ThinkPad T430 ???

[Wintek]

Hello

Buying laptop for my son starting college in the fall. I'm very surprised at how difficult it is to find what I'm looking for:

Reliable
SSD
14" screen, preferably with option for 1600x900 screen
i5 processor, preferably full voltage
Less than 5 lbs
Costs less than 13" MacBook Air
Windows 7

I think the best choice is the Lenovo ThinkPad T430. Would love to hear other suggestions.

I have heard something about a Barnes and Noble coupon or something that drives the price down? Would like very much find out how to get the best deal on this laptop.

Thanks!
Peter

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Hello

Buying laptop for my son starting college in the fall. I'm very surprised at how difficult it is to find what I'm looking for:

Reliable
SSD
14" screen, preferably with option for 1600x900 screen
i5 processor, preferably full voltage
Less than 5 lbs
Costs less than 13" MacBook Air
Windows 7

I think the best choice is the Lenovo ThinkPad T430. Would love to hear other suggestions.

I have heard something about a Barnes and Noble coupon or something that drives the price down? Would like very much find out how to get the best deal on this laptop.

Thanks!
Peter

For Thinkpads, there are sometimes deals on Slickdeals where using a CPP (contractor) code works, even for regular consumers like us. Otherwise you can check the Lenovo outlet. For example, there's this T430s going for $761 that has everything you need minus the SSD. But you can get your own msata SSD for $100-150, add it, and then you'd have two storage drives in the laptop.

You could also look at the X1 Carbon, but I think that that's significantly out of your price range. Dunno about other laptops, I've only ever owned Thinkpads (see my sig).

If your kid isn't the type to care about looks (Apple status symbol/whatever that is), then I always like to suggest TPs. Strong and rugged for if your kid is clumsy, and easily serviceable with spare parts found on ebay. Also can't beat the keyboard and the trackpoint.

 

[Wintek]

Lenovo is offering a THINK4TH eCoupon to everyone that takes the $1168 "web price" to $958 for a T430 with i5-3230, Win7 pro, Office Student, 1600x900 display, and 128 GB SSD. Works out to 18%. Is that a good discount?

Slickdeals is an interesting place! Lots of activity, that's for sure. I wasn't able to find anything there that was helpful at the moment.

Yes, the X1 is out of my price range.

So far, I've shied away from the T430s because I think battery life is sacrificed to get the ~.75 lb weight reduction?

Thank you for confirming that adding a mSATA drive is an option for the ThinkPad. That would get the best of both worlds, a large capacity hard drive and the speed of a SSD. That really is a benefit of the ThinkPad design - there is a mSATA spot in the chassis, so if you are so inclined, adding your own decent size capacity mSATA drive after the fact creates a pretty neat system. However, even though I have no problems with the steps to create system restore DVD's and set up the mSATA drive as the primary, I'm thinking that paying the extra ~$50 net cost for the Lenovo SSD upgrade to save the ~4 hours of time it would take to set things up afterwards is the right answer for me. I wish it were an option to leave the mechanical hard drive in and choose a 128 GB mSATA drive, but it isn't on Lenovo's web site (16GB mSATA is the only option).

Also, one of the configuration items for Integrated WiFi Wireless LAN Adapters is:
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n - included
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN) - $0 upgrade
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN - $10 upgrade
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN - $40 upgrade
Is there any reason not to choose the Centrino 2x2 option? Seems like a no brainer to get the extra up/down links, but there has to be a reason why the ThinkPad option is the default option?

Thanks again,
Peter

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Lenovo is offering a THINK4TH eCoupon to everyone that takes the $1168 "web price" to $958 for a T430 with i5-3230, Win7 pro, Office Student, 1600x900 display, and 128 GB SSD. Works out to 18%. Is that a good discount?

Slickdeals is an interesting place! Lots of activity, that's for sure. I wasn't able to find anything there that was helpful at the moment.

Yes, the X1 is out of my price range.

So far, I've shied away from the T430s because I think battery life is sacrificed to get the ~.75 lb weight reduction?

Thank you for confirming that adding a mSATA drive is an option for the ThinkPad. That would get the best of both worlds, a large capacity hard drive and the speed of a SSD. That really is a benefit of the ThinkPad design - there is a mSATA spot in the chassis, so if you are so inclined, adding your own decent size capacity mSATA drive after the fact creates a pretty neat system. However, even though I have no problems with the steps to create system restore DVD's and set up the mSATA drive as the primary, I'm thinking that paying the extra ~$50 net cost for the Lenovo SSD upgrade to save the ~4 hours of time it would take to set things up afterwards is the right answer for me. I wish it were an option to leave the mechanical hard drive in and choose a 128 GB mSATA drive, but it isn't on Lenovo's web site (16GB mSATA is the only option).

Also, one of the configuration items for Integrated WiFi Wireless LAN Adapters is:
ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n - included
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN) - $0 upgrade
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN - $10 upgrade
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN - $40 upgrade
Is there any reason not to choose the Centrino 2x2 option? Seems like a no brainer to get the extra up/down links, but there has to be a reason why the ThinkPad option is the default option?

Thanks again,
Peter

Check the outlet again. They don't just offer the T430s... I've seen regular T430s there plenty of times. I just gave you the config of the cheapest T430 variant in stock at the moment. With regard to refurbs/scratch and dents, the X230 I just got two weeks ago was labeled as a refurb and was flawless. The battery was new, too.

I'd add in the msata SSD if I were you. Just delete the bloatware the laptop ships with (and there wasn't much in the X230) and clone the HDD to the SSD. It certainly shouldn't take 4 hours, even if you had no clue what you were doing and had to do a bit of research first.

I'd say the upgrade is worth it to the 2x2. Although I can't say I've ever had an issue with the 1x1 card in my R61. But then again it's only $10.

The 6300 has three antennas (indicated by the digit in the hundreds place).

FWIW, I bought my X220 (current daily driver) used from a member on notebookreview.com last year in May, when the laptop was a couple months old. Came loaded with the top-end i7, 8GB RAM, basically everything except the bluetooth card. I paid $675 for it, when Lenovo wanted more than $1000 new. Bought a 128GB Samsung 830 msata off ebay for $95 and called it a day. Buying used isn't always a bad thing if you know what to look (out) for.

 

[Wintek]

I perused the Lenovo outlet, and I have no idea how they price those systems!! Some of the configurations are downright cheap, and some are just barely discounted. I have traditionally shied away from refurbished electronics, I do not want to deal with reliability issues, downtime, and warranty arguments. Is there something I don't know about?

 

[ksheets]

1saleaday.com has a lenovo w-510 on sale today for $499...its has a 15" lcd and is refurb but looks like a decent deal..

 

[Wintek]

http://1saleaday.com/wireless/
That is a terrific deal, 45% off. I appreciate the help, just looking for a slightly smaller system. If you're in the market for a15.6" screen though, that would be hard to pass up.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

I perused the Lenovo outlet, and I have no idea how they price those systems!! Some of the configurations are downright cheap, and some are just barely discounted. I have traditionally shied away from refurbished electronics, I do not want to deal with reliability issues, downtime, and warranty arguments. Is there something I don't know about?

Haven't looked at the outlet recently, but it has good deals pop up if you have the time to check every so often. I just got an X230 with an i5 3320, 8GB ram, 500GB hdd, and pretty much every other minor upgrade for $560, which I don't consider to be anywhere near bad.

I used to shy away from them as well, but with these Lenovos you can't really go wrong. They've all got at least 1 year of warranty and Lenovo's (well, IBM's) support is top-notch. They'll ship you out a replacement part first before you send in the defective part, or if you need to send the laptop in, they'll next-day a box to you with a sticker to next-day it to their service depot. Then they'll next-day it back to you.

Most of the time they don't care what happened to the thing, how it happened, or (in my experience, with cheaper FRUs) if they even get the part back.

In short, standard warranty for refurbished machines == standard warranty for new machines.

 

[_UP_]

Hello

Buying laptop for my son starting college in the fall. I'm very surprised at how difficult it is to find what I'm looking for:

Reliable
SSD
14" screen, preferably with option for 1600x900 screen
i5 processor, preferably full voltage
Less than 5 lbs
Costs less than 13" MacBook Air
Windows 7

I think the best choice is the Lenovo ThinkPad T430. Would love to hear other suggestions.

I have heard something about a Barnes and Noble coupon or something that drives the price down? Would like very much find out how to get the best deal on this laptop.

Thanks!
Peter

Well, according to this you might want to wait a little longer...
Even if you still want the T430, it'll be cheaper.

 

[jchu14]

I got a Dell Latitude 6430U recently and I couldn't be happier. These business dell laptops are great.

It meets all of your requirements except for the full mobile CPU requirement. It uses a ULV chip.

PROS:
-very very well built
-attractive design
-upgradeable ram (up to 16gb)
-removable battery
-matte screen (invaluable if it's used in place with a lot of fluorescent lights such as libraries or computer labs)
-dell business support (standard 3 year warranty)
-full size built in VGA port which is rare for an ultrabook. This is nice for giving presentations at school without having to carry around an adapter.


CONS:
-slightly expensive
-no built in DVD
-a little heavy for an ultrabook of that size (4lb with the 6-cell battery, which is a must)
-I got the 1366x768 screen which is passable, not good by any means.
-battery life is not outstanding, 5-6 hours of light usage.

It's worth taking a good look. I got mine off ebay for $600 with 3 year warranty, core i7, 8gb RAM, and 256gb SSD. Good deals can be had at their outlet store too if you can wait. 25% coupons appear on their outlet store quite often.

 

[Wintek]

So how do you folks find these great deals?!! A Dell Latitude 6430U configured as I listed above on Dell's is $1377, yours has the i7 and is half that! I poked around ebay for a T430, but variants with a SSD are either non existent or fully loaded and priced that way.

The Lenovo outlet changes surprisingly quickly. The only options for warranty that I've seen on Lenovo website is called "1 year Depot/Express warranty". So that is the same for products sold through the outlet as well as the regular store?

I knew Haswell would enter the picture, and it is a good way to improve battery life. I'm expecting a premium for that chip in the time frame that I need to buy, and I do hope it comes in the way of driving the price down of the existing product lines. Looks like the T440s will be a very nice laptop.

 

[cheesehead]

Here's the Barnes and Noble discount page. Works great!
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...arnesnoblegold

You can spec a Thinkpad T430 with the basic display and hard drive starting at about $770. My mother just bought one. Here's my thoughts:
1. The screens aren't amazing. Nowhere near Macbook quality. The new Haswell laptops (including the T440s, which should be available by September) have IPS displays, but will likely be more expensive.
2. If you're concerned with battery life, just get the extended battery. Even with a conventional hard drive, the 9-cell will last for ages and ages. Ultrabooks need SSDs because there's just no room for an adequate number of cells; the Thinkpad has no such problem.
3. Even though it's an outdated processor, the higher clock speed of the T430 combined with the ability to run both graphics and processing at full tilt without thermal overload (most Ultrabooks can't max both the integrated graphics and CPU simultaneously) gives very good performance.
4. It's one of the most rugged laptops on the market, if a bit chintzy around the edges.

For ~$800 with extended battery, you could do an awful lot worse. Also, consider that most college student use the laptop mostly at their own desk; adding an inexpensive second display wouldn't add much to the cost.

 

[feelmypecsbro]

Not to hijack the thread, but I have very similar requirements to the OP:
any recommendations that really emphasize "RELIABLE"? Ive come to the conclusion business laptops are the best way to go, but the logical choice (Lenovo) I hear are an absolute mess inside.

The only alternatives I can find are:
-The Asus B series, with their B43. Absolutely perfect, and a great reputation. The problem is: its too expensive, and they're almost impossible to find in the UK, where I live. Normally id just go for an older model, but I cant seem to find any older Asus business laptops before the B43.
-Toshiba's C850 Satellite Pro laptops. Cheap, and seem to tick many boxes, but theres very little opinion about these online compared to the competitors.
-Dell Business laptops have a good reputation online, but im worried by the bad reputation of their mainstream laptops.

Im looking for something below £300/$450, though im willing to stretch to £400/$600 if somethings particularly good. I dont really care about performance as long as its modern enough to watch HD video without dying.

Any advice folks? My brain hurts. Build quality is the only thing im seriously concerned about, ive had a lot of bad experiences with hardware.

 

[paul878]

Current T430 have fan noise that sounds like a jet taking off. The wifi disappears if the laptop in put to sleep while on AC, to bring it back the laptop must be full shutdown and turn back on. Lenovo is ignoring these user complains on their forum. Yes, I own an T430.