Lenovo ThinkPad X120e review (via Engadget)

I wonder if this will support the new intel soda creak ssd drives. I would like to put one where the gobi card should go.

 

i notice in your sig that you ordered both the dm1z and x120e. why both? are you planning on selling your least favourable one?

 

Where do you guys get tracking info? I just got a shipment notice but no tracking number.

 

Go to UPS > Click Tracking > Track by refernece > Enter your order# > Boom.

 

I'll probably keep them both. This will be the third DM1Z I have ordered. The previous 2 had design imperfections. The battery did not sit flush and it created a nasty gap between the battery and the top of the laptop. If I get another one like that, I'll return it and probably get an i3 14" with Intel graphics. I'm actually in the market for 3 laptops. Ultraportables for the wife and I, then a desktop replacement. I have settle on the y470 for the desktop replacement.

 

You will receive the tracking info the next day after shipping notice!

 

lolk the y470 is kinda small for a replacement...but yea has enought bang in it with the gt 555m at 14". like the power of gtx 260m in a 14"is awesome to me.
i do want a 15" 6970 sandy bridge tho.

 

Coming from Lenovo the 15" will still have the same resolution as his 11.6.

 

14" is really the biggest I want. I hate big laptops. And as you said, I think the y470 packs enough power to qualify as a desktop replacement.

 

There's a reason they don't put cards like the 260M in a 14" notebook; they can't be cooled properly. Most 14" notebooks have an option between IGP and basic discreet as there isn't much room for cooling.

 

Just ordered an X120e from Lenovo this weekend. I clicked through a google search on the x120e to the Lenovo website and google popped up with a coupon code that gave 10% off at checkout . Used the 10% to upgrade to the E350 dual core and a six cell battery. I figure I can upgrade the Ram pretty easily myself if I find 2gb limiting.

I've always been happy with thinkpads. One of the best things about them is that you can order pretty much any part for it and repair it yourself. Lenovo even lets you download the repair manual.

I'll post my impressions once it arrives.

 

No dice. I get an error message.

 

Then it is not shipped yet.

 

This is what the web site says:

1 0596CTO
ThinkPad X120e - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Invoiced
Shipped on
04/03/11
UPS SCS (ASIA) LIMITED
04/03/11 $449.00 $449.00

 

The first youtube unboxing video
YouTube - Lenovo x120e unboxing

 

Alright, I finally received mine laptop, here is a set of the unboxing photo.

 

I called the lenovo sales line to ask if the x120e support mSATA drives like the upcoming t420. He put me on hold for ever but returned to tell me that it does support the drives and I could use the mini pci express port designated for the gobi wireless card.

 

Thanks for the pics. Looks sexy as hell with the sleek black professional look compared to hp dmz1 where it looks like a cheap plastic toy in silver lolz no offense.

 

got my x120e. loving it so far. far better than hp dm1z. i did a clean win7 install. everything runs very fast. the only driver to install is amd fusion, thinkpad wifi, and a third unknown hardware (still trying to figure out what is it).

the display is decent. i wish it was brighter but i can't complain much since i only paid $360 including 10% tax.

 

Mine wont ship until the 14th, so can any of you who have received your X120e test to see if this machine can handle more than 4GB of RAM?

I'm also planning on sticking a 500GB Seagate Momentus XT HDD in there, but I'm less worried about that.

 

Yay! Congrats! So exciting! Can't wait to get mine!

 

Got mine today as well, first thing I did was pull the OEM disk for an SSD, next was to max out the ram.

It does support 8GB of ram, but it is picky. I had a few laptops around (at work) to 'borrow' memory for testing.

CORSAIR 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9 (from newegg)

Results: Does NOT work, taken from a known good laptop.

PNY Optima 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model MN8192KD3-1066 (again, newegg)

Results: WORKS, though I'd be looking for a better brand, their support sucks

Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BC1067 (also newegg)

Results: WORKS and what I'll be sticking with.

Hope that helps everyone!

 

Mine's working fine with Crucial 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz rated ones.
CPU-Z won't tell me what speed it's running at, but I bet it speeds down to 1066 speed.
Build feels so solid, the hinge seems like the same steel hinge from real thinkpads. I wish they didn't paint the hinge black.
Feels kinda heavy at 3.0 lb with 3cell. Maybe because being small makes it look like it should be super light, or maybe I'm spoiled with vaio Z. It kind of felt like same weight as my 3.5 lb x61s with 8 cell. 7 Watt power usage during idle, and the 3 cell has 31 watt hours.

 

I was thinking adding a stick to go to 4gb, but the difference between 2gb and 4gb sticks is minimal, only 18$. Any harm in running two mismatched sticks at 6gb

 

I'de like to do the same to mine.....add SSD! Was it expensive and if not too much, where would i find for a decent price?

Thanks

 

No, since Zacate only has single channel support--two mismatched sticks will perform the same as two matched sticks, with the same capacity.

In my experience, watch for sales or go to eBay--there are some great prices for used SSDs there.

 

Good to hear the upgrades went well enough. For my upgrades I'm adding 8GB of DDR3 RAM and switching the HDD with a 500GB Seagate Momentus XT for something in between an SSD and a 7200rpm HDD in performance.

 

Hi all. Ive been reading alot in this site for some time and i also caved in and got a x120e which also arrived today. 1.6, 4gb ram,250hdd,bt,6 cell-no os. i installed windows myself and so far everything is running smooth. Love the system quality. feels very solid. hope the battery can hold

 

There is a 9 cell battery?

 

No, only 3- and 6-cell options. Poster probably made a mistake, as the 9-cell is the extended battery option on most other Thinkpads.

 

hope to hear back about how hot the laptop is getting.

and some 3DMark06 scores would be nice

and how long it lasts on the battery that you got.

 

sorry but... simple typo
i fixed it...lol

As for the other questions.... it is running very cool. granted i am just on the web. It got pretty warm while installing windows, but browsing you dont even hear the fan. it is very quiet. havent had the chance to do too much heavy stuff on it. i also installed the lenovo power management, it also has a passive setting on battery so the fan doesnt go off as much.

But as of now...it is cool to the touch. i am typing from it now... gonna drop my WoW folder before i go to bed, i wanna see how it can handle it.

windows experience 3.8

3.8 cpu (1,6)
5.6 ram (4gb)
4.1 graphics
gaming graphics-5.7
hard disk (250gg hdd NOT SSD) 5.8


never odne a 3d mark... gonna see if i can do it...
As for the battery.. windows was showing about 5-6 hours

 

Thanks for the Windows Index scores and system information. So-far everything looks pretty decent from the size/performance ratio. I can't wait for this thing to arrive to do some testing myself.

 

no problem... i downloaded 3dmark 11 free edition and i left it at defaults and put it to do a full test. Its still doing the tests, showing me some videos, choppy as hell. lol. lets see what it gives me..doing graphics test 4 right now...
Quick observation.. the machine is luke warm. still feels cool to the touch in the underside. Fan is at like a low setting. can barely hear it.

Cant wait until ssd's drop a bit more. i want a 120 in there.

 

run 3DMark06 as this way you'll be able to compare it with vast number of notebooks out there. This is the directX 9 version.

 

Just gets better.

They sent me Acrobat X Pro (not Standard).

 

Anyone order it with the 3-cell battery?

Apparently the battery is only 32Wh...I should have the laptop tomorrow, so I'll be able to confirm if that's the case or not. However, on the site, in multiple places, the battery is listed as 40Wh (for the 3-cell). Obviously this difference is substantial...and it's basically false advertising. Has lenovo had mistakes like this in the past and if so have they done something to correct it? I chose the 3-cell because 40Wh seemed enough for me and I didn't want the battery sticking out the back, but to find out the 3-cell is actually less than 40Wh is an outrage...

 

could you enlighten me on why it could be an issue? I got the 3-cell too and am unfamilar with how 8Wh would affect battery life. I can do math though and that is a 20% difference.

 

If you get the X120e to use <8W power draw, which is quite possible as mentioned earlier in this thread, that's an hour difference in battery life right there.

As for whether Lenovo will do anything about its rampant website errors... I doubt it. After all, we ordered the X120e through pricing glitches, didn't we?

 

Oh no! I preemptively bought a 4GB stick of Corsair for my X120e. Does it work with just one stick in?

:-(

 

Haven't read thoroughly through the entire thread yet. Will have to check it out. I'm thinking 3-cell would be enough for now, and getting a 6-cell sometime in the future. I did same thing when I got the Sony TZ, you know keep a spare just-in-case.

and no I did unfortunately not get a chance to take advantage of that no OS offer. I was looking closely at the laptop around the time was announced and delayed but never got word that it got moved up from 3/15. I did however get the google discount that brought it just under my budget. So I'm pretty happy at this point...just patiently waiting

 

i know, but the idea of it is just fantasy. but the tho it is not a enthusiast card. it certainly does give enough power like one and thats in a 14 inch. maybe in a 2-3yrs we will have a card high end card that will match the 6970m performance card in a 14".....just like an ati 4670 beats gtx 7900m LOL

oh yes...back to the topic of the thread! could i use an x100e 6cell battery (if its cheap) or do i have to find a 6 cell battery for the x120 as the fits are different?

 

I ordered mine with the 3-cell battery as as well, so i can have the option to carry small. But also ordered a spare 6-cell battery too. Will let you know what the Wh after my laptop's arrival tomorrow.

 

I believe they are identical - the chassis is more or less the same from the X100e to the X120e.

 

I'm fairly sure that they both use the Lenovo 17+ Battery. The chassis are identical except for the HDMI on the X120e

 

Just got my laptop - and the battery definitely says 32Wh right on it. Meh!

I'm sure there's plenty of people ordering it for the normal price as well, and if they get the 3-cell they would assume it's also 40Wh. Hopefully lenovo does something about this. It's unlikely that they will, but I feel kinda cheated getting 20% less battery life than I should be :/

However, on another note, I really like the laptop. Even if lenovo doesn't correct the battery error I think I'll still be really happy with it

 

ok, so do you think that an x100e battery will last as long as x120e battery?

 

Unless I'm mistaken, the batteries of the two laptops are identical, as in they have the same Wh rating. So yes, a battery from the X100e will last just as long as the same-size battery from the X120e when installed in the X120e.

 

How much was the separate 6 cell battery for the x120e?

 

I believe it's $99.