Battery life, heat, noise and more on X201t

So I am looking for some more in depth (perhaps first hand) info on how the i7-620 LM -25watt- compares to the i5-560 M -35 watt- in terms of battery life, heat production, battery charge times during use, actual usability (ie: if you can't run the i5 too hard because it will burn your lap, stuff like that)

I know the i5 is standard voltage (considerably more powerful, especially in terms of graphics) than the low voltage i7. But the i7 is supposed to be pretty powerful on its own accord (especially compared to the SL9400). any conformation on how these chips run under normal use, and how they do on higher use situations?


I am looking to get a X201t as my main computer as I travel around for the next few years, and possibly longer if it will last. I want to get the X201t because it should have a better chance of maintaining usability over the years (as opposed to the X200t) and it should be capable of even the more high demanding things I do (mostly 2d Autocad work, medium-heavy Photoshoping, some web design perhaps, and whatever I pick up over my time with it)



Also I was wondering if anyone found some good expresscard accessories (I found a few expresscard "SSD", but I doubt they perform that well) anything out there that is good?

 

It's been my experience most of the things people do with their notebook like Office, Media, Internet, etc., just don't really push the CPU enough to where you'd notice a difference. Sure you're going to do some PS, but how often? I had a X200 with a regular C2D, but I prefer my tablet. I prefer the LV just cause most of the time it's more than enough and the few times I would need more juice aren't enough at least for to live with the extra fan noise that accompanied the standard voltage CPU. It's a livability issue. It's also not like the LV won't work. It'll be just a bit slower. That's all my opinion of course.

 

Thanks for the response!

I already know the X200 could probably do most all I will want it to do; but I would like a newer computer, with a full 3year warranty (as I plan to use it for as long as possible... I know I can purchase more of a warranty for a used/ refurbished X200t, but then it pushes the X200t over the price of the X201t). I do not think I can really push any computer I get at this time, but I will be using it for some time to come, so that extra performance of the i series will eventually help it age better IMO


I was looking for user's impressions on how the i7 LV compares to the i5 M, how much worse for battery life the i5 really is, how much hotter it runs, how noisy the fan is, ect... (I guess they would perform the same in the X201 as the X201t, maybe I should have changed the thread title "i5-560M vs. i7-620LV in X201 and X201t: battery, heat,and noise comparison")

I have read that the i7 LV performs significantly better than the SL9400, but still maintains a battery life that is close to the SL9400 (on the i7, HT and some other features can be disabled to make it even more power conserving, if need be. but I would like some user's opinions on the accuracy of that) But since the i5 M is so new there is really very little info on it, hence why I'm asking about it, especially about first hand experience with it.

Also I think it should have better resale value as a "i7/ i5 machine" rather than a Core 2 Duo one with a processor that came out in 2008 (the i5-560M came out in Sept 2010, and the i7 in April [I think]).


I've been leaning towards the i7 LV most of the time, but if the i5 M can offer better performance at times without sacrificing acceptable operation (compared to the i7), then it would be in the running still. Again, as there is little info out there on the actual performance, and usability of it, I am trying to see if any X201 or X201t users have some info on the i5 M.


PS:I started the first post here including a comparison to the X200t and the SL9400, but it got too hard to follow where I was going with the questions, so I decided to leave it simple (i5 M vs. i7 LV), but yes the X200t is a option I'm still considering, just not too seriously

 

I just got my x201t last week and it's got the i7 620lm processor in it w/ 8 cell batt. Without really tweaking the power settings much from stock I can reliably get 5.5 hours out of it before the battery gets down to around 28%. (I've done this 3 times since I got it btw) This is with browsing the web a lot in tablet mode w/ the screen brightness at 7 while on a strict to balanced profile. I can probably squeeze 6+ hours out of this beast if I get real strict on the power settings but I don't see a need to.

As for heat I find this gets fairly toasty where the cpu heatsink is when in tablet mode even with the cpu power setting at lowest. Though when it's in laptop mode there's no real hotspots at all it's quite cool all around even with the cpu at maximum performance.

I'm not sure if any of this answers your question in anyway but hopefully it helps.

P.S. I never knew that the x201t could be had with an i5 m processor... I thought it was an i5 um processor with the x201t.

 

That is the kind of info I'm looking for, Thanks!

I'm glad the i7 is pretty acceptable with battery life and heat (performance is a given) It is my "backup plan" to get one of those if I either: can't get my hands on a i5 M, or if it turns out to suck (or if I decide to avoid the i5 M altogether)



The i5 UM is a really common processor for the X201t, and it is kinda weak-sauce in performance and efficiency.

No, Lenovo has never offered the CTO with i5 M. The i5-560M is only gotten through one of Lenovo's "Top Seller" programs on the web (or from ebay). The processor came out in Sept. as well as the variant of the X201t. Unfortunately whoever actually bought them are keeping quiet about how it handles (making it hard on me to make a decision, lol) It is in Lenovo's PSREF PDF
Once I sell my HP Tm2 I think I will try a i5-560M just for the hell of it to see how it performs (The seller I'm looking at has a 30 day money back return policy) but it would be nice to hear from some others here before doing so

 

Honestly, I think you're making this way harder than it has to be.

 

Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Keep in mind that these are mostly synthetic benchmarks, some are relative to normal usage, and some not.

 

Hmm, surprisingly to see that they squeezed full size mobile cpu into tablet given that Core series are supposedly hotter than Core2Duo.
Could that be typo?

 

Heh yeah. Unless he plans to use it for 3D gaming with DIY dock, who cares? I'd get whatever has the highest battery life. Also the numbers quoted in the first post (25W and 35W) are, I believe, maximum amounts of power that a CPU can use. You can't just conclude 35W will always waste more energy. Maybe it uses more when under heavy load, but less under light load?

 

Re: Think Pad Tablet i5 cooling management fail!!! - Lenovo Community

Maybe this is the reason why lenovo stop making x201t with i5 560m.