Thinkpads Forum

I was looking on the outlet for a cheap small laptop...figured the X230s and such were out of my price range, and had seen some X131e models for under $300 shipped, which was definitely in the price range I was looking for as a laptop to fill the gap between my Nexus 7 and my Elitebook 8560w. I managed to click the wrong thing, and accidentally found several dozen new X230t models.

ntel® Core™ i3-2370M Processor (2.40GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English
4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz SODIMM Memory
12.5" HD WXGA (1366 X 768) MultiTouch LED backlight"
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
320GB, 7200RPM Serial ATA 2.5" Hard Drive
ThinkPad Battery 67+ (3 cell)
Intel® Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (2x2 AGN)

For $484.40 before shipping, I bit the bullet and bought one. More than I wanted to pay, but the opportunity to get a good tablet couldn't be passed up.

I'm going to bump it to a Samsung 830 128GB SSD and 8GB of RAM once it comes in, and throw my copies of Windows 8 Pro & Office 2013 on it...but is there anything I should be aware of outside of the norm? This was a leap before I looked situation, so I'm not up to date on the minutiae of these particular models.

Also, am I reading this correctly, there isn't a 9 cell battery option for it? I'm limited to 6 cell?

nice catch. The X220t and X230t have the 3 cells and 6 cells battery option. If you need a larger battery capacity, consider the slice battery option (another 6 cells), which doubles your battery time.

I purchased this same configuration also, but it was earlier that day when they were going for $631 plus tax. I woke up the next morning and saw where they had some for $484 but they were gone by that time. Would have been nice to save more, but I feel comfortable with the price I received. One thing to double check-take the serial number you received when you ordered and enter it on Lenovo's support website under Parts Lookup. That will tell you the part numbers and exact configuration you are getting. I think that possibly some that ordered the less expensive models might be getting the non-multitouch screen. My listing shows the multitouch screen, so I am happy with that.

Eric Giles wrote:I purchased this same configuration also, but it was earlier that day when they were going for $631 plus tax. I woke up the next morning and saw where they had some for $484 but they were gone by that time. Would have been nice to save more, but I feel comfortable with the price I received. One thing to double check-take the serial number you received when you ordered and enter it on Lenovo's support website under Parts Lookup. That will tell you the part numbers and exact configuration you are getting. I think that possibly some that ordered the less expensive models might be getting the non-multitouch screen. My listing shows the multitouch screen, so I am happy with that.

Mine has shipped as of today. Screen is listed as 04W3919 and 04W3990. I'm not sure why both are listed.

04W3919 FRU for LGD 12.5"HD IPS LCD panel for Da
04W3990 Comet-2 FRU LCD ASM 12.5 MultiTouch HD

Great find! What a price! Good luck with the machine!

John

P.s. Could you write a review on the machine after you have some time with it?

I can do that. I've got a few dozen Thinkpads under my belt over the years...


Incidentally: If anyone knows how to get auto rotation working on a fresh install of Win 8, I'd love to hear it. I don't know that I'd use it, as I believe I turned that off 3 years ago on a Fujitsu I was using, but it seems like it's something I'm missing.


Oh, and a nice little bonus:

It came with Adobe Photoshop Elements 10, Premiere Elements 10, and Acrobat Professional X. I think I'll need to sell/trade that off for something I actually need, like a spare AC adapter or spare 6 cell battery.

Install the Windows 7 Tablet Shortcut Menu to get auto-rotate to work. It worked for me.
Barry

Looks like I'm putting in an RMA request. There's a crack in the corner that went from a line to a chip missing from the palm rest, like it was dropped. Since it's never been anything other than gently sat down on a desk, lap, or carpet, I figure it's just a manufacturing defect.

No big deal, I called it in, and I'll swap it out when it comes in.

But, what surprises me is that the warranty says 2016-02-08 for expiration. I've had this a month now; shouldn't it have been knocked down to a 1 year warranty by now? I'm surely not so lucky as to find this laptop for 1/2 retail price + ~$500 worth of unsolicited Adobe software + 3 years of depot warranty.

Also, while I've got it open, are there any whitelists on mSATA drives? I'd like to try and find a small one for a dual boot of Mint & Windows 8. I figure one of those caching drive sizes (16-32GB) is more than adequate for my Linux needs.

3 months have passed, and still enjoying the hell out of this laptop. It's basically become my primary laptop. I wish it had Ivy Bridge, webcam, and Bluetooth, but oh well. Can't argue for the price. Probably should get a 6 cell battery one of these days, and an mSATA drive.


I do have a question though...my warranty information shows the following:

Base Warranty
Start Date:
2013-01-30 End Date:
2016-02-08 Warranty:
3EZ Active
Description:
This product has a three year limited warranty and is entitled to IBM EZ Serv service. Customers may call their local service center for more information. Dealers may provide carry-in repair for this product. Batteries have a one year warranty.

Upgrade
Start Date:
2012-08-24 End Date:
2015-08-23 Warranty:
TPC Active
Description:
This product has a three year limited warranty which includes a ThinkPlus warranty upgrade. This product is entitled to parts and labor and is entitled to EZServ. This machine is also entitled to the Thinkpad Protection Service. Customers may call the PC HelpCenter for more information.


Now, I thought this would get downgraded to 1 year depot, but it's now 5 months since I bought the laptop, and that hasn't happened.

So, what warranty do I actually have, given the above info?

mybellyisempty wrote:I thought this would get downgraded to 1 year depot, but it's now 5 months since I bought the laptop, and that hasn't happened.

That's my understanding too, but the warranty look up has never been the most reliable tool. A one year warranty has been the standard practice in the outlet, but Lenovo has been making some changes in the outlet of late. You might want to call sales and ask about upgrading your warranty. They should know what the warranty is.

mybellyisempty wrote:
Now, I thought this would get downgraded to 1 year depot, but it's now 5 months since I bought the laptop, and that hasn't happened.

So, what warranty do I actually have, given the above info?

I'm pretty certain that your machine has slipped through the cracks, and personally, I'd just play dumb...

When I couldn't access the warranty info website, I called in to tech support to see when the warranty expired on the device. He gave me the 2015 date, so at least they're seeing more than the 1 year.


I hit up the old SlickDeals forum, and it looks like many of them had it knock down to 1 year. I guess I did indeed slip through the cracks. I'm not one to argue