T430s owners'/would-be owners' thread.

[Ignimbrite]

How noticeable is the difference to an incoming college student who doesn't plan on doing any heavy gaming?? The laptop I ordered has the 500gb 7200rpm HDD and I'm planning on throwing in a 240gb mSATA so I can have the exra life afforded by the bay battery.

[hanryy]

I have confirmed with two different Lenovo technical support reps that the mSATA port in the T430s is SATA III, although I am concerned that they don't know what they're talking about. The QM77 chipset only supports two SATAIII connections, which means either the Ultrabay is only SATA-II (unlikely), or they've included a third party controller to provide the SATAIII speeds to the mSATA port (also unlikely).

[EDIT] Just got off the phone with a third Lenovo technical support rep trying to clear this up. Apparently, most of the reps do not know the difference between SATA III and SATA II at 3.0 gbps. Unfortunately, the mSATA slot on the T430s is only SATA II (3.0 gbps). The Ultrabay supports SATA III (6.0 gbps).

That is unfortunate to hear. Did this third rep sound like s/he knew what they were talking about?

If its true anyone know of a good mSATA II?

[Thors.Hammer]

I have confirmed with two different Lenovo technical support reps that the mSATA port in the T430s is SATA III, although I am concerned that they don't know what they're talking about. The QM77 chipset only supports two SATAIII connections, which means either the Ultrabay is only SATA-II (unlikely), or they've included a third party controller to provide the SATAIII speeds to the mSATA port (also unlikely).

[EDIT] Just got off the phone with a third Lenovo technical support rep trying to clear this up. Apparently, most of the reps do not know the difference between SATA III and SATA II at 3.0 gbps. Unfortunately, the mSATA slot on the T430s is only SATA II (3.0 gbps). The Ultrabay supports SATA III (6.0 gbps).

Blame Intel. If the chipset only supports two SATA III devices, there isn't much you can do about it.

Would you rather they made the Ultrabay SATA II? I wouldn't.

[dalde]

anyone know if a Crucial M4 9mm SSD would fit in the default hard drive slot in the T430?

[s1148625]

How noticeable is the difference to an incoming college student who doesn't plan on doing any heavy gaming?? The laptop I ordered has the 500gb 7200rpm HDD and I'm planning on throwing in a 240gb mSATA so I can have the exra life afforded by the bay battery.

It will still be incredibly fast. IMO, for most purposes, you'll only notice a difference between a SATA2 and 3 connection with a SATA3 SSD if you have them running right next to each other. You might notice a difference in the boot speed (again, only if you compare directly with an identical machine running SATA 3).

[s1148625]

anyone know if a Crucial M4 9mm SSD would fit in the default hard drive slot in the T430?

It will fit perfectly in the T430. To fit in the T430s, it requires some warranty-voiding modifications to reduce the height to the 430s' 7mm bay height.

[Nrbelex]

Just got off the phone with a third Lenovo technical support rep trying to clear this up. Apparently, most of the reps do not know the difference between SATA III and SATA II at 3.0 gbps. Unfortunately, the mSATA slot on the T430s is only SATA II (3.0 gbps). The Ultrabay supports SATA III (6.0 gbps).

Unfortunate as SATA 6G mSATA SSDs are starting to hit the market. Can't imagine the difference will be massive, and SATA II speeds will still blow disks away, but still unfortunate.

[vindicator83]

I have confirmed with two different Lenovo technical support reps that the mSATA port in the T430s is SATA III, although I am concerned that they don't know what they're talking about. The QM77 chipset only supports two SATAIII connections, which means either the Ultrabay is only SATA-II (unlikely), or they've included a third party controller to provide the SATAIII speeds to the mSATA port (also unlikely).

[EDIT] Just got off the phone with a third Lenovo technical support rep trying to clear this up. Apparently, most of the reps do not know the difference between SATA III and SATA II at 3.0 gbps. Unfortunately, the mSATA slot on the T430s is only SATA II (3.0 gbps). The Ultrabay supports SATA III (6.0 gbps).

I ordered the a Mushkin Enhanced Atlas Series MKNSSDAT120GB-DX mSATA 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD). It is SATA III. I'm assuming its backward compatible with SATA II? The S3 version is actually cheaper than the OCZ S2 version.

Thanks!

[d2tbydt2]

Did anybody who has ordered received any emails from Lenovo Credit Card Services?
Today I got this email:

*****************
Thank you for....
However, we are currently unable to process your order with the information you provided.

Please reply back to this e-mail within four business days to resolve the issue(s) indicated below. If no response is received within this time, your order may be cancelled.

___ The shipping address does not verify with your credit card company.
Please contact your bank and verify that both addresses are on file.

************

I called the credit card company and they told me that the Lenovo charge was approved. So I don't understand what this email is about. I have purchased 4 ThinkPads before but never came across this issue.

Thank you for your input.

[vindicator83]

Did anybody who has ordered received any emails from Lenovo Credit Card Services?
Today I got this email:

*****************
Thank you for....
However, we are currently unable to process your order with the information you provided.

Please reply back to this e-mail within four business days to resolve the issue(s) indicated below. If no response is received within this time, your order may be cancelled.

___ The shipping address does not verify with your credit card company.
Please contact your bank and verify that both addresses are on file.

************

I called the credit card company and they told me that the Lenovo charge was approved. So I don't understand what this email is about. I have purchased 4 ThinkPads before but never came across this issue.

Thank you for your input.

My first order was canceled due to an unknown CC issue (I just moved so its possible my billing and shipping addresses were incorrect) -- I used a master card. I called back and re-did the order with my AMEX....Seems to have worked fine.