Thinkpads Forum

OK, so I get this like new T530 15.6" HD Intel i5-3320M 2.6GHz 4Gb laptop for $493.99

And, I have a question about the power cord as I'm not sure they sent the right one.

The one they sent is 100-240V~1.5A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 3.25A

Doesn't this laptop use the 100-240V~2.4A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 4.50A

Before I plugs it in, I wanna make sure I'm using the right power cord...

OK, I guess I just answered my own question... I plugged in the one they sent and the laptop would not come off of running on the battery.

So, I plugged in the 100-240V~2.4A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 4.50A and she's working perfectly!

Now, on to my second question... I read somewhere that this thing has a backlit keyboard, but all it has is the little light on the lid to shine down on to the keyboard.

Can I buy a backlit keyboard and install it... and would it work?

I found one at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4VNMLC/ref ... KSWJS0RKXE

OK, sorry... I guess I found my own answer by searching this part of the forum.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... t+keyboard

In this thread, they said you can install a backlit keyboard and she'll work just fine... so I'm on my way!

kooL board, Thanks guys!

You can check if you have the backlight keyboard by pressing the fn + spacebar key combo multiple times. If only the thinklight (light at the top of the lid) comes on, then you don't have the backlit keyboard.

Backlit and standard keyboards can be swapped out with no modifications or issues. That Amazon keyboard looks fine.

Yep, I checked and this one doesn't have the backlit keyboard like my other two laptops do.

This is going to be one for the road, and by the time I add 16gigs of Ram, a fresh Win 7 64bit install on a 250gig SSD... it should perform nice enough. And, I just pulled the trigger on purchasing that backlit keyboard which they said it was an authentic Lenovo part, so we'll see.

This thing literally likes like a brand new laptop, so for just under $500 I'm pretty happy with it.

The guy I bought this from emailed and said he spoke with the fine, fine folks in the Lenovo tech support department, and they told him that the 100-240V~1.5A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 3.25A power cord is the right one for this raptop.

So, I guess the $64,000 question is... will it hurt anything to us the 100-240V~2.4A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 4.50A power cord?

This is the cord that actually came with my T430 - i7 laptop and it seems to be working just fine after using it with the laptop on for several hours now. I'm planning on leaving it on overnight to let it run to make sure it's doesn't have any hardware issues. So far, it performs like a brand new laptop and it looks brand new too.

Anyway, let me know if you think it'll hurt anything to use the 100-240V~2.4A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 4.50A power cord.

Rockrz wrote:
Anyway, let me know if you think it'll hurt anything to use the 100-240V~2.4A 50-60Hz, Output 20V 4.50A power cord.

Nope. Your battery will charge faster and all shall be well.

I always viewed the 65W adapters as "travel only" devices. All my ThinkPads are hooked to the 90W ones regardless of the graphics card requirements.

OK, thanks.

I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to port more power to the laptop than it could handle and damage it somehow.

OK, another question about the T530...

If you buy one that has Win 7 Pro 64 bit loaded on to it originally, but it has the upgrade discs for Windows 8...

Is it possible to do a fresh install (I want to install an mSata drive) of the Win 7 Pro 64 bit?

If so, where do I find the OEM registration code for Win 7?

I tried this on another laptop once and I was told to get on of those programs that tells you all the info on the laptop (like Belarc Advisor) so I could get the OEM registration code for Win 7

But, when I did that the code would never work so I ended up using a code from a new Win 7 install disc.

Just wanting to know how I can do a fresh Win 7 install without having to buy a new copy of Win 7... so please let me know if there is a way to do this or not.

Anybody know if this is possible, or do I need to buy a Win 7 to install ?

Rockrz wrote:Anybody know if this is possible, or do I need to buy a Win 7 to install ?

You don't need to buy a license. Worst case scenario, all you need is set of recovery disks for the system in question. If the COA under the battery is still legible, you can use *any* media with the OS version matching the COA although a call to Miscrosoft might be required in order for the activation to be completed if retail media is used.

I'm waiting on this laptop to get here so I don't know if the COA is on it.

In my experience with these laptops that have Win 7 installed but come with Win 8 upgrade discs, there is no COA decal.

That's what I was asking is how do you do a fresh install without having to buy a new copy of Win 7

I tried doing this once using the license found on the system ( I used Belarc Advisor to find this info and it was formatted just like it was if I had gotten it off of the COA decal), but it would not register nor did it give the option of calling Microsoft to re-set the registration that I've seen numerous times before when doing a fresh install.

How about waiting for the laptop to actually arrive and then taking it from there? There's one too many unknowns in this equation...

That's a good idea, but I was trying to plan ahead to see whether I need a copy of Win 7 or not since I've got a time line to follow.

If it does not have a COA decal due to having come with Win 8 upgrade disks, I guess I'll have to assume that I will need a copy of Win 7 to do a fresh install unless someone knows how to not need to do that.

I've already said all that I possibly could on the matter at hand...

ajkula66 wrote:
You don't need to buy a license. Worst case scenario, all you need is set of recovery disks for the system in question.

I would not want to recover to factory installation, I'm wanting to do a fresh install so I can control what gets loaded.

Rockrz wrote:I would not want to recover to factory installation, I'm wanting to do a fresh install so I can control what gets loaded.

Well then you'll just have to wait for the machine to arrive and see whether the COA is present.

BTW, cleaning out a Lenovo factory install of W7 isn't all that difficult either, but to each their own.

I've always had better luck doing a fresh install, not to mention it saves time to start from scratch and control what gets loaded.

So, I take it there is no way to use the Win 7 License running on the machine to register a fresh install?

Just thought I'd ask to see if I could save $150 or whatever Win 7 OEM is going for these days

Rockrz wrote:
So, I take it there is no way to use the Win 7 License running on the machine to register a fresh install?

That's really going to depend on the type of install that's currently there. If it's an OEM or corporate key, you likely won't be able to pull it properly.

Just thought I'd ask to see if I could save $150 or whatever Win 7 OEM is going for these days

Well, IDK...I'd rather spend $15 or so on a set of copy restore media and two hours to clean the system out but that's me.

ajkula66 wrote:That's really going to depend on the type of install that's currently there. If it's an OEM or corporate key, you likely won't be able to pull it properly.

Seems like an OEM key would work, but I tried it before and it wouldn't so maybe that was the corporate key.

It's a business expense write off if I have to buy an OEM copy of Windows so that's not an issue, especially considering I can spend my two hours on something more profitable.

Rockrz wrote:
It's a business expense write off if I have to buy an OEM copy of Windows so that's not an issue, especially considering I can spend my two hours on something more profitable.

Well that's a whole different perspective then...regardless of the fact that you're likely to spend that amount of time optimizing just about any install, regardless of how good you're at it unless you're working with an existing system-specific image to begin with.

It'll probably be better to buy the new Windows copy of Win 7 so I can get the COA decal for that copy.

They guy getting this laptop is a bit of an old timer (so to speak) that is used to having a COA decal and if one is not present he may think I hijacked the copy of Windows running on his laptop or something.

Some folks have not heard that laptops don't really have COA decals on them anymore since the License is embedded in the hardware or so that's where I've heard it's at.

It's somewhere since the newer laptops have no COA decal like back in the good 'ol days. Thanks for all the info.

Rockrz wrote:
Some folks have not heard that laptops don't really have COA decals on them anymore since the License is embedded in the hardware or so that's where I've heard it's at.

It's somewhere since the newer laptops have no COA decal like back in the good 'ol days. Thanks for all the info.

That should not be the case with *30 series. There should be a W7 COA under the battery given your initial description of the system. The embedded key option is only for W8.x

OK, hopefully is does have the COA decal.

Everytime there has been a COA, I've been able to do a fresh install from scratch and re-register Windows without any problems.