Thinkpads Forum

I am trying to decide between these two. My attraction to the 430s is the better screen and the capability to use a docking station. My attraction to the 430u is the ability to upgrade to the solid state hard drive for about the same price as base 430s. My understanding is that the solid state hard drive significantly improves performance.

I prefer these two versions as I am looking for something lighter and with a slightly smaller size than the base version.

Any thoughts?

Me personally, I would go for the better screen resolution. The SSD does significantly improve performance, but that can be added later.

T430u is in fact an ultrabook, which means at least two things. It's thinner and lighter and it's very difficult to expand its capabilities. T430s is a slim version of T430 is way more expandable. So it all comes down to two things really - size (tied to weight, etc.) and expandability. Go for T430u if you're after a compact ultrabook, go for T430s if you're for a more expandable notebook.

weight wise the T430u and T430s is about the same. The T430s offers slightly better upgradability, but not by very much. T430u is surprisingly functional, and the price is just right for a laptop of this spec.

The specs are listed on these pages:

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tech- ... ies/t430s/

http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/tech- ... ies/t430u/

Notice that the T430s weighs 3.96 lbs whereas the T430u is actually heavier, 4.08 lbs. IMO, 1366x768 is sheer garbage on a 14.0" screen, so the T430s would be the obvious choice for me. Four additional reasons that I prefer the T430s are the touchpad buttons, the VGA output, the slightly lighter weight, and the fact that the T430s still looks a little like a Thinkpad (while the T430u just tries to look like everyone else).

I agree with what pianowizard said. Like you, I was in the same situation as I was looking to replace my T400. She was starting to show her age by getting really hot and slow when not on AC power. I even had an SSD in there!

My obvious first selection was the X1 Carbon, but I couldn't justify the price.

So my options came to the T430s and T430u.

Yes, the weight difference is nearly negligible, but what sold me on the T430s was that it included an optical drive while being a full pound and a half lighter than my T400!

My T400 came with a res of 1280x800, so I also wanted a higher res screen (1600x900).

I migrated my 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD into the T430s, so those things didn't matter to me.

I got mine off Lenovo's Outlet for a real good price, so I can't complain.

Hope this helps!