X230(t) Owner's Thread

Really depends on what you're using it for. The i7 is going to be faster undoubtedly, but for things like gaming where it doesn't use much CPU cache, there will only be marginal difference. When the CPU processes information, it can store data in the cache to access it faster rather than having to access it from the RAM. I believe the price difference between the base i5 and i7 is over $200, which is completely not worth it in my case. However, there may be additional technologies that the i7 has that the i5 doesn't, which you will have to look up. I know that the base i5 doesn't have virtualization while the others do.

 

Did you install this driver? Intel Wireless LAN (bg, abg, abgn) for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), XP - ThinkPad

Make sure that the wireless toggle on the left side of the laptop is turned on, and that the wireless adapter is enabled (Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings)

I don't have experience with the Thinkvantage software, but try to connect to your network within that software and using the default Windows connector too.

 

thanks for the reply. tried those but still not working. not sure what's up. i went to speedtest.net to try it out and my downloadspeed was less than 1mbps. I tried my current laptop (acer timeline) and its 20mbps. not sure whats going on

UPDATE: resolved the issue by turning of the n-router on the thinkpad. not sure why that worked but i know the n is faster than the b and g right? oh well.

also just purchased crucial 128gb mSATA

 

There was a guy a couple of pages back asking for comformation that those work with the none tablet x230, if thats what you have then do let us know.

Also i have another question for anybody. Does anybody know anything about the response times of the displays offered with the two non tablet options, ie: ips/not ips.

cheers

 

i'm pretty sure they work with the x230 notebook because a lot of members here have recommended that, and i think many are using it. maybe they can chime in

 

I have also the Crucial m4 mSata SSD in my x230t - works like a charm No problems here.
But it's a pity, that the mSata Port only offers SataII -.-

 

You can find the parts list on Lenovo's site http://download.lenovo.com/parts/ThinkPad/x230_fru_bom.pdf

Could not find any technical specs for the screens, but you can probably assume the IPS will be 8ms and TN around 3-5ms.

 

now i'm a little skeptical lol the crucial mSATA does work on the x230 right? not the tablet model

 

If it doesnt work, you can return it with no hassle, right?
I heard when x220 first came out, some had problems with msata ssd, and there was a bios update to fix that.
My wife's x220 never had any problem with intel 310 80GB msata ssd. I think if there were any problems, it would have been sorted out last year.

I'm pretty sure x230 will also have no problems just like x230t. Just make sure to be careful not to brake any plastic, and read the instruction even though you might be an expert. Then in the bios, the msata ssd is sata port 2. Sata port 0 is the main hdd bay. Change it to the correct boot order.

 

i haven't looked at their return policy but im sure it wouldnt be a problem. i actually was under the impression that ppl have already put the crucial mSATA into their x230's successfully. oh well ill let you guys know how it goes

btw, im a total noob so i'm def going to take it slow and make sure i dont break anything. is their a writeup to instal an mSATA in the x230 somewhere around here?

 

Off the top of my head, but refer to the manual on Lenovo's site.

1) Remove all the screws indicated
2) Take out the battery, make sure the computer doesn't power on
3) Remove the keyboard by pushing inwards towards the screen, and lifting the other end
4) There is only 1 connector for the keyboard, remove that
5) Take out the palm rest by lifting up, and pushing it away from the keyboard (this is a bit tricky)
6) If you didn't opt for WWAN, there will be a black and red wire that doesn't connect to anything and has protectors on the ends, leave them alone. You won't need them when installing mSATA
7) Installing the drive is as simple as just putting it into the port, router the wires around the drive so that you can fit the keyboard and palm rest back in
8) Note when putting the keyboard back in you put the end closest to the LCD in first

Also, when I installed Windows onto the mSATA, it installed the System Reserved partition in the other HDD. I had to look up a guide of swapping that so that I could boot from the mSATA rather than the HDD.

 

or try this one, I love it.
Downloads - two-finger-scroll - Two finger gestures for Synaptics TouchPads on Windows - Google Project Hosting

 

Between 4) and 5) there is one more cable you have to remove. This is for the touchpad on the palm rest.

You can also look at their hardware maintenance manual.

If you are doing a clean install, it might be easier to just remove the hdd temporaly while installing windows. I have already done a clean install on my spare 80GB intel ssd while the msata ssd was shipped so I just used Paragon Backup & Restore Free to image the whole 80GB ssd and restore it onto msata ssd. Downside of this is that MS Office 2010 and Visio 2010 needed to be reactivated.

 

excellent, thanks for the writeup sbl03 and hp79! my friend knows a bit more than me about computers and i'll have him help me out.

also thanks for the driver AofI, i'll def check that out. after updating the driver on the trackpad it felt a lot better.

 

Alright, so I got it. I am actually impressed by it.

No build quality issues at all. Everything looks perfect and it doesn't have any of the issues that people commonly complain about such as not sitting properly on the desk. My ONLY disappointment is the screen hinge doesn't look too sturdy and causes the screen to wobble when touching it. I find the touchscreen pretty accurate, then again I calibrated it about six times until I got it suitable for me. Straight out of the box I upgraded all the drivers and software using DriversMax which I have a 2 year license on. Then I installed the BETA Wacom driver (that one with sleep issues).

A orginal annoyance I had was that the screen would rotate when I used it in tablet mode which angered me. I quickly figured out how to disable that and life is sweet after that. Now my only problem is the two buttons to the right of the power button immediately below the screen do not seem to function. Idk if I broke it with my updates or what. How do I fix it, any idea?

Battery is not bad: its reading 7 hours, 30 minutes right now with WiFi on without battery stretched enabled. I have Firefox open with java and flash installed. Then again I have a Solid State Drive so it's expected to have great battery life. I will invest in one of the slate batteries though for longer battery life. I also want a more powerful charger that has a higher charging rate for a faster charge.

I dont see any issues with the trackpad. Honestly I think the problems exist for people because it's so small so you have to keep moving your finger over and over to navigate around windows. Then again if I ever get frustrated, I will just touch the screen. I find myself scrolling down long webpages by just using my finger on the touchscreen.

I LOVE THE KEYBOARD. I CAN TYPE SO FAST ON IT AND ITS PRETTY QUIET. BACKLIGHT ON IT IS GREAT TOO.

Lenovo didn't install the expresscard for me, they sent it in a separate box so I plugged it in. I would have preferred them to do it but meh it's done.

Oh and the 6 cell battery slab in the back is cleverly designed to be a grip when holding it. I like it, particularly if I have to stand up when using the laptop WHEN THERES NO ROOM ON THE TRAIN TO SIT, THANKS A LOT TRAIN COMPANY FOR TAKING AWAY SEATS ON THE TRAIN FOR MORE STANDING ROOM.

So I am a happy camper (so far)

 

but seriously, whoever decided to put CTRL after FN needs to be reprimanded for incompetence. I keep hitting FN & C to copy paste instead of CTRL C because they've swapped the spots on the keyboard. Its a major major annoyance.

 

Go into the BIOS, you can swap it in there

 

for whoever wanted to play Quake Live on their X230(t) - I've tried it, and I'm pretty much seeing 100-125fps (125 i guess is the max, it often sticks up there, depending on where you are). That IS with the 1366x768 built-in resolution, but then, I was running on Lenovo's "Energy Saver" power scheme, so lenovo turboBoost+ was definitely not on, and intel turboBoost probably not either, so on 1080p you should be able to get a good 100-125fps. I would try it on my parent's projector which can support higher resolution... except my parents don't really like those games... I'm starting to see what a deprived child I was It still created a tremendous amount of heat, though, so do make sure you have adequate ventilation. Also, note that I am on an i7, on the other hand, I'm still with only 4GB of memory, I've heard dual-channel memory pushes the Intel HD 4000 graphics even further...
While I'm on the i7, there's always the question of "should I get it or not". My advice - if you're only buying this for a couple of years, not doing any gaming or anything (no hardcore in any case, casual gaming should work great on the i5), then go for the i5 - the $200 is a lot (probably more like $150 if you get one of those deals) for a 0.2Ghz upgrade. On the other hand, for gaming, you should probably get the i7, I think the GPU is slightly better (about 50-100Mhz or something). Also, in my case, where I wanted a computer that would last for a good amount of time - not only physically, but in a sense of obsoletion. I basically want my X230T to last me at least 5 years, even longer in the best case, and an i7 could maybe just push that another year... In fact, this was one of the main reasons I chose this machine - other than the convertible form factor - memory can be upgraded to 16GB, processor is extremely powerful (7.3 WEI, my dad's hex core AMD is 7.4...) - HDD can easily be upgraded to an SSD - and you can plug in an eGPU - and eventually, over the years, i plan to do those upgrades, mostly a question of money...
As to the FN and CTRL key swap, it is kind of a tradition, in fact, I can see the point of it - some people will be using the FN shorcuts more than the CTRL shortcuts - so that way, the FN is more accessible. I can understand the frustration, though - I've made the same mistake of trying to do FN-something instead of CTRL-something (I don't quite remember what it was), so if you think you can learn it, it might be better in the long term, but if you can't, I guess you can always swap it in the BIOS. Ideally, Lenovo should provide an option to swap them while ordering, or at least offer a replacement keyboard with the keys swapped.
As to the touch screen performance, I can personally say I use this thing in tablet mode a lot with the touch screen - and personally, I don't find it all too frustrating - I find it pleasant to use, actually. I've spent hours (that's a bit of an underestimate) on this thing in tablet mode with my fingers, and another huge amount of time with it in, well, I guess what I'll call "tablet stand mode" - basically, the keyboard hidden away, but the screen not collapsed into tablet mode, so basically the keyboard is acting as a stand. I love using it like this - in fact one of the things that has always aggravated me with the typical laptop form factor was that you had a screen, hopefully a nice one, except... there was the keyboard between you and the screen, so there was a limit to how close you could bring it to you (I like to use my computers in all sorts of weird positions, including lying down, I'm a lazy person, don't judge...). Back to the touch screen, if I can offer you some advice (if you do end up ordering this): DO get a screen protector, for some reason, weird stuff likes to get on the eraser of the pen and scratch the screen, I've already gotten a couple of scratches on my protector, which makes me really glad I got one... on the other hand, DO NOT get the photodon if you intend to use touch a lot, look for some other one - it really hinders the touch screen - I have to press pretty hard on it for it to recognize the tip of my index finger. The flatter part of my index works better, so do most of my other fingers - but it's still an annoyance.
On the other hand, my X230T is back in for depot service, because they forgot to fix the touch screen the first time - oddly enough, it was the reason I sent it back, they only fixed a broken key on the keyboard (by replacing THE WHOLE FRIGGIN KEYBOARD, I guess that's the way they roll) that I mentioned as a bit of a side note. If they don't fix it this time or something else goes wrong, I'm requesting a new one - I'm leaving for germany in less than a month for an entire year, AND I NEED THIS COMPUTER!!!
At least the customer support is decent, it's not someone in India who reads you the instruction manual in an english where you can only understand half of what they're saying, at Lenovo, well, I've met a whole bunch of accents, including quite a few US accents (I've needed to call them quite a few times because of this whole touch screen thing), but almost all were understandable. Most were friendly, and it wasn't a matter of "oh, darn it, I need to sit on the phone another hour because I need to call tech support", I don't need to start putting a whole bunch of numbers in first - I put in one number if I want to speak in french (Canada) - if not, I just wait a couple of seconds, and I'm connected to someone. There were two people on my list that I'd rather not reach again (imagine my reaction when I did reach one of them again - ARRRGH!!!) - the one I reached twice put me on hold eventually with a reason and eventually the phone started beeping - like when you have the phone off-hook by accident... I have a feeling he just put it on hold and waited for me to hang up. I called again, and he got on the phone, he was not happy. And there was one sassy woman with a south american accent, and that didn't go too well, either. But the other ones I spoke to (about 6-7 others) were very friendly, no problems at all. So don't let those stories leave a sour taste in your mouth, they're just good stories... As to the "Award-winning support", it says something about how good Lenovo's support is, but I think it also says something about how bad everyone else's support is. Just my opinion...
Anyway, sorry for posting another novel on this thread

 

So anyway, anyone got a fix to the two buttons below the screen not working for me? As in the two buttons immediately below the screen on the lefthand side next to the power button above the wifi LED? The screen rotate button and whatever the other one is. Doesn't seem to work on mine, sure its missing software!

 

I sometimes use the screen rotate button, but a lot of the time, it doesn't work. Then if I kind of hold it for a little longer than a regular press, it would work. Then afterwards, it just works again by pressing it normally. I don't know what's with that, but it's not annoying yet since I rarely use those buttons anyways.

I'm gonna try installing Windows 8 on a spare 80GB intel ssd now. I don't really need the 500GB HDD to be in the 2.5" slot..

Here's some pictures for the 13.1" screen protector that I put on my X230T. It was only $3.29 for two screen protectors free shipping (ebay item 390368290737). Touch works fine, pen is super slick. I actually like the glossy screens because colors are more vivid and it's easier to write and very easy to clean. This job was much harder than a regular 12.5" screen protector. You have to be a PRO like me! haha. On one finger, you need the Scotch magic tape to get rid of the dust. It's harder than usual because the screen is not completely flat on the border lines of the visible screen area, and then another matte area. I managed to squeeze out all the air between the actual screen and the first border lines, but because there's still some difference between the shiny black part and the most outer matte black part, there are some (1-2mm) strip of air seen on the right edges.
As a screen protector, it is much better than a 12.5" protector because now I can freely write on the edges without fear of the pen's tip falling off the screen protector while writing on the edges, and touch even works better on the edges and I don't feel the awkwardness of the screen protector.

 

Oops, I forgot to put that into my novel... the button with the two screens is the rotate button, the button with the circular arrow is the Ctrl-Alt-Del button. I don't remember my Ctrl-Alt-Del button working at first, but eventually it worked, I think after some driver update. As to the rotate button, as hp79 suggested, try holding it down slightly longer. You might also want to check in the settings for that button - you can configure it to do a couple of different things, including what it does on a long press - I've got it set to the start button, which is handy when you're using a full screen app and want to do something else without closing it (e.g. do something while watching a YouTube video in the background).

 

Yeah I like the screen. I hate glossy reflective crap that my old timeline had on it.

 

Everybody mentions the fact that the msata is only sataII. Is this really an issue? Is there much of a difference(sataII sataIII) when it comes to latency? As the way i understand it this is the important factor to improving OS performance.

 

I already got over it. It's not an issue because it doesn't really slow down the access times or small file transfer times. But it would have been better if it did support sataIII on the mSATA instead of the Ultrabase dock (I don't think anyone would stick a SSD inside the Ultrabase) so we get the max speed at least when transferring large files.

X230T is a good machine, as long as you are lucky to get a non-flawed machine.

 

Fine here, no flaws. Using on screen keyboard in tablet mode, needs swype though

 

With SATA III, you have theoretically 6Gb/s compared to SATA II which is theoretically 3Gb/s. That translates to 600MB/s and 300MB/s, respectively. From my own tests of the only ultrabook/ultraportable I've seen with mSATA III, the Sony Vaio T, this is the result...


(Vaio T mSATA III slot - 60GB Mushkin mSATA III)

compared to


(ThinkPad X230 mSATA II slot - 60GB Mushkin mSATA III)

The clipping effect occurs on SATA III drives where it maxes out around 250MB/s on SATA II ports. Personally, it all comes down to speed advantage. When I had the Vaio T, I booted my machine in 15 seconds and shut it down in 7 seconds. The fastest I've been able to achieve. The ThinkPad is definitely slower with the mSATA II port. Although, if you have an SSD in the HDD bay, you may be able to achieve that but I require a cheap storage solution on my machine.

 

Hooray, my machine is finally in production (Ordered on 8/2). Generally how long does it take to be delivered at that point? It's estimating a week; given that the first two sets of dates they gave me were totally off, is that date more accurate once accurate?

 

Hi everybody,
I have a little problem with my x230t. I've noticed a few days ago that the right spacer to the frame are not "pressable".
Here is a photo of the spacer, which I'm talking about (appendix)

On the left side the spacer is pressable, but on the right side it's solid like hell.
That is very annoying, because if you press on the the back of the display (if display is closed) it makes a crazy noise.


Are both spacers pressable at your devices? Or is one solid, too?

Best regards,
Domski

 

oh wow! What specs did your system have? I ordered mine on 8/6 and surprisingly, I woke up this morning to a status change: SHIPPED! I haven't gotten the shipping notice with UPS tracking yet but their order website is updated already! (FYI, the only upgrades I had on mine different from their stock standard was i7, bluetooth, wireless card upgrade and 3-antenna screen).

So my order went RTM on 8/7 and shipped 8/10. With any luck, yours will too .

 

Mine is identical, so it's probably by design. Not a big deal to me what so ever.

 

Mine is the same

 

Hello all.

I've been following this thread when I was debating whether or not to purchase an x230t.

I have been a long time Thinkpad user, usually second hand and this was the first time I've ever purchased a notebook through Lenovo direct myself.

Now, I wound up lucky and my x230t didn't have the three legged issue nor any other obvious gripes of other people and I was vastly impressed by the actual performance of the Ivy bridge CPU, HD4000 GPU, etc.

Yesterday I was working on something when the fan picked up, however it didn't just start it sort of clunked then spun up which last I knew was not a normal sound to make.

It's not very consistent and there doesn't seem to be a trigger as a lot of the time the fan just spins up normally. At the moment I don't necessarily find it annoying just unnerving (guessing an offset bearing).

Has anyone else noticed anything similar? I don't recall seeing anything on previous posts in the thread but I could have missed it.

Still debating about sending it in for warranty service....I've dealt with Lenovo "service" in the past which is not always a pleasant experience. If it's not a glaring issue they usually give you the run around with a 50/50 chance they'll fix it.

Since this is very intermittent and there doesn't seem to be any ill effects yet I don't think I'd get anywhere.

And even though it doesn't seem to be a CRU I'm tempted to just order a replacement fan assembly and replace it myself.

 

Mine has a solid state drive that was factory installed by Lenovo. It and the fan is absolutely silent which I am surprised about...... I even put my ear to the keyboard and couldn't hear a thing.

Let me throw up a game and see.

Sent from my BlackBerry Bold 9900 using Tapatalk

 

I also dont know why people are saying the speaker sucks. It's completely fine if you left click on the dolby icon and change it to music. If you leave it on move yes it does suck.

I dont have a stiff touchpad, every corner works. Seems like I got the perfect model

 

I'd honestly go for it - send it in, it can't do any harm (if it does any harm, it's Lenovo's fault and you should get a new unit). If they send it back and nothing's done, try to get a reason out of them or something, they'll probably have you send it back in by then, but on their end, the repair will be higher priority. If the second time they send it back it's still not fixed, I would demand a new unit - that's the way I'll go if mine doesn't come back fixed this second time. You spent a good deal of money on this and deserve to get a functioning computer.

 

which processor do you have? I have an i7 and the fan is never quite silent.

 

Most likely that is your problem. I have the i5 vPro and it's silent. I used to have a i7 laptop and it was extremely noisy.

Has anyone noticed the screen automatically dims itself when looking at darker websites or isolated stuff such as firefox developer tools. How do I disable it??? When I open a non-dark website in another tab it's fine but when I go back to the dark website it dims itself.

 

It's in the power settings - I'm not sure where, but if you set the power scheme to the highest performance setting it won't happen.

 

I believe it is here.


1 - Right click desktop and go to "Graphics Properties"
2 - Advanced Mode
3 - Click Power on the left
4 - Should see two boxes with "Automatic Display Brightness" and "Display Power Saving Technology." I deactivated both.

To see the option you have to click "On battery" under Power Source at the top.

 

Arrived today \o/

Waiting till next Wednesday to download and install Windows 8 RTM.

 

^ that must have been expensive.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

Yeah, it was. And since I live in Lithuania, I couldn't buy this one directly from lenovo. Order it from OK1.de - they sell Lenovo stuff for students with discounts. Had no issues with order and delivery. Well, the only thing I'm not clear about is how to activate my extended warranty+protection since Lenovo site shows standard warranty for me. Hope to get reply about this from OK1.

Will do a full review running Windows 8 on my blog in a week or two.

 

BTW, I was reading the User Guide (yeah, some people still do that) and I remember guys here thinking about adding msata SSD to use it as a system drive. This is what Lenovo says about that:

 

They might be referring to the mSata Cache drive that comes with systems configured with the mSata drive + HDD. This had me worried, but according to Lamtd in the T430s Owner's Lounge, this makes the most sense to me as well:

 

What are your intial impressions so far?
Why are you waiting until next wednesday to install WIndows 8?
Please post the address of your blog

 

Impressions are great so far. Except for one leg being unstable and wobbling screen issues, I was already aware of before purchasing this, I saw no other problems. Performance is amazing.

I'm waiting till Wednesday since that day Windows 8 is going to be released to MSDN subscribers. While I don't want to wait till October, this is better option then use the leaked RTM version. Once I Windows 8 Upgrade offer goes live (probably in October), I just replace my MSDN key with the one I'll get for 14.99 Euros.

My blog - Tomas Dabasinskas | Because every geek needs a blog

 

I had a goog look around but don't seem to be able to find in depth specs for X230. Does anybody know the exact details of the expresscard slot?

 

For Win8, why do you have to replace the key with your own? Why not just use the one you get from MSDN?
I'll probably buy the upgrade for $15 and install that one on my desktop. I will use the cd-key from MSDNaa from our school once it becomes alive.


I tried the leaked Win8 RTM, my impression is that there are still lot of driver issues that prevents me to use as daily driver.
First off, the pen didn't work. I installed a beta driver from Wacom, so I got the pen working good, but then touch was acting funky. There's no multitouch either. (edit: Multitouch somehow works now) I decided to uninstall the Wacom software, and suddenly both the pen and touch (with 1 finger only) works fine.
Second problem is with usb 3.0. I connected my usb 3.0 hdd, and it operates in usb 2.0 mode. I tried installing drivers from lenovo and intel, but they didn't work. So I think I'm stuck at usb 2.0 for the moment.
Third, fingerprint reader software is kind of weird. It installs, but I can never open the software. I uninstalled the software, and now fingerprint reader drivers are recognized and still there. I can use it to log in to Windows.
Fourth, internet connection doesn't work often times. It might be a driver issue because I still have the lenovo basic wifi chip in mine. I ordered an intel 6300 wifi through ebay.

Here's how I have mine:
sata port 0 = intel x25-m 80GB (C:80GB Win8)
sata port 2 = crucial m4 msata 128GB (C:60GB Win7 / D:68GB Storage - shared with both OS)

It took couple attempts to make it clean as possible. By clean, I mean one OS doesn't effect the other, so I can take out one drive if I wanted to and it will boot right up. When powering up, I press F12 to select which hdd I want to boot from.
If you currently have sata port 2 as first boot device in the bios, and you want to install Win8 in the hdd/ssd in port 0, you should reorder the boot sequence in the bios before you install Win8. I think Win8 setup reads those settings, and if sata port 2 is the first boot device, it'll add a boot entry to that drive which I don't like.

Win8 seems more quick and feels more smooth than Win7, but the drivers and wifi problem needs to be sorted out. OEM's still have time so I'm sure they will iron it out.

 

These are exactly my experience.
The most important issue (for me) is the missing wacom driver. With this Windows 8 would be much more nicer (e.g. because of working gestures like forward, backward...).

Hopefully we will get the driver as soon as possible (October is sooo far away )

Btw: Windows 8 Beta drivers directly from lenovo: Windows 8 Beta Drivers (unfortunatelly not for wacom device)