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Lenovo ThinkPad T430u review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £896
inc VAT

Has great potential as a business Ultrabook, but its sharp and uncomfortable keyboard tray makes this one to avoid

Specifications

14 in 1,366×768 display, 1.9kg, 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U, 4.00GB RAM, 500GB disk, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

http://www.lambda-tek.com

The Lenovo ThinkPad T430u is the Ultrabook version of Lenovo’s popular T range of business notebooks. It looks almost identical to its significantly more expensive cousin the T420, but the slim T430u stands just 21mm thick and weighs 1.9kg. It isn’t the lightest Ultrabook we’ve ever seen, but it is portable, and its soft touch finish complements its business-orientated design.

Our review sample came with a dual-core Intel Core i5-3317U processor that runs at 1.7GHz (although it can Turbo Boost up to 2.6GHz within certain thermal conditions), 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard disk. The T430U managed to score a respectable 44 overall in our multimedia benchmark tests, which is lower than we expect from an Ultrabook at this price.

Its integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset provides the graphics, and the T430u was just about capable of playing Dirt Showdown on High Quality settings and a 720p resolution, averaging 16.6 fps in our benchmark tests. You may get away with playing some modern 3D games, but you’ll really have to reduce the display settings to get a playable frame rate.

Lenovo ThinkPad T430u
Excellent viewing angles and a matt finish make the screen ideal for work

The T430u has maximum resolution of 1,366×768, and its 14in display lets you make the most of it. The T430u also has superb viewing angles, with 180-degree screen tilt to help you find the perfect working position no matter where you are. Its matt finish posed no problems with reflections either, but it did make the screen slightly dimmer overall, which meant colours were often not very bright or vivid.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ***
Processor Intel Core i5-3317U
Processor clock speed 1.7GHz
Memory 4.00GB
Memory slots 2
Memory slots free 2
Maximum memory 8GB
Size 21x340x216mm
Weight 1.9kg
Sound Dolby Home Theater
Pointing device touchpad and touchstick

Display

Viewable size 14 in
Native resolution 1,366×768
Graphics Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000
Graphics/video ports HDMI
Graphics Memory 280MB

Storage

Total storage capacity 500GB
Optical drive type none

Ports and Expansion

USB ports 2
Bluetooth yes
Wired network ports 1x 10/100/1000
Wireless networking support 802.11n
PC Card slots N/A
Supported memory cards SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC
Other ports 2x USB3, 3.5mm audio jack, mini DisplayPort

Miscellaneous

Carrying case No
Operating system Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Operating system restore option restore partition
Software included N/A
Optional extras N/A

Buying Information

Warranty one year RTB
Price £896
Details www.lenovo.co.uk
Supplier http://www.lambda-tek.com