Lenovo ThinkPad T430 Review: The Best Just Got Worse Discussion

[foxyshadis]

Since you've owned both the 420s and 430s, maybe you can help me. What's the difference between the regular T430 and the T430s? I know that it's lighter and slimmer, but when priced out the two are the exact same price. I've been looking at both of these for college and wondering which would be better and maybe an alternative that you would suggest.

The only difference besides the casing is that the T430s has a crappier graphics card, but there's only a 10% performance difference. It should give a very slightly longer battery life if you use the GPU, but either one will have a longer life if you disable the GPU entirely and just use the Intel while traveling. They have different speakers too, but I have no idea which is better.

[CallMeSkippy]

[but there's only a 10% performance difference.

Is that between the 4000 and the 5200m or the 5200m and the 5400m?

Also, interesting you would mention the speakers; I wonder if one is indeed better than the other.

[MrSatan]

During the review, What was the power consumption in watts? Mine has same configurations as yours but im only getting about 8 hours on the power gauge with about 10 watts consumption i lso set brightness to 7

[SecretAsianMan]

The new layout is terrible. Home and End not near PgUp and PgDn? That zany PrtScr where the Menu key should be? How did anyone at Lenovo think this was a good idea? They should have done some testing with real users.

[jitha]

Hi, I am thinking of buying a laptop and mostly I will buy a thinkpad. I am confused between T430/T430s. Which one is better? Which one has better battery life for the same cell? How much does T430 weigh for 6-cell battery? It would be great if someone could provide me answers for this. Thanks in advance.

[ZaZ]

Better depends on your goal. The T430s is lighter, but the T430 gets longer battery life because it uses higher capacity batteries. The T430 weight 4.7 pounds with the six-cell.

[jitha]

With 6 cell its 4.7 lbs? I just now read the review here where its mentioned that 9 cell has 4.7lbs. What abt X230? Could you please reply to my thread over here?

Need help in finding good portable laptop for college. Confused about many options.

[alex77456]

T430 comes with 1600 x 900 option - so resolution shouldn't be in cons.
If you chose 1366 x 768 - it's only your fault.
I believe this review is misinforming.

[YouthCulture]

So far I've been happy with this machine, but not Lenovo.

A few weeks ago, the backlit keyboard went bad, and I called them up for a warranty replacement. After several canceled and incorrect orders, they finally got a unit from their Canada plant to send to me. The only problem was that the unit sent was the non-backlit version, so the quest continues. Incidentally, I have to say that the non-backlit version of the keyboard seems to have a slightly better feel to it. The texture is better, and it's just a little bit more snappy. The matte finish also matches the body of the laptop a little better. If you can live with just the overhead ThinkLight, it's definitely the way to go. Cheaper too. I would give up my fight with Lenovo if I hadn't given them $40 for the backlit option in the first place.

Other than that, the laptop itself is a very nice machine. It has been a pleasure to use, and can handle basically anything that I throw at it. I got the core i7 option, and upgraded to 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD aftermarket.

One thing I don't think the review mentioned: opening this laptop is very easy to do. Only four screws and prying the keyboard keep you from the processor. This is important for when dust starts building up in the fans. On my previous laptop, cleaning the fan out was a tedious, several hour process that involved keeping dozens of different sized screws in color coded baggies, and using thermal paste to re-seat the processor. The same job can be done with the T430 in literally five minutes. Cleaning out dust in the fans is essential for the longevity of laptops.