Second-hand thinkpad x301 owner's thread.

Anyone else having issues in Windows 8 and Windows 10 with getting WiFi to connect consistently? I can connect initially, but frequently cannot reconnect. I do not have any Lenovo drivers installed, should I?

 

Wifi on my X301 is rock solid. I have the Lenovo drivers.

 

Thanks Bronsky. Are you using Win8 or 10?

I just updated the driver to the below and still having problems connecting sometimes. Is anyone else running 10 with good wifi? If so, can you tell me the driver name and version you are using?

Intel(R) WiFi Link 5350
13.4.0.139

 

Oh. I should have read your post more carefully. I'm using W7 still.

 

anyone?

 

I'll let you know once I get W10 installed.

 

Thanks Bronsky. That would be great. My X301 is pretty useless right now. I used my W7 license for a different computer and I don't want to pay for a W7 license for the X301 at this point, especially with with Windows 10 coming.

 

I plan to update the existing wireless card 5100 on my x301 to 5300. However, Intel Wifi Link 5300 seems to have two form factors, PCIe mini card and Half mini card. Could anyone tell me which form factor is the right one? A link to the actual item on amazon or ebay would be great.

Also, where can one find the drivers of 5300 for thinkpad x301 with Win 7 Pro 64 bit? Thanks.

 

Mini PCI-e is the correct factor, although you could use a half size card with an adapter.

The driver is the same for Intel 5100 and 5300.

Just remember that you need a Lenovo-issued card with a FRU number on it unless your X301 sports a modded BIOS, in which case you could go for a 6 or 7 series card as well.

Happy upgrading.

 

Thanks. So any Lenovo-issued intel Wifi Link 5300 card with any FRU number would work? I find some cards on ebay with FRU43Y6495.
I have drivers for 5100 installed already. So I suppose one just needs to replace the card and everything would work without extra tuning.

 

i use on my x301 : Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 2X2 AC+BT (size - half Mini PCI-E )
i use a WhiteList modded BIOS !
OS : Windows 8.1 Pro (x64) 8 GB DDR3
home router : ASUS RT-AC66U
my x301 jut fly on wireless ...

 

I have installed windows 10 on my x301, and it works really well. The sleep/wake time is a significant improvement compare to windows 7 and batter last longer as well. I am quite pleased with the result of windows 10 on a less power machine like x301. Wifi works fine with windows 10 too, and i don't even have to install lenovo drivers to handle the bluetooth, as the system built in switch works fine. the only issue is that the trackpoint doesn't work very well with metro apps.

 

Graphics drivers okay? I'm still using W7 and will probably wait until the final build is released by Microsoft.

 

yea graphic is fine

 

Looks like I'll be retiring my X301 soon as a daily driver. My Surface 3 is roughly as powerful as the SU9300 in the X301, has 8 hour battery life, and fits in my briefcase. I can also use it for note taking and working on the go. It is half the weight of the X301 and the display is worlds better. The 10.6" is surprising usable as a portable/travel computer. I am setting it up with a full sized KB and 22" IPS display at work, docked through a USB 3.0 docking station. With a full sized Lenovo keyboard of course. My son, who is finishing up engineering school, has been lusting after my X301 for quite some time. He can finally replace the Acer 1410T he has been using for the past few years.

I'll still drop around from time to time to say hi.

 

the sad thing about tech world, unfortunately, is nothing last long enough. I have a xps15 as my daily drive, 3.5k touch display is definitely better than the one on x301. I gave one surface pro3 for my dad to use, and he loves it, which replaced his t60. this x301 is for my mum, which she only uses when my dad is using his surface pro. nevertheless, I think the amount of engineering and quality components that went into x301 is still hard to beat, and Lenovo never took full advantage of it. In my opinion, a 15inch 4:3 aspect ratio hd ips screen, with the x301 keyboard, the current gen core cpu and thin yet strong build would be my dream machine, which my old 7 years t60p with 1600x1200 ips screen was quite close to that standard. I have to say I still miss my trackpoint and the ibm quality keyboard.

 

I was quite happy with my X301 and was pleased to get three years of use from it at 10% of its original purchase price. There are not many comparable tech bargains like that out there. When I got my X301 it was 3 years old but virtually brand new, as it had been used very little by its previous owner. If I could get a comparable bargain on equally great equipment, I would never buy new. I have used it so much, I have nearly worn through the space bar and the shift key.

I got my money's worth. It's hard for me to believe that technology has advanced so far that I can replace the 10w C2D with the X7 Atom. But my benchmarking indicates that the Cherry Trial X7-Z8700 actually out performs the SU9300, the graphics is far superior to the old HD4500 graphics and even the lowly eMMC SSD reads significantly faster than the 1.8" Samsung SSD in the X301, even though it writes a bit slower.

Battery life of the X301 was an issue as well. I had to use the 6Cell/3Cell combination and take along an extra 6Cell to get anywhere near 8 hours of battery life. That means not only adding about .3 lbs to the X301 but taking along a .5lb battery in my briefcase for a total package approaching 4lbs. I have the same duration from my S3 at 1.7lbs.

Still, if I was looking for a durable notebook with the best keyboard I've ever used for under $350, I would be looking for another X301. Also, it's not like it's ending its useful life. My son will probably get another year or so out of it. He finally used up the 50GB SSD in his Acer 1410T that I gave him when he started college. That unit is 7 years old and the X301 is turning 6. Shame all technology being produced today can't perform equally as well.

 

In the 6 years I've used Thinkpads I still have not gave an X301 a run. I've often wondered what the clamor is all about. It sure was a treat reading all your posts Bronsky... although I was tempted to ask you if you were feeling donor-friendly and would kindly send that X301 my way

 

Thank you!!! Life intervened and I only just got around to installing the color profile. Everything displayed now has more 'reds', 'oranges'/'yellows' to it. Is that what is meant by "warm"? Honestly, some photos are a bit too warm for my taste, 'taste' being the operative word. That's the end of the bad news.

Good news: The text vs. background LACK of contrast problem is now definitely better. Previously text was in shades of grey with backgrounds in varying shades of pale blue. After using the color profile, pages display in what looks like a paler version of WinXP (ME?) desert theme. While the improvement not "OMG! Jaw dropping!", it IS noticeable and more importantly, my eyes no longer get tired in a ridiculously short amount of time. Generally, text appears as a REALLY dark burnt sienna which provides distinctly better contrast against the cream colored background hues now rendered.

I haven't had time to check the other items, but expect to in the near future.

Will this color profile work on the x200s?

Again, thank you!

 

BTW, here's what I replaced the X301 with. The Surface 3 powers the work station. Keyboard is Lenovo. Surface 3 X7 Atom (5w) actually outperforms the SU9400 (10w). Battery life of the S3 is close to 9 hours.



Edit: Here the Surface 3 is in travel mode with the keyboard cover.

 

Just picked up an x301 on eBay (SU9600 CPU and 4GB RAM) - seemed like a good deal at $65 with free shipping.

This thread has an amazing amount of information and I've learned a lot reading through everything. Sincere thanks to Bronski, 600X, xplayz and all of the other contributors.

I'd like to flash the Dual IDA BIOS xplayz has provided but had a couple questions:
- Is this based on BIOS version 3.16 or is it the same as the Middleton 3.15 Dual-IDA? (the file sizes look slightly different)
- Are the whitelist removal and SLIC 2.1 tables included in this BIOS?

I would pm xplayz but I'm new here and didn't want to spam the board just to get the requisite number of posts for pm access. Figured others could benefit from these answers, too.

Thanks for any insight on this!

 

If the machine is in good shape that's an *amazing* deal...

Enjoy!

 

Yes. I've watched a few of these go for under $100. That's the best price I've seen. Particularly for an SU9600. Congratulations. I don't know the answer to your bios question since I've never used any of the modded bios's.

I thought the new software for the site may have done away with the 5 post requirement for a pm. You might give it a try.

 

Thanks - I stumbled across the eBay listing just a few minutes after it was posted so I jumped on it. It hasn't arrived yet, but the pictures suggest it's in pretty decent shape. Even includes an AC adapter and battery.

It looks like the new forum software still has a minimum post requirement as I can't yet "start a conversation" with a member as described on the Xen-Foro How-to page.

... but I'm up to two posts now, so I guess I'll have that option soon.

 

Hi,
don't know about this Dual-IDA bios but I have one at home which I've got from 600X, and it includes both Dual-IDA and Whitelist and is based on 3.16 AND includes Slic. I will try to find a place for it in the net if you like.

 

Thank you - I would really appreciate that. If it would be easier you could email it to mcdonnelltech [at] gmail [dot] com

 

Done.

 

ZyXELis,

Could I also get a copy of that BIOS as well please? loser_34 [at] hotmail [dot] com

Thank you.

 

Going to answer my own question here...

Thanks to ZyXELis for emailing the Dual IDA BIOS, but unfortunately it never made it through to me. I decided to try the one posted by xplayz and here's what I discovered:
- It is BIOS version 3.16
- It does have the whitelist removed (I installed a Dell DW1510 wireless card which is working fine)
- It does have SLIC 2.1 tables (verified by reviewing the ACPI tables as described here)

I didn't run any comprehensive benchmarks before flashing the Dual IDA BIOS but, for what it's worth, my Windows Experience Index under "Processor" went from 4.8 to 5.1 and "Memory (RAM)" went from 4.9 to 5.1. I needed to run ThrottleStop (setting the multiplier to 9.0 and disabling EIST) in order to realize the speed increase. The guide available here was quite helpful.

I had some time on my hands so I tried to consolidate some of the information about the x301 that I learned from this thread and elsewhere. That can be viewed here:

x301.mcdonnelltech.com

Hope this will be useful to someone. Let me know if you see anything that is inaccurate or think of something that should be added. There's a contact form at the bottom of the page or you can pm me here.

 

johnmcdonnell : great job

 

Damn nice page.

 

Nice. A lot of information on one place

I have question, is there anobody who succed in LCD swap ? I do small research but found only one - with some problem.

And where i can download last BIOS with DualIDA?

THX

 

X30x successor? http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/26/lenovo-wants-you-to-decide-if-it-should-build-this-retro-thinkpa/

 

O think new MoBo for X301 will be nice.

What about the LCD swap? Only possible way is 1280*800 from FS with LVDS mod?

 

guess my wish is about to come true.

 

No, there are tons of displays you could fit in. But the effort is immense for all of them, so why would you want to take something other than the Hydis Display which is AFFS?

 

Looks like somebody's back from the university. Feel smarter?

 

I always feel inferior when I see this thread.

#x300livesmatter

Paid $80 for mine off classifieds, I'd probably never get one that cheap in Canada + ebay shipping is always atleast $20+

 

Just summer break. I don't feel any smarter, but the experience gained makes up for that. In the end, it's all about experience anyway.

While I don't use my X301 productively anymore, I still love taking it out of the drawer once in a while, even if it's just to surf the web. It seems such a shame that a brilliant machine like the X301 is let down by its screen and battery life. Currently, I use a 14" T61 at college. With Intel graphics, a XGA display and new 9c battery, it delivers impressive battery life considering the age of the hardware. (6-9h) However, it is quite a brick to carry around, although it's still surprisingly mobile for what it is: A fully fledged 14" business notebook.

I'll definitely be looking forward to the retro ThinkPad. Might be the first ThinkPad in years that I might consider buying new.

 

Hello all,

I know this question has been thrown around a lot and there has been endless discussion about it but I would still like to ask again about battery life. I just picked up my x301 for $150 off Ebay. I am incrediably pleased with the machine as it looks brand new and runs perfectly smooth and snappy.

However I have read from multiple sources that I should be able to get at least 8 hours of battery life with the 6-cell and the 3-cell together. Granted I only currently have the 6-cell but it is measuring 35.75Wh of 43.2Wh which seems pretty reasonable. with the computer in power saver mode just sitting on the desktop with nothing running and Wi-Fi turned off I am getting a maximum of about 2.5 hours eta. This seems extremely low to me... Am I just expecting to much or is something wrong here? I would hope to get at least 5 hours with the Wi-Fi off...

 

We need more information. OS, specs etc...

 

Its a fresh install of windows 8.1 32 bit
4gb ddr3
60gb HD
Core 2 U9400 at 1.4GHz

I have disabled everything I can think of that I don't need to use the machine. As well am running as close to classic windows as I can in windows 8 plain blue background without any fancy animations.

I'm not sure what other specs you would like I was under the impression that these machines were all about the same except the option of hard drive battery and ram...

 

HDD or SSD?

I presume that you don't have the Power Manager installed. If I'm correct, that may very well be a part of the problem.

Do you have any yellow question marks under the Device Manager?

 

I do indeed have the Lenovo power manager installed although I did have to install it with windows 7 compatibility.

There were two things that had yellow question marks.
-PCI Serial Port
-PCI Simple Communications Controller

I just disabled them as I did not think they were important...

it is a SSD

 

OK. What profile have you selected that yielded the results that you were previously referring to?

I'm going to presume - given what you've written above - that you're missing the proper chipset driver. One should be available from Lenovo's website, at least for W7.

 

I am running everything as minimal as possible except screen brightness which I have set to 5

I believe I have the correct chipset driver downloaded from lenovo and they even offer one for W8.
https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/g1ic09ww.txt

Oddly this does not solve the confused devices in device manager.

 

"Energy Star" or "Maximum Battery Life"?

Surprised I am.

 

It is just my own custom Maximum Battery profile.
Settings are as follows.

System Settings
Maximum CPU Speed: Lowest
CPU Deeper Sleep: Enabled
Optimize fan control to: Balance all parameters
Dimmed Display Brightness: Minimum

Idle Timers
Lower display refresh rate: After 15 minutes
Lower to: 50Hz
Turn off display: 3 minutes
Stop hard disk rotation: 3 minutes (Not sure what this does with ssd...)
Enter system standby: 8 minutes
Enter system hibernation: 13 minutes

Advanced Settings
Sleep
Sleep: Allow hybrid: off
Timers: Allow wake: Disable

Wireless adaptor settings
Power Saving mode: Maximum power saving

PCI express
Link state power management: Maximum power saving

Multimedia settings
When Sharing media: Allow the computer to enter away mode
When playing video: Optimize power savings

USB Settings
USB selective suspend settings: Enabled

Desktop background settings
Slide Show: Paused

Processor Power Management
System cooling policy: Passive

I think that's all the ones that may have any bearing at all on this issue. In the little effect of settings bar graph I am at 2 dots for all four categories.

I even tried going though msconfig to disable one of the processors cores on boot and it made no difference at all.

I have been wracking my brain trying to find the solution to this for over 2 days now. The only thing I can possibly think of is the fan... My fan seems to be running almost all the time I have the computer on. Is this normal? I have a hard time imagining that the fan even running continually could drain that much power but maybe...

Is that a sign that I need to take it apart and clean the dust out?

 

X301 has some pretty aggressive EC settings by default, at least in my experience. Are you using ThinkPad Fan Control?

Given the age of the machine, you should open it up, clean the fan and re-paste the CPU. I know I would.

 

EC Settings?

No I do not have the ThinkPad Fan Control installed. The only thing ThinkPad/Lenovo I have installed is the power manager, chipset driver, and one other driver I cant think the name of.

I try to keep my computers completely bloatware free

Do you recommend the fan control for power saving?