X230 Configuration Help

Hi all,

I'm pretty set on purchasing an X230 now but I wanted some advice/feedback on configuring my machine. I'll be starting graduate school in the fall and need something light/powerful/robust, hence the X230 decision.

Processor: Intel Core i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz) Edit
Display type: 12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna
System graphics: Intel HD 4000 Graphics in Intel Core i5-3320M Processor Edit
Total memory: 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM) (purchase and install another DIMM later)
Camera: 720p HD Camera
Hard drive: 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm (purchase and install my own SSD later
Battery: 9 Cell ThinkPad Battery X44++
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN
Warranty: 3YR Onsite NBD + 3YR Priority Support + 3YR TPP

Using the student site and the provided eCoupon I'm getting a Lenovo price of $1120 (before shipping/taxes). Adding in the SSD/RAM purchase I expect it to be about $1300 before shipping/taxes.

Questions I have:

- Do I need to consider upgrading to a higher processor? I imagine it won't make a bit of difference to me.
- Suggestions for aftermarket SSD? I know the X230 uses a 7mm HD but I'm a little confused with which ones are available to me, I browsed Newegg for a bit. This would work, right?
- For installing the SSD how hard is that on the X230? I'm also wondering how I'll get Windows onto the SSD without an external? Any tips here would be greatly appreciated.
- Any better coupons? I see people on the forum mentioning they called the reps themselves, does this help get a better deal? I've only really browsed the website.

That's all for now, really appreciate the help!

 

- processor: you probably wont notice the difference. Here are the processor specs i posted in the x230 thread:

in fact, if you're not gaming and dont need vpro/trusted execution, you could probably get away with the 3210. In general though, the 3320 is probably the sweet spot in price/performance/features ratio.

-ssd: yes, that samsung appears to be 7mm/0.28in tall, so should work fine. If you happen to have any external sata hard drives lying around, you can open up the case and use it as a USB dock for any sata hard drive, so you can plug in your new/old drive via usb and use some sort of imaging software (norton ghost, acronis trueimage) to transfer your install. Alternatively you can do a fresh install, as you should be getting a win7 key with the laptop, though you may have to find installation media yourself (check the NBR windows section for legal windows 7 install disks you can download and burn). If opening up an external enclosure seems to difficult to you, or you dont have imaging software lying around, the same samsung drive is also available with a transfer kit ($20 more, see here) which includes a SATA to USB transfer cable and norton ghost software.

-price looks alright... you can try calling an haggling but so far no one has reported on doing that with much success on the x230.

*another option, if you want the speed of ssd but more storage capacity, is getting an mSATA ssd instead. This allows you to keep the 320gb hdd in its slot as a 'storage drive' but have a 64gb-256gb mSATA in the wwan slot of the laptop for use as your primary OS/apps drive. If you're not concerned about storage capacity, however, a 2.5" ssd is cheaper/GB than an mSATA is.

 

1. Agreed with @danishh's suggestion of i5-3210.

2. Adding another 4GB RAM stick by yourself is a good idea.

3. Also agreed with @danishh's suggestion of mSATA SSD for boot/OS/apps. 64GB has been adequate in all of my cases so far (about 40GB used for Windows 7 64-bit and many application suites). If money permits, get 128GB for flexibility. Keep the 320GB HDD in the primary bay for storage.

4. The price looks good if you need the notebook ASAP. Adjust the CPU to save some money.

 

To both of you: is there a performance difference using the mSATA vs a 2.5" SSD? I think I'd be fine using a 64gb like Kaso suggests for boot/OS and keeping the extra HD space of the 320 gb standard (plus, it's ~$50 cheaper on Newegg)

 

Basically, performance in terms of system boot time and individual program launching time is adequate with a 7200rpm HDD.

Now, if you can afford a large SSD (as a single drive), great. But the "mSATA SSD + regular HDD" arrangement would offer a well-balanced combination of boot/launch speed and data storage.

To me, there is no perceptible difference using a mSATA SSD vs. a 2.5" SSD in scernarios such as this.

 

the x230 msata slot should run at sata III speeds, so a good mSATA will perform comparably to a 2.5" ssd.

the disadvantage is that loading the files on the storage drive (likely to be music, videos, photos, etc) will be at 7200rpm hdd speeds, not ssd speeds, but in most of those cases, you wont really notice.

depending on your usage, the mSATA + HDD combo is a convenient way to get ssd speeds for startup and application usage, but still have massive storage amounts for media storage. If you dont need the capacity, 2.5" ssd will offer slightly higher performance and a lower cost/gb ratio.


also, with the whole transferring data thing, there is actually an easier way if you dont have an external enclosure or sata-usb cable. Just create factory restore disks from your original hard drive, remove the drive from your computer, plug in the new one, and use the recovery disks to restore. For SSD's, most people seem to prefer clean installs of windows though, as it seems to eliminate a few minor issues (alignment, windows trim settings, etc).

 

google windows download USB tool...it will help you make a bootable windows USB installation thumb drive...install windows in less than 15 minutes