Thinkpads Forum

I've had my T420 for about 18 months now and have been very happy with it so far. But I'm getting the itch to upgrade one more time.
I wanted to know if there's something new coming up that I should wait for or just go for the T430? I'd hate to pull the trigger and a new model drops within a few weeks. I'm guessing there will be some great deals around thanksgiving. Anything thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Personally I wouldn't upgrade. The difference between Sandybrige vs Ivy Bridge is 10-15% at best. For me though, the chiclet keyboard on the T430 is a deal breaker. When my T420 becomes obsolete I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm such an unashamed Thinkpad fanboy but the new chiclet keyboards are such a turn off for me. Having said that I understand well the "upgrade" bug. I've got 1 server, 3 desktops and 6 laptops that can attest to that even though at any one time I only have two hands. Typically I'll only upgrade every other generation.

I would agree, the T430 is not much of an upgrade over the T420. Ivy Bridge offers only a modest increase in CPU performance and that's only if you're running at or near capacity. Where Ivy Bridge really shines is the GPU, which offers about twice the oomph of SB. I guess you'll have to decide if that's or USB is worth it. Personally, I would say no.

My biggest thing for upgrade is USB3. I transfer nearly 50gb a day from my lappy to external drives. It would be so nice.

This is the first I hear about the keyboard. I didn't even know they changed it. Dammit all. I love the t420 keyboard. So isn't there a choice of keyboards ?

Any idea when the next model will come out? T440?
I could care less about processing.

I have an SSD right now and wouldn't mind upgrading that to 256 next time around either. As it is I have to keep a 500TB drive in the bay for overflow on the 128.

Too bad the bay drive can't be usb3.

You could get a ExpressCard 3.0 card. It's not as fast as USB 3.0, but better than USB 2.0 and a lot less expensive than a new notebook.

trezaei wrote:My biggest thing for upgrade is USB3...................

...............and SATA 3

I upgraded from a T420s to a T430s. The two biggest improvements for me were going to 8 GB RAM, and switching to an SSD. That's a big performance jump. I also thought I would hate the Chiclet keyboard, and while I wish Lenovo would go back to the traditional keyboard, it looks like the Chiclet is here to stay. Its still better than every other laptop keyboard out there.

Any of the t430(s) guys also have an X1 Carbon?? Curious what owners of both think??
Frank

I have an X1 Carbon as well. The T430s is better in every way, except the display. Keyboard, build quality, more ports, better trackpad and buttons - all make the T430s superior. The X1 Carbon has a much brighter and sharper display, and the undeniable cool factor.

Rochefort wrote: ...............and SATA 3

Sorry to intrude, but iirc the x20 series have SATA-3 speeds as well, at least I think I do on my W520 and T420?

skie wrote:
Sorry to intrude, but iirc the x20 series have SATA-3 speeds as well, at least I think I do on my W520 and T420?

You're right but SATA 3 = 6,0 Gb/s.
W 520 = SATA 2 = 3,0 Gb/s

>>I upgraded from a T420s to a T430s<<
>>I have an X1 Carbon as well. The T430s is better in every way, except the display<<

If we discuss the t430s, is it too late in the t430s cycle to buy now??
Not sure how often Lenovo comes out w new upgrades....and it may not even make a difference if they did.. just curious.

Thx.
Frank

Lenovo updates ThinkPads based on Intel's upgrade cycle for processors. Ivy Bridge was introduced spring 2012. The next generation (Haswell?) is no where in sight yet. You are probably pretty safe getting the current T430s and having a good six months or more before it is superseded by the next "latest and greatest." Besides, if you need a new laptop now, get it now. There will always be something newer and better coming down the pike.

I've just sent a T430 back to Lenovo faulty. The latch wasn't working properly and the general build quality just didn't match up to my T410. I'm now trying to work out whether I should order another one or wait until the T440 comes out.

I don't need a new laptop right now because I've put the SSD and RAM ordered for the T430 in my T410 and it has given it a new lease of life. There were also a few things that annoyed me about the T430 which may get sorted in the next version.

That said, I've had my current laptop for two years now and I'm not sure if I'm patient enough to wait a possible six months for a T440 to be released with what I assume will be using Haswell processors.