I'm finally upgrading from my good ol' X61t. Since I'm don't have any more courses to take in grad school, I'm going with non-tablet. Just put in an order for X230:

Intel Core i5-3360M
Premium HD Display
4 GB DDR3 (to be upgraded to 16GB once I get it)
Backlit KB
No FingerPrint Reader
720p Camera
500GB HDD, 7200rpm (possibly upgrade to 256GB SSD once I get it)
ThinkPad Series 3 UltraBase
9 Cell Battery (X44++)
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200 (2x2 BGN)
Office Home and Business 2010 (only because this made the purchase $50 CHEAPER [!!!])
3 yr warranty extension

Shipping estimate set at 6/11/2012. Will let you know if I have any problems.

Anyone else having issues with ship dates slipping. Mine was supposed to ship on 6/12 and it just keeps slipping. Not wht order status page says yesterday - but still no shipment.

I finally caved in and took the plunge for this new X230 instead of going for the X220. Here are my specs:

Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Display type 12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 3x3 Antenna
Total memory 8 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)
Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - US English
UltraNav without FingerPrint Reader
Hard drive 180GB Solid State Drive, SATA3
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN
Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC7700 - Gobi 4000 for AT&T LTE and HSPA+)
Microsoft Office Professional 2010
3Yr Priority Support Onsite Warranty

Currently the package is in Louisville, KY. UPS shows delivery for Thursday.

I'm really looking forward to this one! I've been a ThinkPad user since 1993 and love the brand.

Very nice machine, congrats!

Thanks wolfman! It's going through customs now, can't wait for it to get here

I just order mine this morning.. I just got the basic stuff, no ssd, i plan to drop in the crucial m4. Im getting rid of the x220, it came with samsung 128gb ssd. Gonna salvage the 16gb modules from the x220. So excited

Just shipped

Processor Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)

Operating system language Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 - English

Display type 12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 3x3 Antenna

System graphics Intel HD 4000 Graphics in Intel Core i7-3520M Processor

Total memory 4 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (1 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard Backlit - US English

Fingerprint reader UltrNav with FingerPrint Reader

Hard drive 320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

System expansion slots Cherry 54mm ExpressCard Smart Card Reader from Lenovo

Battery 4 Cell ThinkPad Battery X44

Power cord 65W AC Adapter - US (2pin)

Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN

Integrated mobile broadband Integrated Mobile Broadband (Sierra Wireless MC7700 - Gobi 4000 for AT&T LTE and HSPA+)

Selectable SIM SIM Card for AT&T LTE

Language pack Publication - US English



Just ordered a 7mm Crutial 512 SSD and Mini Dock Series 3. Will also be upgrading to 8gb ram.

Well I ordered mine through lapstars.de (it has university discounts):

Order date: 20.10.2012

Thinkpad X230 2325CN3


Processor:
Intel Core i5-3320m 2.6GHz-3.3GHz (Turbo Mode), 3MB L3

Memory: Upgraded to 16GB DDR3 PC1600 KINGSTON

Hard Drive: 500GB SATA 7mm 7200U. I have a Samsung 830 256Gb SSD, the 500Gb will go to an usb enclosure.

Display : 12.5 "TFT color display (matte) Premium HD LED (1366x768) (300 nits, 500:1 contrast ratio, IPS, wide view (170 ° viewing)) with integrated Camera (HD 720p) and Face Tracking

Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics 4000

Network / Communications: Intel 6205 a / g / n wireless (2x2) Bluetooth 4.0 Integrated Gigabit Ethernet Interfaces

Battery: 2x 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery (44 +) with up to 10.3 hours battery life (got one extra for 5eur)

Keyboard: Portuguese layout with backlight

Software: No operating system (I have acess to windows for free through MSDNAA)

Warranty: upgraded to 4-year on-site warranty service service

Extra ThinkPad 65W Ultraportable AC Adapter

It will arrive 02/11 =)

Well I ordered my custom X230 on 25/10, and it arrived on 2/11, 3 days ahead of the estimate, can't be bad!

Main Spec:
- Intel Core i7-3520M Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz) with Intel HD Graphics 4000
- 12.5 Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, Mobile Broadband Ready, 2x2 Antenna
- 4 GB DDR3 - 1600MHz (1 DIMM)
- ThinkPad Precision Backlit Keyboard UK English
- 720p HD Camera
- 500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
- ThinkPad UltraBase Series 3
- DVD Recordable
- ThinkPad Battery 44++ (9 cell)
- Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 (2x2 AGN)

I ordered 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD from Crucial today...once in I will rebuild with dual boot Win 7 Ultimate / Debian Linux (LMDE)

So far so good though, even with 4GB of RAM is moves along nicely, although I expect to see the 5.1 windows experience rating jump with considerably with the added RAM and SSD...

The only niggle I have is the battery fitting is a little lose (yes I have it in a locked position), the play is a little annoying to be honest

Just got my X230. Changed my mind from a fresh T430s.
The T was great, but I have a 14inch machine at work...the T430 felt a bit heavy on my lap. Even though cool and compact, definitely nicer than the non s normal T430, this X is just fabulous...just the right size, to use as supplement of old Dell Latitude at work, when I have to fly somewhere and take the laptop on board a plane.
Lovely display...size ideal on lap, feels just ok
- Even with its docking station on, its ok. In fact, the docking station (I am making factory recovery disks now) does a great job of insulating the heat and keeping me fertile for a bit longer.
- the keyboard: lot of fuss is made about it... in fact, with the T series, I did not like the new chiclet keyboard. However, with the X230, I think the new keyboard is better! I had an opportunity to try the X220. With the old style keyboard, I felt the keys were too close...basically, as the keyboard is smaller than the T4xx, for me the isolated island nature of the keyboard is a good thing. I have a lesser chance of hitting the wrong key. The key travel is great...deep , and at the last milisecond of travel there is a a fast onset of harder "strikeback" of the key. I have no issues with this keyboard any more.

- small issue, the dealer obfuscated about backlit keyboard, it is not backlit..it is lit from above with the small lamp. If I get crazy enough I will replace it..I often browse the web at night.

specs:
Now after pasting the specs, I see the dealer explicitly lied about the keyboard. It should be lit and is not. I dont know what to do, it was a great unpacked demo deal. The warranty three year in depot. NBD in some countries, dont know the status here in Prague.
processor
Processor / Manufacturer: Intel
Processor / frequency: 2.6 GHz
Processor / Passmark score: 4270
memory
Memory / Size: 4GB
Memory / Type: DDR3
Memory / number of free slots: 1
hard disk
Hard Disk / Size: 500GB
Hard disk / Interface: SATA
Hard disk / speed: 5400 r / min
display
Display / Size: 12.5 "
Display / Resolution: 1366x768 (WXGA)
Display / ratio: 16:9
Display / Type: Matte, LED backlight
Graphics card
Graphics Card / Type: Intel integrated
Graphics card / memory (shared): no
Graphics card / memory (shared): no
optical Drive
Optical Drive / Type: DVD-RW in UltraBase Dock docking station
operating System
Operating System / Type: Windows ® 7 Professional 64bit
interface
Interface / Wi-Fi: 802.11 b / g / n
Interfaces / BlueTooth: Yes
Interfaces / LAN: 10/100/1000
Interfaces / Infrared: No
Interface / modem: No
Interfaces / PCMCIA: No
Interfaces / Express Card: Yes
Interface / Docking port: Yes
Interfaces / WWAN: Option upgrade
Interfaces / Firewire: No
Interface / USB 2.0 (number of): 1
Interface / USB 2.0/eSATA: 0
Interface / USB 3.0 (number of): 2
Interfaces / VGA Output: Yes
Interface / HDMI: No
Interface / DVI: No
Interface / Display Port: Yes
Interface / serial: No
dimensions
Dimensions / depth (mm): 206.5
Dimensions / Width (mm): 305
Dimensions / Height (mm): 19.0 to 26.6
weight
W / notebook (kg): 1.4
battery
Battery / Battery Life (hours): 5
Battery / Number of Cells: 6
equipment
Equipment / color option: black
Features / control: Trackpoint + Touchpad
Equipment / fingerprint reader: Yes
Equipment / Integrated Card Reader: Yes
Equipment / Webcam: Yes
Equipment / lighting keypad: Yes
Equipment / Intel WiDi: Yes
Equipment / security chip: Yes
Equipment / waterproof keypad: Yes
Equipment / numeric keypad: No

You still got the ThinkLight even if you don't have the backlit keyboard.