Just rebuild x301 instead?

I'm somewhat frustrated with the recent Lenovo offerings. Between the T420s, X220, and the X1, nothing is really hitting the sweet spot like the venerable x301.

So, my question is, to what extent could my x301 be rebuilt to maximize performance. Upgrade to 8gbs ram (and 64-bit windows 7), faster SSD than the one it originally shipped with. Anything else that I can do? I'm not trying to save money at all. I would seriously spend 2K on this thing if it made it super fast. I just can't get past all the silly trade offs with the newest line.

What is the best SSD that will fit?

Is there any way to get the latest faster boot software that Lenovo is using installed on this thing?

 

I do like the idea, sort of a X320: 13" 1440x900 IPS screen, i5-2537M, 8GB, Sata3 SSD, USB3 and 6/9 cell battery option. Would be the ultimate notebook..

Doing yourself however would be a challenge, apart from upgrading RAM and SSD there is not much you can do..

 

What is the T420s missing? It seems to give everything you want except battery, but with decent power management I'm getting many hours of battery life from the regular T420s battery. (Can also add the ultrabay battery if you think you need it).

But otherwise T420s has 1600x900, fast efficient Sandy bridge, SATA3 and USB3 etc.

 

I went to a t410s (after doing all the upgardes possible for speed) ... I dont miss my x301 much but still sometimes when my wife uses the x301 I remember how much lighter it felt. ...
but the T series is not as thin, and it doesnt feel as refined...
The x1 would be perfect if it wasnt for a glossy screen, that was just an idiotic move.

 

I still LOVE my X301.

True, the screen on it isn't the best, but the materials used are TOP quality (I LOVE that rubberized feel of the keyboard, the palm rests feels just like the lid, etc.). You could tell that much time was spent developing this machine.

I will NEVER sell my X301. It will remain a classic to me forever

 

thats probably why the second hand prices are still so high. i really wanted to get one but too expensive even second hand

although a few showed up in the outlet recently for about $800- but i had already bought my X201

 

@afhstingray -

Yup, that was the only drawback of getting my X301. I bought it when it was brand new (and the prices high). I bought mine for a tad over $2200USD direct from the Lenovo website (back when thier website was easy to navigate, and didn't take a degree in CAD / computer engineering to figure out how to use it). This was long before Lenovo started to offer heavy discounts on them to get rid of them from the warehouses.

BUT, while super expensive, I look at it this way -

1. Not so long ago a common T series thinkpad from the T4x days were well over $3,000USD
2. You get what you pay for
3. I knew I was going to keep this machine for a LONG time
4. I knew Lenovo wasn't going to come out with a 13" replacement form factor for awhile (turns out the X1 is thier answer now though)
5. I LOVED the X301 from day one that it was announced, and I "had to have one'

That's about it

All in all, I am a very happy X301 owner. One of the best Thinkpads ever made IMO.

 

Yeah...this would also be very close to my ideal 13" ThinkPad...of course, the weight would have to be closer to the X series machines. But it ain't happening unless the second issue (if that happens at all) of the X1 comes with these benefits.

 

while i agree with you, im quite sure the processor will start running out of breath in a year or two. as a secondary machine to travel with its perfect, but i think if its ur only computer, unless your requirements are quite low, it wont suffice.

hopefully with the current trend towards slimmer options we get a better selection of premium slim notebooks soon

 

I have a x300 and a x220. admittedly I didn't buy the x220 to replace my x300 but my x61. I'm a Security Penetration consultant so basically all thats on my lappies are my tools. The rest like Outlook, my client DB etc is in racks at Level 3. I access that via vpn and RDP so if someone walks by and snags my laptop while I'm at a client there's basically nothing there but an empty shell. The other bonus of this is all the work I that's CPU related is offloaded to the data-center servers. What that means is my X300 can pretty much last another 3 or 4 more years as long as there isn't any hardware failures.

So there's nothing that says you can't do what I'm doing but on a smaller scale with a regular desktop and RDP with you home connection and your X301.

I started a thread couple days ago about the x61 and x220 weighing the same. The primer of the thread was just basically stating that one would have thought by now the x220 would have atleast weighed even 1/4 less. Instead I got blasted for even asking the question and the thread tanked into build quality and the x220 is so much better than the x61. The reason I bring this up is if you look around here you see all these threads popping up with issues about x220 and I got to be honest it does have its issues. Way more than when the x61 was released.

The build quality of the x300/301 is better than anything Lenovo has to offer these days just no one wants to admit it except those of us that actually own one. If I say the screen on my x300 is just a good as my IPS screen on my x220 "which it is" I know someone in here will say I'm insane This is how threads go, people want to believe so hard that their 8 or 900 dollar x220 is worth or even can be compared to a 2 or 3 grand polished x300/301 is just laughable. Oh and I did spend 2k on my x220 since there were no deals when i got mine. But the attention to detail on the x300/301 is just massive so keep it as long you can. I doubt you will find a replacement for it anytime soon. As far as upgrades go differently do the 8 gigs/ win7 64bit and get a 256gig Crucial SSD drive. Its what I did on my x300 and its sick fast. Well minus the 8gigs. I'm still looking for that since its ddr2 on mine and to find.

ym

 

the reason why that other thread had a lot to say about build quality is because weight and build quality are closely linked. maybe someone who has experience with materials science can chip in with how much weight can be shaved off by using more exotic materials.

due to its high price point, the X300 series sold a lot less than the x220 has. its hard to prove factually that the failure/defect rate is lower since the total "population" is lower.

 

that is so but that was x61 vs x220 not x300/301 that would have been no comparison.
the only complaients that I can remember on the x300/301 line was heat. if you had it in you lap and on full power the thing got hot. it wasn't until Lenovo released the SU9600 or 9400 I can not remember which that ran cooler than its brothers. the x61 biggest issue was heat and CPU whine. which wasn't even lenvoos faltered but Intel. all core2duo chipsets whine like that you just have to play with the power manager to make it go away. with the release of the x220 we are seeing a fare amount of issues that we normally don't see on x series release. the x series was suppose to be the top of the line bad boy. Built with extra care and I expected it to be atleast as good as the laptop its replacing.

ym

 

T420s is a pretty decent machine, all that it's missing is 8+ hours battery life and a quality screen. Apart from that, given the choice i would still prefer 16:10 over 16:9 anytime

 

wouldn't a T410s be the way to go then?

 

^^^ Yes, you get 16:10 with T410s, but the rest is not as efficient compared to T420s. (Not that I would want to own a T420s. )

 

exactly. but at least its 16:10. I didn't expect to miss that inch on my x220 but you know I really do. even if they made it with higher Res wouldn't help atleast not to me. its just something I have to live with.