X230(t) Owner's Thread

Well this is interesting: according to this blogger, the X230T will be the last of its kind, to be replaced by the Thinkpad Helix. Good bye ThinkPad X230t! Hello Helix!

Take it with a big grain of salt, but with the emphasis on consumer win8 tablets, I can see why they are moving in this direction.

While I like the sleekness and the 1080p of the Helix, I think I'll be much happier with the x230t due to its full sized keyboard and trackpoint.

 

Whoa... If the Helix just kept the full sized keyboard and somehow kept its larger trackpad... We might have a winner!!! It would be nice to have a real laptop that could take advantage of Windows 8's tablet friendly form though. I'm really debating ordering an X230... the OCTX230 coupon seems to be as good as the coupon from June/July when this first hit the market. The 1366x768 resolution is just blasphemy for this day and age.. I could just connect it to my external monitor, but I'm not sure how I will feel taking it out into the field with the low resolution... will it be bad for typing documents? taking notes? web-browsing? :/

 

low resolution?
appart from older thinkpads with 1400x1050 I guess most of other laptops are far from that: macbook pro 13' 1280x800.
Even yesterday a friend of mine bought a 15.4' asus that came with 1366x768

 

Wow, the current price is the lowest I have seen. I wonder if it's gonna get lower on Black Friday?

 

According to this post at tabletpcreview.com, X240T is confirmed once Haswell comes out. Perhaps the helix vs X240T is like the T430u and worries about the T430 not being made?

 

In some ways I hope the x230t is the last of it's kind... I would really like to see a convertible tablet that has the same feature set (Wacom digitizer, etc) in ultrabook form factor (way thinner and lighter). I really have no need for the full-voltage CPU they've put in the x220t and x230t, so I hope that's the reason those machines have been so massive, and I hope it goes away.

 

So you want a ThinkPad Edge Twist with a digitizer, right? According to lead_orgs test, the Twist is, apart from three things (glossy screen, no digitizer, only HD) a really nice device (you can find it here: LAPTOPS - Think.Scopes)

 

Broadly speaking, yes, I would like to see the traditional TP tablet line go in that direction. Even the Twist still has a lot of wasted footprint/bezel space that I would love to see go away too. I don't really care for the Edge styling either, but if it ticks all the other boxes, I could care less about the looks.

EDIT: It's more like I'd like to see an X-Series tablet made with the same - for lack of a better word - care as the standard X-Series ultraportable. From the huge blocks of empty space in the chassis to the disgustingly bulbous 6-Cell battery the x220/230t just seems like so much of an afterthought compared to the vanilla x220/230. I realize that the convertible market is indeed niche, but I maintain that they did so much of a better job on the x200/201t that I really haven't been that impressed with the SB/IB refresh.

 

Hi guys, I made the jump decided to purchase my x230. I bought it off of ebay for under $800 (brand new, not refurbished) and after reading countless posts through this whole thread, I feel pretty confident I made the right choice. Can someone give me some reassurance though lol.

I plan on upgrading the ram to 16gb and installing an mSata SSD for the boot drive. After those changes, will this machine be as beastly as I hope? Thanks everyone for all your input into this thread.

Processor Intel Core i5 processor i5-3210M (2.5GHz; 3.1GHz Max Turbo, 3MB cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 - English
Memory 4GB PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM SODIMM Memory
Hard Drive 320GB, 7200RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Hard Drive
Display 12.5” Premium HD WXGA (1366 X 768) IPS, LED Backlight w/ 720p HD Camera
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000
Keyboard Backlit Keyboard
Pointing Device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Ethernet/Wireless Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
Bluetooth Yes

Limited Warranty Expires October 2013

1 Year Standard Depot Warranty (got an additional one year warranty on top by purchasing with my AMEX card)

 

Guys I've been offered (well 5eur) an Original 44+ 6 cell battery with the purchase of my X230.
How much do you think it's worth it?or how should I keep it (in case I can't sell it)?
Because with 10hour battery guess I won't need a new battery soon...

 

If you're getting it for [5 euros?] by all means take it. They aren't worth that much, but definitely more than what you're paying.

 

Yes, my options for the 5eur promo were:

Thinkpad sleeve (I can get one tthat fits the X230 for about 8eur on ebay)
A Lenovo bag (I don't need it, I have one)
Pixel testing (I can buy it for 15eur)
The 44+ battery.

I choose the battery...
Any ideas on how to store it?
Don't use it at all or use it from time to time?

 

I actually understand this point of view. In that vein, here's hoping the Helix is built with care. Oftentimes I wonder how awesome it would be if I could just detach my X220T screen and hold it in my hand, despite the wasted bezel, and the Helix seems like just the solution.

 

Hey guys, I don't own an x230. But can you guys check if you can overclock the refresh rate?
I did so on my np8130 here http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/660283-you-guys-know-you-can-overclock-lcd.html

I asked my friend if he could on his y430, he said he could just fine. That was also on a hd4000.
To do this on an integrated gpu, you need CRU.
Custom Resolution Utility (CRU)

Try 75hz and beyond, you guys will notice everything is much smoother.

The reason I am asking is because I want to get this laptop, but I'll only get it if you can overclock the LCD.

Thanks to anyone who tries.

(PS, I've never seen a damaged laptop by overclocking the refresh rate, ever. Even my 5 year old vostro 1310 can do 90hz)

 

I have installed:
Lenovo Power Management Driver for Windows 8 (32-bit, 8 64-bit) - Notebook
Lenovo Power Management Driver
geku09ww.exe
1.3 MB Windows 8 32bit,Windows 8 64bit 1.66.0.17

I cannot find anything like the GUI of the Power Management. What does it do?

 

For the time being, you need to install Power Manager for Windows 7. If the installer doesn't work, run it in compatibility mode for Windows 7.

 

anyone tried installing Seagate Momentus XT 750 GB on the X230T?

 

Will that fit? I thought X230/X230T can only fit 7mm drives. 9.5mm drives can fit with some modifications, but I'm not sure if that Seagate can be modified.

 

I don't think you need to modify the drive to make it fit, but the case is what needs work to make it fit.

 

I am considering a purchase of x230i, but there is a few question. Is i3-3110M enough powerful for casual tasks like web browsing and watching full hd movie on another monitor in the same time? I will buy a ssd for it so I think in daily task there is no big difference between i5-3220 and i3-3110? The monitor is the same in x230t and x230i? the only difference is disk and processor?

How about using windows 8 on x230t? Is a screen comparable to vaio t13? it is matte right? how about multitouch in win8 and sensitivity of touch panel?

And the most important: Is this laptop quite? I hate my Asus N71JA because of noise.

What about battery on Windows 8?

 

Which program is responsible for the "automatic" screen rotation, if your rotate the screen to tablet mode?
I've installed Windows 8 but the automatic rotation doesn't work

 

Yes.

No, the X230t has an IPS monitor while a pre-configured X230i probably does not. You'd probably need a i5 or i7 model to get the IPS screen on the X230 or do a CTO model.

My X220i is very quiet. To some degree, it'll depend on how it's used. Most notebooks get noisy when pushed.

The tablets probably don't get as much battery life as the non-tablets due to the tablet parts using more power and the tablets don't get batteries as large as the standard X230s.

 

I am not from USA, so here is the model which I want to buy. It seems to have an IPS Panel Lenovo ThinkPad X230i tablet N1Z71PL - Core i3 3110M / 12,5 HD / 8192 / 320 / Intel HD 4000 / Windows 7 Pro z opcj

5 hours on battery during web browsing is real?

 

This former only applies if you are actually using the digitizer. If you use it like a normal notebook, relative battery life will be the same. I say relative because it is true that the vanilla x230 has bigger batteries.

This is an x230 tablet. Of course it will have the IPS screen. If you don't need the tablet features, I would recommend the vanilla x230, though (if you can find it I suppose).

 

Using Win 8 with TouchScreen is amazing, I looks as if x230 has the same battery, 6 cell. Did you use this touch panel ? Is it sensitve ? I play with VAIO t13 touch in shop and it was an amazing experience.

I think i could achieve 5 hours during browsing with wifi and 40% brightness?

 

I have the x220t. I only use the digitizer with pen input to draw... imo touch is still a gimmick in the traditional notebook space.

You can probably get around 5 hours while browsing at 40% brightness. Your mileage will obviously vary depending on your spec, background processes, etc.

 

I don't know how good the touch input is or isn't; I just prefer using a keyboard and mouse in a traditional OS setting.

 

Anyone tried win 8 on x230t? Do all windows 8 gestures work? Or something is missing? Any impressions?

 

So far I am able to swipe from the sides of the screen ok on my X230T but having issues swiping down far enough to "toss" away an active app. Also, touching the corners does bring up the appropriate menus. That's all I have tried so far.

 

The touch panel is pretty good... until you put a screen protector on it. For casual tasks, I almost only use touch, grabbing the keyboard every once in a while, like right now. As I said, sensitivity is fairly good, but when you add a screen protector, your index finger's tip won't work as easily anymore, your results may vary. I've tried 2 screen protectors, one was a good deal better.
And you can definitely achieve 5 hours browsing with wifi, probably a bit more.
I haven't used it with windows 8 (I dislike it, I won't state why because it will start an argument), but I use touch for almost everything in windows 7, even in laptop mode, and I've used touch for hours on end in tablet mode.

 

im thinking about upgrading my current i5 3220m with and quad core i7 i've pulled from my asus g53 ,is this possible?

 

Nope. The CPU is soldered the the motherboard on the x230.

 

where did you get this info exactly?

 

I mean this is basically common knowledge... the CPU has been soldered to the motherboard in basically every X series since forever. See the HMM.

 

Am I seeing this right?

Media base bay devices
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim w/ SW Royalty for Windows 8

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetai...42D5009B1EABB377BFC4965EE083D306#.UJStkcVZWSo

What does that mean for the x230?

 

It comes with an UltraBase which has a DVD slot. Is that what you're asking? There is no DVD player/recorder on the x230, just on the UltraBase.

 

That's what I've been wondering about for the past few days. When you go through the configurator, it includes the UltraBase. But when you add it to the cart, the UltraBase isn't on the list of components but the DVD burner is.

It would be kind of funny if they shipped the burner without the UltraBase.

 

My laptop must be tired today. It keeps going into sleep mode even if I am using it. Anyone know why it would just go to sleep? All of my idle timers are set to "never" so an idle timer isn't causing it.

 

I am in love with this laptop. One of the better ones I have owned. Picked up a fully loaded X230

3320M
16GB Corsair Memory (10-10-10-27 1T)
256GB Samsung 830 SSD
Webcam, BT, 6205 Wireless
Fingerprint Reader
6 Cell, Slice Battery, Ultrabase 3

Build quality is great, I like the new keyboard. The one thing I didn't like at first was the touch pad, but has since been a lot better after installing synaptic software and disabling a few options.

This laptop is super quiet and even under load I can hardly hear it and little warmth.

IPS screen is great, love the viewing angles. Slight bleeding in a couple areas, but the brightness and colors more then make up for it.

Webcam is pretty good and I enjoy the dual mic

Sound isn't as bad as I thought, I installed realtek drivers and volume is pretty decent. Not too shabby, but not the best.

Speed is phenomenal. 7.2 cpu WEI, 7.6 Memory, and 7.9 Hard Disk. 6.5 in Graphics is still great for Integrated video.

Wireless is very solid, plan on trying WiDi soon (Intel Wireless Display)

Did a fresh win 7 install and all 3rd party driver cept for the ones I needed from Lenovo. Setup Hibernation partition and enabled Rapid Start. Very nice features. Overall I'd recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a work horse. Battery life has been exceptional as well, w/ the slice I really don't see myself ever being without enough time to make it to an outlet.

I already have a 560TI and Power supply to try the eGPU option, may do that in a month or so. If it's good enough to play Diablo 3 (which I'm sure it is) I may sell my desktop and have a nice all in one solution.

 

have any X230T owners experienced Bluetooth connection problems? i cannot get this to work correctly. pairing devices is easy and flawless, but subsequently, i can't connect to them. "Error connecting to headset. Please retry this operation." retrying, of course, never helps. i have two devices, and neither will connect. super frustrating.

 

Is anyone else having problems when in tablet mode? My mouse is jumping all over the place, resizing the screen and even exiting out of things. I'm also having loads of internet problems. On occasion my laptop will pick up my home network when i'm not at home which I then have to restart my computer to fix, and my ping is so bad even when I have great connection! I love windows 8, but this is killing me. Is it an OS problem or is it the laptop?

 

Never had a problem with either using windows 7 or 8. Did this ever have Windows 7 on it? If so, did it work then? If it did, have you upgraded all drivers?

 

Funny, I haven't had many problems with bluetooth - I mainly use it for file transfer or to use a physical keyboard on my android device. The only thing I can suggest is to try reinstalling the drivers... Have you tried bluetooth operations other than those you want to do? Do they work?

 

My X230 (not T) is scheduled to arrive in a couple of days. What are the first 5 - 10 things I should do with it after I unbox it to get off to a good start? Thanks!

 

Just make sure everything works and that you're happy with the machine. My personal belief is that there really aren't generalizable "best practices"; it all depends on what you value and what you're doing (ie for me I'd pull the stock drive and do a clean SSD install as a "first thing", but for many it should be make the recovery media).

 

Before you get consumed with setting it up and getting off to a good start, why not just soak it in for a bit? It's never better than when you first open it.

 

I put windows 8 on my SSD and put it straight in my x230t. I updated all drivers as well. It seems as if it's the back of the screen that is messing with the trackpad? Also the screen came loose at the top and I had to snap it back into place. I'm so disappointed, this laptop was exactly what I wanted but it looks like i'll have to send it back and get a different laptop. This is my second lenovo and I think it's time to move on

 

So I upgraded to win8, how do I know if turbo boost is working? The power manager driver is installed, and it is at maximum performance


Intel widget shows max, taskmanager shows 3.51Ghz and cpu-z shows less than 3.4Ghz. Grrr.

 

Guys, what is the difference between the regular and the outdoor screen on the X230?
I take it the outdoor is brighter?

I had an X200 (damn, now that I think about it, it might have been a 220 and not sure if they had different screen options) with
the outdoor screen and it was awesome.

Thinking of getting a 230 but my question is, how is the regular screen in brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness?

I read here that most of the screens in this resolution are so so but this is not a medium or low end screen.

Also, what's with the 2x2 and 3x3 wifi?

Thanks

George