Laptop suggestions/opinion please

[PhilZJ]

here's my build:

929.00 base price
245.00 i7-3520 (btw i believe 3360 has HT too, only difference is .1ghz and 3mb L3 vs 4mb on the i7)
50.00 display upgrade
160.00 8gb 2 dimm upgrade
30.00 cam+mic
480.00 SSD insanity
50.00 9cell battery
40.00 best wifi option (I can probably back down to the 20bux one)

grand total 1954.00

dang yesterday i saw an option on there that added Office 2010 Home and Business for -50bux... now it's gone doh.

Do you know if this thing comes with a recovery disk, or its a friggin drive partition?
because if I say forget the astronomical SSD price, I'll have to buy a copy of windows 7

[RCH flight]

correct on the hyperthreading. For some reason I thought only I7s had HT enabled. O well.

I honestly don't know if it has recovery disks. Looking it up I am seeing recovery partitions... That said I always prefer to have a recovery disk over a partition anyway.

[PhilZJ]

Originally Posted by RCH flight

correct on the hyperthreading. For some reason I thought only I7s had HT enabled. O well.

I honestly don't know if it has recovery disks. Looking it up I am seeing recovery partitions... That said I always prefer to have a recovery disk over a partition anyway.

I called Lenovo's tech support, they said they don't come with a recovery partition, but you can buy the recovery disk for 45bux + shipping which gets it around 51dollars.
He said that I'm better off just creating my own recovery disk using windows 7's "Create a System Repair Disk". That option doesn't sound like it would allow for a whole OS to be installed does it?

[ZLTFUL]

Actually, you can do a whole system image with Windows 7 so you should be good to go.
Just download/burn an OS disk to have handy and peace of mind secured.

[PhilZJ]

Originally Posted by ZLTFUL

Actually, you can do a whole system image with Windows 7 so you should be good to go.
Just download/burn an OS disk to have handy and peace of mind secured.

using that "Create a System Repair Disk" option in win7 that I mentioned right?

or something else I'm not seeing?

[snak3y3z1001]

why not just get whatever ram and hdd that came with the base package and just go out and buy your own SSD and ram? You will save more $$$.

If i remember correctly you can download Windows 7 Iso off mircrosoft page. Just burn it to a disk and use your own key to activate it.

[PhilZJ]

well, I finally bought and took delivery of my T430. So far I love it!

Creating the recovery disks was super easy. Typed in "Recovery" in the start menu the lenovo recovery disk thing kicked in, fed it 4 blank DVDs and I'm in good shape.

The specs ordered are as such:
cpu: i7-3520M (I know this is barely faster than the top of the line i5)
Display: 1600x900 HD+
Graphics: NVS 5400M 1GB (I originally wasn't going to order this when it was $250 option but they lowered it to $50 and I'm really glad I got it)
Ram: 2x4GB
Keyboard: Backlit (pretty nice at night, this is my first backlit laptop keyboard, I do have a logitech G15 but this is nicer)
Added the fingerswiper
added webcam
Hard Drive: 500GB 5400rpm (swapped at home with a 256GB Samsung 830)
Added smart card reader
Upgraded to the 9Cell battery
WiFi card: Intel 6300 AGN (the drivers that came with the laptop were crap, my wireless G was faster than wireless N, on my Sony Vaio N is a good bit faster, the stupid lenovo driver assistant thought I had the latest, but on their website I found a slightly newer driver. Once that was installed wireless N speed trippled)

Anyways, I wanted to thank you guys for recommending the Lenovo. So far I really like it, it handles my VM for work just fine. Also the Hard Drive to SSD upgrade was extremely easy.
Lenovo's recovery tool created 4 DVDs for me. I then took the existing drive out (which is VERY easy on the T430). Put everything back together fed the DVDs I just created in sequence and that's it! Now I have to find a pretty case for my spare 500GB spinny drive I took out.

Additional Comment:

Slight update:
When playing some games (age of empires 3 to be exact) after 1hr of fun. The computer starts down clocking because the CPU reached 75C. Fan is barely audible, best of all when the clocks drop the fan becomes next to silent even in this very hot state. Awesome....

[RCH flight]

Solution: Thinkpad Fan Control. Not sure if it works for the T430 but the normal fan profile is not aggressive enough for gaming favoring silence and battery efficiency. I usually run on the Bios setting for normal or if I am gaming I set it to manual with a setting of 99 to have the fan always run full blast.

Additional Comment:

well maybe not the solution. looks like TPFC might not work for the laptop. I see people are complaining about the fan curve though... good luck.

[PhilZJ]

Originally Posted by RCH flight

Solution: Thinkpad Fan Control. Not sure if it works for the T430 but the normal fan profile is not aggressive enough for gaming favoring silence and battery efficiency. I usually run on the Bios setting for normal or if I am gaming I set it to manual with a setting of 99 to have the fan always run full blast.

Additional Comment:

well maybe not the solution. looks like TPFC might not work for the laptop. I see people are complaining about the fan curve though... good luck.

Ya one of the guy on the lenovo site *****ing is me

TPFC does work though, so thanks (a guy on lenovo support told me about it)
Manual mode doesn't work, but the Smart mode works fine. I edited the .ini file to setup a more intelligent fan profile and I'm in good shape. Why Lenovo can't give that functionality in bios is beyond me.
I used the "maximum performance" bios setting and with cpu temp of 80C+ the fan wouldn't go within 1000RPM of max speed.

Anyways, I guess i'm lucky that I'm not one of the many with a noisy fan.

One regret though, i should have gotten the bluetooth, incase i get a mouse that uses it, or headset. oh well.

[RCH flight]

I've opened up my T400. Maybe you could open up yours and install a simple mini-pcie bluetooth dongle? I know my laptop is a pretty complex build but at the same time pretty straight forward to work with given lenovo's manuals.

Good luck with the fan issue.

[PhilZJ]

Ya I tried to cheer myself up with the Bluetooth thing by saying that most mouses come with that mini USB connector anyways.

Oh and I figured why you should get the i7 chip... It comes with an i7 sticker!! Worth every penny jk

Anyways, I'm using that TPFC and I'm really enjoying the laptop. For work it's so quiet even with the extra load of having a VM. Performance is fantastic as well.
It would need better cooling for gaming though but for what I use it, it's great.
It also ran a full day on batter doing work (it wasn't a very busy day but still) had the gm running and everything. I like it so much better than the Sony vaio I have. I never imagined holding a laptop in my lap without seering my gentlemen parts.