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I've been a Lenovo man for the longest time, and I am currently running a T430s. I find it to be the best balance of physical size and computing power there is

I've been a Lenovo man for the longest time, and I am currently running a T430s. I find it to be the best balance of physical size and computing power there is to find.

claudius 13y ago
How do you find the keyboard? I'm not too concerned about the weird island style, but only six rows slightly freak me out (currently using a T410s).
- thiderman 13y ago
  I was afraid I wouldn't like it, but after using it for a couple of weeks I am very pleased with it. I think the island style mainly was implemented to allow for the keyboard backlight. That's a bonus for me since I work in low light from time to time. Backlight really helps then. Also, the six rows things is no issue for me. I rarely se the extra keys anyways. The PrtSc placement perplexes me though.
  - JimmyL 13y ago
    With adding the keyboard backlight, did they get rid of the Thinklight at top of the screen?
    - blendergasket 13y ago
      I can't speak for the T430S but the T430 has 2 levels of backlighting and then if I click function space 1 more time the backlighting goes off and the little lamp at the top of the screen turns on.
  - claudius 13y ago
    Thanks – yes, the PrtSc key is a little…odd. I was wondering about the PgUp/Dn buttons as well, as they are in this stupid location where they absolutely don’t belong. Why do you find the keyboard backlight helpful? So far, I found the ThinkLight to be more flexible. Guess I’ll wait a little longer and see what the future brings, hopefully a 4:3 notebook with seven full rows and no touchpad </dreaming>.
- serf 13y ago
  after using a t430s in the store, I went home and bought a t420s at the outlet store online, for that very reason. ymmv. lots of people love the new style too.
  - superuser2 13y ago
    Where did you find a T430 in a store? I haven't seen ThinkPads in any of the retailers in my area.
    - claudius 13y ago
      Lenovo has some dedicated shops, at least in Germany. What is ‘your area’?
  - claudius 13y ago
    Hrm, that's what I feared. I was a proud owner of a [0] before this one, but even the Core i520M slowly gets…slow, especially one of the newer graphics chips would be wonderful sometimes. [0] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0
- huhtenberg 13y ago
  The left side of the laptop gets noticeably hot if you don't vacuum the CPU cooling exhaust regularly. It would've not been a problem, but you end up resting left wrist on a very warm spot. Also the left pinky lingers exactly over the CPU and gets dry and itchy if you try and run a poorly written WebGL demo. The keyboard itself is fine, though I've been using laptops as a primary machine for 10+ years, so YMMV.

I've been a Lenovo man for the longest time, and I am currently running a T430s. I find it to be the best balance of physical size and computing power there is to find.

claudius 13y ago

How do you find the keyboard? I'm not too concerned about the weird island style, but only six rows slightly freak me out (currently using a T410s).

thiderman 13y ago
I was afraid I wouldn't like it, but after using it for a couple of weeks I am very pleased with it. I think the island style mainly was implemented to allow for the keyboard backlight. That's a bonus for me since I work in low light from time to time. Backlight really helps then. Also, the six rows things is no issue for me. I rarely se the extra keys anyways. The PrtSc placement perplexes me though.
- JimmyL 13y ago
  With adding the keyboard backlight, did they get rid of the Thinklight at top of the screen?
  - blendergasket 13y ago
    I can't speak for the T430S but the T430 has 2 levels of backlighting and then if I click function space 1 more time the backlighting goes off and the little lamp at the top of the screen turns on.
- claudius 13y ago
  Thanks – yes, the PrtSc key is a little…odd. I was wondering about the PgUp/Dn buttons as well, as they are in this stupid location where they absolutely don’t belong. Why do you find the keyboard backlight helpful? So far, I found the ThinkLight to be more flexible. Guess I’ll wait a little longer and see what the future brings, hopefully a 4:3 notebook with seven full rows and no touchpad </dreaming>.
serf 13y ago
after using a t430s in the store, I went home and bought a t420s at the outlet store online, for that very reason. ymmv. lots of people love the new style too.
- superuser2 13y ago
  Where did you find a T430 in a store? I haven't seen ThinkPads in any of the retailers in my area.
  - claudius 13y ago
    Lenovo has some dedicated shops, at least in Germany. What is ‘your area’?
- claudius 13y ago
  Hrm, that's what I feared. I was a proud owner of a [0] before this one, but even the Core i520M slowly gets…slow, especially one of the newer graphics chips would be wonderful sometimes. [0] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0
huhtenberg 13y ago
The left side of the laptop gets noticeably hot if you don't vacuum the CPU cooling exhaust regularly. It would've not been a problem, but you end up resting left wrist on a very warm spot. Also the left pinky lingers exactly over the CPU and gets dry and itchy if you try and run a poorly written WebGL demo. The keyboard itself is fine, though I've been using laptops as a primary machine for 10+ years, so YMMV.