Thinkpad T430s or Helix

[omnivertex]

I'm looking for lightweight thinkpad with display resolution higher than 1366x768 and 3rd generation intel processor. Currently my choice fell on T430s. However, I see that Thinkpad Helix specs is quite appealing. It's lightweight, it has FHD IPS display, and long battery life (10 hours). The only downsides, it has small display (11.6 inch) and the price . I'm a software developer and I'm not sure if 11 inch size will be fit for my task since I don't have any experiences working with 11 inch laptop. Then it's also said in lenovo site, the RAM is up to 8 GB. Is the RAM soldered to the board? I hope not so I can upgrade it to 16 GB.

Do you think it's better if I choose Helix than T430s? Is there other weakness from Helix to T430s?

[aceo07]

I'm looking for lightweight thinkpad with display resolution higher than 1366x768 and 3rd generation intel processor. Currently my choice fell on T430s. However, I see that Thinkpad Helix specs is quite appealing. It's lightweight, it has FHD IPS display, and long battery life (10 hours). The only downsides, it has small display (11.6 inch) and the price . I'm a software developer and I'm not sure if 11 inch size will be fit for my task since I don't have any experiences working with 11 inch laptop. Then it's also said in lenovo site, the RAM is up to 8 GB. Is the RAM soldered to the board? I hope not so I can upgrade it to 16 GB.

Do you think it's better if I choose Helix than T430s? Is there other weakness from Helix to T430s?

The 8GB ram is the maxand not user replaceable on the Helix. The SSD is replaceable though.

The T430 is definitely a more focused machine (laptop) for doing work. The Helix is part tablet, part laptop and it tries to be very good as both. If the main computer is the laptop, and you don't have an external monitor, I'd suggest going with the T430.

I'm considering the Helix since I want the tablet format and I almost always connect to my 24" display.

[pianowizard]

The only downsides, it has small display (11.6 inch) and the price .

There is at least one more downside. With the keyboard attached, the Helix weighs a whopping 3.8 lbs, which is extremely heavy for an 11.6" laptop. The T430s is only a little bit heavier, 3.96 lbs.

Regarding the FHD resolution, you may be thinking that it would give you more real estate than the 1600x900 screen of the T430s. But keep in mind that on an 11.6" FHD screen, you would almost certainly not be using Windows' default scaling setting, because things would look really tiny. Instead, you would most likely have to enlarge text and icons, which would in effect result in roughly the same real estate as (or even less real estate than) on the T430s.

If I were you, I would get the Helix only if you plan to use it as a slate tablet >90% of the time.

[ZaZ]

That was my thought when I saw the Surface Pro, man this thing is heavy. It's not light enough to use as a tablet, but the goofy kickstand isn't conducive to using it as a laptop, though it was a very nice product.

[omnivertex]

hmpf, I guess I have to return to T430s again

Anyway, there are already some people bought helix:
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Ta ... 985/page/4