Which laptop to get? Choose Lenovo SSD upgrade?

Hello guys, I'm in the process of ordering the T530 and was wondering if it makes sense to get the 180GB SSD upgrade for $230. I know it is not very economical but when one considers other factors, is it a good deal? For instance, one doesn't need to spend time buying and installing another SSD. Also, since it comes with the system, one doesn't need to worry about possibly voiding the warranty (not sure about this one).

I don't use that much space on my hard drives so the 180GB capacity should be fine. What got me interested is that it usually is listed as an $380 upgrade but Lenovo seems to be having a special. Good deal? I'm kind of confused.

Also, I have a question regarding my laptop purchasing decision:

I am considering the T530 but I have some concerns. Here are some details:

I received the Thinkpad X230 recently and while the laptop is great in almost every way, the screen size and resolution are small. It feels cramped when I use it. I took it with me outside the home to see how it would feel and it feels light and portable. The portability is great but I rarely take my laptop outside the home. I would say that I would take the laptop with me about once a week. Basically, I need a second "fun" computer. I already have a fast desktop that is my main computer but sometimes I need a break from it. After sitting in one spot for hours, I would like some portability and therefore a laptop would be nice to have. My main tasks are writing, reading, surfing and watching movies. The desktop will be used for gaming.

I am just having a very hard time deciding between laptops.

I have considered the T430 but the concerns over the screen worry me. Otherwise, I would have already bought it. The T530 is bigger and has a better screen but might be overkill for my needs. On the other hand, it can function as my second computer pretty well due to its larger screen and higher resolution. So this leads me to the T530. I don't want other laptops but I may also consider the Dell Precisions, though that is less likely.

If only the T430 had a better screen, I would go for it, but since that is not possible, the T530 seems to be the only choice. I would really appreciate any response.

Thank you all for this great community.

 

I would suggest to get the SSD yourself, you can get a much higher capacity and better performing SSD's for much less than what Lenovo wants. If I was in your shoes I would go for the Samsung drive SSD such as this one and spend the change on Christmas pressies! *Ahem* Back to topic, you shouldn't void the system warranty if you use an aftermarket SSD so it shouldn't be something you need to worry about. When my ThinkPad needed warranty work they told me specifically to take the hard drive out and send the system to them and that's the base depot warranty.

If display quality is paramount then I would go for the T530 over the T430. When I bought my T420 (shares the same panel as the T430) I thought the display was something I could get used, I mean coming from a dim lit CCFL ThinkPad screen it can't be that bad right? Well actually it drove me mad with the graphical work I do! I think the fuzzy, grainy coating of my AUO display put me right off along with the poor viewing angles so I had to give up using the T420 and use my desktop/IPS monitor combo instead. Such as shame as the T4x0 machines are really nice in a technical and portable standpoint, it's just the thing that you see all the time let's it down!

Though in fairness if you do plan to just read the news, browse online forums or do some office work then the 14" panels are more than adequate for the job, otherwise it would be wise to invest in the 15.6" models with the FHD resolution just for that bit of visual eye candy.

 

I understand where your coming from with the SSD advice. I believe the SSD that Lenovo chooses is probably the Intel 180GB SSD. I could get a higher capacity one like you suggested for lesser cost. It's good that the T530 (if I get it) comes with a DVD burner so I could make backup media on it and replace the HD myself.

A great display is one of the criteria for me when purchasing a laptop but not the main one. I want something that is well rounded and can be used in multiple situations. That is one reason I am not going to keep the X230. If the screen was a bit larger, I could live with it. Also, maybe its just me, but I cannot seem to use the laptop comfortably for extended periods of time due to the small palm rest. When its on my lap, then it is great. I do love the screen though.

I believe as of right now, I'm probably going to order the T530 either today or tomorrow. There were better discount deals in the past but the ones right now aren't too bad.

The T430 would be a great choice but it will not be as versatile as the T530 due to the screen. I really appreciate your response. Thanks.

 

I went ahead and ordered the T530. This time I think I made the right choice but who knows. This is the configuration:

I5-3210M
4GB RAM
180GB SSD
FHD
Fingerprint Reader
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
9-Cell Battery

3-year Depot Warranty

I got the 180GB SSD due to a not-too-unreasonable price. Normally the price is much higher but this time it was actually a $195 or so upgrade. The way I see it, I don't use that much space on my hard drives anyway so 180GB should be enough for a while. By the time I need more space, 500GB+ SSDs should have come down in price. A 256GB SSD can be bought for around $160 nowadays but I guess I paid slightly more for the convenience factor. Also, the Samsung 840 (non-Pro) doesn't seem to be faster than the 830 series. I was hoping it would be since I have a Samsung 830 in my desktop and really like it. If it was, then I may not have gotten the SSD upgrade after all . Thanks all.

 

Its not the end of the world obviously, but it is pretty expensive, as Hearst already explained it to you. I bought an Intel 330 180GB SSD on Newegg for Black Friday for $100. You do realize it takes literally 5 mins to install a hard drive into a Thinkpad (it's considered a Customer Replaceable Unit; on X200 it requires unscrewing 1 screw on the plastic and 4 to tighten the drive into the bracket). Also, I doubt you will ever notice the difference between Samsung 840 and 830 unless you do something really exotic. So yeah, you just paid $95 for 5 mins of work. Not to mention that you could had an extra mechanical hard drive on the side that could be used as a secondary drive using a $10 adapter instead of an optical drive (or as a small portable drive, again using a $10 enclosure).

This isn't just Lenovo. HP, Dell and others also highly overprice pretty much all possible upgrades because they don't earn much money (if any) on the system with base specs (I remember people used to by Alienware systems with base CPUs only to upgrade them to XM on their own, saving around ~$500). Not sure if its still the case but I remember few years ago HP used to charge extra $200 for 2GB -> 4GB RAM upgrade (lol...).

 

If I were to cancel this order and get a 256GB SSD instead, I would save around $20 or so and gain an extra 76GB in space plus the hard drive that comes with the system. Argh! Haha. I guess I fell into the convenience/easy way trap. You are absolutely right that Samsung 840 and 830 should perform similarly on the vast majority of tasks. I was trying to justify my purchase . I do appreciate your response. Thanks!

 

Depending on the Lenovo discounts and other prices one assumes, and further depending on the state of one's technical competence and confidence, I don't think unreal's analysis is complete or necessarily applicable to Bluebird's decision process.

I'm faced with the same decision: factory installed SSD boot drive or buy one and do it myself after market.

I'm a technical novice but I can do arithmetic and understand my own psychology. With the discounts and prices I am working with, having Lenovo install a 180gb SSD boot drive and then installing my own aftermarket HD in an ultrabay caddy works out to be about $30 more than having Lenovo install a primary bay HD with me then having to install an aftermarket SSD, make it bootable, and then put the Lenovo drive in the bay.

The five minutes to screw an aftermarket SSD in the main bay doesn't capture all the effort. There is still the matter of cloning the software from the factory HD onto the aftermarket SSD. That requires a cloning program, the knowledge to use it properly, the competence to understand the inevitable hiccups and glitches (that may be easy for an expert), and the time to learn and execute the cloning procedure.

Yes, I have heard very many knowledgeable people on these forums say that cloning a Lenovo HD is a simple process. Of course, it may be for knowledgeable people. That's sort of a tautology. On the other hand, there is no dearth of posts on these forums reflecting all sorts of difficulties with attempted clones.

Reasonable purchasers who are not interested in computer geekery or confident in their technical competence may want to leave the SSD installation process up to Lenovo and spend the $30 or so bucks, saving themselves the time, headache and psychological stress. I fall into that category.

My compromise was to order a new quad core T530 with the 16gb mSATA cache option. It boots W8 in about 16 seconds and loads apps very fast compared to my old laptop. That was the least expensive way for me to get faster booting speeds, and I'm not sure how much faster an SSD boot drive would be for my modest needs. I found THIS TEST to be interesting in terms of the SSD-cached systems vs. the SSD boot drive system. Of course, I still have the option to buy and clone an aftermarket SSD.

(I also have the option of returning the 530. As a writer, I don't care for the new chicklet keyboard at all, and I'm not sure about the readability contrast and black levels on the HD+ display. But those are different topics.)

 

You hit the nail right on the head. Most people gives "advice" based on their tinkering ability, system configuration and upgrade component choices, without considering the poster's needs and preferences. There are no rights and wrongs. A fully loaded notebook is not always the answer, and spending extra dollars for convenience is not always unwise.