ThinkPad X201 - few questions

Just got X200. Hinge system beats Alienware, same as Alienware beats anything else mobile in terms of gaming.... by a very very large margin. It's built out of stainless steel!

It came without a webcam, so now I will have to think (no pun intended ) of something external. I like the thinklight a lot, maybe could be a little bit brighter, but it does the job - *most* of the keys can be seen in dark.

 

You can buy the webcam and install it behind the bezel. There's a DIY on here somewhere for that.

 

Oh wow sweet! Thanks! I will look it up.

 

here http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/330831-adding-integrated-webcam-x200-2.html#post4680443

 

Thanks for your reply. I am also considering a T410, it has almost everything I need, but a few reviews mentioned that the video playing capabilities are lacking, and the speakers are tinny. Speakers are alright I guess (just have to get an external pair), although annoying, but the video playing problems are a but of a turn-off.

 

Hm that's strange. I'm pretty sure 99% of the laptops today can easily handle playing any kind of HD movie... the speaker (as in singular -.-) on X200 is pretty pathetic but OK unless you listen to the music it works.

 

I hope you'll get your purchase parameters cleared up regarding the X201. An X201 will play videos, but the screen size and the speaker capacity will not make a truly satisfying experience. A T410 is a step up, and it does play DVDs and AVI/MP4/MKV videos quite well. But at 1280x800 (X201) and 1440x900 (T410) resolutions, one can only go so far.

ThinkPads are not designed to be multimedia laptops primarily.

 

I think you're right. I thought merely no gaming would be enough to abandon a multimedia laptop, but it appears movies and music will suffer too. I might still consider a Thinkpad but I'll look at other options in the meantime.

Thanks a lot!

 

1280 x 800 on a 12.1 inch is good enough for most movies.... you won't find a 1920 x 1080 LCD on a 12.1 inch LCD. Get a decent set of headphone and the sound problem is solved.

If you are really fussed about image quality do the AFFS LCD upgrade and that is going to beat most laptop of this class for image quality.

 

On a 12.1" LCD with a hypothethical 1920x1080 resolution, YouTube clips will be postage stamps and one will need a magnifying glass to read text. On the X200/201, it's TFT LCD - pretty painful if the person is making movie watching a priority.

I would listen to great music on my (name of favorite MP3 player) or my (name of favorite stereo equipment). But it's just me.

 

The screen is fine. I actually like matte, for a change. The screen isn't RGB LED or anything fancy, but I just watched a movie just fine. The resolution is just fine and the text is of a good size. I tweaked the color settings and the movies look as good as on m11x, except that now I can't shave myself by looking at the screen. (Which is actually good.)

I found 1366x768 resolution on a 11.6" screen too high, so this is just right. Most of the laptop speakers are crap (m11x is the only laptop on which I actually used the speakers), but on X200 are particularly crappy but they work ok e.g. for voice and simple things.

 

There's actually one speaker on the X200. I don't find it that bad, but I'm not the picky type.

 

x200 speakers is much better than the X6x speakers, the sound level output is comparable to a T400.

 

Thanks everyone for your help. I really appreciate it, and have placed my order. Now I've been reading up on the AFFS mod and may go that route if the screen is bad.

 

Is "AFFS mod" valid for x201 as well? I thought it works only with x200 CCFL version.

 

it is doable but slightly more complicated, but it is doable.

Read Handai's comment on the last few pages of the post.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...-equipped-flexview-screen-25.html#post6391525

 

the X201 has to be converted back to CCFL.   i posted all the parts needed for the mod in that thread.

 

Thank you. I may dare to try it someday...

 

Question:

If I get an X201 with both Trackpoint and Trackpad, is it possible to disable one but not the other?

 

Thank you. What are the disadvantages of going back to CCFL?

More uneven lighting?
Less energy efficient (how much battery life is lost on a 9 cell battery?)
More fragile?

Thanks.

 

Yes. It's typically the Fn+F8 key.

 

the CCFL uses more power and has a shorter life cycle as compared to the LED. However, i recently sent my 2 years old X200 in for a LED LCD replacement, as there is a clear colour shift in the LCD... the display was shifting to a strong yellow tinge... since the X200 LCD uses a blue LED coated with phosphor (the mixing of blue light from LED and yellow light from phosphor produces the white light). If the blue LED is somehow generating less light as the result of fault or aging process, then the display would start to shift to a yellow tinge.



While, theoretically the LED LCD backlight should have a life of 50,000 to 100,000 hrs as compared to the 20,000 hrs of CCFL LCD... but colour accuracy suffers as the LCD ages, especially if you don't have the RBG LED LCD.