Lenovo ThinkPad X120e review (via Engadget)

Hmm....well someone on slickdeals said that starting tomorrow orders with the No OS option will be able to be modified, so I guess if that's the case I'll just call and change it then. If not, then I'll probably just search for a compatible intel card and throw it in there.

 

I will call tomorrow and see if I could change my order to 3 cell and bluetooth, thanks for the information.

Look like they had a lot of order.

 

No problem. Hopefully it proves to be true.

Also, for some reason I ordered bluetooth with mine, but I have never once used a bluetooth device with a computer. Is there any reason I might be missing that I should keep it rather than trying to remove it?

 

I use it with my Razer Orochi gaming mouse. So it's worth it for me.

 

With this info, I'm happy I did not upgrade to a/b/g/n. It sounds like I can replace my x120e's b/g/n with and intel card and have better performance/reliability.

 

That is what I did with my x100e. Do the x120e come with Realtek wireless cards?

Just make sure you get a Lenovo Branded Intel card and that it's a mini PCI.

 

Not sure, but they are for sure not intel. How do you verify that its a Lenovo Branded Intel card thats mini PCI? Another user from slickdeals mentioned to be careful about buying fakes. Can I order one directly from Lenovo?

Are you seeing a performance difference? I'd like to get one that 2.4Ghz and 5.0 Ghz

 

You can. Many Ebay sellers of Lenovo branded WLAN cards. Lenovo might charge you an arm and a leg for an OEM part.

Only few are going to offer dual band, 6300, 6250, 6200.

 

I got mine from Ebay. Took about a month but it was what I ordered and all for $15.

Person I got mine from: Lenovo 512AN MMW 5100 Half Mini Pci-e WLAN Card 43Y6517 - eBay (item 250685473475 end time Mar-18-11 00:49:52 PDT)

 

I might order one tomorrow, since it will be a few weeks till the x120e shows up.

Did you find the drivers on lenovo's website or just connect to the internet through ethernet and let windows 7 find the drivers?

any thoughts on your installation/Performance experience?

I appreciate the help, sounds like a better solution.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I've read that there's the possibility of getting counterfeit cards if you buy on ebay. As far as you know, is the card you received a legitimate intel card?

 

I got my drivers from Lenovo, although Windows installed the right driver anyways. Really easy to install; Just pop the bottom off and take out the old one. No disassembly or anything of that nature. Speed seemed the same but wireless strength was greatly improved and the realtek would drop the signal all the time.(Not everyone experienced wireless problems with the Realtek, but a decent amount of people had problems.) For $15, it's a great investment IMO.

@ Waef: Yes, 100% legitimate.

 

Or $15.99 plus $5.99 s/h. It's an important thing to delineate because the upgrade direct from Lenovo (albeit it is not Intel) is only $20. It's a tough call. Maybe I will just see how the Realtek performs and if it is no good I have the $22 Intel parachute.

 

While still on the subject of wireless cards, are there any more powerful cards that should work besides the 5100/5300?

 

Is the x120e spill resistant?

Are the red and white available now too or just the black?

 

They are a bit spill resistant, I think I saw in the promo video. You should not depend on the claim, it probably just only a couple of ml since it does not have drain hole like the classic thinkpad.

 

Another review here

Lenovo ThinkPad X120e Review - ComputerShopper.com

its nice to see other opinions.

 

Those of you buying intel wifi cards for this laptop might discover something interesting I found when trying to use them on some desktops.

There is some other kind of whitelist (not in the bios) with the 5x and 6x series that usually only accepts intel northbridges/chipsets, and not even all of them.

 

Interesting ... have a link you can give to us with the whitelist?

 

Those of you who get it first (particularly people getting the base model with the single core) please write a review with pictures (and video too hopefully).

 

Heads up for canadians. It's available for sale on lenovo canada at a killer price.

0596CTO ThinkPad X120e - 1 Yr Depot Warranty Ships within 9 bus. days

Offering Model Transactional Model

Processor AMD Fusion Processor E-350 (1.6Ghz, 1MB L2, 1.0GHz FSB) 2.0GT/s

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Operating system language Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English

Display type 11.6" HD AntiGlare - WW C1

System graphics AMD E-350

Total memory 2 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 (1 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard - US English

Hard drive 250GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm

Battery 6 Cell Battery (5.0 hours); weight starting at 1.50kg

Power cord 65W AC Adapter - North America, Latin America (2pin)

Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n

Integrated mobile broadband Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable

Selectable SIM None

Language pack Publication - US English

Warranty 1 Year Depot/Express Warranty​

total was 449.00 before tax, free shipping.

IMHO, this is a better deal than the Vaio YB at futureshop (499$) or dm1 at best buy (599$) for canadians.

Hope the wifi is ubuntu friendly...

 

FYI, I'm hearing you need to upgrade to a/b/g/n for ubuntu. See the forum below.

Thinkpad X120e (new AMD platform) is available on Lenovo Website, $379 - Slickdeals.net

 

I wonder if that's an Intel card. *ponders*

 

It's a Broadcom card

 

Good enough. As long as it works with ubuntu I'm good to go. Perhaps I'll get one after all...

 

I called lenovo the other day because I contemplated upgrading the wireless card and I was told that both cards are realtek.

The b/g/n card should work with minimal effort under ubuntu.

Scott

 

I knew it was too good to be true. The default card is a Realtek 8188CE according to the driver package available and the upgraded card is a broadcom.

Thanks,
Scott

 

I'm assuming the wifi card is half height? Put in an Intel wifi card? lol

 

If the linux support for the Realtek is awful then I have a lenovo broadcom I can try from my S10 netbook.

Looking forward to my X120e order...It should compliment my W510 just nicely.

Scott

 

I'm looking at the driver page for the ThinkPad 1x1 11b/g/n Wireless default card, and see no mention of the Realtek 8188CE. Where are you seeing this?

I was making an assumption that it was a Realtek, but wasn't sure which one.

 

If it is the the Realtek 8192 or 8188 chipsets, I'm not worried because those can be built from source fairly easy. Broadcom has a proprietary driver that works well, and Ralink and Atheros ha reasonable support, although it requires more work.

I just extracted the driver file above and it seems to be for the 8188ce/8192ce. Good news is that it has win xp and win xp x64 inf files, which means ndis wrapper may work.

 

For those interested there is a $40 off coupon floating around. Made mine just a hair under $500 not including my Fatwallet cash back. Yes, I missed the no OS deal. For me $50 more than the DM1Z is worth it for a matte screen.

 

Wish I got in on the no-OS deal. I have a spare copy of Win 7 and it would have saved a lot of money. But I had no idea of the deal and was thinking I'll buy the Acer 522, so didn't even look for X120e deals until now.

 

ThinkPad X120e: 0596, 0611, and 0613

The wifi upgrade option is definitely this card:

60Y3251 - Broadcom Mini PCIe 802.11 a/b/g/n WLAN adapter

The default card is either of these, can't find anything about the chipset OEM:

60Y3247 or 60Y3249 - ThinkPad 1x1 b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter II

 

Just received an email stating my x120e has been shipped and i will receive tracking #/details on 3/4...which was the estimated shipping date! Yay!!

 

When did you order yours?

 

Ordered it Feb. 23rd.

 

Just shipped. Yay! So how long does the slow boat from China take.

 

It's a slow boat from North Carolina.

 

So why does it say UPS asia?

 

Cause the factory is in asia

 

Shanghai, China?

 

Some people here had a delivery date of March 4th, if any of those got them already, can you post some kind of unboxing videos or whatever.

Thanks

 

Mines arriving next monday also with many other people.

 

Chime me in for another one arriving early next week, I have a SSD sitting on my desk that is taunting me and waiting for it.

 

Okay...arriving next week as well!

 

Please report back on how fast the x120e boot-up with a SSD and your recommendation. I am on the fence whether or not to buy a SSD for my x120e.

 

Bought mine yesterday, but I haven't been given any information on the expected delivery date. Am I sups to get an email or something?

 

Me too Cheeseman. I hear some people are expecting to get theirs up to a week early. I'm hoping for the same!

 

This is how tracking looks like:

Tualatin, OR, United States 03/04/2011 8:26 P.M. Destination Scan
03/04/2011 7:16 P.M. Arrival Scan
Portland, OR, United States 03/04/2011 7:00 P.M. Departure Scan
03/04/2011 6:53 P.M. Arrival Scan
Salt Lake City, UT, United States 03/04/2011 5:59 P.M. Departure Scan
03/04/2011 5:02 P.M. Arrival Scan
Louisville, KY, United States 03/04/2011 3:31 P.M. Departure Scan
03/04/2011 12:11 P.M. Import Scan
03/04/2011 1:19 A.M. Arrival Scan
Anchorage, AK, United States 03/03/2011 3:14 P.M. Departure Scan
03/03/2011 12:51 P.M. Arrival Scan
Shanghai, China 03/03/2011 9:15 P.M. Departure Scan
Shanghai, China 03/02/2011 11:32 P.M. Export Scan
03/02/2011 11:27 P.M. Origin Scan
China 03/02/2011 4:56 A.M. Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Coming on Monday. I'm in Beaverton, OR.
This is the default free shipping option.