Is there Anything Better than a Lenovo X230?

Looking for a used powerful enough laptop which is portable and gets good battery life in budget of around £150-£250
So far I'm looking at lenovo X230 which is quite decent built.
the good things I like about it
-hopefully solid build quality
- small weight/size yet still good battery life
- good cpu (i5 3320M)
- Can put in a 3G Module
- Can Easily upgrade the ram/ssd for it
-Intel hd4000 graphics

What I don't like about is the ridiculous resolution of 1366 x 768 , seriously ?

Is there any other laptop in about the same price that would be similar to this or better? Don't want any crap HP or toshiba tho.

 

I think it's hard to beat if you're looking for a portable workstation sort of solution. I have mine configured w/ I5-3320 @ 16GB RAM, Ultrabase 3, and it's a little beast. I have it driving 2 external monitor, so the low-res screen isn't a deal breaker for me-and to be honest, with a 12" screen the low res screen isn't that bad. The IPS screen is actually quite good for the occasional video watching, but it's mostly a work laptop and it does great. Lenovo really don't have anything that compares to it currently. Great little machine!

 

Was specially looking to run it with 2 external monitors as well, are you able to play any games with it?
also what is that ultrabase even for? I see it has an extra vga and display port ,does it means you can potenitaly run total of 4 external monitors when you have it?

 

Its main purpose is to quickly connect any displays and USB keyboards and mice by having them hooked up to the ultrabase. Then when you want to go you just undock and take your laptop with you, instead of having to disconnect every cable you have.

 

oh thanks
anyone knows how does the x230 compares to x220 ? They pretty much got the same CPU power, but I believe a weaker video card? I still might want to play and odd game on it very rarely , are they almost the same thing but one got weaker videocard and costs less?

 

I thought the main difference was that the X230 is newer, ivy bridge, and has the newer keyboard style. The X220 is sandy bridge.

 

Correct.

If OP has no attachment to "old-school" 7-row ThinkPad keyboard, then a X230 is a better option for them.

Also, only the i7 version of X220 was equipped with USB 3.0 while it's standard across the board on X230.

 

I don't do any gaming, so unfortunately I'm not help much there. I have one monitor running on the laptop mini DP and another on the Ultrabase DP, and that enables me to run 2 monitors plus the laptop screen. I believe that 3 screens is the max you can drive (3 external or 2 + the laptop screen).

As far as the X220 vs the X230, I've had both machines. I prefer the keyboard on the X230, which was the main driver for changing from the X220. I like the bigger key tops on the island style keyboard--I can type faster on it--and I like the backlighting Besides that the CPU/GPU difference isn't all that great, but if light gaming is an issue the newer one may be a slightly better option. I certainly didn't notice a difference in performance. If you prefer the 7 row layout, then the X220 would be pretty close in performance.

 

have never had a lenovo before so would never know how each feels.
Guess will just have to see what deals I can get, if I can get the x220 for 2x less price will take that.

btw Can you put in the 3G card in the x220 like in the x230?
And which one had beter battery life? the x220 or x230?

also Im planing to get 2 X 27' 4k 3840x2160 monitors soon to replace 2x23 ones, would the x230 or x220 be able to run them since I believe that would require much more processing power?

 

Do you really want to buy a nearly 4 year old model? Why not wait for the X250. It seems to tick all your boxes, unless you need > 8GB RAM.

If I am not mistaken, neither the X220 nor the X230 can power 3840x2160. I think machines with Display Port 1.2 could (e.g. X240/X250).

Edit: Seems 4K works on older machines @ 30 Hz. But not sure it it allows two monitors.

 

Whatever you end up getting, just make sure it has an IPS screen.

Yes.

Most likely the X230, although not by a huge margin.

No clue, so someone else will have to chime in on that one...

 

I sure would buy a x240 but theres one problem.
a New x240 is £1100 here , when a Used x230 is ~£200 here.
that's 5X more for a laptop which have about the same processing power.

 

The X240 are (from my point of view) entirely out of the question. The lack of physical buttons and the still high price makes it a no-go.

So the question is: X230 or X250?

You can expect the X250 to be priced a bit higher than current X240. The main benefit of the X250 is much better battery life (you'll get approximately the same CPU performance, but at half the wattage) and a better screen (Full HD option).

You might be able to pick up a brand new X230 from your local Lenovo Outlet for less than half the price of a new X250. If you go for a used one, the savings are even higher. Throw in an SSD and a bit more RAM and you'll be flying.

But as ajkula66 wrote: You must go for the IPS-option on X230 no matter what.

 

My X240 has lots of physical buttons.
(I know, of course, what you mean. But not everybody is as concerned with the Trackpoint buttons as people on this forum).

But the financial point is obviously a very good one. An X230 with IPS for £200-£300 would be excellent.

 

I have one 4K 27" and one 22" 1080P running. Yeah, the 4K has to run at 30hz, but again I'm not gaming with it so this isn't an issue for me. I think it will support two 4K monitors but you'll have to do some internetting to confirm, haven't tried that myself.

I never noticed a difference in battery live between the two, although the X230 is supposed to be slightly better. I will say that with the slice battery and the 9 cell battery combined, I get a legitimate >20 hours of battery life. I'll take it for a long weekend with no charger, which is pretty convenient.

Honestly, when you consider that this has the full voltage processor it's really hard to argue for the newer model, with the exception of the better GPU. The only advantage is long battery life with a smaller/lighter machine--but with the slice battery and 9 cell, the X240 still can't compare; factor in the cost and a 4 year old machine seems to make a lot of sense in this case... Also note that parts are readily available and cheap for these units, so keeping it running isn't expensive.

 

Nevermind.

 

Bumps!!!!!!!!!

 

What additional info are you looking for?