ThinkPad X220 (i/T) Owners Thread

I think that's great they took care of you like that. Did you tell them how it became broken?

 

First month impressions from a mostly Mac guy:

My background. I've owned five or six Macs during the past decade as my personal machines, and during that time, I purchased one Sony Vaio (which was actually pretty nice but for the crazy amount of bloatware) and only used Windows machines at work. I currently use a HP at work and am trying to switch it to a T420.

Impressions. Pure awesomeness. The x220 is my primary machine at home and while I travel. It is bar none quieter, cooler and less dent prone than my previous Macs. It's not even close actually. The IPS screen is really nice, but the Mac screen is also nothing to sneeze at. I do somewhat miss the vertical resolution of my previous Mac though. The keyboard and trackpoint best the Mac's keyboard and trackpad combination. The trackpad on the x220 is pretty responsive but too small to be a fair comparison to the Mac. I've grown a bit tired of the Mac design and actually like the understated black of the Thinkpad now since almost every PC is trying to look like a Mac. I was also surprised by how much I liked Win 7. It's been just as stable as Mac OS X, and there are features that I think trump OS X like the Task Bar/Start Menu (which is clearly better than the Dock in my opinion). Additionally, I finally escaped iTunes and moved to Foobar, which was annoying at first but a joy once I configured it to my liking. I am not a heavy gamer, but I have been able to play a couple of older games like Civilization 4 and Half Life 2 with no glitches.

Overall. I have enjoyed my x220 so much that I have become a ThinkPad evangelist of sorts. This is insane considering that every PC related gadget I owned even last year revolved around the Apple ecosystem. This is going to be my last post for a while since I think I am wasting too much time on this forum at work even though I have been somewhat slow.

 

Spread the good word brother or sister as the case may be. What the X220 gives you for barely more than a netbook is nothing short of amazing. It's why it's the best notebook being sold right now in my opinion.

 

Nice! I hadn't seen that one before - very useful.

Cheers,

S

 

Yes, it's great that they put this out there. There is also a user manual available on PDF.

 

That's what I love about Thinkpads! There are manuals/videos available to troubleshoot/replace parts without voiding the warranty and it is easy as well.

 

This forum keeps pulling me back in! Yeah, upgrading to mSata was much easier than I thought it would be after reviewing the said manuals/videos.

Separately, I noticed that I was able to defrag my mSata, which seemed odd to me since I thought SSDs don't need to be defragmented. Did anyone else run into this?

 

I believe it is always good practice to read through the manuals/videos before attempting to remove/replace parts in any laptop!

Yup, I read about not defragmenting the SSD. And from this SSD Optimisation Guide: The SSD Optimization Guide - The SSD Review, it tells you how to disable that function.

Cheers!

 

No, they never asked. I said one of my keys is not working properly and I said it was most likely a broken hinge under the key cap. They just said no worries, we're sending you a new keyboard overnight. Took literally 30 seconds to replace it, I'm back up and running!!

 

That's awesome service.

 

Thanks for the site. Did you also follow the other tips as well, including no. 7 and turning off hibernation?

 

^I suppose it only matters if you actually use hibernation. I never have, so I might give it a go. I'll report back.

S

 

I don't use hibernation either, but disabling it will return 2.5GB of space that you may or may not need.

 

No worries. Glad to share.

I followed most of the tips, except for the prefetch ones (items 9, 10). Read other sites and they recommend to leave it on. I also did not follow 13 & 14 too.

 

Turning off hibernation gave me almost 4GB back on the mSata!

 

Woah! I wasn't that "lucky" and only got back about 2GB.

Cheers!

 

I've decided I want a Lenovo x220 because they are awesome. I'm probably going to get a used one off of the Lenovo Outlet or buy one off of eBay to keep the price in my range.

But I wanted to check before purchasing an x220 -- are there any common/serious issues with these? Reviews in general seem positive, but I've come across a few people complaining of the heat when under heavy usage. My old T61p never got hot. Plus there are a lot of other folks on these forums with some issues, but I don't know how widespread they are.

I'll probably get the IPS screen too if possible -- the other Thinkpad screens often seem dim.

It will mostly be used for document multi-tasking (think 20+ PDFs / Word / Excel files open at once) and internet browsing. I might occasionally stream HD or do some gaming (SC2, SWTOR, etc. but on Lowest Settings).

I want to be sure I'm making the right choice here. I probably won't upgrade for a long time to come.

 

I think most of the issues were settled in past updates. I was also concerned before ordering mine over a month ago. I haven't run into any issues. In terms of heat, my x220 is so much cooler than my MacBook Pro which is collecting dust that it is ridiculous. The only time I noticed the fan working was when I was actually playing Half Life 2. Otherwise, under normal usage (Office, web, music, etc.), the heat is non-existent to me.

 

Thanks! That is exactly what I wanted to know.

But by updates do you mean Hardware updates? If so, when did they fix them? I'm planning on picking up a used one after all.

 

I have not had any problems with my X220 and the only issue that I had was the BIOS update to ensure that the mSATA SSD can be detected before I bought it.

I believe most of the issues were luckily software based. Unfortunately, some people are still unhappy with the fan noise and LCD bleed issues.

However, to me, this X220 is definitely a gem for me.

 

I got my x220 early this week and no issue here. Yes there's a bit of screen bleed from the bottom of the screen but you can only see it in pure darkness with a black background - this is typical of any modern laptops so it's a non-issue for me.

 

For the people using the SSD guide, did you turn off your system Restore function too?

 

I always turn system restore off regardless if I have SSD or HD, it's a useless feature that works less than half the time IMO.

 

Yup, turned of the System Restore function. Have my own backup solution.

 

I've just returned my x220 It's a great machine but I'm a trackpad user and I couldn't get used to using the trackpoint. The clickpad on this thing is an unusable design regardless of which drivers you install.

 

It's unfortunate that you had to give it up because of it, the X-Series were generally favourable to those who are Trackpoint users rather than Trackpad. I always thought the addition of the Trackpad to the X-Series was an after thought than most...

 

I am second Azrielsc's comments. Most of the issues appeared to be software related which were generally solved. Some users still report fan issues. After a month of use, I don't have any issues to note. Considering I came from a Mac, I am very happy with how everything seemed to work (albeit with some research on mSata).

 

Yeah, it is regrettable that you have to send it back. The trackpoint is iconic to the Thinkpad range and I also agree that the trackpad for the X220 is its biggest failing for such a great ultraportable. In the end, I disabled it in the BIOS.

The only funny side of it is the look on my colleagues' faces when they try to use my X220 and find out that the trackpad is not working and their newbie attempts at using the trackpoint. Oh, the geek in me!

 

I don't mind the trackpad that much, but I also don't use it after getting used to the trackpoint. The trackpoint rocks and is much more accurate. It's especially handy when using the laptop on the airplane tray. At home, I stick with a good bluetooth mouse.

 

When I had my X60 Tablet with Trackpoint only my fiancee would try stealing my laptop from me to browse the internet but she had no idea on how to use it so gave it back, frustrated. Thank you Thinkpad trackpoint. I was the only one in the house that could use you.

 

So it's been about three weeks since I got my x220. So far, I've been pretty happy with it. My impressions are that the laptop is super light, excellent build quality, feels very sturdy, screen is nice but I am a bit disappointed given all the positive reviews I've been seeing. Viewing angles are excellent, but since I'm usually by myself when using the computer, I don't have much use for this. The resolution is average, I could definitely live with 1400x900. Now onto the questions/issues:

1.) There is about a 5-second lag between the screen "wait for the finger print reader to load" and the green light on it actually turning on. Seems strange it takes this long given the fact that you can set up the FR to be active even when the computer's off. If I set the power management to do nothing when opening/closing the lid, the startup (either from sleep or full boot) is actually much faster because I wake the computer up with a swipe of my finger. However, I don't like this setting because I like the laptop going to sleep when I close the lid. Under this setting though, I have to wait for 5-6 seconds for the reader to get ready when I open the lid.

2.) Sometimes my battery usage jumps to 12-13 W and total CPU usage goes to 30-35% for no reason. When I go to the task manager, what's strange is that there is not a single process that is using more than 1% and only two or three that use 1%, everything else says zero, yet still the total CPU usage keeps showing 30%-35%. If I restart, everything is back to normal, but only for a while because I'm back to higher CPU usage (with no process related to it) and higher battery output.

3.) I have ordered the Thinkpad wifi card. Does this mean I won't be able to use WiDi? Is it only supported by Intel cards?

4.) The last and the biggest issue is the touchpad. I don't want to say it's completely unusable but it's close to that. I have tried Lenovo and Synaptics drivers, played with the setting, etc, tried TwoFingerScroll by Google, but I just can't find the settings that work. My only issue is that about one out of four or five two finger swipes is completely ignored and another one out of five is initially ignored, and then the scroll suddenly jumps all the way to its end. I tried using the trackpoint but it's just not my thing. My $200 Asus netbook had a much better touchpad than the x220. Not sure what to do about this, if I can't resolve this, I might join the camp of returners... :-|

6.) Lastly, I have 8GB of RAM and the MyDigitalSSD 64GB mSata installed, yet my cold start to home screen (including a quick finger swipe) is around 45 seconds and the harddrive WEI score is only 6.9. I know the MyDigital is supposed to be slower than the other mSatas, but 6.9 seems pretty low compared to what I've been seeing in this forum...

Thank you very much for responding to all and any of this. I am really trying to get this to work, but if I can't, I might be giving the ASUS Zenbook a chance...

 

If you are dead-set on a higher resolution (and inferior screen quality) then go the Zenbook route.

I'm pretty confident the trackpad and lack of the red nub will drive you nuts. The X220 is superior in all ways minus the aggravating resolution.

 

I wouldn't even mind the resolution, I am just not quite that impressed with the screen having seen all of Macbook Air, the Zenbook, and Vaio Z in real life in the past few weeks. It feels like a downgrade going back to lower resolution, but I can live with that. The trackpad on the other hand, is just pure annoying. I checked with Lenovo and they said they are happy to let me return it. I'd rather not, but I don't know if I can deal with what's essentially a broken trackpad...

 

A Small Microsoft Bluetooth mouse works great. In fact it's the only reason I had Bluetooth installed.

 

Do you have the IPS screen?

The trackpad on the X220 isn't good at all...most just use the red nub.

The trackpad on the Zenbook won't be much better, if at all...

 

Yes, I do have IPS. The viewing angles are ridiculously nice, I have to give Lenovo credit there.

I've done some research on Zenbook's trackpad, it seems like you're right, doesn't sound much better. At this point, I'm even starting to consider a Macbook Air...

 

@jamike The mSata score you posted does seem a bit low. I haven't timed boot time, but I know that it is faster than the 45 seconds you are experiencing. Fast enough that I don't really wait or care.

This is my first ThinkPad, and I've never used the red nub before. Having said that, I actually now prefer the red nub over a trackpad (including my previous Mac Pro's trackpad). Regardless, I prefer a mouse over both when I am at home at a desk.

 

Does anybody know if the DisplayPort can be converted to HDMI with a passive adapter such as this one below?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10428&cs_id=1042801&p_id=4826&seq=1&format=2

 

Ironically, I sold my Macbook Air (current generation) to buy my X220 tablet. I like the ability to write on the screen and use the pen for photo touchups, etc.

If you are dead-set on a far superior trackpad, get the Air. I'd advise the same setup I had. 13" MBA with the 256GB SSD. Partition 128GB to OSX, 128GB to Windows 7 (via bootcamp). Worked beautifully and was very fast with everything.

I found myself using Windows more and wanted a touchscreen, so I sold it and got the X220 tablet, which I much prefer.

Hard to go wrong with an Air, though. Especially since it runs Windows 7 very well.

 

Regarding the X220's limited resolution I found these Firefox add-ons rather helpful for increasing your space while web browsing:
"Default FullZoom Level", and "Classic Compact"

 

No need for an adapter + adding a cable to it. Grab a display port to hdmi cable while they last! Even monoprice had stop carrying them due to some legal/spec issue with them, but they can still be had pretty cheap.

Picked this one up off of amazon pretty recently. Works great. Passes audio too. Amazon.com: 6FT Displayport-male To HDmi-male Adapter Cable: Electronics

 

Is anyone running MSE? How is your boot time using it?

 

I was running MSE on mine. I wonder if that had any impact on the 45 second boots with mSata. I did a clean re-install yesterday with UEFI-only. With only the graphics driver installed after a clean install, I'm getting 13-14 second boots, which is awesome. I am really hesitant to install other stuff which will obviously just slow it down. I'll obviously have to add a couple other drivers but I think I'm going to skip all Lenovo software. Hopefully the speed persists.

 

As I said in my previous posts, I'm running it. Had really slow boots of about 45 seconds, but after a clean install I'm booting in 13-14 seconds. The first time around I did all the SSD optimization tweaks as advised on many forums online but I think I'll just let Windows handle its thing this time around and not mess with any settings. It seems to work so why try to fix it? My plan is to install all the crucial drivers that I can't function without (wifi, audio, bluetooth, camera, chipset update, LAN, card reader, fingerprint reader, hotkey utility) and avoid everything else.

Otherwise the SSD is good, no reliability issues, seems to be fairly speedy, although not as fast as Rencore or Intel. I'm getting 7.1 on WEI hdd score now. Still 100x faster than any plate-hdd and all apps open instantly.

 

Have you had any issues running Windows on the Air? I heard the trackpad is not nearly as responsive as it is in Mac OS. Any other incompatibility issues or annoyances??

 

None other than what you mentioned. The trackpad isn't as silky smooth as OSX, but still worlds better than any other Windows machine. I guess Apple are just geniuses when it comes to writing software to make the scrolling butter-like.

At the end of the day, if you will spend the majority of time in Windows, don't get an Air. It works and works well, but it's still not 1000% perfect.

 

Thanks. I installed MSE, and it basically slows down the boot the same amount as Norton Internet Security does. The boot time is still fast. I didn't time it, but I am guessing around 30-35 seconds. Haven't used Windows at home in years so was interested in a low system impact and cheap antivirus program. Note that I am still using the legacy mode.

My issue with the trackpad is that it is too responsive/sensitive when using the trackpoint. I inadvertently tap the trackpad while using the nub. However, after using almost primarily Mac laptops for ten years, I was surprised how quickly I became enamored of the nub.

 

I've had my X220 for about a month now and I love it. This is my first ThinkPad and the only thing I hate is the trackpad. I bought a small bluetooth mouse and I use it whenever I can. The other thing I would have liked is a higher resolution screen, but I love the IPS anyway. Also, the battery authonomy is not quite as good as the reviews say. I have the 6-cell battery, and I usually don't get more then 5 hours. Other then that it's excelent: very good quality build, light and fast. I don't know why people are complainig so much about boot time. I never let it shutdown, unless needed by software updates. I allways let it in standby, so it's allways available in maximum 2-3 seconds.

 

The difference between HD and HD+ is so small, it's hardly worth mentioning. Now if there was a SXGA or SXGA+ option that'd be worth getting excited about.

 

I think this is a matter open to opinion and personal preference. I went from 1440x900 on my x200s to 1366x768 on my x220 and found that I lost quite a bit of usability.

So for me personally, an HD+ option would not only be worth mentioning, it would be worth celebrating (and buying!).