5 and Nvidia GPU for $700 dollars (will go along fine with my T430s i7 and i5 X1 Carbon). I think the main reason that Lenovo didn't offer the 1600x900 is to prevent it from competing with the X1 Carbon.

According to Intel, the i3,i5 and i7 Ivy Bridge Ultra low voltage CPU used in the T430u can support 32 gigs of ram, there is also a mSATA slot and 9.5 mm hdd drive bay (the T430 uses 7 mm drives now)...also the integrated battery can be removed very easily. But costs around the same as the T430? looks to me to be a killer deal. The X1 Carbon which costs about twice as much, has pretty much no user upgradable parts (other than the SSD?)...

I have test driven a pre-production model of the T430u (with ready to ship parts), the screen quality of the T430u is very good, the viewing angle is also very good. The quality of the panel is around the same as the X1 (not the carbon), so for a TN panel is very good.

 

lead_org- How many Thinkpads do you have now?

Also, what's the capacity of the of the battery in the T430u?

 

i lost count on the number of ThinkPads i got now. But i just got stocked up with T430s, X1 Carbon, T430u and maybe a W530.

The battery is a 3 cells Li-Polymer with capacity of 47 Wh.

 

Can it stand for 7hours with wifi turn on?

thanks!

 

with wifi on and screen brightness to around 30% it can do about 6 hour and half. I haven't tested the T430u battery life much, my own machine comes in another 7 days, i will post an impression of the battery life when i get it.

 

Thanks! cannot wait to read it

 

ThinkPad T430u Lenovo Unboxed: Lenovo Unboxed: ThinkPad T430u - YouTube

 

whatever the case, i think if you are one of those X30x and T60/61 aficionado, you would love the T430u.

This thing is rock solid.... aluminum top casing, and bottom fiber glass casing (i think there is an internal magnesium alloy caging from the service video)... honestly i haven't seen anything as robust as this in some while now..... it really reminds me of the good old ThinkPad days. T430u may turn out to be the best ThinkPad in a while (sure beats the X1 Carbon and T430s that i got).

All the T430u need is a better screen and thunderbolt port and it will eat other ThinkPads for dinner.