X230T - I finally have a keeper.. I think.

My 1st X230T had a wobbling base (because the 3 feet standing problem) which I was going to ignore, until I saw that another person's X220T didn't have this problem at all. I returned that one for full refund. On the day before shipping it back, I noticed the lid was also warped and the LED indicator sticker is raised above its place by a tiny bit. Also on the screen right above the rotating hinge looks like there's something trying to come out from there.

So there was even a better sale going on through Barnes & Noble, and I ordered another one. This time I forgot to change the wifi card to intel 6205, so I called immediately, and canceled the order. After an hour I got a order cancelation confirmation email. So I went ahead and placed another order with intel 6205 wifi card. By the way, even though I don't use the finger print reader, I added it for about $12 because the dummy they put in looks very cheap.

Couple days later Lenovo sent me an email saying they shipped out the order. Both of them! The shipped out email for the order that I canceled showed as 3 year warranty is not included, so it made me think they only canceled the 3 year warranty and not the machine. Anyways, when I saw my credit card charge, the machine and warranty was all charged so nothing was actually canceled. I called Post Sales, and they said I can return it after I receive it, no problem. They even said I can open the package since they are going to inspect it anyways.

Today I received both tablets, both with 3 year warranty. One is the default Lenovo wifi and the other is intel 6205. I first opened up the one with intel 6205 hoping that I won't have to even try the other one. But when I fit the battery in the tablet with intel 6205 wifi, it wobbled just like my 1st X230T. The lid was straight this time, and right above the rotation hinge on the screen it much cleaner than my 1st tablet. Everything else was as expected, some light bleed from bottom edges and right corners, loose left side rubber screen stopper, no dead pixels, keyboard's upper left and right still rubbing the screen leaving marks.

Then I had to try the other X230T that has lenovo wifi which was never supposed to have shipped out, and inserted the battery, opened the lid 120 degrees, it sits on all four legs!!!! OMG. No wobbles at all! This is a miracle. Another good thing is that on the screen right above the rotating hinge, it's even more clean and can barely see something is trying to protrude.

I called Post Sales, and told them I want to keep this one and return the other because the one sits on 3 legs. I also told them again I originally only ordered 1 and even got cancelation confirmation email. They had no problem for a full refund and sent me a prepaid shipping label.

Now I'm going to buy a lenovo intel 6300 wifi card on ebay, and hook up one extra antenna on the WAN wire.
After the battery is charged up, I'm going to put back my mSATA crucial m4 128GB, and also replace the ram to my samsung low profile ddr3L 1600 2x4GB sticks. Also going to place a 13.1" screen protector that I bought on ebay for like $5.


Could upgrading the wifi card make it to go into different assembly line at the factory, and that assembly line has a bad machine that warps the base somehow? Lenovo mods on lenovo forum says wobbling is normal, yeah, riiiiiiiight.. haha.

Here are some pictures I put together. Above the orange line is my 1st X230T which I returned already, and below are the one I'm going to keep.

 

Man, I thought I was picky. That "something is underneath" occurs on all tablets...at least every one I've owned. Also, the warped lid...what warped lid?

Lastly, careful opening and "inspecting" and thinking you will not get hit with a restocking fee. From my experience, once you break the seal on the laptop box and/or plastic bag (the red sticker), you will get charged a restocking fee since the machine is considered used. Regardless if the returns department opens it behind you (sealed or otherwise).

Guess time will tell. I'm still waiting on my refund from my X230 (non-tablet) from two weeks ago. Meanwhile, that charge is sitting on my card accruing interest. Awesome.

 

Yeah, my 1st one looked awful under the screen above the hinge. 2nd one was a little better, 3rd one which I'm keeping is great as in almost invisible. Last year, X220T didn't have that. Also my advisor's X220T doesn't have this. It's supposed to be completely flat, no bumps or whatever.

About the warped lid, my first one had that. When I close the lid and look from the behind (battery facing me), I could see that the right side is bent towards the base. I also tried putting a ruler on top of the lid, and I can see that one side is warped much more than the other. It's hard to see in the picture because there's also lens distortion. But because of this warp, the led indicator that is on the lid wasn't completely in its place. If I gently scrape it with paper sheet, it will stop at that point because it's protruding outward from the its pit.

I never experienced restocking fees because there's always a good reason for returning. It's not just change of heart. In my case, first is that I already had a cancellation email which shows it's their error shipping the item in the first place. Second, the laptop only sits on three legs which is a hardware defect. I'm 100% sure I will get a full refund, and not even worried at all.

hotsauce, did you have a chance to look at the cooler? If you did, does it have 4 wires or 3 wires? The one I returned last week had 4 wires, but the one I got only has 3 wires. I noticed this while installing mSATA ssd in there. Doesn't really matter, but it feels a little more noisy than before. Anyways, I'm glad it's sitting properly in all 4 legs now.

 

Was it difficult to change the wireless card. I ordered my X230 with the lenovo 1X1 card but want to change it to the Intel N 6300. I ordered the 3X3 antenna display so it shouldnt be a problem, right?

 

It's shipped from China so I didn't receive the wifi card yet. Yeah, you should have 3 leads for the wifi in yours, and it is an easy swap just like adding mSATA SSD. Just make sure you get the Lenovo/IBM brand because if you don't your systems won't boot (they have a wifi card whitelist).

 

Thanks so much. I can get the Lenovo compatible wifi card on ebay for 30 bucks. It will ship from LA. So I just have to wait for my X230 that hopefully will ship on Sunday

 

I got the intel wifi 6300 card today, and just installed it in 10 minutes. I was a little worried that it might show up as unauthorized pci-e wifi card, but it worked without any problems. Works perfectly fine, and I'm seeing 144 mbps in the university. At home, I only have 300 mbps on 2.4GHz and 5GHz, so I have no way to test if 450mbps works or not though.
Since I have a webcam on my X230T, and it only comes with 2 Wifi antenna, I connected one of the red WWAN antenna on the middle connector.

$17 well spent It is ebay item 110913951393 in case anyone is looking for one. I ordered on 8/9, got it on 8/22.

 

Great. My Intel 6300 works well too. I installed it yesterday without problems. Thank you for your help

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