IT168 Review There may be some fans who complain that the appearance of ThinkPad is always the same. But Naito Zaimasa, the father of ThinkPad, once said: Only creation based on user needs is true innovation. Based on Mr. Naito's philosophy, every ThinkPad innovation in the past 20 years has been based on a rigorous investigation of user needs. There may not be any breakthrough changes in appearance, but ThinkPad has been constantly innovating and changing inside the fuselage.

As the standard business model in ThinkPad, the T series launched the new 2012 T430s series this month. The biggest change in the T series this season is in the keyboard. The backlight and chiclet keyboard both appeared for the first time. Above the ThinkPad T series. And how will this ThinkPad perform this season? Please come with us to take a closer look at T430s

The expected backlight chocolate

In the past, when we wrote notebook reviews, we would naturally introduce the casing of the fuselage first, and then the interface and operation. platform, and finally performance. In this article, we put the keyboard that users are most concerned about in the first paragraph. Now let’s start talking about it, so I won’t spoil everyone’s appetite here. First of all, although the chiclet keyboard has been used in the ThinkPad Edge series for a long time, the high-end T series has always used the classic keyboard design of ThinkPad. The new generation of T series launched this year boldly innovates and introduces the chiclet keyboard to the T series for the first time. .

▲T430s adopts a chocolate keyboard

In fact, there has been a lot of controversy among black fans about the chocolate keyboard, which can be described as mixed praise and criticism. We are not here to comment on whether the chiclet keyboard is good or bad. After all, everyone has different habits when it comes to typing feel. But we have to answer a few questions about the chiclet keyboard: whether there is an X skeleton, whether the touch area of ??the keycap has changed, and whether the spacing between the keys has changed.

▲The X skeleton still exists

The X skeleton still exists. When the chiclet keyboard first appeared on the ThinkPad, many people questioned whether the X-skeleton of buttons that had always made ThinkPad proud would disappear. Through our disassembly of the chiclet keyboard on the ThinkPad, we can see that the X skeleton still exists and is no different from a traditional keyboard.

▲The keycaps are larger

The touch area of ??the keycaps has become larger. It can be seen intuitively that the touch area of ??the keycaps of the chiclet keyboard is larger than that of the ThinkPad's traditional keyboard. Through measurement, it can be seen that the touch area of ??the keycaps of the chiclet keyboard is 30% larger than that of the traditional keyboard, which is more conducive to users' high speed. enter.

▲The key cap spacing is 19mm

The key spacing has not changed. The change in the keycap touch area does not change the key spacing of the T430s chocolate keyboard, which is still 19mm like the traditional ThinkPad.

▲ThinkPad T430s Keyboard

Overall, the biggest change in the T430s chiclet keyboard is its appearance. The X skeleton at the core of the ThinkPad keyboard has not disappeared. The chiclet keyboard is slightly lower than the traditional keyboard, so you need to get used to it during initial use.

▲The keyboard has a backlight

Compared with the tangled attitude towards the chiclet keyboard, more users are looking forward to the backlit keyboard. The backlight keyboard of T430s has 2 levels. Users can control the backlight keyboard to turn on and make it brighter through key combinations. When it comes to backlit keyboards, many users will naturally think of ThinkPad's famous ThinkLight keyboard light. So will the use of backlit keyboards conflict with the keyboard light?

By operating ThinkLight through a combination of keys, you can see that the entire combination of keys is divided into four levels: turning on the backlight keyboard, increasing the brightness of the backlight keyboard, turning off the backlight keyboard, and turning on the ThinkLight keyboard light. This shows that the ThinkLight keyboard light and backlit keyboard cannot be turned on at the same time.

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The traditional Think appearance interface configuration is more reasonable

▲ThinkPad T430s

For the appearance of the ThinkPad T series, we I think all readers must be very familiar with it, so I won’t introduce it in words here. You can understand it by looking at the pictures. ThinkPad T430s still uses a matte aluminum-magnesium alloy shell and a magnesium roll cage. As for the hinge, the metal hinge allows the T430s to easily push down the screen 180 degrees.

▲The interfaces are mainly concentrated on the back of the fuselage

As a standard business notebook, the T430s can be said to have no interface at all. However, the T430s does not have interfaces mainly on the left and right sides of the fuselage. Instead, most of the interfaces are concentrated at the rear of the fuselage. This design ensures sufficient distance between each interface and avoids misoperation by the user. .

▲There is a docking station interface on the bottom of the fuselage, and the optical drive position can be used to expand a second battery

ThinkPad T430s is equipped with a docking station interface on the bottom of the fuselage, which can be connected to a dedicated docking station Expand more interfaces and connect to richer peripherals. In addition, the optical drive of T430s supports the removal of surface screws, and the optical drive position can be expanded with a second battery to extend the battery life of the entire machine.

▲Body size

T430s is a thin, light and portable product in the T series. Although it is not as compact as those 12- and 13-inch products, its bare metal weight of 1.875kg is the same as Mainstream 14-inch notebooks are about 20% lighter than mainstream 14-inch notebooks, and the body thickness of 24.11 to 26.1 mm is also slimmer than ordinary 14-inch notebooks. Coupled with the 14-inch 1600~900 resolution display, it has better Mobile portability while providing a more comfortable use experience.

▲T430s weight

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Supports vPro technology and the overall performance meets office needs

As a traditional high-end ThinkPad A business notebook, T430s not only has high security and durability, but also provides excellent hardware performance. It is equipped with the latest Intel i5 3320M processor, professional-grade NVIDIA NVS 5200M independent graphics card, 4GB DDR3-1600 memory and 500GB 7200 rpm. The hard drive can handle various complex office software.

ThinkPad T430s

Parameter Name Parameter Specifications

Processor

Intel Core i5 3320M

Chipset< /p>

QM77

Memory

1?4GB DDR3-1600

Graphics card

NVIDIA NVS 5200M (supports dual graphics cards Switch)

Hard disk

500GB 7200 rpm

Display screen

14.0 inches (resolution 1600?900)

11.1V/44Wh

Wireless network card

Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6205

Wired network card

Intel 82579LM

Notebook size/weight

342 x 230 x 24.11 ~ 26.1 mm/1.876kg

Price

New product Launched

In addition to excellent core hardware, ThinkPad T430s also supports Intel vPro technology, uses the most high-end QM77 chipset in Intel's new generation mobile platform, and is equipped with Intel N 6205 wireless network card, which can have more excellent security It is flexible and allows IT managers to remotely manage and repair computers on the network, thus saving users' time and computer maintenance costs.

▲Processor performance (the larger the value, the better)

The new manufacturing process allows Intel’s new generation CPU to have more outstanding performance, starting from the CINEBENCH R10 CPU multi-core processor performance Judging from the test results, the processing power of the new generation i5 3320M has reached the level of the previous generation dual-core i7, fully meeting our daily office needs.

▲SYSmark 2007 overall score

With its excellent processor and NVS 5200M independent graphics card, ThinkPad T430s performed very well in the SYSmark 2007 test, with a total score of 202 points. It exceeds the average level of current mainstream notebooks and can better meet the needs of professional software such as Photoshop, After Effects, and 3ds Max.

▲3Dmark VANTAGE results

NVS 5200M is an independent graphics card launched by NVIDIA for business notebooks. It has 96 CUDA cores and supports DisplayPort multi-monitor mode, allowing a notebook to It can drive up to four monitors with a maximum resolution of 2560x1600, enabling multi-tasking capabilities in a huge desktop environment.

▲Mainstream 3D games can be run at 1366?768 resolution

In terms of game performance, NVS 5200M is at the same level as the previous generation NVIDIA GT540M home entertainment graphics card, and can run at 1366?768 resolution. The resolution meets the graphics card performance requirements of mainstream 3D games such as "Mission 8" and "Dirt 3", but for games such as "Battlefield 3" and "Metro 2033" that require higher overall machine performance, NVS 5200M runs It's more difficult to get up.

▲"Diablo 3" game video at 1366?768 resolution

Summary of ThinkPad T430s test results

Test project scores

SYSMaek 2007

E-Learning

201

VideoCreation

232

Productivity

160

3D

224

Total score

202

PCMark VANTAGE

Memories

4740

TV and Movies

3665

Gaming

5854

Music

7365

Communication

11237

Productivity

7002

HDD< /p>

4097

Total score

7894

CINEBENCH

R10

Multi-threading< /p>

11598

Single-threaded

5627

3Dmark VANTAGE

GPU

16666< /p>

CPU

10549

Total score

E14556

Judging from the overall test results, as a portable As a business notebook, the overall performance of ThinkPad T430s fully meets the needs of mainstream office applications, and the NVS 5200M independent graphics card can also provide good 3D graphics performance. However, the ThinkPad T430s we tested is equipped with a 7200-rpm mechanical hard drive, and there is still a big gap between its performance and SSD solid-state drive. If you want a better experience, it is recommended to upgrade to an SSD solid-state drive.

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The screen uses a TN panel for nearly 5 hours of battery life

▲4 hours of battery life

Provided by ThinkPad T430s Equipped with an 11.1V/44Wh battery, it ran for 4 hours and 44 minutes (284 minutes) in the MobileMark 2007 battery life test, which focuses on office applications. Although its performance is average among similar notebooks, the smaller battery capacity reduces its performance. The weight reduces the burden we carry when we go out.

▲Complete machine heat control

Different from the ThinkPad T430, the ThinkPad T430s has a slimmer body. Under the same hardware configuration, the heat on the surface of the ThinkPad T430s body may It will be higher, but judging from the actual test results, thanks to the excellent heat dissipation system, the ThinkPad T430s has good heat control. There is a certain amount of heat accumulation in the left center of the keyboard surface. The maximum temperature is 40.3℃, and the bottom of the fuselage The maximum temperature in the corresponding area is 44.1°C, and you will feel warm when touching these areas during use.

▲Screen display effect

The ThinkPad T430 tested this time is equipped with an ordinary TN display screen, with a screen size of 14.0 inches, a maximum screen resolution of 1600~900, and a 50% NTSC color gamut. , the maximum brightness is 271cd/m2, and the display effect is at the same level as most ordinary notebooks. Although it is not as good as the IPS panel display, the resolution of 1600~900 can display more content than the ordinary 1366~768.

Summary:

As an old business notebook series with 20 years of glorious tradition, ThinkPad T430s boldly innovates on the keyboard, abandons the classic keyboard that has been used for many years, and follows the trend of development. A new generation of chocolate keyboard is enabled, but its overall appearance design, hardware configuration, stability, scalability, and security still maintain the consistent high quality of the ThinkPad series. It is the new generation of ThinkPad business flagship.

Of course, the ThinkPad T430s is not absolutely perfect. In order to obtain a lighter weight, it is equipped with a relatively small battery capacity, which shortens the battery life. However, the optical drive of ThinkPad T430s can be expanded with a second battery. This design makes up for its small battery capacity. It can be seen from this point that ThinkPad fully considers the actual use needs of users in its design, and is worthy of being a leading product among business notebooks.