Thinkpad Ultrabook T430u

That is a very good question and good proper reading of the review. As such you are rewarded with a good answer that other T430u reviewers don't know and don't care.

As far as i know (i just learned recently of this fact, and prior to writing that part of the report on design), there is one T series product that wasn't designed in house by Lenovo's 'Yamato lab' (which is where most of the Thinkpads are designed and tested since the IBM days, although it is now relocated out of Yamato to Yokohama), so that means one of the ThinkPad T series is designed and built by third parties. I also know that Edge products are not a Lenovo in house design.

I have played with the T430 and own the T430s, these machines are definitely ThinkPad through and through, so that leaves the ThinkPad T430u (could be by Foxconn?)

Also for you whom are curious look at what the highlighted bits in the picture says:

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Finally google Lenovo V490u, and prepared be wooed.
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However, i like the T430u or E430u or 430u (whatever you call it) for the following reasons:

1. Good build quality, in some ways the T430u surpass the T430.
2. Price, it is cheaper than the T430 and T430s in Australia (and in some other countries).
3. Easy serviceability. You can pop off the bottom plate and keyboard within 2 to 3 minutes, by which you can access the RAM, mSATA, Wireless card, battery, Hdd bay, fan, everything you can service is within reach.
4. 3 LCD support even on Intel HD 4000.
5. Fan noise is nice and muted.

Whats not to like? well the screen resolution.

 

@afireohno and any Ubuntu/Linux users
I'm curious about your Ubuntu experience with this device.
Though it seems that everything's working, have you checked the following items known to be problematic at times?
- HD Active Protection (kernel module hdaps not loading on T430(s) and T530)
- thingerprint reader
- trackpoint: recognised and working, including keys and scrolling function
- right clicks on the touchpad being recognized as such
- (fn) special keys working, including muting and wlan off
- sleep and hibernate
- brightness control

And, did you give 12.04 a try as well? I'm asking as I'd prefer to go with an LTS release with tp kernel being available in case of any hardware headache.
Thank you very much in advance.

 

Hello JD,

How big of the 2.0 usb stick do you use? 16 GB or 32 GB?

I am considering doing the same thing with you. Glad you let us know usb 3.0 drives do not work.
Moreover, do you do any preparation work with the usb stick before creating the recovery media? Something like marking it ACTIVE in DISKPART?

Manythanks.

 

Wow that's a surprise. I read the part of your review in which you said it was similar to Edge products, but I wasn't too worried since I thought it was still designed and manufactured in the Lenovo lab. But now if it's designed and built by a third party, I'm having second thoughts about it, compared to the T430s. (I ordered the T430U last week and it still hasn't shipped).

 

Thanks for your reply and very interesting. I generally agree there's a lot to like and with these specs and price point I'd have no problem with it being labeled an Edge. But as I'm sure you've seen, I'm a stickler for truth-in-advertising. A T-series product should be just that.

I tried googling Lenovo V430u and E430u and came up empty (there were a handful on non-english E430u pages). Is there anything you can share about these? In particular, are they likely to have better screens (or touch screens), since they're likely designed for W8?

Finally, while waiting for the second part of your T430u review which should answer this, I'm wondering whether the underside temperature remains cool and 'lap usable' under most usage (other than extended high cpu stress). I infer from the lack of fan noise that this would be so, but would like confirmation.

 

Actually, you have to google "V490u", not V430u. http://translate.googleusercontent....5.html&usg=ALkJrhixU3Tz2AUvPTDnl5SsHQaWif-WUg

 

Hey Focus,
it was a 16gb stick. I simply used the "Windows 7 USB DVD download tool" to create the stick from an iso, the programm formated the stick by itself. One can't do much wrong here. Didn't do anything else.

And of course disable the BIOS settings regarding OS installation which are automatically enabled.

Be aware that you have to use an 2.0 USB stick to copy the drivers and software to start working after installing the OS -> USB 3.0 drivers have to be installed manually before use.
And very important: you do need to download Net Framework 4.0 seperatly because the driver for Intel Wifi requires Net Framework 4.0 at least
(thinking about it now.... it might be easier to use the Ethernetport for the first setup )

 

Personally speaking i do not really care about who designed and build the ThinkPad, as long as:

-Fit and Finish is good
-Have an excellent thermal management system
-Good quality LCD
-Great keyboard

I mean there is nothing in the current ThinkPad design that is super high tech, as long as you are well versed in manufacturing engineering and heat transfer mechanics, designing a ThinkPad isn't hard.

Also, i think the T430u could be done by Foxconn, which means that the technology and manufacturing process they learnt from Macbook Pro could be carried through.

But enough of my babbling, it is suffice to say that the ThinkPad T430u is an excellent laptop.

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For those whom want to know:

The T430u fan does not kick in very often if you have an Intel 4000 GPU, and it runs very cool.

It is also very quite if you use a SSD.

I will upload a CSV file from my digital noise meter to my review when i get a chance tonight.

 

My X230 won't turn on the fan until the CPU 50C. I assume the T430u is similar in that regard?

I hate to go off topic, but I saw you on another forum when researching that odd 21:9 Dell monitor. You're everywhere.... :hi2:

 

yes the fan remains off till around 50 degrees. Since it is using a ULV in a bigger chassis with more air flow, the fan can stay off longer than the X2x0 series laptop.

Yes i am on the ThinkPad forum.