X230(t) Owner's Thread

Hi all,

I'm considering buying an x230T for illustration in Photoshop and 3D sculpting in ZBrush.
Does anybody here have experience using this computer for these purposes.

I've found a used one with these specs:
> Model: 3434CTO
> i5 - 3320M (2.6GHz) CPU
> 8GB DDR3 RAM
> 320GB HDD 7200 RPM
> 12.5in 1366x768 LCD Touch Screen
> Integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000
> Integrated Audio
> Integrated Gigabit Ethernet LAN
> Integrated Wireless 802.11 a/g/n LAN, Bluetooth
> Dual Mics, HD Webcam 640x480
> ExpressCard slot, Media card reader slot
> 1x Display Port , 2 x USB3.0 Ports, 1 x USB2.0 Ports, 1x RJ-45 Port, 1x VGA Port
> 6 cell battery (rapid charge)
> Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
> Touchscreen + stylus + keyboard + touch pad
> 90 secs boot up time with current HDD (I expect approximate 30 secs with SSD)
> Current shutdown 12 secs
> Current Win Experience Index 5.9

And this review is pretty good AREA | Lenovo ThinkPad X230T Review

I'm just wanting confirmation on how well it handles those programs.

There isn't really that much difference between the i5 and i7 CPU options.

Also, i'd be wanting to upgrade to the backlit keyboard option, I's assume it's a simple job.
Open it up, take the ribbons off,pull out, put the backlit keyboard in...

Thanks.

 

I can tell you that I run Photoshop CS2 on an x230 and 4gb of ram and it runs without any problem.

 

NIce.

Does anybody know how Photoshop CS5/6 along with Zbrush R3/4 runs?

 

my Windows Experience Index Numbers in Windows 8

CPU: 7.2
RAM: 7.6
Graphics: 5.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.5
HDD: 8.1

This is with the i7-3520 @ 2.9
8.00GB RAM (From Lenovo)
128 GB harddrive

 

Just ordered this (x230 non T) as an upgrade fro my my x120e. Love the form factor!


Some questions:

1. How hard is the SSD upgrade? Will a 7mm drive fit or will I have to pad it?

2. Is teh RAM dual channel? I configured a single 4gb stick, but I have 2x2gb lying around at home. Thinking of doing 4+2=6gb, but don't want to loose dual channel.

3. Is it Ubuntu/Mint/Linux friendly? I did not upgrade to the Intel wireless, and ordered with windows 7. I have never dealt with this secureboot nonsense before.

 

1) 7mm drives fit by default. You don't need any additional hardware.

2) As long as you have two DIMMs, it'll be dual-channel, even if they are mismatched in size.

 

Hello everyone,

I did my fair share of googling, but I couldn't find anything. Did anyone actually mod the BIOS to get the old X220 7 row keyboard working on the X230? If there isn't, does anyone know how you can contact Lenovo about this issue? Their support page (as usual) doesn't direct me anywhere. How they didn't include such a BIOS option by default is beyond me (or did they? I just have to assume they didn't)

 

Hi there, may I know how much you paid for it? and link perhaps?

thanks alot

 

Hi All, I'm a new owner of an X230 with i5-3320 and upgraded IPS display ($810 shipped). The laptop is awesome, but I'd recommend those who can wait, to wait for the next version with a better touchpad. This touchpad is HORRIBLE, and the speakers are no picnic either. Other than that, I'm a happy guy.

Here are some notes about my upgrades if you are interested.

Original PC configuration with Win8 standard and 320GB HDD:
CPU: 7.2
RAM: 5.9
Graphics: 4.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.3
HDD Data Transfer: 5.9

After installing two Kingston DDR3-1866 sticks of RAM, dual-channel 4GBx2 ($77 shipped), plus Samsung 840 PRO SSD 256GB ($250 shipped):
Clean copy of Win7Pro x64 SP1 (max score in Win7 is 7.9)

CPU: 7.2
RAM: 7.6
Graphics: 6.5
Gaming Graphics: 6.5
SSD Data transfer: 7.9

I confirmed that the RAM is running at 1866Mhz with CPUz.

NOTES ON BIOS/UEFI : In order to install Win7, I had to disable SecureBoot in the Security menu, and I had to enable Legacy boot in the boot menu (instead of UEFI) to get the system to boot from USB stick. From USB stick, you could only install Win7 Pro in regular BIOS mode with MBR. With USB DVD, you are also able to boot to UEFI and install Win7 Pro in UEFI mood with an EFI system partition. Not really sure why that would be helpful.

My Windows boots in about 8 seconds. I am now able to transfer data from a USB 3.0 hard drive to the computer at 80Mbps. I copied 100 gigabytes in 20 mins.

LMK if anyone has questions.

- Joe

 

Could you please go into more detail about which IPS screen you upgraded to?
Why you upgraded it and what from.
I thought all the monitors available were IPS?

What issues are there with the touchpad?
What issues are there with the speakers? I imagine "tinny".

I plan on purchasing a used one this week for digital art with the multi-touch/digitizer display which what i believe is a matte display. Could you please confirm this for me.

Have you used it for digital art in programs like Photoshop/ZBrush by any chance?

Thanks.

 

Hi T-Ravisty,

There are 2 screens you can get for X230. Both are matte, both are the same resolution. But the upgraded display is IPS (I believe 300 nits instead of 200 nits), which is much brighter and has far better viewing angles. There is no easy way to know which screen you have other than looking at the screen from top, left, right, bottom. If it immediately washes out terribly and dims like crazy (like 90% of laptop screens do), then it's not IPS. The upgrade was only $50, I think everyone should have bought the upgraded (IPS) display.

There are tons of forums complaining about the touchpad. It sucks. It's jumpy, and when you press to click it makes the mouse move and sometimes you click something else. It has a bumpy surface instead of smooth. It moves in 4-pixel jumps instead of 1-pixel jumps. Various drivers don't really fix the issue. I just use a bluetooth mouse, and other people use the trackpoint instead of the touchpad. Normally I'd say buy an X220 with the awesome touchpad, but the graphics are Intel HD 3000, which sucks compared to the Intel HD 4000 graphics on the X230. I haven't used any digital art programs that you mentioned.

The speakers have no bass, they are the worst speakers of all 4 laptops I have. Yes tinny is correct. They are fine for Skype or whatever, but they suck for music. [Edit - I just messed with the settings and got them to sound better. For treble/mid-range, they actually sound kinda good. But for several songs I tried with bass, it's a strange sound. The bass is just missing/absent, moreso than my other laptops)]

But again, those 2 problems are overshadowed by everything else that is AWESOME about the laptop. Make sure you buy a 7mm SSD, like Samsung 840 or Samsung 840 PRO [Note : 9mm SSDs do not fit]. My Samsung Pro SSD made the laptop perform like a dream.

 

You are talking about the x230 tablet. joesero is talking about the x230 vanilla.

On the tablet, all of the screens are matte IPS. I *think* they are the same panels as those on the vanilla, but obviously they have the digitizer and E2E glass attached.

The comments about the touchpad and the speakers are probably applicable to both machines, though.

 

If you can get the serial number for the machine in question, you can use the parts look up to see which screen it has. There's a link in the sticky.

I might suggest if you're not planning on using WWAN, getting the mSATA SSD. Doing so would allow you to keep the platter drive in the main bay for storage where speed is not as important.

 

Touchpads are way too quirky. Turn it off (in the BIOS), and learn to use the much better Trackpoint!

The full "future" with UEFI still hasn't arrived.

Meaning that MBR w/ legacy mode is still the ticket.

It'll be longer after you give it some time to settle in.

FWIW even though I don't have a resident HDD on either of my laptops, I am still very much a fan of HDD! Meaning for backup, which is critically important when your O/S and data are on a SSD.

When the SSD goes south (note that I said when and not if), so does your O/S and data.

 

Thanks joesero, Commander Wolf and ZaZ.

Yes, I'm after the x230 tablet. However the info Joesero provided helps nonetheless.

The stick has great info.

I think the multitouch would be better suited for Photoshop digital painting enabling me to zoom in and what not.
Great to know they both have anti-glare. Thanks all.

 

CPU: 7.2
RAM: 7.2
Graphics: 5.1
Gaming Graphics: 6.4
HDD: 8.1

This is with the i7-3520 @ 2.9
8.00GB RAM - Single Stick - (From Lenovo)
180 GB SSD

 

I noticed my monitor has some wobble on the rotation axis.

Do others have this issue or is my screen a little more loose than others?

 

Anyone tried disabling the Synaptics driver on startup (forgot which entry it was)? In my case it didn't exhibit the jumpiness of the clickpad as opposed before when the driver loads. Although it disabled features such as scrolling and such (wc I can live with,)

 

On w8 with the drivers on lenovos site I am not seeing an jumpiness.

I like the 2 finger scroll and it works much better than in w7

From my experience.

 

Well, just saw a ton of x230t's end up on Lenovo Outlet a couple minutes ago... picked one up Have a couple quick questions. Does anyone have a link to the x230t service manual? Want to make some upgrades when I get it. Also, I ended up nabbing a version without the fingerprint reader. Does anyone know if one can be purchased and added after the fact? Not a deal breaker, but one would be nice

Thanks!

 

Lenovo's outlet.lenovo.com is like that.

Feast or famine.

High to mid prices most of the time.

But then a few moments of feast with low prices.

IMO the X230 is worth having and likely also the X230t.

What did you pay for the X230t?

Coz now that I've got a X220, I seriously have an eye out for a great deal on a used/refurb X230.

e.g. my outlet refurb X220 cost me just under $500 with state tax. The only thing I've needed/wanted to upgrade is the lame wifi chip (Centrino 1000?) it came with, which cost me $18 to get an Intel Centrino 6205 (used) from a reputable ebay source, given that wifi is one of the few things Lenovo whitelists on it's Thinkpad laptops.

Why would you care???

Meaning kindly explain and provide some detail, thanks.

Meaning I've never understood the attraction of Lenovo's Thinkpad fingerprint reader. I'm not even sure if I have it on either of my Thinkpad laptops.

 

Honestly, like I said, not a deal breaker, but just kind of want it because it is there lol I could see it being a nice little feature... but I don't even know that I would really use it much. Also, heard the dummy plastic cap they use is hideous in its place lol.

I got it for $662.32 before tax. It was "new", has the i5-3320M, 4 gb RAM, multitouch screen (not the outdoor version), 320gb, 5400RPM drive (don't care because I am putting a Samsung SSD in it), the Intel N-6205 Network card (2x2), bluetooth, and Windows 7 Pro (will prob try Win 8 Pro on it and just re-image it if I'm not feeling it).

Probably not the absolute best deal, but seemed way better than the ridiculous prices they had up last week. This will be my first thinkpad, so kinda excited. 50/50 excited on the deal, as I have heard mixed stories on dealing with the Outlet after the sale :-/

 

Meaning the fingerprint scanner?

I seriously doubt you'll ever use it.

Wow! Nice price!!

Looks like a very good deal to me.

With outlet if you don't like it you can return it and get a full refund.

 

Thanks, yeah, dealbreaker comment was at the fingerprint reader. I think I really just want it for the novelty factor and I hate to be missing things lol.

 

Thanks for the response.

Use it for a couple of weeks just to be sure it functions OK. You did get it with Win7/64_Pro, right?

Once it seems AOK, consider doing a clone backup of the extant HDD to an external USB3 HDD, and then doing a fresh install of Win7/64_Pro to a 256GB mSATA SSD.

Vacate the HDD bay, most of the time, which saves ~5.5oz, and only use the HDD bay for occasional backup to a temp HDD.

 

Thanks for the tips. Will definitely consider the msata. Good luck if you are keeping an eye on the outlet. I know I looked for quite awhile and had great deals yanked before I could click quite a few times, lol. Was getting to the point that I was considering writing a script to secure a deal to a cart and text/email me when it did lol.

 

FWIW I don't keep an eye on Lenovo's outlet.

Life is too short!

My own purchase of X220 on Lenovo's outlet was pure chance, and when I saw it I knew enough to know that it was a very good deal and so went with it.

 

I really like the fingerprint reader on mine. Never was a big fan of them before, but I do like to know my information is more secure, and with the fp reader I can set it to "power on" and a little led blinks inside the fp reader. So when I want to turn on the machine and quick fingerprint swipe and it powers and authenticates all the way through to the desktop. Pretty convenient really, made me a fan.

 

I find that when using my x230t in tablet mode when the keyboard is not accessible the finger print scanners a by far better than typing in my password or even the picture password.

From boot to useable state I am under 8 seconds with unlocking it with the finger print scanner.

It truly makes it a "always-on" device like a tablet rather than a notebook

 

I am new, but I just saw this and wanted to mention, this was my luck as well!

Got all this for $709 including tax.

Does Lenovo provide tools for burning a recovery image? I want to put an SSD on it but I'd like to keep Lenovo's image if possible.

 

Good deal on a ThinkPad X230!

My own X220 is an outlet refurb, and I'm assuming your X230 is also. I don't have a qualm about buying a refurb from Lenovo's outlet.

IMO the extras you get with the newer X230 are easily worth the $200 more that you paid.

You're better off doing a fresh install of your Win7. All you need from the HDD setup that you now have is to save and restore a Win7 ID.
See:
"Download ABR Backup & Restore and extract the contents (create a new directory called ABR in the process). Run the "activation_backup" application and it will create two new files that contains your product key information and OEM certificate. Copy those including the whole ABR directory on to the USB Flash Drive and proceed to the next step."

Once I was confident my X220 was working OK, I ran the above backup/restore, and then pulled out the 320GB HDD as my backup in case I need warranty service. Putting in the mSATA required removing the keyboard (I was able to pry it up enough so that I didn't have to fully remove it).

BTW that quote above is from Hearst's writeup, which you might want to scan through at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/642274-hearsts-guide-clean-installing-windows-7-thinkpad.html

Anyway for an mSATA SSD I suggest waiting a month in order for Crucial's new 480GB M500 mSATA to show up. Crucial is very aggressively targeting a $300 price point. Or if you can't wait, then get Crucial's 256GB M4 mSATA on sale at roughly $160.

A check just now of Amazon shows low current price to be $215, and that Amazon themselves are not selling the Crucial's 256GB M4 mSATA. That may be a good sign for those (like me) who are waiting for the new M500's to arrive.

Looks like the M500 has arrived, see: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...03497-cheap-crucial-m500-960gb-announced.html

Do your own partitioning of the mSATA drive. See: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...nstall-ssd-reinstall-windows.html#post9132981

Good luck.

 

I'll be going with a regular SDD, since the config I ordered has both mSATA slots filled.

 

You could just pull out whatever is in there now and throw it away.

BTW my X220 HDD bay is limited to 7mm max thickness, and odds are that your X230 is also.

 

Yep! Went ahead and ordered an 8GB stick and a 7mm SSD. Also, looking at the specs, it's listed as New. Are backlit keyboards standard? It didn't mention anything about it on the site.

 

Wow. Refurbs have an adhesive sticker on the bottom, saying that the unit is a refurb. No sticker means you have a new unit. What size SSD did you get?

The non-backlit keyboard supposedly has slightly better key action.

If you just can't live without a backlit keyboard, you should be able to buy one on ebay at reasonable price. e.g. my X220 showed up with only the Centrino 1000 wifi, and I was able to get a used Lenovo X220 specific Intel Centrino 6205 (it's one of the few things that Lenovo whitelists) on ebay for a total of $18.

 

I got a 240 GB Mushkin Chronos. I'll check for the sticker, but the site had New listed as the condition -- though I'm not wary of refurbs at all.

I just ordered it today so who knows when it'll arrive.

 

The good thing is, backlit or not, I think all x230 non-tablets have the thinklight.

 

Well, so far so good... looks like my new x230t will be delivered tomorrow. Was worried considering the mixed stories I hear about the outlet. Can't wait!

 

I'm currently on my T530, and WOW the thinklight is very very nice!!

I'm also pretty sure that my X220 has a thinklight!!

I'm already sorry that I got the backlit keyboard with my T530. Insult to injury is that it cost me some extra money and the key action (while still good) is said to be a bit less good than the non backlit keyboard.

Having said that, I'll add that this may be very unit to unit specific. My own new backlit T530 keyboard having excellent key action.

On my refurb X220 it may take adjusting/tightening/loosening of the backside screws that fix the keyboard down. Meaning it was excellent to start but then I put in an mSATA drive, which required me to pry up the keyboard. Since then key actioin has been less good.

 

That's an OK minimum size SSD, and Mushkin is a decent vendor with decent service if/when you need it.

When the new M500 SSD units show up, give some serious consideration to getting a 480GB mSATA and then make that your boot drive (don't worry that it only has SATA II performance!!) with the 240 GB Mushkin Chronos SSD as secondary drive.

Doing that gives you the option to pop out the Mushkin (from the HDD bay) and pop in a temp HDD and do a clone backup of the new M500 480GB mSATA drive to a temp HDD at SATA II speed (the mSATA on your Lenovo is limited to SATA II speed, which is still very very fast!)

That's basically what I'm doing with my X220; which currently has only a 256GB Crucial M4 mSATA SSD, but which will soon have 2 SSDs w/ 512GB M500 mSATA as boot and w/ optional SATA II Intel 320 series 120GB SSD as secondary, which can be removed without causing boot problems.

Meaning that my focus is on great I/O speed for doing regular clone backup of the boot SSD.

My problem with having 4 SSD drives is that I need them on machines that I regularly use, which means my 2 laptops and not my desktops which I often set aside for extended periods.

 

I'll be keeping the 3G(? Not sure which it has, just said "Sierrawireless" in the specs) card in the mSATA slot. I don't really need any more space, as I have a gaming/video production desktop I built, that will probably see my future SSD/HDD purchases.

Also: Shipped!! Estimated delivery for Monday.

 

Just trying to burn my recovery disks and it cancelled the procedure during the first data disk, saying that DVD Ram disks were not allowed. But I was using DVD+R RW, which obviously aren't DVD ram disks. Any suggestions? Thanks

-> -> -> :thumbsup:

 

Does anyone know if all X230 currently offered on Lenovo.com come with IPS screen? I see such option for customization.

 

I believe the option is labeled "Premium" at an extra $50

 

Anyone, please?

 

Try using another brand, or maybe just DVD-R, not RW or +R

 

arh, damn, just bought 25 of the things. Thanks, will get some -R''s, then..:thumbsup:

 

Hey guys I know I made a thread about this already but I was curious if the default HD 12.5" screen on the X230 are non IPS-Panels? I want to pick one up at microcenter but on the specification portion of the website it does not say Premium HD 12.5".

 

If you can get the machine type the tabook might tell you whether it's IPS or not. Other than that your best option is probably to ask Microcenter.

 

Can anyone please give me some advice for purchasing a new X230 (with the i5 processor, Premium screen and DVD) from Lenovo? I am very interested in purchasing my first Lenovo notebook and would like to get the best deal possible. Lenovo has the X230 currently listed on their website on sale for 12% off. Is this the best sale that they have for this notebook or can I do better if I wait another month or so?

Also, any opinions on whether to buy the extended warranty? I am thinking of purchasing the extra 3 or 4 year on site warranty. Is this something you would recommend?

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!