X230T - mSata + HDD vs. SSD?

Hi all!

I am looking to purchase a X230T in the near future, I absolutely love the design and think it'll integrate well with Windows 8. I just have a few questions I was hoping you could shed some light on:

1. In terms of running either a mSata (80GB) + HDD (500GB) vs. running a 256GB SATA SSD. If I was going with the SSD, I would probably purchase it seperately as Lenovo charges an arm and a leg for it. The primary concern I have here is not the speeds to be attained, but that I don't have a good history of treating my electronics nicely - they are submitted to quite a few drops, bumps, shaking and the sort. My iPad has sustained this abuse pretty well, but I'm not sure if a HDD would take to it the same. Any opinions on this? Is it worth the cost to run a pure SSD?

2. The X230T has launched in America, but in New Zealand, only a handful of the 2012 line has launched - though this includes the X230. Does anyone know when the X230T might see a New Zealand / International launch?

3. One of the "Windows 8 ready" requirements is 5 finger touch - which the X230T doesn't have. Will this adversely affect experiences?

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

Hi - I was thinking the same thing about the 5finger touch but tbh I don't see it as a big issue. I've been using win8 CP and RP as primary OS with my M6600 touch screen (4 finger touch) and I can't think of a single instance other than going "look.... 4 finger touch in Paint! lol" when I have used >2 fingers. Everything is all swipe/pinch/etc.

Ofc they may add things in such as a 5 finger gesture swipe down to close all open windows or something - but I can live without that. As long as you have 2 finger touch (which the X230T has) I can't see any serious issues.

EDIT - If you are feeling optimistic we could speculate that Lenovo could introduce a new higher resolution >2 finger touchscreen for the X230T in the next 6 months when Win8 hits general availability - if they do we could just buy the part and upgrade Optimism ftw!

 

A decent 512GB SSD, like Crucial M4, can be bought for $400 or less today. If all your data fits, and you can afford the small price premium it requires, it's certainly much better than mSATA+HDD.

Not only it's simpler and withstands shakes and drops better. You won't have to fight with Windows switching off hibernation (which is convenient) and looking for space hogs often. It's also silent, as HDDs are one of the largest producers of rattle and noise in a laptop.

 

a hard drive should be fine, thinkpads have this: Active Protection System - ThinkWiki
it actually works when you move the computer, as opposed to others (hp...) that you'd have to either drop or move quickly to activate that protection.

 

It may work, but it's not something you should count on. If you're tough on your laptops, an mSATA or SSD are the way to go.

 

I think you have to take a realistic look at your space considerations. I've never had more than 120GB of stuff on any laptop, so for me a 160GB SSD is more than enough. Even a 240GB drive would be overkill for me. If you have 300GB worth of stuff on your laptop, that much storage gets expensive, so Msata+SSD boot drive may make more sense.

Yeah, there's a durability(and loudness) advantage to SSD but in my experience if you're dropping the laptop hard/frequently enough to damage the HD, you'll have other things to worry about.

 

i haven't been using laptops for too long (7 years) but i've never had a hard drive die in one. my tx2500 fell off a bed ~4 feet off the ground in 2008 and that hard drive is still running in my xbox 360, no bad sectors.

I agree.

 

Thanks for your feedback. Will look into 256 or 512: I've currently already filled up my 1TB on my HDD on my Desktop, but assume if I use an external Hard Drive supplement I should be fine.

Just 2 more q's:

1. Why are the 9 cell / Slice not listed under the x230t page? Can you buy them seperately?

2. Anyone have experiences connecting to dual external monitors? Does one have to use miniDv and the other VGA?

Thanks.

 

i think 6-cell is the max on the x230t, not sure if the x230 9 cell fits. The x230 slice should fit fine though and you can buy it separately.

for 3-monitor setup, i believe you are correct, 3 monitors = laptop display + vga display + mini dp (which can be converted to numerous different types).

 

I thought I read that the 230T display had 5 contact points

 

the x230 and x230t use different batteries so you're right, 6-cell is the max for the x230t and both use the same slice batteries.