My first Thinkpad L430 or T430 - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Risto
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 26, 2014, 09:16:24 pm
content: Hi,I am already sick from waiting my old MSI vr630 loading things.It has upgraded Turion RM-70 cpuHe's got 2gb of ddr2With 16" 1366x768.And is a proud owner of 37 bad sectors on his HDD, with 49% health. (hd sentitnel)Well i guess it would'nt work so bad if his HDD is healthier, but i won't bother replacing it with new. It is just not worth it.So i am looking for some second hand Thinkpads.I decided for thinkpad, because I am really impressed with how this machine works.Atleast i know for t42 and t60. (my professor has it, this one will be my first Thinkpad)I need laptop for electronics design education. Not professional workWork that I do on a laptop is mostly reading pdf's and browsing internet.But I am also doing embedded programming, designing pcb, some simulations and maybe play some game but rarely (it will be nice to be able to)P.S. I am not doing this stuff professionaly, but next year i need this laptop for college and probably more intense work.2 laptops i came acros are:=====================================================L430 300euroscpu: i5 3210mgpu: HD 4000screen: 14" 1366x768RAM: 8GB DDR3SSD: 128GB ( Seller says samsung, though he doesnt tell which model)He claims 4 hours battery lifeAnd does not mention warranty or age===================================================T430: 400eurosIntel i5-3210M 2.50GHz4gb ddr3 ram memorija14.1 wide led ekran Anti reflex 1600x900Intel HD4000 grafika500gb hard diskclaims 3h+ battery lifeAnd has year and a half warranty.=====================================================By the specs and price L430 wins.8gb RAM would probably be good to have.And i like SSD opossed to BAD SECTORS, i can probably squeeze myself on 128GB.I would really like if my cpu is in socket. So i can upgrade it if i want to.Not sure if one on these laptops is replacable?Then i am not sure that 14" will suite my needs, but i am prepared to give it a go. It is possible to use it with external monitor when using at desk.And screen resolution, i heard people saying 768p is no go.But i am using it now on bigger screen, i can not say i am satisfied because i am not experienced with laptops and not sure how 1600x900 looks like.I need opinion on someone who tried to use PCB software like eagle or do programming on 14" 1366x768 and versus 1600x900I would really like to hear an opinion on these laptops.On paper l430 looks better, but is it in action?Is it worth giving 100e or probably more for t430 (for resolution and quality factor)I am eager to hear alternatives, but i am buying laptop second hand.And offer in Serbia is not that good.P.S. I watched alot of Daves videos, but I never heard what he thinks of laptops for electronics work.And his opinion on Thinkpad and other brands.Maybe I missed it

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 26, 2014, 09:35:33 pm
content: The one huge negative to Lenovo is the component whitelisting. Say you want to replace the wireless card, or it dies for some reason, you can't just swap in any ebay gem and get going again. The BIOS is programmed with a list of stuff, you can't violate it and it prevents the machine from booting.Many models do have hacked BIOSs, that remove the whitelist crap. Note RAM/HD/SSD is not part of this list.

author: CrashO
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 26, 2014, 10:13:43 pm
content: As a longtime Thinkpad fanboy (a31, r60, t61p, 200s, x201, t430) I have had a t430 and ended up selling it after about 12 months. It didn't gave me nearly as much joy as earlier models since the wanks at Lenovo started changing stuff. They went apple with the keyboard (less keys, island style keys, larger touchpad), stuck a giant bezel on the t430 (the edge around the screen, making it practically the size of a 15" laptop with 14" display) and a battery-life that is only met if you dim the display to pitch-dark and shutdown any radio's.Screen wise, I have been a long time user of high-res displays and greatly enjoy using 1600x900 or more (Still use a 12.1" @ 1440x900 daily and had a 1920x1200 15.4" for a long time). At lower resolutions it isn't so much the horizontal pixels, but the vertical ones who are the deal breaker. At 768p you will be scrolling a whole lot and I think the 900 really improves it by a mile.

author: rollatorwieltje
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 27, 2014, 08:57:08 am
content: I can only speak for the larger T520 and T530 series, and both models I would avoid. The only thing Thinkpad about these things is the visual appearance. They are grossly overpriced for what they are. The quality is the same as any other low-end laptop. Cases randomly develop cracks in the corners, noisy electronics (especially the T520), poor display quality... On my company T530 the display even has scratch marks causes by the keyboard.The display cover is so weak you can stick your finger under one side and still lock the other side. It completely warps the display panel.The battery is a joke, the small one is barely enough to make it shutdown cleanly. The big battery is better, but it sticks out the back, giving it practically the same footprint as a 16:10 17" laptop. If they didn't went for the useless 16:9 form factor they could have easily fitted a good sized battery, made the display area more useful and make the footprint smaller...As a bonus the T530 has a shit keyboard layout as well. Instead of the context menu button they placed print-screen there... Only good thing is that you can swap FN and CTRL in the bios.

author: magetoo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2014, 12:04:53 pm
content: Sad to hear that Thinkpad doesn't mean Thinkpad any more. I'm typing this on a T60, and I love it.Probably going to swap in a T61 motherboard if I can find one and extend the useful life of it that way. (Not a fan of 16:9 displays.)

author: Risto
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 27, 2014, 04:53:44 pm
content: I also dislike 16:9 screens.16:10 looks slightly better, but its real shame there is no 4:3 screens anymore.Would l430 be a good choice if i buy aftermarket lcd for it?I believe i can find one for less then 70euros.

author: Warhawk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 29, 2014, 01:36:42 pm
content: Hi, I definitely agree with others. Lenovo ruins Thinkpads step by step. I was a big thinkpad fan but not any more. There has been several major design flaws reported since last generation ...40 was introduced (BSODs, BIOS updates, changed service policy etc.).I also had a need to get something better than T500 I had had before so I ended up with thinkpad X220. Second generation of i5 together with SSD drive in mSATA (careful ., just SATA2 !) provide a lot of power not only for all that java crap we have on web these days. T420 is nearly same thing but I like the small form factor and the IPS display better.