Help with deciding between X230 and T430

I'm about ready to finally order a laptop, and am having trouble deciding between the X230 and T430. Lenovo looks to have 25% off until Jan 1st now, so they upped it another 5%, since it was at 20% before.

I'll use it mainly for when I am away from home (either vacation or business trips), and mostly in a condo/hotel, so won't really be using it on a plane or anything. When I am at a conference, I'd like to check email, surf the web, and play some games at night when I am in a hotel, or playing some games or email when on vacation. The games would the be some WWII strategy games, or maybe WoW, so nothing graphically intensive. Any only on the road, I have a desktop at home for real gaming.

The thing with the X230 that I worry about is the trackpad, with several people commenting how bad it is.

The thing with the T430 that I worry about is poor screen.

My past two laptops I have used (both are from work) are a Dell d630 (14", ~5.1lbs) and an HP 2540p (12", ~4lbs). So I have used both sizes before, and think either would work, since I wouldn't be carrying them around every day, just on trips. And even then, it would sit in a hotel or condo most of the time.

Any thoughts? Is the X230 trackpad that bad? I lean more to the X230, but the extra vertical resolution of the 16x9 screen (even if it's not great) would be nice I would think. But the 2540 and d630 are 1280x800 already, so the X230 is only giving up ~30lines of vertical resolution.

Thanks!

 

The X230 trackpad is not bad. You can also (learn to) use the trackpoint. For the usage scenarios that you described, I would get the X230 for portability and excellent IPS screen.

I have a desktop system and all sorts of notebooks, but whenever I'm on a trip that involves slide presentation, note taking and information consumption, I take my X201 with me. My paper folder is usually heavier and bulkier than the X201 itself.

 

obviously X230.

 

Thanks.....one thing I forgot, Win7 vs Win8, opinions?

Haven't upgraded any home PC's to 8 yet, but was thinking this would be a good time to get 8, so I could try it out. Worst case, I could wipe and install 7.

 

Nothing to do with Windows 8.

 

The x230's trackpad isn't the best (maybe because I've always preferred a mouse since I also didn't like my sager's trackpad), in any case I added a smartphone screen protector over the trackpad to make it smooth and easier to use (for me at least).

 

IMO, I think that Win8 should stay on tablets/smartphones and out of the laptop and desktop space. The Metro interface, full-sizing windows all the time, and the lack of a proper Start button keep me from "upgrading". Now, if you were considering the X230t, then it could be a good idea to try out.

But I don't see anything special about 8. I'd stick to 7 until Microsoft comes out with Windows 9, which hopefully will come back to a more reasonable desktop (though I'm not holding my breath).

Anyway, my vote goes to the X230 with IPS display. The difference between 768p and 900p is minimal imo, so I'd go for the higher-quality display.

 

The tablet version of the X230 is not available with Windows 8, as it does not meet the minimum requirements for a touch-enabled W8 device (5 touch points, whereas the X230t only supports 2-finger touch). Lenovo hasn't upgraded the X230t with 5-finger-touch yet, hence the rumors that it will be discontinued.

Having used Windows 8 extensively on a non-touch desktop, my personal opinion is that it's not half as bad as some are saying. Most changes are relatively minor, and I've had to adjust relatively little in my workflow to get used to W8. If you want to try it out, I can't see why not.

 

I had 8 RTM in a virtual machine for a few days, though I suppose that's not long enough. I did download Server 2012, which also has Metro, and I think ill play with that in a VM for the long-term to get use to Metro more. Still think that full-sized-only windows is still foolish of Microsoft...

 

If you use the Metro Start page as a more feature-packed Start Menu, it honestly doesn't have much of an impact on daily use. Conventional desktop applications run just as well if you choose never to start up a Metro app.

 

Ditto. I took the additional step of installing and using Start8 from the great folks at stardock.com. It adds the start menu button back into Windows 8, and a number of other features I like. Well worth $4.99.

 

Thanks for the advice, I think i will order the X230 with IPS...I'll update once I order :thumbsup:

 

A friend asked me to recommend a laptop for school, so I helped them build up a T430 online. To tell you the truth, I have been looking for a laptop for myself for over a year, and between the reliability and other problems and/or missing or undesirable features with all brands, I pretty much gave up. I felt that the T430 would be the lesser of all evils, and light enough to lug around. It arrived last week and I set it up, but I have to say the screen is really horrible. It hasn't improved from the 500 series I had at work 5 years ago with that same screen door effect. That is really sad. If they could lighten it up just a bit, all other properties the same, and add IPS, I would get one for myself tomorrow. I just hope it doesn't break right away, or else I will never hear the end of the "But you said it was such a great unit" comments. I would be interested in the X220 for myself, but the screen is probably too small for my aging eyes; plus I do some coding and open a bunch of terminal screens, so I don't think it would cut it. Too bad the ASUS ux32vd has so many problems; another company that used to make reliable and desirable products.

 

OK. Go at it, guys.

"ThinkPads are designed primarily for corporate/business users who have no need for better screens," blah blah blah...

 

Would you like to see my T60p with it's BOE-Hydis 1600x1200 15" IPS FlexView screen?

 

Typing this on my T43p with 15" UXGA Flexview...

 

Or my W520 with 1080p 95% NTSC color gamut display?

Sure, it's 16:9, but it's still better than most TN panels you'll find in the wild.

 

I have a W510 with the same screen. But it isn't a classic like the Flexview.

 

X61t with SXGA+ FV screen has a better PPI than any 15" with UXGA.

 

Typing this on a T410s with very nice 16:10 1440x900 display, much nicer than Thors.Hammer's brand-new T430s 16:9 1600x900 screen.

 

Thankfully the wife thinks it is good enough. Women...

 

Well, to be fair, lots of people don't recognize that low-red is garbage. Which is funny since everyone all of the sudden cares if their tablets are high-red.

 

Well, ordered it this evening. Just waited to see if maybe the sale got a bit better, but this is good enough. Got the base CPU, IPS screen, 2x2 antenna, 6205N, 4Gig, and 320gig HD.

Will order RAM and decide about SSD. Can either order one for this, or take my desktop SSD and move it, and get a new one for my desktop...decisions, decisions.

Also got Win8, figured I need to give it a good try, having never used it yet. Worst case if I really hate it, I just put Win7 on the SSD when it goes in.

Also go the 3-year depot warranty, just in case. :thumbsup: