ThinkPad X220 (i/T) Owners Thread

Yes, I do have a bluetooth module. They did not screw up my order.

 

Same as above except:

-No 'Adjust Plan Brightness' listed.
-Dimmed display brightness 10%
-No 'Javascript Timer Frequency' listed.

Also interesting, there are many more Lenovo power plans according to BatteryBar than's what's shown in Power Manager. The hidden ones must be what's available in when you use the slider in Basic mode.

Posting this from the factory image. Interestingly, even though I had already used the factory install when I first got the machine, when I came back to it after using the msata install, the hdd install acted like it was a brand new installation and sure enough I had to setup everything again and all the old files were gone, hmm. On max performance, power consumption is 11-12W. One Max Battery it's 7.3-7.8W (usually 7.7-7.8 on NBR). I'll post these results again from the clean install on the ssd.

 

Very impressive. I'm curious to know how much that 8GB of RAM boosted your score. I recall seeing somewhere a dramatic increase by going from 4gb to 8gb.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty confident that most real-world tasks won't see a significant increase in performance.

 

I think we had the same question: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/568751-thinkpad-x220-i-t-owners-thread-6.html#post7401293

Of course, the only way to know for sure is to try one out. Mine will be arriving in a week or so. I hope it's a relatively quiet laptop. If I'm unsatisfied, I may look at Macbook Airs more seriously.

 

Browsing on NBR, the clean install on Max Battery is using 8.7-9W. This and on the factory image were on brightness setting 7. On Max Performance (full brightness), it's between 13-13.3W. Mind you this is with the ssd vs. hdd on the factory image, so tack on at least another .5W in difference.

 

OK I think this Conexant audio is crap compared to Realtek. Also is there no way to get Chiral scrolling? And wow TPfancontrol works wonders!

 

Great information! Thanks. The research continues...

Also...

Next on the list of things to do is Black Viper the Win7 services. Maybe as "ferganer80" stated, that is the equivalent of EE2.0 and at least 1 reason why factory has better battery life. Regardless it will cut back on overhead CPU/RAM/SDD usage.



Sources:

Black Viper’s Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Service Configurations | Black Viper's Website | www.blackviper.com

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/572616-t420-msata-uefi-only-20-sec-boot.html

 

See my last post in this thread.

 

Ok, fresh copy of Win 7 Ultimate and everything is working except for on screen display and BT.

I know the FN key combo is working as I can see the screen dim but the display is not showing.
No BT, and yes I have the it on.

I am going to reinstall again.

One thing is my fan is unnoticeable, and no heat.

Fixed- reinstalled each software.

 

What is your BIOS version?

 

1.11
But I reinstalled the same Bio over again.

Also, everything is running super smooth, fast.
After I installed win 7 Ult. I ran the WEI and I ended up with lower score then when I had Win 7 Pre.

need to play around with it some more, tomorrow.

 

It's there today - at least for the moment.

Lenovo Support - Lenovo ThinkVantage Toolbox for Windows 7 (64-bit) and Vista (64-bit) - Desktops / Notebooks / WorkStations

You are correct, it was missing yesterday.

 

I got it. Anybody with the IPS screen having some "issues"? Go to this forum, it is not that dark and saturated on a non IPS display. I think the screen in general might not some calibrating or adifferent color profile? Not sure.

 

You need to run Windows update or manually install the .icc profile for this screen.

 

I don't know, but the contrast ratio is higher [500:1] on the IPS displays. This would result in darker blacks.

 

The monitor files are located at: C:\SWTOOLS\DRIVERS\MONITOR

 

OK so what do I do with them? I have never needed or wanted calibrated a display before. I see in the Color Management there are plenty of options.

 

This is the one you want. I doubt Windows has the X220 IPS profile built in:

http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/79oi24ww.exe

I'm not using it. What's accurate is too red for me, I've reduced red level slightly through Windows calibration.

 

Hows the battery life on the 6 cell?

I have done my first run and not impressed.
I have it on optimized
Screen 10
3hrs and 37 min

I will test again with other settings.

 

I put it on the Lenovo "Max Battery Life" plan for a few minutes and saw according to windows just under 5 hours with a Youtube video playing, then it jumped to 9 hours and then 8 when I was just browsing.

 

I will keep testing.
Max battery life does not work for me in real life situations - everyday use.

My real world use is very different than the ones most makers use to determin the battery life.
I think I am going to order a 9 cell to have as a backup.
BTW- this was w/ WIFI off.

 

I got about 4 hours on my 6 cell. This was with a terabyte drive attached and copying files to it the entire time, installing programs, listening to music, watching anime, wifi on, and brightness around 13.


Im sure if I am just browsing the web, working on word/excel/powerpoint, that I can get 8 hours.

 

I have an Energizer energi to go and I need a tip to connect it to the x220. Does anyone know if the x201 and x220 use the same power connector? Because, energizer only has tips for the x201.

Tip Finder | Energizer® Energi To Go® Rechargeable Power Packs

 

Does the 9 cell raise the back of the laptop up like the 6 cell? Or does it sit more flush(bottom) like the 4 cell?

If anyone has, or can take a pic from the side with a 9 cell would be greatly appreciated.

 

My battery life isn't too impressive, either. currently at 76% and it's showing 5:44 left (brightness at 12). Doing nothing but browsing.

Interestingly enough, while this is what the Lenovo battery meter reports, the built in Windows battery meter reports much higher figures, around 35% higher. But going by time passed using the laptop and remaining percentages I think Lenovo one is accurate

 

Battery life seems fine to me - never meets the advertized specs. Running whatever it came with out of the box, used ~10% in about 1:15 or so of basic web browsing (9 cell, brightness around 7-8, IPS, i5, HDD for now). Showing 7:45 or so remaining at 80% battery life, while downloading a large file. My expectation is 11 hours of real world light usage at this point.

System is relatively quiet - quieter than my Asus netbook was when it was set to "super performance" mode (overclocked the poor Atom to 1.83Ghz), but not silent (It's louder than the netbook in power saving mode). Fan is a fairly high pitch. Haven't really stressed the laptop too much but from what I see it doesn't get very warm, either.

The language, on the other hand... good thing I know some Spanish! (Apparently I didn't notice the web order form changed to Spanish when the OS was changed to home premium. Called support and am having English OS discs shipped. Oops! Waited 10 minutes on hold, the tech support guy was nice and understood my issue, apologized for the mixup (and he noted to me that the guy next to him was dealing with the exact same problem)

Build quality is superb - definitely a notch better than the x201. No battery wobble (first thinkpad I've ever touched with no wobble), the chassis is extremely tight. Can push pretty hard against the back of the display without messing it up, keyboard is more solid than the one on my old 17" Dell (which was very good in and of itself). I don't like the clickpad. The trackpoint is good, no different from any other Thinkpad I've used in recent years.

The screen? Wow. The screen. It is perfect. It is everything you could possibly expect from a 12.5" 1366x768 laptop display. It's bright. The matte coating is *awesome* - there is no sparkle at all. You know how some glossy screens are less glossy? This is a matte screen that is slightly less matte. I've seen them before, but not on laptops. Colors aren't oversaturated but it's clear the gamut is quite wide compared to most laptop screens. I won't bother calibrating it with my Huey until I get the english OS and SSD installed, but I think this will make a decent, if a bit low in the resolution department machine for photo editing.

Performance is snappy with 6GB of RAM and the 5400RPM drive. Boot is a bit slow, maybe 45-50 seconds, but the SSD will alleviate that.

 

Yeh, my windows battery is higher than the lenovo too.. 6:20 @ 86% @ 3 brightness. I'm pretty happy =]

 

Saw and mentioned that a short time ago, noticing that the sale website had the OS in Spanish, not english, so I canceled it and waited a day later. Guess you missed the Memo

 

I am looking at the following (note: PC3 10600, not PC3 8500):

G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBSQ
Newegg.ca - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBSQ

I asked about it below and got confirmation that it is the correct memory:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...-plus-some-other-questions-2.html#post7451146

Cheers,
Wayne

 

The 9 cell is not flush with the bottom of the laptop. It gives you mayyybe 1/4-5/16" of lift. It looks worse if you're looking at the bottom of the laptop, but if you look at where the rubber nubs sit, the difference isn't very much. The cylindrical cells protrude from the bottom of the machine. It is tight, no wobble, even if I pick the laptop up, open, by the battery.

 

Got the battery meter by reinstalling the power stuff. I love the amount of control the Lenovo software gives you, have never had so many options. And TPfancontrol is still amazing.

 

Indeed. It was quite hilarious. I was rather excited, opened the box, turned it on, and it was in Spanish. ? I was a bit dissapointed, but it's not that big of a deal. Should have new OS disks on Friday or Monday.

Using the computer for now is a bit strange, but I'll just use it like I used my netbook for the time being.

 

Wow, just got a replacement keyboard today and the trackpoint is miles better! There's no comparison to the old keyboard. Right mouse button doesn't rattle and this I might be imagining but the keys are softer to type on as well.

They have different FRUs and their stickers are different. Also on the old keyboard, the trackpoint mechanism was black. In the new one it is red. So it seems to be different trackpoints too.

The only downside is that the ThinkVantage button plastic has flex now but oh well. The volume buttons are better too, now I can press them with normal force and they'll register. With the old one they would make a click as if it went through, but I had to press harder for the computer to register.

best part is the trackpoint. It's great, now I can make circles with it when before it would make eliptical shapes when I tried to move it in a circle. Much much more accurate movements!!

 

Yikes this fan doesn't sound good...(I don't have one...yet ) Have any of you tried to open it up and see the fan? I wonder if there is a quieter fan that you can replace it with...or add a resistor on the cable.

By the way, has anyone checked the CPU to see if it's soldered on? I know it probably is, but I still have that tiny bit of hope that it's not lol...

 

I believe I read that the chip is soldered on

 

I have read that the fan is fairly high pitched by a few people. Mine is almost silent. I can hear the whoosh of the air if I put my ear to the vent but other than that I don't notice it. I do have tpfancntrl running but the settings don't seem to affect the sound much, only the temperature. I currently have it set to manual "2" for 3000 rpm and a good temperature.

Anyone know if constant fan speed eats up more battery than variable?

 

Definitely something is off with my install or setting, I will need to resolve later at home.

Full charged - running 3 excel pages, no wifi, power setting at max battery except for the screen brightness - set to 12
12-15 Wtt
bouncing around 2.45 hrs - 3.06

 

I'm thinking about going back to the factory image. The factory install has always given lower power consumption than a clean install in every Thinkpad I've used and I'd rather have longer battery life than the faster pre-OS boot especially since I use stand-by so much. As posted above I saw 1-1.5W difference just browsing, and that ends up being a lot to battery when total usage is only 7-8W.

 

Could you post some pics with the 9-cell battery? Only seem to be able to find the 6-cell pics everywhere.

Thanks

 

It's very high pitched, but quiet. So it carries across a quiet room pretty well, but it's easily drowned out by other ambient sounds (A/C, music, etc.).

My Asus UL30A has a fan running as loud or louder, but it's much lower-pitched so it's not as bothersome.
But I think the X220 was designed to run with the fan off unless it's under a significant load.

 

Sure. When I get home from work. In 8 hours.

 

What RAM specs should I be shopping for?
There's some variance in a few of the specs:
- CAS latency: some have 7, some have 9
- MHz: 1066MHz or 1333MHz
- PC3 random(): 10600, 10660 or 10666

 

Factory ram is CL9 and 1333, don't know what this affects. People have said 10600, 10660, 10666 doesn't matter.

EDIT: I meant to say 1333 does matter, but not sure if CL9 is important or you can use CL7.

 

Has anyone using the factory image updated drivers? There are new Hotkey features, Power Manager, Wifi and ultranav drivers among others. Is power consumption the same as before updating? This is always a ' if it ain't broke.. thing for me.

 

I will be home in the next hour and will start the new install.
I plan on using the factory Image I made. I will see if my battery life improves and to see if my WEI scores go back up. Not sure if win 7 Ult, Pro or HM pre. has any effect. So far my best WEI and battery came from factory install running win 7 Home.
Worst Wei and battery was from a clean install with none of the think software and running win 7 Ult. I am going to try Win 7pro 1st tonight and see how that performs.

 

The factory image power consumption on the 310 80gb vs. clean install is pretty large for some reason. 7.1-7.2W vs. 8.7-9W (max battery, brightness 7)

As I'm typing this and browsing various pages to try to get it to go up, it's 6.0-6.2W and holding (max battery, brightness 7).

 

CL refers to the sticks main timing. The lower the number the faster it will be, but it will only really be noticeable in benchmarks.

10600 and such are the raw speeds of the RAM. I think I read a while ago that X220 supports up to 10600 but not sure. Either way it won't make any real difference. RAM these days is just RAM. They all work and work pretty much just the same. 5-10 years ago it was a different story, but now they're like HDMI cables. Either they work or they don't.

Note that while the X220 might support up to 10600 only, it doesn't mean you can't use "faster" RAM. It will just downclock to 10600

 

Have any of you guys installed SP1 after a clean install?

I'm pondering doing that, wondering if it is even worth it. Everything seems good now... always worry about service packs messing up my system. Any real benefits to this one?


I also do agree on the fan making a real high pitched whine. Although mine really doesn't come on that often and it does run real cool. Maybe an updated bios will take care of the fan issues.

 

Factory install comes with SP1 and ferganer in the UEFI thread said the Intel HD doesn't play nice if you don't have SP1. In the clean install I didn't try loading the drivers without it.

 

Can everyone post their fan experiences on this thread I made on the official Lenovo forum? It will probably make them fix it faster (if at all, seeing I'm the only one so far that reported it on their forum)

X220 - fan constantly on / revving up and down - Lenovo Community