Lenovo Thinkpad T530 The best 15 inch laptop you can buy for $200

[@IMunoz_momentum]

Laughed very hard at 3:19

[@MikeDancy]

Pitter Patter, lets get at'er. I love that show.

[@gynat5968]

Agreed. Watching this on a t530 I7 3840qm with 32 gigs of ram and a Samsung Evo ssd. Perfect for a daily driver.

[@yarmar97]

Why do you need so much ram? :o

[@unbekannter_Nutzer]

@@yarmar97 To run a few virtual machines in parallel and have some browser windows open, each with a zillion tabs?

[@balithinkpad1413]

just curious, how you put 32GB ram in T530 that only have two sodimm slots? since its only 3rd gen intel, its only read max 8GB each slot. the one that can ready 16GTB per slot is X250, T450s, T450 T550 or W550s ( 5th gen ) im using W530, T530 and X230 myself so ive been try to maxed all of their ram and SSD's since i bought them at 2014, W530 indeed 32GB ram with 4 slots and 8GB each, T530 only 16GB ram and X230 also 16GB ram max.

[@modguy9894]

Lenovos own monster. It's so durable. Been using the w510 for 9 years without any issues

[@jamescarson4507]

Brought mine T530 used 4 years ago, and the performance and reliability have not failed yet. I didn't know anything about Lenovo laptops but I got it for a deal for under 200 bucks at a computer store and I'm glad I brought it...

[@microwavedcaprisun6521]

As a Thinkpad user with the same computer i say you definitely should, its lasted me three years so far and it was already s few years old when i got it. Only signs of age is the short battery life

[@MikeDancy]

I really like the T530 but I think that the T430s was one of the best machines that Lenovo ever produced.

[@EliasYT123]

Can you use this laptop always plugged in?

[@MrEpsilonZero]

@@EliasYT123 Yes, and you don`t need a battery, if you are runing it from AC power adapter.

[@Jumpeex]

I was just given one today, thanks for your video. I'm now the proud owner of a x260 and t530

[@MikeDancy]

Both are nice machines. I really like the C series. Do you watch the Laptop Retrospective youtube channel?

[@ИванГерасимов-з2ь]

I still use it as main laptop in 2021. Best machine for me.

[@sq7072]

At 1:21 the "weird little thing" is a spot for an IEEE 1394 port! pretty cool

[@ahsamahi4385]

I still keeping one like this i love it after upgraded it to SDD and M.2 with linux mint and 16 GB RAM and it’s already have i7 cpu

[@soson001]

Thanks for the video, great content and entertaining like always. Back in 2018 and 19 I refurbished and sold few of those (alongside t540 and Dell latitude laptops) and I must say that I was really enjoying that. :D It's an amazing machine, so durable and powerful, it's a bit of a pity that it comes with 1366x768, but still, it's awesome. Keep up the good work.

[@MikeDancy]

Glad you liked it. Thanks for the comment. Those machines are still great if you add a SSD and some ram.

[@soson001]

@@MikeDancy yeah exactly, I mean for example latitude e7240 or other similar to 12.5" laptops are ok even with 1366x768 screen, but with 15" or more, I would really prefer full HD.

[@MikeDancy]

That’s why I have a docking station :) I output to my 27” 4K lcd :)

[@carlab994]

I got that exact model last year for 150 euro, got Debian installed and works perfectly. I use it mostly for study, wondering about installing Manjaro. Had no idea about the hard drives, I guess I'll get the HD from the drawer and install it.

[@retropcdurham]

A great machine, easy to upgrade all components as well

[@MikeDancy]

Yeah, I was thinking of getting another one for myself but its a but bulky and i already have so many

[@CalinFilip]

The weird little thing is a firewire port from previous versions that share the same case.

[@stephenfox7866]

I've owned one of these since new, i5 with the backlit keyboard. Still looks brand new. You can feel the quality and durability. Currently has a 256GB SSD and 16GB RAM. Still running Windows 7. Thing runs like a beast.

[@MikeDancy]

Lenovo peaked with the T series IMO. I have a t460s and love it.

[@MikeVerhofLucas]

that thing at 1:30 is where normally there's a firewire 1394 connector

[@RayelityCheckMinistries]

Is it a port? Can you connect a FireWire cable?

[@MikeVerhofLucas]

@@RayelityCheckMinistries you can indeed hook up a cable! there's 3 types of firewire cables: 6-pin, 9-pin, and the 1394 connector which is very small! i love to use it to hook up extra interfaces ^^

[@RayelityCheckMinistries]

@@MikeVerhofLucas Thank you so much!

[@MikeVerhofLucas]

@@RayelityCheckMinistries anytime! if you need any further help with it, feel free to get in touch ^^

[@RayelityCheckMinistries]

@@MikeVerhofLucas Thank you, but I wound up losing it in the eBay auction I was bidding on. :-/ While juggling between these reviews, watched items, and the auction, I wound up accidentally bidding on a WATCHED item instead of raising my bid on the Lenovo, and won the WATCHED item!-- an HP Probook 645 g1 😂 That was not my choice, but I'll just deal with it. Thank you for your insights though.

[@dreamsequencer]

I bought the w530 (very similar to this one, almost identical) second hand and worked around three years with no issues at all. God knows how old it actually is, but the serial number checkup showed date of manufacturing 2012 so... :D Anyway, I recently decided to switch to the Legion Y740, because it looked like a well built and solid machine that could last for at least another 5 years. Well.. the other day the screen hinge unglued (yes, you read that correctly it is GLUED) and when the screen broke as well upon disassembling the bezel. The goddamn thing was just two months old. I read that the hinge design is a common flaw with the Legion series. I'm extremely disappointed with the newer Lenovo stuff. I went back to grandpa ThinkPad, and I'm not giving it up until it's totally unusable :D

[@MikeDancy]

My daily is a T460s and I love it

[@MrWillypanda88]

that "weird little thing" is an IEEE 1394 port, I had it on mine.

[@kornaros96]

I have a t520. The physical WiFi switch switches the Bluetooth too. Also mine has a cellular module; yes it takes sim cards.

[@roguestarr4382]

It 2021 and this with the dock is my workstation. I love this machine. I haven't thought to switch this for something else yet.

[@iMazyoda]

Random blank on left side is for iee 1394 aka FireWire

[@MikeDancy]

Thanks

[@jorgheyen5301]

Hello, I use my T530 with a i7 3920xm (55Watt) CPU. I will "downsizing" on an i7 3632qm, who need only 35Watt and hope for more battery lifetime. I don't use Win10 because I've found that Ubuntu Studio is far more resource-friendly and sorry for my bad English.

[@paul_264]

1:22 this is a firewire port which not every ThinkPad t530 got.

[@MikeDancy]

it's the thingy port. I don't know what it does.

[@unbekannter_Nutzer]

@@MikeDancy In your case, since you only have a blind/cover, it does nothing, except from making you curious.

[@CamcorderHomeVideos]

Dang it. That's the ONLY reason I bought the computer. Mine doesn't have one. 😐

[@paul_264]

@CamcorderHomeVideos I mean in theory you can switch out the motherboard due to the ThinkPad being able to keep your current CPU and GPU by just screwing them out and replace it with one that has the FireWire port. But it'll be easier to get another ThinkPad with FireWire for like 50$ on eBay. More ThinkPads wouldn't hurt to have :)

[@CamcorderHomeVideos]

@@paul_264 Well, I was thinking that maybe I could get an ExpressCard with FireWire, because the computer was about $150 in really good condition.

[@oussama4629]

fantastic machine, the only problem is the screen panel's quality , even if it is 1080p the colors aren't vivid

[@mrwnblch]

I have this laptop and i want better😭

[@oussama4629]

@@mrwnblch haha we all want an upgrade

[@mrwnblch]

@@oussama4629 true

[@oussama4629]

@@mrwnblch i guess i will opt for a W530; it has a better screen and performance, yet it has kept that thinkpad experience especially with the 7 row keyboard swap

[@mabimabi2952]

I have this laptop and it was a life saver for me, my old laptop broke and I just wanted one that was powerful enough for me to do my job, run some video editing programs, some games as well, but laptops here in my country are crazy expensive, like for me to get a newer model with same stats as this one I would be spending at least 4k, I didn't have this money and I wanted a computer that was fixable (lots of laptops nowadays are basically useless even when just a minor thing breaks, you're just forced to buy a new one), so I found this one for a real good price (for my country ofc) and it had been refurbished. It works really well, I'm able to play games, do work and everything no problem. I'm really happy with it.

[@30goals]

So thankful I found this channel as Im looking for laptops on a serious budget - AND Im looking for a 15 inch - the problem is I keep seeing everyone recommend a thinkpad T series - but then I read elsewhere that their screen quality is pretty bad - for the average persons needs they want every day browsing and watch a lot on laptops - soIm still stuck lol

[@MrWillypanda88]

Owner of T530 here. Yes the screen is lousy. But you can easily upgrade it with a 1080p panel. If your work requires important color accuracy, you should look elsewhere, but for browsing, watching movies. It's okay. Personally I upgraded mine to quadcore, put 16gb of ram, and a 1080p panel, it works amazing for office work.

[@chang-kp9sp]

T 530 is like a tank . Indestructible. It is easy to repair and upgrade.

[@leosmithonbass]

Thanks for showing us where the mSATA hard drive connector is located. Very helpful.

[@MikeDancy]

Glad it helped

[@mikestanley9176]

My T530 has a 1 TB HDD storage drive, a 128 GB SSD boot drive ,a 128GB SD card just for my GTA 5 install and 16 GB RAM. Did I mention it was free?

[@MikeDancy]

does it run GTAV okay?

[@mikestanley9176]

@@MikeDancy 20-30 FPS

[@joshuamiller2627]

Does it have a DVD drive

[@mikestanley9176]

@@joshuamiller2627 I installed the 1 TB HDD in an UltraBay adapter. So I can put a DVD drive in but then I lose the storage HDD. So I use an external DVDdrive.

[@kornaros96]

1:23 that's a cutout for a 1394 port.

[@lawrencecavens5760]

Another great Lenovo Unit would be the P series {P50, P51,P52 and the P53 Laptops... You should try and Check those one out too...

[@MikeDancy]

I’ve reviewed one or two on here

[@yozerni9999]

I bought the same thinkpad T350 with intel core i7 3 gen since 2013 till to date still running well. Thinkpad is wellknown of durability and rugged body.👍

[@MikeDancy]

did you get the quad core? or which prosessor is it?

[@yozerni9999]

The Intel Core i7-3520M is the fastest dual-core processor based on the Ivy Bridge architecture at the time of introduction in Q2 2012.

[@yozerni9999]

With windows 10 running well with Autocad 2019 and google sketchup 2019 👍

[@HuntaKiller91]

It's $90 in my country now

[@augustaverbian]

I love how wear on old business laptop is a result of probably hundreds or if not, milions of dollars produced by it on its lifetime.

[@MikeDancy]

Same. I sold a computer to a friend one and told them that it was a tool that had made me thousands of dollars. Thats how I see them

[@1010Huey]

What is that amazing tool @ 8:33! How does it work? Is that a rubber band?

[@MikeDancy]

That is a magnet on a stick covered with a paper towel so I don't scratch the screws.

[@TheDdm1234]

that weird thing is a missing firewire port which is on the w530

[@candicecampbell399]

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T530 with 16GB of ram and 1TB of memory. I love this computer... But I need a quad core processor now (with SSE support) and I only have a dual-core processor. Is there any way I can upgrade this thing instead of buying another computer? I hate buying new computers... I would rather use this one until something major happens to it (apartment fire?). Just wondering...

[@coegj]

I have a w530 and love it, and want to put into it a SSD under the kekyboard like you are doing here. What is the size and type I should get need, ( not gig size ) as I don't really understand the type and size I would need purchase, I use my DVD drive so don't really want to go that route. Thank you for any reply.

[@MikeDancy]

I used this part number. it's a 256GB mSATA - it's official name is Lenovo 45N8430 - 256GB 6Gb/s mSATA MLC Solid State SSD

[@coegj]

@@MikeDancy Thanks so much, a friend recommended using EasyBCD in the Windows 10 to manage the booting of the installed mSata with a MX Linux distro and Windows 10. So this will now be plan A. Thanks again.

[@pedrogonzales9202]

Can this machine run Windows 11?

[@matthewchinnappen1852]

Hey man, I've got T530 i7 3rd gen. Want to know how I can upgrade it to be good enough for mid level gaming. Looking to upgrade the ram and maybe an ssd. Please help. I always thought this thing was a shit box but after seeing your appreciation for it, I don't feel so bad now 😂

[@MikeDancy]

The usual. An SSD and more ram. Clean it so there’s no dust bunnies in the venting. Maybe. Fresh install of Windows It’s probably okay with something like Hell let Loose but I wouldn’t play GTAV on it.

[@Kami_26]

Hey, i have the same laptop and it seems to have a fingerprint scanner. But it ain't working. Windows hello fingerprint is currently unavailable..How to fix this shit

[@Maximaomega]

since i can't found yet this in my country, how about w530 with k1000m graphics, its it good enough compared to this one? I'll use it for 2d graphics design and sometimes maybe for gaming.

[@leplane_]

Late reply, but I have a W530 and it's basically the same thing, though I prefer it over this model. The W versions were specifically pro workstation models made for heavy duty CAD and CG. I use mine for heavy fluid simulations (phoenixfd) and it runs just as fast, if not faster, than my newer 6 core laptops. Yes, that's right. When calculating sims, the W530 beats a newer Dell Precision 7530 with an i7-8850h 6 core proc! Only in rendering the extra two cores helps the Dell. The old quadro GPU keeps up well. For viewport visualization it keeps up with the P1000 quadro in my other Thinkpad P1. Hope you got one. They're absolute beasts even in 2023.

[@kirpalite]

Does yours have a camera? Mine does not. there is no slide at the top, just a trapezoid.

[@SiriusBlack-wh6uh]

nice video , could you please tell me a cheap dock for the t530 with a quadcore cpu

[@user-fl2ug7sr3t]

I'm here because I found the same laptop without damage for 65€, it has a bios pass tho.

[@norwegianwoode6870]

any way to improve the sound quality on earphones? it sounds terrible but besides that its a great laptop.

[@MikeDancy]

All headphones? Maybe put some isopropyl on a toothpick and try cleaning the Jack.

[@davidruzzo5806]

Hey!, you didn't put the hard drives in or talk about the optical drive like you said you would!

[@MikeDancy]

Sorry I missed that. It’s a easy process. Are you adding a drive via the optical bay?

[@davidruzzo5806]

@@MikeDancy I'm adding a 2.5" SSD after I had installed an mSATA drive, but I can't get the 2.5" SSD to allow the system to start. When I put the 2.5" SSD in the bay and turn on the computer it won't boot into Linux, which is already installed on the mSATA drive. I wanted to see if you had this problem and any work around you might have.

[@Realswagoverlord]

What is the battery life on these?

[@you-5-iver804]

How good is it for playing games made before 2014?

[@mabimabi2952]

I have one and I play ganshin (which is a generally a pretty heavy game) on it, it's really good, I doesn't heat up much at all, really fast. I quite like it.

[@kocampo86]

Got mine for $100 near new with FHD and I7

[@Jae_972]

what wireless card does yours have? mine is a RTL8188CE and from what i can tell no bluetooth.

[@unbekannter_Nutzer]

Output from inxi -F Network: Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network driver: e1000e IF: enp0s25 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: ca:fe:ca:fe:ca:fe Device-2: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak] driver: iwlwifi IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: f0:00:ba:7f:00:ba IF-ID-1: wwan0 state: down mac: ee:ff:aa:bb:cc:dd BT: Device-1: Broadcom BCM20702 Bluetooth 4.0 [ThinkPad] type: USB driver: btusb It's a quad-core t530 with i7-3610QM Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 24292UG v: ThinkPad T530

[@mikestanley9176]

I tried to replace the battery with an aftermarket battery and I kept getting an error message saying this is not an official Lenovo battery. Is there a workaround for the battery whitelist?

[@tanha8178]

If you still have the original battery, bring it too a repair shop and switch the cells from the OEM battery to the original's package

[@marekkowalski3814]

Can you install 32GB of RAM in this laptop?

[@adiabriganjarutama6144]

No, max is 16GB ( 2x8gb dimm ) ddr3l pc12800 1600mhz.

[@marekkowalski3814]

@@adiabriganjarutama6144 Hi, Can 2.5 inch ATA drives be installed in this laptop?

[@unbekannter_Nutzer]

@@adiabriganjarutama6144 Afaik, it can, in the quad-core version.

[@rizalpambudi]

Found one just for 100$ or less. The performance i think were decent but i still wondering the weight

[@MikeDancy]

it's a beast but that's a good price

[@bendermi]

Is this the most rugged thinkpad ? I’ve bought mine two years ago and I’m considering buying another but are they all rugged when I’m not using it it’s in my back pack and I don’t want any keyboard marks on the screen.

[@MikeDancy]

I wouldn’t call it rugged. Not compared to the Dells. But it’s pretty tough. You can always slide a layer of thin card stock between the keyboard and screen

[@bendermi]

@@MikeDancy Tough was the word I was looking for. No need for a card to protect the screen on this model it has been tested hard and no problem at all , are all models with an optical drive this stable ?

[@bendermi]

@@MikeDancy The retailer had already equipped it with an ssd and added another 8 Ram on my request. Is it worth it running it with windows I’m using it for streaming browsing and iTunes.

[@puppy_BYTE]

nice review plan to get w530, how is this different than t530?

[@MikeDancy]

the W usually has a different GPU then the T. That's it really.

[@adiabriganjarutama6144]

Different GPU, T530 use Nvidia NVS 5400. W530 use Nvidia Quadro K1000 or K2000M Different ram slots, T530 have two, max 16gb. W530 have four slots, max 32gb. T530 commonly comes with dualcore i3, i5 or i7. W530 comes with quadcore i7 and bigger power brick. The other things is pretty much exactly same.

[@adiabriganjarutama6144]

The T530 only can recognize max 16GB ram because its only have two slots. Intel core i gen 2-3-4 have the limitation to only could recognize 8GB Dimm per slot. The other brother, W530 can be upgraded max to 32GB because it have four slots. Im using both device with maxed specs since 2015 and never had any issues so far, best investment ive made !!

[@joshuamiller2627]

So no HDMI what bout a dvd drive

[@chechita4718]

Cuál es mejor esa o el G475 de lenovo

[@MikeDancy]

The Lenovo T430s or the T530 or x230 is better than the lenovo G475

[@TF-nq2zx]

HOW CAN I ENTER BIOS ON THIS T530? Pleaseeeeeeee

[@unbekannter_Nutzer]

Did you notice the think-vantage-button? Hit it, while powering up.

[@Coliflower185]

Spam F1

[@tanha8178]

Got to tell you guys this: I have just bought a T530 for $140 (yeah, ThinkPad are expensive in my local; T420: $160 to $200, T440p $300, T570 $350; P50 $700, X1 gen 4 $400, X1 gen 5 $450) The condition are suboptimal: the previous owner use it nonstop since 2016, for all kind of job, but not squeeze the CPU performance, jobs like 24/7 at the cashier, at home for watching the stock market) But it work good, no, great! The CPU core i5-3210m (@2.5GHz 2x2=4 logical cores) are powerful, my T420 can't run windows 10, but this one run smoothly. And as someone who use W540 and P50, this one is smooth! The screen is the low cheap HD just like on all old base ThinkPad laptop, but this 15 inch screen, despite the screen's on-time is a lot as it's previous owner said, and caused it to have sign of deuteriation, still very bright and good for the eyes than the 14 inch on the T420. The keyboard are still working just fine, although the T530 was among the firsts x30 seri to got the chicklet keyboard, and back then this keyboard was rate rather low. The cons are still there: the key need much pressure to type, it bounces hard; but how when the wave for old ThinkPad getting stronger and stronger, the cons are not as much as 2012 when it released. In comparison, the P50 keyboard are much more subtle. The machine is bulky, but I carry it around with my P50. so it's not that bad. And it's tough! One thing that the structure of the T530 is better than the T420/T430, T540P and W540 and P50/P51/P52 is that it had separated plastic cover for the 2.5inch hard disk (and ram slot). + 2 separated covers mean you can just open ONLY ONE OF the cover when you need to swap the SSD (to another SSD or HDD), this mean when you have one drive for windows 7 and one drive for window 10 but you don't want to put it in the caddy bay (and that me, putting 2 separated OS on 2 separated drive simultaneously on one laptop sometime bring me trouble) + as the 2.5 inch is under and in the roll case, so it is safe + The DVD drive which could be replaced with a 12.7mm caddy bay (like the T420 and other old ThinkPad). I bought cheap a caddy bay for $3.5 and it work just fine! Compare to other machines: - T420/T430: the 2.5 inch is located to the corner and cover with one small piece of plastic; my t420 dropped and the cover can't stick to the case anymore! - T540p/W540: the touchpad is shit, the 2.5inch is on the bottom like the T530 but the cover is big and also cover the ram; good enough for most ThinkPad user, but I don't want to touch the ram when I just want to quickly swap the OS drive. - T440p/p50-p51-p52: one huge plastic cover the ram and the hard drive slot. - other 12 inch X series: one single bottom, good for moving around, suboptimal for those who want to quickly access to the slots inside.

[@MikeDancy]

That is a good review :) thank you for that.

[@tanha8178]

@@MikeDancy no, this video of your is a good review, personally, by far this is the most interesting review to me about a Thinkpad. Not the most technical or most insight, but for people who first into Thinkpad and who had used it for a while, this video captured most important points about this brand

[@abdulrahmanabdulmabud2895]

Best for gaming too

[@Niklaus08]

What do I need to change in that laptop so I can use it for gaming?

[@vlcglavni6608]

This was the 1st chicklet keyboard downgrade generation. The 7 row ones BEFORE it were much better.

[@MikeDancy]

You mean the t420 or t520 style? I have an x220 I think and I do like those keyboards. But the t61 is my all time favourite

[@vlcglavni6608]

@@MikeDancy Yes, those are much better IMHO, and older laptops had generally more sturdier construction which affected how you percieve the keyboard. Then you had the more subtle nuances between the different models of keyboard OEMs that Lenovo used (NMB, Chicony, ALPS) within a single laptop model, so its really a big quest to find the subjectivelly best one.

[@The_Empire_Chronicles]

My t61 lasted 10 years of nonstop almost 24/7 rough heavy duty work. It was the best keyboard ever. I’m thinking of getting the t530 in your video. Worried that it’s only 3rd generation. And is the keyboard better on the 4 series? I’m a writer so excellent keyboard and matte screen are most important to me. Correction, the one I had was t500. I think I has a t61 for a while that got stolen.

[@TheDdm1234]

not m2, msata2

[@gsxr600rafii]

Can you install windows xp on it?

[@MikeDancy]

I don’t see why not. But you’ll need updated drivers for some things which may be challenging to find.

[@Tweetycher]

Yes, but you need an XP version with SATA drivers slipstreamed in it. Because XP doesn’t recognize SATA out of the box. I just installed XP on one for fun and testing but didn’t really use it intens, so I don’t know if it is very stable. But it did install :)

[@aguirrejose2411]

Buen día. Hace ud envíos a Perú.? Gracias por su respuesta.

[@metaldragonbraveheart]

Just wish mine had Bluetooth .

[@MikeDancy]

You can add a USB Bluetooth device. Super cheap on Amazon.

[@metaldragonbraveheart]

@@MikeDancy But it has bluetooth in bios and fn f5 key just no internal card

[@mrbardel4363]

T530 is the best after T550

[@MrAuber7]

Volume is rather soft.

[@mabimabi2952]

yeah I find myself going for my earphones a lot with it, but honestly pretty great for the price

[@iraplaum4749]

Show me the dvd drive of it just open and close it

[@-L5225]

The speakers are bad.

[@ColinAverill]

SQUIRRELLY DAN!

[@MikeDancy]

Whens onlys the bestests wills do

[@lexemulonga2664]

Too old fashioned looking. Like made in the 90s

[@MikeDancy]

Like a Porsche. They haven’t changed their design since the 60’s

[@leplane_]

Have you seen the latest Thinkpad workstation models? They're still bulky and might have more modern edges, but still look oldish. To me these look classy and business like.