Got my X201 today!

As promised, I'll share some photos and impressions of my very first Thinkpad, X201.

The specs are:

WiFi card: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (since I wasn't getting a webcam, I figured I may as well get this one)
Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Intel Core i5-560M
6 Cell battery
Bluetooth
320GB HDD 7200rpm
2GB RAM

So far I'm quite happy that I bought the Thinkpad X201. The keyboard is pretty good and I'm loving the trackpoint. Since I've been using a 15" HP notebook these past few years, it's quite a difference with the 12.1" but I'm quickly getting use to it. I'm still fresh with excitement though, so give it a few days and I'll have a better description Oh, one thing I love is how QUIET this notebook is! My HP one would fire up without reason and overheat within a few minutes. This little beast is barely hot and makes so little noise!

Standard box


Standard packaging


6-cell battery. I haven't tried using it on its own to see how long it would last, but I'll do that tomorrow






I do have one minor issue. The upper right corner of the keyboard does flex when you push down on it somewhat slightly and there's a slight opening on that side too:


Should I try to super glue that small opening?
As for the flex, I'm thinking of doing what this person did to their T510 keyboard
YouTube - T510 Review Part 2 - Flexy keyboard fix & take a look inside.

Finally, I tried creating a Recovery Disk, and I really don't know what I did, but that partitioned drive that you get 'Lenovo Recovery' well now when I click on it I'm told that the folder is empty, where as before I tried creating the recovery disk, I'd get the option to do so. Anyone know how I can 'get it back'?

Thanks.

 

well to get a recovery discs click start and type recovery. It will give you the ThinkVantage thing to create recovery discs.

Simple as that huh? Anyways, enjoy the x201, i wanna get one for my GF but she gotta do some earning first. LOL

 

Congratulations! Beautiful thing

 

^^Thanks!

Ah of course I noticed there were other options, but didn't think about this one, thanks.

 

keyboard still flexes post-t400 on a x201 no less??

 

Congrats! That's a nice machine. Also, you may want to consider taking out the keyboard and resetting it?

 

Man, now this is weird, X201 is smaller than T410 yet with the same CPU it stays silent while T410 is really loud
I supposed it has something to do with X201 having the same chassic as X200 had and thus bigger heatsink and fan?

 

Is your T410 that loud that you noticed? Very interesting!!! But you do have the discrete graphics model - don't you? I can't hear the R400 at all (with IGP, of course)!!! I am liking the x201 more and more as the date for my purchase comes up.

 

Congratulations and welcome to the ThinkPad Club! Any upgrades you plan on doing with your X201 like more ram or SSD? Have any accessories for your new ThinkPad?

Also what is that plug-looking thing on the top left?

 

Isn't that the UK or AU plug or something? Germany has a nother type as well compared to North America.

 

That was my guess. A foreign (to the US) plug. lol

 

I got the same Uk type of plug from Lenovo.
They sent me correct one after I informed them about it.

Mine is with integrated graphics and BIOS wants it to stay at all times around 35 degrees for CPU and 40-41 for graphics, thus fan runs constantly at 3500rpms which produces high pitched noise which is very annoying.

I tested my R400 and it hasnt reached temp's as high as T410 has (5-8 degrees difference) and while difference isnt that big fans are different - if I force fan to run at 3500rpms on R400 it will produce noticable low frequency noise, tolerable due to nature of noise running into low frequenies.
While fan on T410 at the same rpm's produces high pitched noise which is annoying and distracting like a hairdryer.

 

I believe that is the australian/newzealand/chinese plug.

 

From your standard packaging picture, your adapter plug is different from usa adapter. i just wonder why it is different. lol

Besides, I have some friend picture to show your the right corner of X201. it is quite not close. but my friend called to lenovo but they said it is normally but if you don't convenience about it, you should bright it to lenovo center but they won't send on site guy to check for you because it is a little proble m. Then I won't ask my friend again. for me, I think it is okay.

 

Don't. Hopefully, after you pad the gaps underneath the keyboard and reseat the keyboard properly (be gentle!), that "slight opening" will disappear.

(1) The flexes are caused by small gaps between the back of the keyboard and the protective material underneath. Such a gap creates a "spring effect" every time one presses on it. The flex spots vary. In my case, for example, there was one spot which was near the arrow keys, or at the bottom right of the keyboard. That YouTube video is good: I followed it to "fix" the flex spot on my X201 by padding away the gap. In general, the "fit and finish" is not good enough.

(2) The X201 keyboard has a strong "classic" feel. I can't say for the T400 (as I don't own one), but the keyboards on the T410/s and T510 are a step backward. I like the X201 chiefly for the keyboard and the long battery life (whole-day mobility with the nine-cell and with normal settings).

 

I cant believe they still let the keyboards have flex after that t400 pr disaster and i think one of the original reason for all this post-ibm thinkpad resentment about quality.

Just design in a few more screw holes to secure the keyboard instead of just one in the center and it may make sure the entire keyboard is generally stiff even with the material saving feature

 

^^^ I hear ya. But, but, the extra screws will add weight and cost, you know?

Lenovo planning director's spreadsheet: trackpoint caps - subtract; screws - subtract; palmrest thickness - subtract; display quality - subtract.

 

Sure it will cost more, but maybe they can redesign around or maybe utilize the other screws that are already there for which they generally have for securing only the case, into securing the keyboard also instead of just using the one.

Plus they might wana do some cost analysis of the potential for bad PR on their sales or future sales from destroyed customer loyalty from taking a risk on making low quality controlled products too and convey this back to the engineers to make a more solid design.

I have a cheap 200 dollar netbook and it has no flex at all. Surely this is doable.

 

You certainly knew I was not justifying Lenovo's insanity.

 

Congrats. It's the best ultraportable on the market.

 

I'll definitely try this, along with what the person did in that youtube video!

There's only a very slight humming noise, which I can't hear most of the time. But it's a nice change from my old HP that would so noisy and overheated so easily.

Will definitely add in an extra 2GB RAM in the coming months (when I can afford it), as for SSD, when the prices go down I'll look into it too. No accessories though, asides from a mouse, which I'm trying not to use because I'd like to get accustomed to the trackpoint. Last time I used a trackpoint was 7 years ago on my friends IBM

As others have said it's the Australian power plug.

Thanks for that. Good to see that it seems to be a 'standard' thing and it's not only mine.

I'll definitely have a look into it this weekend.
It's not 'that bad', I guess I could live with it, but still if it can be fixed, then I'll give it a go

Thanks everyone. Btw, after having charged the battery all day yesterday and then unplugging it, I was told that I had around 6 hours of battery life, so that's good to know

 

6 hours should be quite standard for the 6 cell battery. If you really dim the display down and use it very lightly (just some web page or ebook reading, maybe note taking) you could probably push it to around 8 hours. At least that's what my x201i does on a 6 cell.

If you think the X201 is silent now, wait till you try it with an SSD. I swapped the HDD to an SSD in my X201i just last week. It is just amazing how silent it is now. If the room is quiet, the only noise is the CPU whine / buzzing, otherwise, it is just complete silence. Amazing.

It is also amusing how accustomed I grew to the noise/sound of HDDs: when the HD led on the X201i flashes, I can "almost" hear the HDD clicking, although the SSD is of course completely silent.

A word of advice (that others have said before): Beware: SSDs are addictive. My work notebook - although I thought was fast - seems like a snail now.

 

^^Thanks!

 

Yeah, the humming sound you hear is probably HDD, try to put your ear to HDD and see whether its the one that makes noise.
Been the case on both my R400 and T410, its the HDD that makes the most noise, except for T410 ofcourse, which has its fan spinning all the time
While on R400 HDD is the only noise Ive heard so far.

 

I think that can vary some from machine to machine. My X200 was pretty quiet in low power mode, but if you set the power profile higher, the fan got more use. I have heard from others that their machine were quiet regardless of the power profile. That's one of the reasons I like my X200t better. The LV CPU produces less noise.

I'd agree about the SSD. The X series shields very little noise. Hard drives that were quiet in my R60 seemed noisy in the X200. It's a much more tangible benefit to me than supposed performance increases.

 

Congrats on your new ThinkPad.

I've had my X201 for about 3 months now - do you notice pretty significant vibrations from the hard drive on your unit? Mine isn't loud, but even after reseating, the drive just vibrates so damn much!

Done any full runs of the 6 battery yet? I'm curious to see how the 6 cell scales.

 

Passa - it's vibrating beacuse it's 7200rpm.
No such thing with any 5400rpm or ssd

 

If you have flex you need to return it noting KB flex! Maybe they will buy a clue and implement better QC.

The only reason to buy these ugly machines is build quality and KB if they are slipping on that don't let them get away with it. And yeah trackpoint is awesome it's the only reason I use x201 over a toughbook.

Yup. DL and install this TPFanControl by troubadix + SSD you'll never hear a x201

 

zebo - I don't think that with X201 fan you would need any fan control software. My X200s is dead silent even with fan on the 1st gear.
SSD is a must in order to get silent thinkpad

 

The X200s use LV and ULV CPUs, which run cooler. My X200 could get noisy above low power mode.

 

Speak for yourself. I think a Thinkpad is understated beauty - no gloss, no glitter, no designs on the lid. Just how I like it. Any color, as long as it's Matte Black.

 

^^Precisely

I haven't noticed any such vibrations actually. If my room is quiet, I can sometimes hear the HDD (and the fan), but it's just a smooth type of noise.
No full runs with the 6cell battery though. Whenever I unplug it, it usually says 6 hours remaining, but as soon as I start web browsing or opening documents, it goes down rather quickly.

 

thinkpads still offer the best driver & bios compatibility of all the laptop brands and that's a major reason why i still prefer them over hp, etc.

my x201 has a 7200rpm 500gb drive and hardly any noise or vibration.

ugly?! i think the thinkpads are some nicest looking laptops out there and the x201 is sleek and elegant. sure, a toughbook is more durable but i've yet to have a thinkpad that fell apart on me, and the toughbook ain't nearly as nice-looking, costs a heckuva lot more, and is slightly slower too.

both companies cater to their niche markets and they do it well. let's leave it at that.

 

You are lucky ...I ordered my x201 on dec 26, 2010 and received it on Jan 12...it came DOA...and Lenovo agree to replace it. And up to this date it haven't left China yet so I cancelled it and bought a MBA got it 2 days after it was ordered...

 

lenovo makes a lot of laptops and i'd hazard a guess that the vast majority of them are problem free.

my second x201 arrived today (overall, my third lenovo thinkpad in the last 8 months) and it's as problem-free as my other two. (and before that, i've used thinkpads for almost 12 years now.) i initially ordered it on 1/31 but there was some questions about the ship-to address (which is on record with my CC company) and once i confirmed it with customer service on 2/2, i got the laptop in my hands 8 days later.

so i'd say that you were *unlucky* if you got a DOA and that's a shame. arguably, the bigger shame is that you didn't stick to your guns and gotten a x201 and settled instead for a MBA, which is a decent enough laptop but not nearly as good as the x201.

 

haha...i did stick with Lenovo and trying to get a x201. but after waiting for about 1 month without a computer I couldn't wait no more. My second x201 was in production and was waiting for some backordered parts ...as of Feb 10 it didn't leave China yet....(the second lenovo was ordered on Jan 14. i can't wait that long. anyway...it wasnt my "smoothest" order with Lenovo...had pretty bad customer service....perhaps I will reconsider Lenovo 4 years down the road. So far the MBA is a pretty sweet machine running win 7

 

it's inexcusable that you should have been kept waiting that long for the replacement. did you try esclating up the support chain at the time?

the inability to swap out the MBA battery with a a fully charged one (to get extended battery runtimes) is one of the limitations that i have with that laptop.

 

Congratulations and welcome to the ThinkPad family!

If the keyboard really bothers you I would try to reseat it, DON'T glue it down.

 

it got escalated up the only thing they would do is offer me a 75$ rebate for all my issues... i have can you live for more than 1 month without a laptop...anyway i'm glad i didn't wait because that laptop is still in manufacturing...(i still have it on order but will mostlikely not accept the shipment)