Please help me with a choice - X1 vs X220 vs T420s

Sorry for starting a poll again. Last time it was for my friend and he's been very happy with the advise.

Now this time the laptop is going to be for myself. I'm looking for a portable one (yeah, mobility is very important! I always dream of a non-Atom laptop as light as the VAIO X series' 700g). The laptop will not be for gaming - I want it to be durable/reliable, as long as the CPU is capable of playing 1080p videos at 30Mbps bitrate. Long battery life can be handy, but I don't want to sacrifice too much mobility - preferably within 1.7kg. Budget limit = $5000. I have a spare Intel 320 Series 300GB SSD, so it would be great if my new laptop is compatible with it (standard 2.5" SATA II).

Please do post your reasons of votes here. If you've got a better choice than any of these poll options, please do post the recommendations!

Thanks!

 

So size of the machine doesn't matter? how about screen type i.e. glossy or matte?

 

X220 does all that and gives the best battery life. By far the best screen out of the three models. Screen size / resolution is the penalty for the size and weight.

If you need big screen / high resolution, go with the T420s. Battery life isn't great, screen quality isn't great.

X1 is one of the most useless Thinkpads ever made.

 

I say wait if you can.

I like the x220, and the T420s. But they don't quite measure up to the size and weight of the MacBookAir. The X1 comes close, but that 1366x768 13" screen will be a deal killer for some, expecially cause it's glossy (for others it'll be just fine). But the x1's battery life isn't that great without the addon batter slice, which makes it fatter.

Intel has realizes this and is pushing PC makers to make true MacBookAir competitors called "ultrabooks" (or copycats if your an Apple fanboy hehheh). I hope Lenovo takes this opportunity to make a truely lustworth 13" thin and light, but I have my doubts given that the x1 is quite new still.

HP to ship first Ultrabooks ahead of ASUS? -- Engadget

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X220 with IPS LCD got my vote. Other systems worth a look being:

13" Macbook Air refresh, 0.68" thick, 900P, Thunderbolt, ETA Jul-2011 (1.32kgs)
12.5" Lenovo X220, 1.36" thick, IPS LCD (1.45kgs)
13" Toshiba R830. 1.00" thick (1.48kgs)
13" Asus U36SD. 0.75" thick. GT520M. (1.68kgs)
13" Sony SA 0.95" thick, HD6630M, 900P, (1.69kgs)
14" Toshiba R840. 1.00" thick, 900P LCD (1.91kgs)

See thin-and-light link in my sig for more systems.

 

As long as it's at least 12" with reasonable DPI that's fine. I hate 1080p within 13" - the fonts are too small.

This looks thin and light, however not that durable as Thinkpads...

A nice list you've got there! It's been very helpful! Thanks

 

I wonder if I customise an X220 and buy now, will there be an X220s released in the near future, which comes with less weight to make me mad?

 

Lenovo said that there will be no X220s.

 

What will the resolution will be on the 2011 13" Macbook Air? If I start streaming more movies like I've been considering, it will become an increasingly temping option as the biggest advantage the X220 has over it is support for dual drives. I played with friend's current MBA recently and that touchpad is pretty good, good enough that I may not miss the trackpoint.

 

Totally agreed.

My pick would be the T420s. Since you have a huge budget, go for the top specs (i7, display card, FHD screen), then upgrade the ram yourself and throw in two SSDs (mSATA + regular) and an ultrabay battery. That'd be the ultimate business machine. If you get a dock and a screen it can easily be your home computer too

Personally I've found the X220 screen to be too small, especially after it's been downgraded to 16:9. If you like the 16:10 ratio I would strongly suggest the T410s. They can still be found with many dealers and there isn't much difference with the T420s in terms of performance.

 

If the T420s had FHD a lot of people would be buy it, but unfortunately it's screen isn't very good.

 

I see a massive lawsuit coming to Asus from Apple for that one. Their on such a sue happy attitude last few years This Asus laptop looks almost the same as that Mac.

Oh grab the x220 tablet !!! I have both here at the moment, the Tab is for my niece for collage and man I wish I had it vs the reg x220. Its killer nice.

ym

 

I'm surprised there hasn't already been a lawsuit from Apple for the Asus and the Dell XPS 15z

 

One thing to keep in mind about that T410s, it uses 1.8" drives, not 2.5" like most notebooks. I haven't been watching SSD prices in a while, but the 1.8" SSDs used to be quite hard to find, and they were more expensive.

 

Big issue with the T410s is horrendous battery life.

 

I was seriously considering the X1. Why so hated? It has Sandybridge, USB 3.0, ESata, seems well built and OK it is not as light as the air but has way better connections. MBA does not even have a freaking RJ45 port. It also seems to be very well designed for cooling.

The screen is maybe not the best, but then no lappy screen is really all that great. And oh yeah, it has backlit keyboard unlike the current MBA. So, why the hate?

 

Well some of us are disappointed with the x1 for a couple of reasons. It may still be a great notebook for you, just make sure you read up on what the issues are, and whether they apply to you.

Here's a few reasons some are disappointed with the x1.

• Screen. the x1 screen res is 768x1366. The older x301 had a 1440x900 13.3" scrren. This is a rarity in the PC world. Apple seems to be better at offering the 1440x900 (WXGA+) resolution for the MacBookAir which makes it all the more infuriating. The x1 doesn't have an IPS screen like the W520 and x220, IPS screens offer better viewing angles. The x1 also has a glossy screen which is hard to use in an office with fluorescent lighting because of the reflections.
• Battery Life: The x1 gets 3 to 4h20min battery life. with the added battery slice it gets 7 to 9h20min. That slice adds quite a bit of weight and thickness, kind of defeating the purpose of designing a MacBookAir thin and light design. See pics below from PCPer.com x1 review.
  
  
• The x1 also has a non removable battery. But keep in mind replaceable batteries are expensive, so this isn't such a big deal to me.

 

I posted this sometime back.

 

OK, I see. I would actually prefer that the screen size was 14 for the X1. But that is just me Battery life is not a biggie for me. And a glossy screen, well, MBA seem to do pretty good with those, but maybe that is a quality factor. Personally I would love to sometime have an IPS screen. Have heard much about them but never actually seen one. that I know of.

The X220 12.5 is just too darn small for me to work on. And the T420s get fairly pricy and has the old keyboard. I want a backlit keyboard. Ah, the journey continues. The MBA refresh has my full attention. I would, of course, run windows 7 on it

 

T420s uses the same key new gen keyboard that was introduced in the T400s, that all Thinkpads use now. If battery life isn't a big deal the T420s sounds like a good match for you. I haven't heard great things about the screen in it or the T420 though (but in my experience all Thinkpad screens have been very good for text work, except X20x tablets). It's not expensive compared to the MBA, esp if you stick with the integrate graphics which is very capable.

I was considering switching to the 2011 MBA in the last couple days too. But then I got a good dose of sticker shock just looking at the current one which is supposedly discounted. I've been having an itch to try OSX for a while, but the barrier to entry is way to high. Makes me appreciate how much one gets in the X220 for how little it costs.

I was mainly a T-series user (T41, T60, T400), but moving to the X220 was the best decision I ever made. Using it with a dock/monitor mitigates the screen res problem some users have with it.

 

Supposedly the NEW MBA coming in a week or so will have 4GB Ram and be cheaper to boot. No pun intended

I have been youtubing the 420s and it looks pretty good. Sure would like a backlit keyboard, but the think light has its own coolness. It is close, for sure. But I am on hold until the end of next week to see the new MBA. there could be a surprise or 2. Waiting for now. Appreciate your thoughts. It is almost as complex as buying a car

 

+1. If the 13" MBA gets a 16:10 1440x900 LCD + mSATA SSD, decent capacity battery all at an affordable price (likely) then Apple will get quite a few defectors from PC notebooks. Thunderbolt implementation sweetening the deal. Might even be better overall package than the Sony Z2 at considerably lower cost. Well worth the wait for a week.

Interestingly Samsung recently slashed their Series-9 ultrabook prices perhaps anticipating being outclassed by the MBA.

 

I checked and bootcamp can be told to boot windows every time automatically. I love Windows 7.

 

Thanks for your advice guys Already ordered an X220. Hopefully it won't run too hot (hopefully the TIM is properly installed, while the quality of the CPU chip is not too bad).

I went for 3x3 antenna instead of camera for better signal strength outdoors, and went for mobile broadband instead of mSATA SSD because I have a SIM card with free tethering.

Now I'm waiting for a firmware update from Intel for my 320 Series 300G regarding the 8MB bug.

 

Owao... 300GB and 8MB issue only happens when disconnected from power while running, not easily recreatable. And even if it happens you can RMA and get G3 for it. Do not worry about that.

 

I wish there was a way to easily get OSX on Thinkpad's. Thinkpad hardware rules, Windows including 7 isn't as good an OS imo. If I switched it'd be for OSX.

 

Forum rules require that we confine ourselves to discussion of legal matters. I understand that Apple's OSX licence does not allow usage on non-Apple hardware. so don't ask the question and don't expect a helpful answer.

John