ThinkPad X220 (i/T) Owners Thread

Yeah, they are pretty terrible...

 

Does anyone else have issues with their express cards not staying in? I bought a $10 AKE two port USB 3.0 card from ebay and it works fine, but it doesn't click in (but goes all the way in flush).

After a while the card will just eject out

Oh yeah and also, why does my x220's battery drain so quickly in hibernation mode? I know it's not fair to compare to my old Asus 1000HE netbook, but the x220 will lose about 10+% a day vs my 1000HE losing maybe 1% at best. Are there different types of hibernation?

 

Is it a 34mm card? Since it's a 54mm slot I have to use a spacer for my expresscards to keep them in there, especially for firewire with the thick cable that tends to pull to the side. The one I have is called: StarTech.com ExpressCard 34mm to 54mm Stabilizer Adapter - 3 Pack ECBRACKET (Black)

It cost me around $5 for the 3 pack. I don't have any problems locking it in (mine clicks) or ejecting it. Since it's mechanical I guess you could have a physical problem with your expresscard slot (or maybe the card?) if it's not just side-to-side motion that makes it come out.

 

It's a 54mm Card and yeah it doesn't click.. it just slides in and I can "feel" the connection (like when you shove in a PCI card into a desktop motherboard). No click sound though.

 

it's definitely the expresscard that's at fault imho.
i have a mogo mouse (its a 54mm expresscard mouse that rocks) and it fits really snug (maybe too snug even !)
maybe try wrapping some tape around it until it's snug. it's a mc guyver-like fix, but i guess that's all you can do...


about hibernation: it shouldnt suck any battery. that's weird.
what hibernation does is just dump everything that's on your ram into your hard drive, and then the pc turns off (as in completely off)
when you turn it back on later, the ram gets restored to how it was.

maybe you meant sleep mode ? if that's the case, yeah, it does suck your battery, because it keeps the ram powered (and a few other things)


anyway, i recommend not using hibernation, because it creates a X gB file on your drive (where X = your ram)
and because today's pc's just boot up so damn fast, it became useless. if you know you'll use the pc in a few minutes just make it sleep.

to disable it, type "powercfg.exe /hibernate off" in an escalated console, and reboot

 

argh.

i just realized the "usb 3 for core i7" is only for the non-tablet x220's.
(and i bought an i7 x220t last month)


should have gotten an i3.
well, gonna undervolt it soon now i guess.

 

I thought you can't undervolt Core i Processors?

 

This happens for me if the the expresscard slot is already pressed in. Try to press the expresscard into the slot until you feel a spring-like resistance. When you go far enough back it will click and send the card right out. To put the card back in just depress the slot until it clicks again. I don't think it is necessary to hit the click when you insert an expresscard if the slot is already depressed; that is actually how I insert my eGPU every time because I don't want to stress the E2C2 (expresscard) adapter.

You could be experiencing some kind of expresscard slot malfunction, but I also thought it was a problem with my USB 3.0 adapter as well until I figured out how the slot works.

 

I am about to sell my T410 today, I am deciding whether or not to sell it with the the 3rd party 90w adapter I bought as replacement for the original 65w (not working already) that came with it or with the 65w adapter from my x220. I've heard issues about throttling, but haven't experienced it myself, I did the occt and Hwinfo and the clock speed shows to go up to 2.5ghz even with the 65w. what do you guys think?

 

Oh wow.. I plugged in my Logitech nano receiver and used it to "push" in my card.. and it clicked! No freaking way haha. I literally tried to make it click atleast 30 times in the past.

I guess I didn't expect the card to go that far in. For anyone else who has had this problem, take note that these cards (atleast my AKE USB card) goes in a bit further than you may think. It can be hard to shove the whole thing in with just your finger.

 

Got the revised IPS screen installed today after having 4 or 5 brightspots on the original one since Jan. As some have noted, it's definitely pretty warm out of the box, more so than the first one. Also seems to be some excessive green. This one is harder to calibrate with just the Win 7 tool.

Other significant change is that this screen is properly matte where the original had a slight sheen to it, especially noticeable looking at it from wide angles. I do prefer this since the old one was slightly reflective if light hit it a certain way.

Backlight bleed only in one spot. Non-existant ghosting as promised which was the driving force of the revision.

 

heres an icm profile for the IPS screen :

Color profile for lenovo thinkpad X220

 

Hmm it seems like it didn't change anything for me.

 

If you want a cooler temperature shouldn't you go above 6500.

 

I tried the Dolby audio drivers with my machine and the difference is huge. Definitely worth it for anyone seeking more from their built in speakers (and external of course). Audio seems much clearer and the increase in volume is very noticeable. Turned my speakers down by more than half of what I usually use. Used the profile that was in this thread, but now it seems the post was deleted. I can always re-upload it, if others desire.

 

The Dolby Posts were just moved. I wish someone had told me they were gonna be put into an extra Thread, because I created one myself which seemed to have caused a bit of chaos. Sorry for that.

Anyways, here is the Link to the new Thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/657971-dolby-home-theater-your-thinkpad.html

You will find everything you need there.

 

Ahh yes there it is. I saw the new thread but earlier when I looked I couldn't find it for some reason. Oh well, all good now. Thanks for the tip by the way, I wish I would've known about this driver a good while ago.

 

Do lcd's have run in time, because the red and green push diminished significantly after using it the first day.

 

Where are the air intake(s) on the X220? The vents on the top right corner feel to me like they simply push out hot air. Just curious as I'm thinking of picking up Diablo 3 to play with this and a cooler seems necessary since the laptop gets warm to hot while playing the beta.

 

Just because it gets warm doesn't mean you have to cool it down. You could stress this Machine out 24/7 without any cooling Pad.

The intakes are on the bottom by the way.

 

On my desk, I close the X220 lid and use an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. I have a Zalman NC1500 Mini and it works great for that; it fits the X220 perfectly.

 

You're able to play Diablo 3 with the Intel 3000 graphics?

 

Yes, I have an X220, i7 2620m, 8 GB ram, and it is able to play Diablo 3, lowest settings at acceptable/borderline acceptable framerates. There are dips into low/unacceptable framerates during large confrontations (lots of mobs), but that only happened once or twice throughout the beta. Overall, it is not jerky movement bad, but you can definitely tell it is not running at its smoothest.

Laptop does get warmish/hot, but I wasn't too worried about it. The X220 is a tank.

That said, I am looking into eGPU solutions, which the X220 seems ideal for.

 

What's your 8gb of ram speed? I'm curious cause I've been wanting to upgrade to 1866mhz for 8gb but the 16gb 1333mhz rams are getting cheap (about $100)

 

1866 Kingston memory. Don't really use all 8 (4 max, +2 for VM allocation).

 

Does using extra ram for virtual memory increase the system performance a lot? I have 8gb and I usually don't use more than 5

 

VM as in Virtual Machine (ubuntu), not virtual memory.

 

just received the SSD in the mail today. there's an extra slot that the old hard drive could go in on the right side of the laptop, correct?

edit: oh jeez, there's only one slot. oops =)

 

you can fit your hdd via hdd caddy into your docking station instead of dvd drive

 

Anyone updated to HD Graphics 8.15.10.2622? Going to do it when I get home tomorrow. Curious if anyone saw any differences.

 

Im about to pull the triger on it, and this is how its gonna look like:
Intel Core i5-2520M Processor (3M Cache, 2.50GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
12.5" Premium HD (1366x768) LED Backlit Display, IPS, 2x2 Antenna
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
9 Cell Li-Ion Battery
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN
with Bluetooth 3.0 and fingerprint reader

For the price of $1163 shipped. Its that ok? I mean can i get a better deal anywhere else? By the way, one of the reasons I buy it from the official site is to get the newest IPS panel without ghosting, bleeding...etc problem.

Thank you guys so much for every replies

 

B&N Gold => "USXWEBSPECIAL" coupon => $919

 

Im sorry, but could you please be alittle bit more specific?

Thanks!

 

Barnes and Noble Gold

Register an account for barnes and noble gold. Then you are able to use that coupon. "USXWEBSPECIAL" or "USXEDGEX0426" is the featured coupon. Only available for students/B&N

 

I paid $799 for mine shipped (Canada) with the same specs minus the 4gb ram, 9 cell, and BT about half a year ago. I would get the 2gb, then pick up an 8gb Gskill set for $45 or so from newegg.

I got it down that low because I stacked a bunch of coupons from their employee pricing plan thingy. Not sure if that thread is still kicking around (redflagdeals) but I would look out for some coupons.

 

I just updated the graphics over the weekend and a big difference. It feels like my laptop is able to handle more graphic-intensive work.

This is not the best way to test performance, but when I play NBA 2K12, everything is alot smoother. It almost feels like the game is on fast forward.

But, I also updated everything else ThinkVantage suggested, including BIOS, which I hesitated abit for second, because of the previous MB breaking. No problems so far and the laptop even feels faster.

 

Woot!!! Thank you so much dear sir, I greatly appreciate that. You just saved me $200+, and Im gonna be a Thinkpad user next few weeks

Wow, that is unbeatable price mate! As mushypizza suggested, i got mine for the price of 950$ shipped, which is still really good for me. Actually for that deal, minimum RAM option is 4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM), so Im planning to add another 4GB later. Do you think another 1333MHz 4GB like Gskill or corsair can compatible with it?

 

Is it normal for the performance to be significantly lower on the i5-2520m when there is no battery plugged in (using the 65W adapter), or is this a configurable setting? Using the Resident Evil 5 benchmark as an example, the fixed benchmark has an average of 45fps with the battery in the laptop and 10-20fps when the battery is removed. I thought throttling only existed on the i7 models.

If this is the way the laptop is designed, is it safe to assume that when using a program that stresses the CPU and GPU, the battery will discharge since the 65W adapter does not provide enough power for the laptop to run the program?

 

This is fixed with a BIOS Update. I use a 90W AC Adapter to be on the safe side anyway.

 

I thought the i7 throttling issue with a 65W adapter at all times is what was fixed, not this problem with the i5. I might just get a 90W adapter, is it safe to get an older one from eBay or should I get a new one from lenovo?

 

@sciencefair, that behavior is by design as far as I remember. The battery needs to be inserted, and the reasoning I recall was that the 65W adapter did not provide enough peak power if the machine is pushed to its limit. Whether that is true or not I have not tested. I do have a kill-a-watt meter so I will test peak power consumption when I get the opportunity (I have a 2520M in mine).

 

Just loaded mine up (i72620M, IPS) with 16GB of RAM. This thing is now my portable VMWare workstation. Loving it.

 

Im sorry, but I was looking for awhile but couldnt find a solution for a good usb 3.0 express card for my x220 yet. Could anybody please suggest me one? Thanks in advance!

 

The logic board on my poor seven month old X220T bit the dust last night. So far Lenovo support has been great and is sending out a tech with a replacement board tomorrow. A PSA for X220/T owners; this is a known issue for some models :

Re: X220 - no post and green light around power bu... - Page 6 - Lenovo Community

 

AKE Laptop Notebook 54mm Express USB3.0 3 port 5GB/s HUB T Card adapter FL1100 | eBay

 

hi i also x220 users and i bought it 1 week ago..This laptop is very robust and light..i hope will not meet any problem in the future.
btw what is the best ssd for X220 around 128GB and my question is, how to clone the data from my old drive into new ssd.
thanks..

 

Though benchmarks will show some differences between models, this will not be significant in use.
I'd recommand going with either Intel or Crucial as these brands have the lowest RMA rates.

Intel provides a cloning software with their SSD (may depend on packaging) but some other cloning software should be able to do the job.

Note that the X220 requires a 7mm high SSD. To my knowledge, only Crucial sells some.
Some regular 9.5mm ones can be modified by removing a plastic spacer. This can be done very easily on Intel 320 and Crucial M4. You'll just need to buy shorter screws.

 

The Intel 320 ist already 7mm in height. As already mentioned, the spacer is ususally fitted to increase it to 9,5mm.

There are some 7mm Crucial M4 Versions, but I am not sure if they are labeled. The Samsung 830 is also a 7mm SSD. There are no spacers available for the 830.

When transferring your Install onto an SSD you will need to check the alignment. It is probably better to just install Windows on the SSD from scratch. It doesn't take long and you will be on the safe side.

 

Glad others have had a better experience than me with the X220. First one I got, fairly bad backlight bleed and the fan was inordinately noisy. Second one, even worse, plus the finish on the lid was _terrible_. Third one, even WORSE than the first two, plus new issues, including flickering backlight and dead pixels. Plus, it took over a month to get the replacement.

Returning for a refund at this point. Guess Lenovo wasn't for me. Shame, too; I really liked the design.

 

hmm...that was very bad experience.btw where are u from?
maybe u must angry in lenovo centre and tell about your problem.and u must threat them by put your complain into the forum..=p...good luck

it means, if i buy crucial m4 tomorrow, i just"PLUG AND PLAY" without any kind of modification?