ThinkPad X220 (i/T) Owners Thread

ExpressCard/eSATA/USB3 adapter? Or if you have a fast enough network and a fast enough NAS/Server/Whatever, that might actually be the fastest way. Given that an optical drive is even slower USB2, though, I don't see how that comes into play at all here.

 

Well, here's my situation: I have over 100 VCD/DVDs I need to encode and put on the X220, but I have to do it on another laptop that has an optical drive. So after all that's done, what's the faster way to transfer those videos to X220? (besides transferring to an external HD first then transfer again to x220)

 

1) You could consider getting a USB optical drive and loading that media directly to the 220.

2) If not, the external HDD method is probably the easiest, but you do need to transfer twice (on and off).

3) Network is a little finickier, but if you can get it to work, it might be a little faster than transferring on and off a USB2 external HDD.

4) With the right adapters, you could load the media onto your other laptop, take out your other laptop's HDD and use a USB/SATA connector to read them straight into the 220.

 

Just transfer them to an external. Sure it isn't the fastest, but it can work in the background while you do other stuff. Do you have a deadline or something? All this time figuring out the fastest way could be spent transferring <----- I used a wink face so my sarcastic comment is viewed in a positive manner.

 

No hard deadline. The X220 I just ordered would encode videos much faster than my current T60p, so I really want to give the new Core i5 a good workout. But the reality sinks in when I realize the lack of an optical drive.

 

Hows the x220T compare to the x201T? Just picked up a nice deal on a tablet from the outlet store. Curious to know of any noticeable differences in system.

 

Not to derail the thread, but what config and how much?

I ordered an X220T new with 3/yr depot warranty last night. Bluetooth, i5, webcam, fingerprint, etc. 4 gigs (1 stick) and 320 HDD (will be replaced soon).

Came to $1,157.18. I searched for days and this was the cheapest with a solid 3-yr Lenovo warranty. Free shipping and no tax also help a lot.

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 42962WU 12.5" LED Tablet PC - Core i5 i5-2520M 2.5GHz - Black

 

Coming from a 200t (arguably more similar to a 201t than 220t, right?), I've found it's really a case of two steps forward, one step back.

They did a great job slimming down the chassis on the whole, but then they made the 6-Cell enormous and ugly.

They fit in the standard full-size keyboard, but they still can't manage to add a ThinkLight (even HP has it on their tablets!).

The touchpad is now a standard feature for those kinds of people, but then they had to make it a clickpad.

E2E multitouch screen is also standard, but I didn't think they could make the screen bezel any bigger.

Despite the bigger bezel, they reduced the number of buttons, and you can't have a webcam and 3x3 WIFI.

Etc.

My biggest beef is really with the enormous 6-Cell. It feels like it's mostly just air, which really makes me wonder why it had to be so big. It just feels like some engineer got lazy and some lazy manager approved it...

 

the large battery size probably acts as a hand grip for you when you hold the X220.

 

See, I could accept that if it had ridges and some texture like the vanilla x220 9-Cell, but the bottom of the tablet 6-Cell is just one big, flat rounded blob.

 

What about an ultrabase?

S

 

I paid 830 plus tax for a new outlet system. Shipping is free. My specs are in my signature for comparison. I already have a SSD so going with the student deal with the free SSD upgrade didnt make sense. Hopefully I can upgrade warranty at some point (unsure what Lenovo's policy is on that right now).

 

Hi, I hope this is the right forum / thread to ask this question; else direction --hopefully to the right source-- will be appreciated ;-)

Can someone tell me for sure if the X220 (not the "T")
a. will take 16 GB of RAM?
b. will accept an M400 SSD as primary or secondary drive
c. will it accept any drive other than a single primary?

 

In theory the X220 should be able to use 16GB of memory because the chipset does, but I've not done it myself. I recall seeing a T420 using 16GB.

There's a drives for the X220 thread if you want to check it out. I believe the M400 is a 9.5mm drive. You can modify the drive or the X220 to accept it because the X220 uses a 7mm bay.

Yes, the X220 can use a mSATA drive, which would be my choice. Then you can use the mSATA drive as a boot drive for speed and a 7mm platter drive in the main bay for storage where speed isn't an issue.

 

Thanks for the quick reply.
I am trying to replace a Dell M6500 OR a W520 that I travel with for my labs, the first one with 32 and the second with 16 GB -- I figure if I can move the M400 drive to the X220 and soup it up to 16 GB I have a chance.
I don't care about OS speed, only about VMs speed.

So for my experiment I would have the most often needed VMs and leave the rest home and --hopefully-- access them remotely (if not in plane, if not in secure site, if .... you get the idea)

 

Quick question:

I need a quiet laptop (at least when I am doing low intensity tasks.) I know the X220 i7 has some fan issues, but please answer a few specific questions:

If I get an i5 with 320GB HDD and add an 80 GB mSATA SSD:

1. Will the HDD "tick" when I am not using it (say web browsing and running programs off of the SSD.) Can I disable the HDD for periods of time using the device manager in order to make it silent (and save battery?)

2. I believe that the fan at low setting is quiet. If I am simply browsing the web will the fan rev up every time a site has flash content? Would a setting like "max battery" make it less likely for the fan to spin up during low intensity tasks?

 

My x220 has the i5-2520 and the fan does rev up when I hit flash content on the web. It's not too loud though, the fan doesn't seem to reach max rpm on common flash content like video.

 

I think the hard drive can be hit or miss. The original 320GB Z5k500 I got with my X220 was whisper quite. Its replacement the 500GB of the drive is a little more noisy. It's got a bit of a dull hum to it, but no ticks.

 

I'm using TPFanControl with fan 0 @ 50, fan 1 @ 55, fan 2 @ 60, etc. Light work pretty much never triggers the fan, and even flash or silverlight playback hardly ever breaks 60. Fan 1 is practically inaudible in anything but the quietest room, but fan 2 is already noticeable for me.

I originally had 320GB Z7Ks in both of my 220s and they were both pretty noisy. But I think every conventional HDD is noisy, so not only does this depend on the drive, but on the listener as well (obviously).

 

Thanks for the feedback regarding the HDD's and fan noise. I don't want my wife to boot me out of the room every time I want to surf the web, but on my current old T40 the HDD ticking drives her nuts when she is trying to read sitting next to me. But maybe that is to much information

Anyhow, the current Microsoft store offer is very tempting, but no IPS kills the deal. So I'm still considering a X220 w/IPS and HDD+ mSATA.

I would still like to know if I can simply turn off the HDD completely using the device manager for the times I want to keep it as quiet as possible.

 

I can't answer but then mine is quiet as quiet can be. No HD noise and to hear the fan I have to put my ear to it. That's with mSATA doing most of the work. Still, your wife may have better hearing than me.

 

I couldn't find anything more recent than this regarding WiDi.

I'm trying to determine if my ordered X220 will support WiDi. It really seems like it should because it has the i7-2640M processor, Intel HD Graphics and the Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300.

Can someone using WiDi on X220 tell me how it's working for them?

Thanks

 

I'm pretty sure you can set it to automatically spin down after a period of inactivity (of your choosing) using just the power management settings.

Or you could just go SSD only.

S

 

I just have mine spin down after 30 seconds. In a quiet room, you can definitely tell the difference. Pretty sure I have the Seagate 7200. Mine doesn't tick or anything like that, but you can hear it spinning. It really isn't loud, but for someone with good hearing in a quiet room... you'll hear the difference. If there is any kind of ambient noise, I don't even hear it while on. When it does spin down, I can't hear any noise from my computer at all while browsing with firefox. In a quiet room I can't even hear the fan unless I'm doing something intensive.

As long as you don't have Roboform or another program through firefox that accesses the hard drive then you'll be good (assuming you get an mSata of course). I use roboform and the data is on my HDD so every time I use a login it ramps the HDD. Now that I think about it, I should just pop those files on the mSata.

 

Got an email this morning from Lenovo, X220 just shipped.

Woot!

 

Thinking possibly of getting the X220 IPS screen to replace my T400 high nit screen but just have a question, where is the best place or even a place that I can buy this Hitiaci 500Gb 7mm drive? I don't want to try the mod of a larger drive at this time. I see them on ebay but do not know if I should take a chance there. Anyway, thanks for the great thread as always.

Gary

 

newegg? they have pretty much everything, but of course you have to know the model numbers yourself.

 

hey,
im considering buying a ssd for my x220, crucial m4 64gb to be exact. i know i need to remove the spacer, but do i have to use duck tape on the inside too? if yes, any detailed guide with pictures just so i dont screw up?
also, any negative experiences with using ssd on x220?

thanks in advance!

 

Thanks. I see this on ebay but not sure from the details of it. Can someone confirm if this is the drive that will fit x220 with no mods needed and thanks.

Newegg.com - HITACHI Travelstar Z5K500 HTS545050A7E380 (0J11285) 500GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Gary

 

One other thing now tripping me up on the x220 is the use of the combo audio/mic connection. I use on my T400 the mic-in dedicated connection a lapel mic to record various classes I do and post them to Internet. What would I have to do if I bought x220 because I would want to use it for the same purpose and would need similar external lapel mic to use in recording Powerpoint based audio-video material. If anyone can help with this, I would be very graeful.

Gary

 

@huntnyc a TRRS splitter will allow you to go from a combo jack into the normal headphone out/mic in.

 

Thanks much, but could you just give me one ecample of where I might find the exact type of splitter that will work in that way - never have used such adapters so want to get the right type and thanks.

Gary

 

I actually ran into this same issue with the combo jack recently... in the end, I just decided to use a USB headset/mic and bypass the issue altogether.

 

Thanks but I guess instead of headset mic combination, i just am looking for a lapel microphone solution that I can use when teaching with my x220 running my Powerpoint slides along with recording my audio. Right now, this is the thing I need to think about not only if I should get this laptop but with whatever I may get since vendors seem to be going with this combo audio port.

Gary

 

A normal TRRS (4 pole plug) 3.5mm (1/8") adapter should do. The MBP combo jacks use a different layout for the combo jack, so don't get a macbook headset adapter.

For details on this see P. 96 of the X220 user guide.

User Guide - ThinkPad X220, X220 Tablet, X220i, X220i Tablet

 

Thanks much for that. I will read and do some more research.

Gary

 

OK, so seeing more about the throttling issue...has that been resolved, or has a good workaround been created to fix this?

 

There have been improvements in the last couple of firmware updates. The thread on the Lenovo forum will tell you if it's totally fixed. I've never had the problem anyway, as there was always a workaround. Just pick up a 90W adapter - I got one new for £25. That's easier than spending time trying to work out if you're getting the problem in the first place.

S

 

I gathered that the 90W adapter was better...so throttling doesn't happen when you're on battery power?

 

I thought the throttling issue was fixed in the latest BIOS, right? Because all X220's are shipped with the default 65W adapter, I just want to save some money on the 90W.

 

I don't really have any fan or noise issues. I would definitely recommend getting a mSata. I am not technically savvy and actually purchased a x220 recently after a long hiatus on Mac OSX. mSata installation was not very difficult at all, and I think it helps with fan noise because the mechanical hard drive doesn't need to rev up as much. The x220 with a mSata is pretty awesome to say the least.

 

Can someone tell me how to use Rapidboot? I can't find any program that relates to it to run

 

Where from?

 

I thought so, but didn't want to make a definitive statement in case I didn't remember correctly.

S

It was on play.com where they have third party sellers a bit like the amazon marketplace. It was a brand new genuine Lenovo part.

Pretty sure it was this one, which is currently £27.90:
Play.com - Buy Lenovo 40Y7667 ThinkPad 90W AC Adapter online at Play.com and read reviews. Free delivery to UK and Europe!

I wanted a second adapter anyway for when I'm mobile. Most of the time it's in an Ultrabase dock, but I can't be bothered to uncable the power adapter if I want to take it with me. So I bought the 90W one which I use at the desk, and the smaller 65W stays in the bag. And that killed two birds with one stone, as I didn't need to give another thought to the throttling issue and whether I was affected or not.

S

 

.......thanks!

 

as any ideas on rapidboot? does it just run automatically without user input? There is no rapid option in BIOS.

And do I need to register my laptop to receive warranty benefit?

 

Just received my x220 yesterday, and the experience has been a nightmare. If something isn't crashing constantly (Firefox especially) I get a nice BSOD instead. I also installed Starcraft 2 to push the system, and trying to play always seems to result in a BSOD.

Afterwards I wiped the hard drive to factory settings and tried again. Same crashes, Starcraft 2 won't even install now (MD5 mismatch error when patching). I ran Seagate Tools and Memtest86+ (for an hour) and found no errors.

Anyone else had this problem? Very frustrating to say at the least.

 

Can you provide more detail? Like why is it crashing?

 

You only need to post once. If people didn't respond, there is probably a reason.

Rapidboot did nothing for me. Got rid of it. I'd suggest you think about doing the same.

 

well, I have HDD instead of SDD, so figured rapidboot would probably help in this case.