X230(t) Owner's Thread

Well, while MSDN-AA allows you to use your Windows for daily things, MSDN allows me to use it for testing purposes only. So, theoretically, my Windows would still be in illegal.

Yes, issues with drivers is what I afraid if I start with Windows 8 this month. I know that Lenovo has a site with Windows 8 drivers ( Windows 8 Beta Drivers), but none of the drivers are listed as working for x220T. I guess some of the ones for x220T would work on x230T too.

Do you have a link to Wacom beta driver page?

EDITED: Nevermind, found it Tablet PC - Enhanced Graphics Driver 7.0.9-5

I haven't decided how I will split my 256GB SSD, but it will be 2 partitions - one for Windows 8 and another for data. Since I have WWAN card installed, I can't get additional msata drive, so I'm thinking about getting this one 128 GB SSD Wintec FileMate SolidGO ExpressCard 34: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör in the future. I need it since I'm planning to run virtual testing/demo environment (3-5 VMs) on my laptop. Price of that SSD is quite big, though..

 

I want to make note that the headphone jack on my X230 isn't that great, especially for bass. Compared to listening to bass-heavy music on my iphone, the X230 feeds me wildly distorted bass that sounds grainy and choppy. I may need to look into an external sound card eventually. All other frequencies aren't as bad, so it will work for most applications of sound, but not high quality audio.

I also want to say that the Dolby Advanced audio feature works good for the speakers, but it's almost useless for headphones. It's basically a built-in equalizer with a few extra features.

 

Yeah, I don't understand why it's being advertised as some big deal. It's just a software based equalizer as far as I know.

 

I've tried the above mentioned driver ( Tablet PC - Enhanced Graphics Driver 7.0.9-5 ), but gestures don't work -.-
No navigation like backward or forward with swiping the finger at the left or right side of the screen. Would be much more nice to navigate with these gestures while browsing in Tablet Mode.
If you start the training for gestures, the assistant gives you the following error:

For non germy speakers "With your mouse or finger gestures can not be executed. Use your tablet pen."

So...gestures work with the pen, but unfortunately not with my fingers

 

How can I make the FN media keys work in Winamp? Any idea? I hate Windows Media Player.

 

Argh, not sure if I want to buy this tablet or wait a few more months for the new windows 8 tablets.

 

Interesting, the sound coming out of my X230T's headphone jack is really amazing. Did you turn off the Dolby Advanced Audio when you plugged in your headphones? I wish there were a way to do this automatically, because the Dolby Advanced Audio is great on speakers, but headphones sound best without it. On mine, though, I love the sound coming out of it - It's even better than my Samsung Galaxy Player with a Wolfson DAC. Nice, high quality sound coming out of mine.

 

Yes, I have tried it with both the Dolby software on and off. It sounds slightly better off. After listening to a few songs downloaded in high quality to the X230, I have concluded that the distortion is a result of bad audio encoding on Youtube videos. So all is fine. haha
One question: Do you experience a quiet static sound when nothing is playing? A few others and I have noticed it. The static breaks off for a second every once in a while, and it's volume does not increase or decrease with computer's set volume.

 

Glad you figured it out I haven't noticed anything yet - I'll try it when I get mine back from Warranty, I'll try plugging it in to some higher power speakers and turn those up - although, in general, when you turn it way up, in my experience, there will always be something, but as I said, I'll check when I get it back, which shouldn't be later than Friday...

 

The problem with the audio turns out to be a flash player bug that a lot of people have had. I have reverted my version back to 10.3, but the problem still persists so I'll keep looking into it. ;P

edit: It's chrome's fault. I tested it in Firefox and the audio is so much better. Goodbye Chrome, I shall miss you...

 

Haha, I'll give you a bug in Firefox flash right now: go into YouTube, click on a video, pause the video, or change the quality - just do something. Now, try adjusting the volume... trololol - although it's not limited to this computer, I have the same problem on my Toshiba, I thought it was a driver problem at first... Personally, with the speed of this machine, I haven't really felt the need for Chrome - I mainly use chrome when FF goes bazurk or I want stuff like Flash to go a little quicker, in general, Chrome seems to be better when it comes to flash (except for the problem you mentioned - not that I've had it myself)

 

Ordered mine the other day!

Processor Intel Core i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz)
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Operating system language Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 - English
Windows XP Mode Windows 7 XP Mode - English
Display type 12.5" Multitouch HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna
System graphics Intel® HD Graphics 4000
Total memory 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
Keyboard Keyboard - US English
Pointing device UltraNav™ with TrackPoint® and buttonless multi-touchpad
Camera 720p HD Camera
Hard drive 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Battery 6 Cell ThinkPad Battery X67+
Power cord 65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN)
Integrated mobile broadband Qualcomm Gobi 3000
______________________________________________
My eventual plans are to get 8 or 16GB Crucial Vengence for dual channel, Intel Solid State, and figure out the eGPU situation... (moogleassassin seems to be the one I need to talk to but I don't have enough posts to PM yet...)

 

Anyone worked out a good way to get on a screen protector?

I'm finding it very VERY hard.

Have used weak sticky tape to get rid of dust particles.

Have even washed screen protector in soapy water.
Even tried dipping screen protector in alcohol after as one web site suggested.

But there are always lots of bubbles when I put in on.

C'mon guys - do you have any cool tricks?

 

My wife got a little rubber squeegee thing with her cheapo Ipad screen protector and that thing put on my PS Vita screen protector PERFECTLY... Maybe you can use a thin flexible rubber spatula to apply it as an alternative?

 

Make sure the environment is clean, and no dust floating around. Wash your hand with soap.

Make a small loop (2-3cm diameter) using Scotch Magic tape, sticky side facing outwards. Keep this in one finger. This is used to pull out the dust on the silicon side of the screen protector in case there is dust while applying the protector. You have to be gentle whenever you pull out dust from it or the screen cuz otherwise the sticky stuff can be left or the silicon could get messed up.

Start from one corner and use a credit card to gently squeeze the protector on the screen. (Peel the silicone protecting film little bit at a time. Don't start with the whole back peeled off.) As you apply the protector little by little, you will see dust particles. Then back up couple inches back, and use the tape to get the dust out. Then get back with applying the protector using the credit card and gently sweep over, very slowly.

Since my screen protector is 13.1", once the insides (12.5" view-able screen area) were all done, I had to lift the edges again to get the air out of the spaces between the view-able screen and the black shinny screen. I used a razor blade to lift the screen protector up gently, then squeeze the path with light pressure to the other way.

On another note, my previous X230T had a magnet inside the screen, the new one doesn't. I know this because I noticed the razor blade was sticking on my previous one. Does anyone have magnets inside their screen? It was on both sides. I should have took a picture of that...


Anyways, with silicone backed screen protectors, you don't need any water or soap mist or alcohol. Just credit card, and Scotch Magic tape.

Good luck

 

Try to lay it down with a bit of a curve (like a U) so that it kind of rolls on if you get very big bubbles. Lift a bit and lay it down again gently.

Medium to small bubbles can be massaged out. Start from the centre and gently push them to coagulate with each other and then out the edge. Depending on the protector, small bubbles can also go away by themselves after a few days.

 

Hey! So I am interested in getting an x230t but I am debating weather to get the 3 or 6 cell battery. My first thoughts were to get the 6 cell because it would last me all day (I dont use my computer unplugged for hours and hours) and it would provide a nice grip, but then i saw some pictures of the x230t with the 3 cell and it just looks so awesome!!!!! I am a diehard Thinkpad fan but I have to admit that the 6 cell is a bit ugly.... and also i was thinking that it might be uncomfortable when the computer is resting on your lap. So i guess ideally i would get both batteries but I would rather not pay an extra 100 bucks if i can avoid it. So if yall could tell me what your experiences with the 3 and 6 cell batteries are that would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

CoopsMgoops

 

I'm a 6-Cell hater and I finally bought a 3-Cell for my x220t after deciding that I didn't need that much runtime.

If you do need the runtime there isn't much of a choice, though. You could always buy both batteries and use the one more suited for whatever situation.

You could also consider buying the 3-Cell and the slice if you just flat out don't even want to touch the 6-Cell

 

I was a bit skeptical about 6-cell battery before my order. In videos I saw it - it was ugly. Anyhow, I ordered my laptop with 6-cell battery and I'm happy about it. Longer battery works great as handle while in portrait tablet mode. And it doesn't look ugly, since you don't look to the bottom of your laptop.

 

Does anyone's touchscreen stop responding for a couple of seconds occasionally? Software issue or hardware?

 

Hi together!

I just odered my first new Lenovo i've ever bought - an X230. First, back in 2010 i had an old used X61, then, last year i bought an used X1 - the most i liked was the keybord. that was the only reason for the X1 - all the other things on the X1 were very, very crappy. Poor battery life, horrible viewing-angle display, horrible glossy display, horrible small display on a 13.3" Notebook.
Thank god lenovo has put in the new precision keyboard with backlight into the new X-Series - so i had to order one. I sold the X1 already to somebody, who doesn't mind about the scrappy screen. I read many things that the touchpad on the X230 isn't that good, especially whith gestures. I think the X1 had the same issue, as the touchpad looks very similar to the one in the X230, except the size of course. Anyway my X61 didn't had a touchpad at all, so i am used to the awesome pointing stick anyway.

My order was in sum:
=> i7-3520M
=> 16GB RAM
=> 500GB HDD
=> 256GB mSATA SSD Crucial m4 CT256M4SSD3
=> Premium HD ( IPS)
=> Centrino Advanced-N 6205 ( abgn)
=> 9 cell Battery (44++)
=> 36 Months Warranty
=> Mini Dock 3 Plus (90W with USB 3.0)
=> Lenovo 12,5" Laptop Sleeve (for X2x0 with 9cell Battery)

All together about 1600€, which is about 2000$. It's a fair price for the performance and ergnonomics you get with a ThinkPad.
Got my Tracking-Number today, so i can't wait for the order to arrive.

I hope i can spread the time till it arrives with reading this huge thread. Thankfully till now i didn't found a dealbreaker on the X230, like so many things i found bad on the X1. The last Laptop i bought new was a HP Compaq machine, back in 2006 - it lasted over 5 Years and is still working, although not used any more, of course. I hope, that Lenovo can catch up with the durability and longevity of my old HP nc8430.

Cheers,
Fabian

 

Yepp....time to time I have this problem, too. Not a big deal, because the screen becomes responsible a few seconds later.
...and this problem occurs just very rare.

 

Alright so it's a common problem then and not my machine acting up, thanks.

Anyone know how to make pen writing not so messy?

 

Actually, I haven't had that problem... only when I'm running really intense stuff, but it's fairly hard to wear down that i7...
What do you mean with "making the pen writing not so messy"?

As to the screen protectors, could somebody maybe post a picture of the edges of their 13-inch screen protector on their X230T?

 

Well when I take notes in OneNote, it just is too sloppy and messy. Its worse then my handwriting on physical paper which is shocking enough. Any idea what to do? Maybe select a smaller drawing ink?

 

There's a problem I've been noticing about my IPS screen. When I'm watching a dark movie for a short while in fullscreen and I close out of the movie, the screen takes a while to adjust to the sudden change in brightness. The screen is noticeably darker, and adjusts back to normal after maybe 5 seconds. Has anybody noticed something like this? I am running it at 60Hz refresh rate. I haven't been too impressed with this IPS display, even compared to my budget e-IPS Dell. This makes watching movies incredibly annoying as the colors become inaccurate on a panel that touts color accuracy as a major selling point.

 

I'm pretty sure you're having the same problem someone else has had already... to make sure that you're having the same problem, set the power scheme to "maximum performance" (or whatever the power scheme is called, the Lenovo names are different), and you shouldn't have the problem anymore.

@oh a tree - the first thing I would try is re-calibrating it. JesseBAndersen has a pretty good video on that. The other thing is that you shouldn't forget that you can rest your palm on the screen as long as you don't lift the pen more than an inch off the screen - I've noticed my writing is significantly uglier when I keep my palm off the screen than when I keep it on. Why don't you try posting a picture of your handwriting on the tablet in comparison to your handwriting on paper?

 

Ah, thanks!

 

got my 8gb Crucial ddr3 1600 1.3v ram in today. could i pair that with the stock 4gb ram to effectively get 12gb ram total?

 

Somebody has indeed posted pic's of what you ask. Within the last 200 post's/20pages.

cheers

 

Just a quick update on my x230 that I ordered on 8/2. It's still in the manufacturing phase and has blown through several shipping estimates, the most recent of which was yesterday (8/15). For my first lenovo purchase I'm quite disappointed; I didn't think anything I added would add this much time to the manufacturing process. Law school starts on Monday, and I was really hoping it would have at least shipped by now. I really can't afford to go very long without a laptop. I know it's my fault for not ordering it sooner, but I didn't really have a choice. If it doesn't ship by the time my loan money officially comes in by next week I might have to cancel and buy the first available thing I can find . Just a heads up for anyone who might be ordering one soon.

EDIT: After about 20 minutes on hold, and just as long waiting for a web chat, they were able to let me know that the new shipping date is the 24th. We'll see.

 

What are the specs of the machine? In some cases, a parts shortage can cause long delays. Check with Staples, Best Buy, etc. about their returns on laptops. Some may allow you to buy a laptop and return it without any type of fee up to a couple of weeks.

 

There are a couple things in there that could be conceivably holding it up. I just wish they'd communicate with me to let me know what's up.

 

I read in another thread (can't find it atm) that Lenovo was hit with an unexpected demand for the x230 in general. No specific parts holding it up.

 

btw guys, there was some confusion on if the Crucial mSATA could work with the x230 notebook (non-tablet) and I can confirm that it does in fact work. I just installed it and am finalizing my clean install (took the HDD out to install windows 7)

 

I ordered mine on 08/04 and it was shipped on 08/15. UPS-Tracking told me It will arrive on 08/21 here in south west Germany. (In the Moment the Package is in Warsaw, Poland...) ;-).

I can´t wait to get it!!!! (It´s like christmas as a child ;-))

 

Did you find out of adding the 8GB stick works? Even if it reverts back to 1.5v instead of 1.35v it would still be a better deal by upping to 12GB instead of replacing the original stick with 2 4GB sticks and only getting 8GB. I may do this as well if it worked for you.

 

Today I was also advised that my new shipping date is the 24th. Contrary to my earlier post, the sales person told me that there had been an LCD problem. Perhaps Lenovo didn't have enough IPS panels on hand?

 

Yes it does work, when I installed it I checked the BIOS to make sure and also checked DXDIAG to ensure that I'm getting 12gb of RAM. But I still ordered another 8gb Crucial RAM just because the price was nice ($56 on amazon). Also I'm not sure if it's running dual channel because the two sticks are different (not sure it matters anyways).

Here are my WEI scores after the Crucial mSATA and Crucial RAM install:

Processor: 7.2
Memory: 7.5
Graphics: 6.5
Gaming graphics: 6.5
Primary hard disk: 7.8

I am very pleased with the Crucial products. And also special thanks to Hearst for the clean install guide, and thanks to sbl03 and hp79 for helping on the installs as well. Couldn't of done it without it.

EDIT: I'm now just putting back in the 500GB HDD and formatting it. I'm getting rid of all the partitions and going to back a Recovery partition myself with the use of Lenovo Solution Center

 

No problem. Those are my exact WEI numbers too with 2x4GB. Not sure how Windows calculates that but it looks like your RAM is working fine.

 

Hey guys, i'm looking for alittle help regarding purchasing a X230T.
i read for awhile that there are alot of issues such as Faulty motherboards and long wait times but that hasn't really shunned me away from it, i've been thinking about buying a X230T for awhile now and i'm now just waiting for it to be on a perfect deal. being a graphic design student, i wanted the Wacom supported sensitivity for Brush and painting within Photoshop and the Gorilla glass, mainly cause i live in NYC and you need to get heavy duty equipment if youre going to be living in NYC. i currently have with me a X61T with 8gb DDR2 Ram & Pen/Touch support, i'm just wondering how much of a difference is it? and if you guys have any tips for purchasing and setting up, i'd be thankful.
besides the most obvious stuff such as "buy RAM & HD Elsewhere"

 

nice one mate, cheers for the confirmation.

 

Does everyone use the default settings for the IPS panel? I can't help but think there's something just slightly off. Then again, I tend to keep the brightness pretty low.

 

no problem man!

guys I also just realized that my ThinkVantage button doesn't do anything. Also, when I boot my computer it takes a while for the audio to start working. Anybody can help me out? thanks

 

I believe you need SimpleTap software installed. Not 100% sure. Mine doesn't work either, not that I use it anyway.

 

thanks for the heads up. i'll try that out.

anyone can help me out with my audio problem? it gets messed up when i press the mute button and then unmute. all of a sudden stops working and then randomly comes up again

 

Returning my X230T to Lenovo for refund.

Figured out I could get an i7 with 8GBRAM plus all my other configurations (minus SSD) for $100 cheaper on eBay then the i5 4GB I got from Lenovo.

 

I almost went this option, but I noticed the i5 on there was the 3210m version so its much slower. Luckily I had the EEP discount to bring the price down to a reasonable amount. Good find though if you made off with a good deal.

 

I'd be scared to buy something like this on ebay. If you already have a good machine, then I would keep it because it's really hard to get lucky. I saw two x230t's base wobbling (sitting on 3 legs) out of three.

 

just to update guys I believe I have fixed my audio issues. I tried to re-install the Realtek driver which is on Lenovo's website but that wasn't working. I then went into device manager and updated the Intel(R) Display Audio driver and I haven't had any problems after that.