ThinkPad X220 Info/Ordering/Shipping Thread

Thanks for that review bsoft!

Hopefully it's not too much better than the U2311H - I just ordered that display lol!

Good deal for sure! I'm jealous. I can't seem to get a lesser equipped X220 for lower than $1166 CDN!

Wayne

 

Got mine today as well. No complaints except for the fan noise, but installing tpfancontrol fixed it right up!

The display is really fantastic. Lots of power in a compact package, I love it. Short palm rest doesn't bother me.

Time to pass on the sony z to my wife.

 

Thanks to everyone who has posted impressions. I hope to receive my X220 late this week or early next (ground shipping within Canada).

 

I am also bothered by the fan noise. Does anyone have this problem where it will work at about 85% speed for 5 seconds, then jump to about 100% for one second, then down to 85% for 5 seconds, then 100% for one second, and so on?

 

The X220 has issues with fan noise? Seriously?!
I figured it would be more or less silent like the T420.
There's always something...

 

You have to file down the screws to use an X25-M SSD? How much do you have to file them down?

 

Did you do a clean install of Windows 7?

 

Nope, using Lenovo's image

 

Can anyone tell me how warm the laptop runs while doing simple tasks like surfing the web?

 

Hm. I know alot of people were discussing how the main difference between the 2410 and the 2520 i5 processors was the fact that the 2520 i5 processor supported VT-x (hardware virtualization). Is this actually supported by Lenovo though? (As in have they actually implemented this feature in BIOS?)

I'm asking this because my VAIO, although it has a T7500 processor (which is listed on intel's site as VT-X capable), it doesn't have an option in BIOS to enable hardware virtualization, and as such when I was trying to run something today in VMWare which required hardware virtualization, it complained to me that my host didn't support hardware virtualization, so it couldn't run. Confused, I looked up my processor and also installed and ran Intel's CPU Identification utility, which both indicated that VT-X was supported by the T7500. However upon some further googling, I stumble across this following phrase: "2 Intel® Virtualization Technology is not supported on VAIO" (this was off of some VAIO AR series product brochure).

Will I run into this kind of garbage with a thinkpad..?


Edit: More info here: http://www.designisphilosophy.com/w...ion-on-vaio-computers-past-present-or-future/

 

i would be very surprised if lenovo disabled vt-x in the BIOS.

my thinkpad x61s and t60 both have the option to enable vt-x in BIOS.

my more recent thinkcentre m58p also has it in BIOS as well.

to have lenovo disable vt-x on a business laptop would be very unusual.

 

Whew. I was scared. I've never owned a Thinkpad before so I wouldn't know and won't be able to check. I just purchased an X220t, and if Lenovo pulls this kind of bull I might just have to go cancel my order. Thank goodness they don't.

Edit: LOL at the language filter.. changing it to bull. hahahahahaha

 

sony has been irrelevant in the desktop/laptop scene for quite some time. i'm surprised people still buy sony computers.

 

This laptop was purchased 4-5 years ago. I looked at a Thinkpad at the time, and couldn't justify the price for the performance. (I think I was looking at some $2k+ for a P4 ULV processor.. vs <$2k for a Core2Duo from Sony..)

Also. Learned something new today. Your CPU can support hardware virtualization but if your vendor is crap you still don't get access to it.

 

Both 2410 and 2520 support Intel VT-x. But what the 2410 doesn't support compared to the 2520 is Intel VT-d which allows VM's direct access to the I/O bus.

Even so, not having Intel VT-d doesn't mean you cannot run VM's, both processors will in fact happily allow you do virtualization without major problems.

 

Oh, my bad. I think my main concern was even though the processor supported it, it had to be enabled by the BIOS, so if it was locked off through BIOS, it didn't matter if the processor supported VT-x or not.

 

This is an update from 4/29. The price of x220t (42962WU) was lowered to $1,247.78 which is $26.75 lower from my original order, so I asked for the difference.

==================================
Hello,

I checked on the status of your order for you. The price has been changed to the current price of $1,247.78 for you. I did receive and attach a copy of that updated Sales Order showing the new price. The estimated time of arrival for stock to come in is around 5/5/11. ( Please note: This is an estimated time only and can change.)"
==================================

They will be shipping x220t out to customers after 5/5/2011.

 

Oh? The response I got from my sales rep regarding my x220t order is:

Just saw the newest supply report - on the X220 tablet, there was a system wide constraint so we're still sitting at 5/17 right now. It's my understanding though that these orders have been prioritized and supply/manufacturing is well aware of that. They are moving to get the tablets out ASAP. Will keep you posted - feel free to ask in at any time. Sorry for the delay - I wish there was more that I could do - I mean I'd build it with my own hands if I could but I gotta go with what they give me.


(config is in signature).

 

Why would lenovo ever lock a VT-d feature in the bios? It's not like there's a compatibility problems or anything. It may be disabled by default, and you just have to flip it on.

-edit
I didn't know sony would do such a thing. That's just horrible.
I have a x61t and x61s which has core2duo L7500. They both have VT-d selectable in bios. I'm pretty sure x220 all have that option too.

-edit 2
intel i5-2520m has VT-d in addition to VT-x. VT-d is directed IO.
intel i5-2410m only has VT-x. This is the only reason why I bought 2520m for my wife's. Clock speed difference are negligible IMO.

 

Exactly. Thats what I thought about my Vaio. I was like.. there is no point in disabling VT-d/x in BIOS. When I actually tried to use that feature however, it didn't work.. so it prompted me to go look into it. Hence my concern about if Lenovo did the same. Some techs made up some bs about compatibility when people called in to complain, but the link in the post I made earlier pretty much confirms that Sony does stupid shady things.

 

i checked with the rep today, apparently the free 4gb upgrade is suppose to be only for edge and t series notebooks. i guess it's an error on lenovo's site. however they do honor it, so I would take advantage it while it lasts.

 

If you make a quote, it doesn't mean anything until you order it right? If I find a better deal later, can I disregard it completely?

 

Yes, that is true.

 

Is there anything against multiple quotes?

 

Nope I made like 4 because I kept noticing parts that I forgot lol. No problems yet.

 

It is not that far fetched: Lenovo artificially blocked SATA 2 in the T60 series.

 

t60 has Sata 1. you're referring to the x61/t61 series which had sata 2. at the time, no hard drives could exceed the bandwidth on the sata 1 channel, and i don't believe there were any ssd for consumers for sale during that time.

 

You're right. It took like two years until people started seeing the problem. Lenovo advertised this as sata2 in their tabook, and never fixed the problem. At least now there is a modified bios from the community that enables sata2. I have my x61t and x61s both modded.

 

As much as I know, there are no SATA 6 drives available now from lenovo. But because of the user feedback back from the 6x series, Lenovo decided to not block SATA 6 on the new x20 series. You can read more about that on lenovoblogs.com

 

that may be part of the reason, but also because it won't be too long before there are 7mm sata 6 drives available. the ocz vertex 3 is a sata 6 drive but it only comes in a 9.5mm casing.

i guess lenovo didn't see anything breaking the artificial sata 2 barrier on their t61/x61 series anytime soon. like someone mentioned earlier, it took almost 2 years before we had any hard drives that could use all that bandwidth. lenovo is a business, they want you to upgrade your computers every 2 years, the more frequent, the better.

 

Hi guys,

I'm about to order an x220 from the UK online store, but I wanted some advice please, if possible.

- ThinkPad UltraBase 3 - does anyone think this is worth having?
- System Expansion slots: USB modem and/or Gemplus 54mm ExpressCard Smart Card Reader - what is this used for? Worth getting?
- Power cords: One UK listed and one EU listed - the EU one is labelled as "WWAN enabled", while the UK one is not... why?
- I want to be able to use my 3g sim in this laptop, so do I have to spend £97 for the "Integrated Mobile Broadband (Ericsson F5521 gw)" option?

Any guidance appreciated.

Thanks,
Petrov.

 

Petrov-
Ultrabase - depends if you need more expansion ports than are available on the X220
Gemplus - only needed if you have an in-house smartcard system. Not for personal use.
3g - the mobile broadband card is the data radio. You need it if you are going to use the SIM. The alternative is to use a USB data dongle which is much cheaper, or even free with some data plans. That's what I'll be doing.

 

Can anyone who has their x220 do a favour for me.
Can you chuck a linux live cd in (pref. linux mint or ubuntu) and tell me if everything works?

 

Tracking says mine's supposed to come in tomorrow, sooo excited!

 

hey great thanks for the info! i totally did not know about the price difference, so they price matched it for me as well excited to hopefully be getting the tablet soon!!

 

I see the X220 has very recently been added as being “Certified with 10.10- Preinstalled Only” on the Ubuntu web site (The following url gives the details

Ubuntu on Lenovo | Ubuntu


I would like to know the same thing for Centos 6 (Scientific Linux 6 actually, since Centos 6 is not available yet), although I kind of doubt it since someone on another forum had to go all the way up to Fedora 15 Beta to get things to work. That would be acceptable as well, although I still would like to know if anything does not work. Thinkpads have a good history of working with Linux, but if there were any major problems with the X220 and Sandy Bridge in particular, it would be a deal breaker for me.

I am also going to read general reviews on the various forums as well for a while yet, to make sure there are no major hardware integrity problems or annoyances with the X220, especially since it is a model refresh (Its like buying a first year new vehicle refresh.....bad idea, especially without knowing what the track record is going to be). Besides, Home Depot and Walmart products have put a really bad taste in my mouth for anything built in China, Thinkpad past good reputation or not.

 

That's pretty awesome. Wonder what they mean by "preinstalled only" though -- Lenovo doesn't even offer Ubuntu preinstalled!

 

I'll be getting my X220 today, and installing Ubuntu 11.04 via Unetbootin.
Think I'll spin off a separate thread for it and report my experience. Let me know if there's anything specific I should test.

 

My X220 is getting closer to me, but I just checked the tracking and saw this update:

Louisville, KY, United States 05/03/2011 10:40 A.M. Warehouse entry clearance details, necessary for customs clearance, have been requested from the receiver.
Louisville, KY, United States 05/01/2011 9:54 A.M. Arrival Scan

Oddly, my delivery date was bumped up a day, and is now Wednesday instead of Thursday.

Anyone know whats going on with that status?

 

Just a quick update. My first ordered x220 i5 arrived today. I place that order on April 21st. It is killing me to not be able to open it and have to send it back. The status on my April 28th order for an i7 model has not changed.

The first order arrived a day earlier than initially scheduled.

 

Same here. One day early for some reason. Not complaining either.

Edited: Changed again. Now its back to Thursday 5th. Back and fourth, back and fourth. Goodness

 

Ordered my X220 on 4/29 (Friday) and order status page shows estimated ship date of 5/19.

How accurate has the estimated ship date been for those who have received their X220?

 

Sony has been [expletive deleted][expletive deleted] to the world for quite some time. I'm surprised people who know this still buy sony anything.



Any tablets shipped or arrived yet?

 

Well, I ordered my X220T on the 19th and have had a shipping date ever since listed as 5/30! No, I didn't get anything terribly odd on it, and nothing which sent up any flags during the ordering process. In fact, I turned down adding Bluetooth because it said it would add an extra four days or so. I kept hoping that the 5/30 was just some sort of typo in the system and it really meant 4/30, but of course, it wasn't. I got in touch with customer support yesterday and was told that my system was scheduled to be shipped out the week of May 10th and that since it had already been assigned a warehouse, it would probably be out sooner, rather than later. I'm hoping that's correct, for sure!

So, does anyone know why the tablets are so delayed compared to the laptop version, which has been shipping in what seems like droves? Has anyone gotten a tablet at all?

 

From the tablet forums, nobody has gotten anything either.

 

My ship date was listed as May 9th but I received a shipping notice on April 30th.

 

Same for me too. Mine 'arrived' in Louisville Sunday at 6.45am and is still there. Finally today it was updated with 'Exception', but the delivery date was moved up to tomorrow! I'm in Virginia and am a little skeptical, but at least the 'the wheels are turning' at UPS!

 

well this is lame...

i ordered my X220 on 4/21 and my status STILL says "In Process"...

anyone stuck in the same boat as me? i feel like im the only one


---------
Lenovo x220 | i7-2620M | 4GB RAM | Intel 160GB SSD | IPS | Bluetooth 3.0 | Fingerprint | 9 Cell Battery

 

Not my order, but my company's batch was ordered around 22nd or 23rd and still stuck in process. IBM's tracker shows "Scheduled to ship" so I'm assuming they are built and ready to go out soon.

 

Aw, come on guys, the anticipation is the best part!

Ordered 4/28 EST ship date 5/18