Laptops Lenovo ThinkPad T430 for $740 + 10k shipping/customs. Good deal?

My cousin has a 10 year old pentium m 1.5 ghz based t40 thinkpad - his daughter grew up with the laptop - puked over it dropped it - removed the keyboard keys and swallowed it and the puked them out, did all the small kid related things that kids do with anything near them - now she's 7 yrs old and is learning to use computers with the very same thinkpad t40 and its hinges are still sturdy with no issues in them whatsoever, everthing works as good as new - show me one laptop that does all this after going through all that this device went through.
 
Bought a tn panel thinkpad x220 with a 160gb SSD for $584 all inclusive :D Yay!!
No backlit keyboard though :( But I guess I got pretty good deal.

..Damn! No usb 3.0 either.

 
@m0h1t what is your system config -- please post pics !!
spend 100$ on a good 120-128 gb msata ssd + 60 $ for gskill 16gb ddr3 ram

the x220 doesn't have a backlit keyboard - but you've got the best keyboard ever fitted to any laptop -- the new thinkpad has a horrible keyboard -- use the thinklight to illuminate your keyboard - Fn+PgUp[DOUBLEPOST=1364323714][/DOUBLEPOST]
sunny27 said:
@m0h1t what is your system config -- please post pics !!
spend 100$ on a good 120-128 gb msata ssd + 60 $ for gskill 16gb ddr3 ram

the x220 doesn't have a backlit keyboard - but you've got the best keyboard ever fitted to any laptop -- the new thinkpad has a horrible keyboard -- use the thinklight to illuminate your keyboard - Fn+PgUp
Click to expand...
USB 3.0 come as a standard with only the core i7 based model
 
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@sunny27 - I've already posted a picture of the config in my previous post.

Intel i5 2520M 2.53/3.2 Ghz
Win 7 Pro x86
Intel HD3000
4GB DDR3 1333Mhz
12.5" HD LED Backlit Screen (1366x768) - Non-IPS w/ 720p camera
160GB 1.8" SSD
6 Cell Battery
Intel Centrino Advanced N6205 (2x2 AGN)
Finger print reader
Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) upgradable
Bluetooth
1 Year standard warranty

I have couple of question :
  • I'm assuming WWAN is like a 3G modem or something, and I read here that I need to buy some sort of card for it. I already have an Huawei 3G stick, can I use this slot for something else?
  • Where will the mSata fit into? The express card slot? I don't want to spend a lot of money, will prefer a HDD.
  • I also want a usb 3.0 port so was hoping I can accommodate both, a new HDD and a usb 3.0 card slot.
  • I think 8gb will be more than sufficient, will buy another 4gb dd3 stick. x220 has two ram slots right?
 
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@m0h1t - the wwan slot is where the Msata ssd fits
A couple of things you need to know before installing msata ssds :-
(1) Update the bios to the latest version
(2) Update the bios according to the product id given on the box or printed behind the laptop base (my id code is 4286-cto)
(3) Use the Quick-path product finder from the lenovo support page to get the exact software/drivers/updates for your system
(4) Get the msata ssd fitted into the designated wwan mini pcie slot at the IBM service center - it takes 5 minutes but you have to disassemble the whole keyboard and quite a lot of the internals - IBM will do it for free since your laptop is in warranty

The following are the answers to the other questions you've posted:-
  • WWAN is for 3G. Your System specs show "WWAN Upgradeable" which means the slot is empty
  • Use this WWAN slot to fit the msata ssd (go for Crucial/MydigitalSSD) They have the best price to performance ratio and compatibility with the X220 - if you're willing to splurge you could get yourself an Intel Msata ssd
  • The hard drives meant for the x220 thinkpads are slim low profile drives i.e 7mm drives instead of the standard 9mm drives - the maximum available storage capacity for 7mm drives are 500GB - Hitachi/WD/Seagate have 7mm drives and cost as much as their standard 9mm hdds.
  • I upgraded from the 320gb Hitachi 7200rpm to a WD500LPVT 5400rpm drive from Flipkart for Rs.3300 - this is used for storage and the OS boots from the MydigitalSSD Bulletproof 3 Msata ssd 64 Gb. My msata benchmark scores are on par with the Corsair force gt ssd used in my desktop.
  • Use the Expresscard 54 slot to get an USB 3.0 adapter for 10-15$ worth the purchase. You can get it from Ebay or Amazon.
  • The x220 has 2 ram slots and will support upto 16gb of ddr3 1600 Mhz laptop ram. I got my Gskill 16gb kit cheap and hence upgraded.
  • The X220 comes with either Samsung/Hynix/Nanya/Micron memory. I would suggest you to get yourself a kit of matching pair memory sticks to get more out of your memory in dual channel mode. A corsair ddr3 1333mhz 8gb kit would set you back by 2500-2800 from Flipkart or any other place.
 
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Lenovo cancelled my order :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
Apparently they don't deliver to freight forwarding companies :( Such a good deal I had got :arghh::arghh:

flippin arhholes man!
 
 
Got a new T430 for $734 inclusive of taxes and shipping (~INR40k) from the outlet store. This time I'm getting it delivered to a relative's house.

They shipped it rather quickly this time. I bought it on the March 30th and they shipped it out on 31st. It will get delivered tomorrow.

Considering this one has an Intel 520 180GB SSD, I think I got a good deal.

Specs
Windows 7 Professional 64 - English
Intel® Core™ i5-3320M Processor (3M Cache, 2.60 GHz)
4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz
Intel® HD Graphics 4000
14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlight w/720p HD Camera
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Intel 520 180GB SATA 2.5" Solid State Drive - Intel 520
DVD Recordable Serial ATA
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (Up to 7 Hours Run Time)
Intel® Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (2x2 AGN)
Bluetooth
Integrated Wireless Wide Area Network upgradabler
Fingerprint Reader
1 Year Standard Depot Warranty
Laptop - Black
 
excellent deal and like they say,
sabrah ka fal mitha hota hai,you got the fruit of waiting.
just bump up ram to 8 gb and you are set.
 
sunny27 said:
Well I got 8gb x2 ddr3 gskill sticks for 60$ shipped to India and it was well worth it. Its a cheap upgrade - having more ram is not a bad thing methinks.
Click to expand...

Where did you get 2x8gb ram for $60? The cheapest good quality 2x8gb ram I can find is for $99
 
Newegg - gskill ddr3 1333mhz 8gb x2. nov/dec 2012.

Congrats on the Thinkpad t430 -- welcome to the elite club!
 
I finally got it delivered today.

I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that my T430 has a 3 year warranty instead of the 1 year that was mentioned on the product page. Unfortunately it is carry-in warranty instead of on-site, but still I'm pretty happy with the entire deal.
 
I asked Lenovo and they told me their international warranty in not available for India...so you might want to double check that.
 
mutant said:
I asked Lenovo and they told me their international warranty in not available for India...so you might want to double check that.
Click to expand...


Ofcourse it is available. I spoke with their customer care today and they confirmed it has 3 year carry-in warranty. The person also said that all 'Think' branded products of lenovo carry international warranty.
 
m0h1t said:
Ofcourse it is available. I spoke with their customer care today and they confirmed it has 3 year carry-in warranty. The person also said that all 'Think' branded products of lenovo carry international warranty.
Click to expand...
I guess it must be different for the ultrabooks...
 
m0h1t said:
Got a new T430 for $734 inclusive of taxes and shipping (~INR40k) from the outlet store. This time I'm getting it delivered to a relative's house.

They shipped it rather quickly this time. I bought it on the March 30th and they shipped it out on 31st. It will get delivered tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Please let me know how the relative had it shipped to India.
1. Did the relative use the same packing in which it came from Lenovo, or did he pack it differently for international shipping?
2. Which courier did he use?
3. Did he have to take some special preparations before sending it to India? For example, I believe the invoice has to be pasted on the outside of the box for the customs.
4. Also, did he pay the custom's duty in advance to the courier?
5. And in India, did the courier deliver it to you or did they hand it over to some third party?
6. How many days it took from US to your home, once the relative shipped it?
7. Did you get the RAM also shipped along with the laptop or was it send separately? If separate, how much was the shipping cost and customs duty?
 
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