ThinkPad X220 Info/Ordering/Shipping Thread

Just as a note (since it surprised me): Getting the screen with the 3x3 antenna rules out getting the camera. There's no note on the screen selection that this is the case, and the camera option will just not be there if you've selected the 3x3 antenna.

I was not aware of this when I ordered. Oh well, I can keep my record of not having a webcam.

 

how many of you actually get the extended warranty?
I never do because if there's a problem with the component, it will usually fail within the first year, which is covered.
After that it's probably normal wear and tear on the components, the most likely ones to fail being the fan, battery and the hard drive, which are easily user serviceable & replaceable. For the cost of $300 I can buy a honeycomb tablet instead. It's just my opinion but I don't think warranty is ever worth it.
Accidental protection is good if you're clumsy I guess...

 

yup, this has been covered numerous times in this thread, but I guess you're just as lazy as me in not wanting to scroll through old posts

 

For quite a few of us who are getting this machine as a college computer, I think I would prefer the warranty over a honeycomb tablet. A (1-year depot) to (3 year on-site w/ accidental) damage upgrade is merely $200 (list price is $260ish but several reps have sent me quotes for it for around $200). Its not so much "if you're clumsy," its more for the peace of mind. I'm normally super careful with my laptop, but even then life happens. (I was biking to campus once and the chain on my bike locked up and sent me flying--laptop too. The laptop was fine, but that just as easily could have been a completely destroyed laptop at the speed that I was biking. This wasn't clumsy, this was just life happening.)

Also, for those who got the X220t, the usage conditions are quite different from the standard laptop. The tablet itself (by design) has a less sturdy hinge to accommodate the tablet/swivel screen. That coupled with the fact that the usage style for a tablet involves it being passed around more leads to higher changes of accidents happening to it.

That said though, with the Thinkpad build quality, the extended warranty by itself is pretty useless. The fact that you can get Accidental Damage tacked on for a very insignificant cost is the real reason to purchase it.

 

no, six-cell

 

quite disappointed to see that the display doesn't seem to be held in place (closed) by magnets (at least with the touch)

YouTube - Lenovo X220 Tablet - Rotation + Latch

is the screen also this loose with the display closed and with the x220 (non-tablet)? If it is THAT loose even closed, I'd call this a huge design flaw.

 

im thinking there are some shortage of parts. i ordered the x220 11 days ago and still haven't received a shipping confirmation.

 

No, no, I scrolled through them and read them all. Or at least I thought I did.

I must just be overloaded.

 

I don't know if this is normal..but it seems like shipping time = really long. I ordered and got my T400 in about a week a few years ago. Order date for this machine is 4/29, est. ship date is 5/24. Also, I'm bad with computers..is this config good for the price (878.04+tax). I plan to buy a micro SSD and put it in the wwan port, bad idea/good idea? Or should I just shell out some more money for a bigger SSD. I mean...I'm using the machine for law school, so I don't NEED faster speed, but more reliability is a good thing.

INTEL CORE I5-2520M PROC
GENWIN7HOMEPREM64
GEN WIN7 HOME PRM64 EN
12.5PRMHDLDBCLTDPYMBBBRDAN
2GBPC3-10600DDR3 1333SODMM
NO FINGERPRINT READER
CAMERA, HD 720P
250GB HRDDSK DRV,5400RPM
NO MSSDRIVE
TP BATTERY 29++(9CELL)
INT WRLSSWDAREANTWRK UPGR

 

lhleet- Correct me if I'm wrong, but a few people have said that the 9 cell batteries are in short supply, thus making shipping times longer. Could be a number of things.

Also, if you don't need a faster laptop, why not consider the x220i?

 

Ahh, I see. I'm browsing the thread right now (I posted before reading; I apologize if this irked anyone). The difference between the x220i and my x220 was around $80-$100. I felt that for whatever reason I might need more power in the future, I wouldn't have to worry about it and that $80-$100 is not too steep a price to pay.

Also, I am upset that 2-3 days after I ordered my machine, they have an offer to upgrade RAM for $0! It seems like this always happens to me.

 

EDIT: Wrong thread

 

Eh, that happens. There will always be a better deal in the future. You'd never have a laptop if you keep waiting for a better deal.

 

How do you get the IPS screen? They don't call it flexview right? I heard it's an option but nothing designates as such.

 

It was called FlexView back in the day, but I don't think they're calling it that now. On the CTO page it's called HD premium. That's the IPS screen.

 

Thx ZaZ. Surprised it's only $50, wow. HP's IPS is like $500 option and back in the day IBM flexview was ~ $200 option. Do you happen to know if Lenovo makes any other laptop with IPS or only x220?

 

Believe me you're weren't the only one who was surprised at the price of the IPS upgrade. As I recall the SXGA+ FlexView was usually a $250 upgrade on the T60, but right at the end, they were giving them away. They were probably trying to clearance them.

Right now the X220 and tablet version are the only ThinkPads with IPS screens. I'm hopeful as Lenovo figures out how to do this on the X220, it'll trickle down to other machines. Something like the T420s with an IPS WXGA+ LCD would be an absolute killer machine in my opinion, but sometimes you got to just wait it out.

 

So I finally bit the bullet on a system yesterday, and the shipping date was supposed to be 5/24, but I checked it today and it's listed as 6/1. I need to go out of town on 6/11 and I won't be back until September. How are Lenovo's shipping estimates? Are they usually generous? Or should I not expect to get my laptop in time...

 

I ordered my x220 through the lenovo UK store on Wed (4 May). It had originally said to expect 1-2 weeks before shipping. I got an email today Sun (8 May) saying it had shipped and I should expect it in 3-5 business days.

I'll believe it when I see it, but seems a lot quicker than I expected.

Incidentally, I got a 10% further discount upon speaking to the digital river people directly who manage the lenovo uk online store. They were quite helpful.

Went for the i7, etc. Upgrading to 8gb RAM separately. Plan to upgrade to SSD when the UK finally stocks some 7mm SSD drives (can't find the Micron C400 anywhere over here...).

Petrov.

 

Other than the VT technology the 2520M has, does it have any other benefits over the 2410M? What exactly does VT-d have over VT-x?

 

its not VT-d over VT-x. VT-d is hardware virtualization support for direct IO, whereas VT-x is hardware virtualization support for execution. You can't compare the two because they're completely different things. The 2520 has BOTH VT-x and VT-d whereas the 2410 only has VT-x.

If you don't use VMWare (or even know what that is for that matter) then you shouldn't worry about either.

 

i feel ya brother.
I ordered my non-tablet X220 on the 21st (19 Days ago?) and my status STILL says "In Process" and nothing has changed on the IBM site either.

I dont understand how the process works, but order priority is definitely not a concern to them. I called yesterday and they said my order was supposed to ship out yesterday (but it didnt) so now i dont know what to do. Im pretty jelly to see all these people order ahead of time and i am left with the short end of the stick.

So you're not alone!

 

They tend to be conservative. The majority will receive their notebook before the ship date, but if a part in your machine goes low in stock, you'll wait. I suppose you could wait for a bit to see if it ships. If it does not and you need to cancel, you can. Then just get a pre-configured machine, but that'll probably be more expensive.

My own X220i was ordered on 4/20 and doesn't ship until 6/3. I don't know if it's the i3, I don''t know of anyone who has gotten an i3 CTO machine, the WiFi card or perhaps upgraded hard drive that's causing the delay. It's not very transparent over there. It'd be nice if you could call and figure what's holding things up and fix it, but the reps probably don't know much either and I'm sure they're tired of hearing "where's my notebook?". I figure if I cancel now and re-order, the new order one would probably come around the same time. I think I'm doomed to wait it out, but I'm hopeful that it'll ship before 6/3. The part that sucks for me is I sold my tablet right before I bought my X220i. I suppose could have bought one before I sold my tablet, but then my tablet never would have sold so easily. As always in life, there's few easy choices.

 

Yes. Aside from the obviously greater base clock speed of the 2520m, it also has a turbo clock speed 300 Mhz greater than the 2410. The 2520m also has a 100 Mhz GPU memory advantage over the 2410 which will provide better 3d performance. In addition to this, the 2520m also has AES and trusted execution technology.

 

I got an X220i CTO. Ordered 4/26, received 5/6. (Estimated ship date was 5/16, just for a further data point.)

I didn't upgrade the HD, but I did upgrade the screen and the WiFi card: IPS (of course) w/3x3 antenna, and an Ultimate-N 6300 WiFi card. (that supports the 3x3 antenna). Six-cell battery, fingerprint reader, Bluetooth.

Don't know if that helps, but it might help narrow down what's slowing things down.

It's taking them longer to ship my Trackpoint caps collection though.

 

This post might seem a bit irrelevant, but I found some pictures, seem to be official, with X220 and other unreleased-at-the-time-of-picture-upload laptops:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lenovoblogcz/ThinkPadX220#5579039604842469954
Could this be real that those X220 pics were made available already back in december/november, then how come no one found them?!
Or were they just shot on respective dates and uploaded later, seems like that the case.
Oh well, sorry for false alarm

 

I use VMWare, but nothing too intensive (testing Linux distros, that sort of thing). Doesn't VMWare work with VT-x as well?

 

I'm likely going to buy a Thinkpad X220 later today. I'm looking at the following specs:

• Core i5 2410m
• 2x2GB DDR3
• IPS Display
• 720p webcam
• 9-cell battery
• 250GB 5400rpm disk
• No fingerprint reader
• Intel WiFi-N card
• Win 7 HP x64 (will wipe and replace with Win 7 Pro x64)

I'll be purchasing either the 40GB or 80GB Intel 310 SSD separately for my Windows install, the 250GB disk will just be for files. I plan on replacing one of the sticks of memory with a 4GB stick of DDR3 I already have.
Is there anything I should change about the above specs? And is there anything that I should be aware of? This thread has provided me with a ton of info, I'm really very excited. Having a laptop again will be great

 

I did get a 9-cell battery.. hopefully that won't delay it too much.

 

It works without both of them. VT-x just speeds it up. VT-x and VT-d speeds it up even more. There are certain things that require VT-x, such as 64-bit virtualization.

 

My 2 cents' worth -

• IMHO 9-cell battery sticks out a bit and seems to defeat the purpose of having a small slim package; however if you travel and require more power then it's necessary
  
• Originally I stuck with the 250GB 5400rpm as I was also going to use it as a backup of sorts. However, even as a backup, having a smaller capacity and slower drive didn't really make sense to me *although I could use it with the Bell PVR*, hence I upgraded to 300 7200rpm.
  I don't know if I'm going to go mSata - if I were to upgrade to SSD, CAD190 for slower 80GB seems not as cost efficient as CAD500+ for 300GB intel 320. Perhaps someone can correct me as to the performance between the 2.

Cheers.

 

To me, the extra ~4hrs of battery life are more important than the extra ~.3lbs. I've always had the extended batteries, and the extra depth doesn't really bother me. I'm coming from a T42 that had ~12 minutes of battery life, thus vastly restricting what I could do with it. I'd really like to never have to worry about the status of my battery again. I do, however, view the slice as totally counter-productive.

I have a pretty firm ~$900 USD budget for the entire system. For that price, I can get the X220 as described and then an Intel 310 40GB. Currently, I have an X25-V 40GB in my desktop, and it's very fast, so I'm quite looking forward to the Intel 310. Honestly, I can't justify the price of a larger SSD when I could use a combination of the 310 and a mSATA SSD. But I will investigate the 320GB disk to see how much more expensive it is.

From what I've heard, the 80GB Intel 310 is right on par with the Intel X25-M G2 80GB, and the 40GB 310 is almost identical speed-wise to the 40GB X25-V (what I have).

 

How much does a Intel 310 go for? I think you're getting a great price on that system btw! I ordered a similar one (+ the i7, + BT) for a little over 900.

 

That's gotta hurt. Thanks for the info. That does help narrow it down a bit. I'm a cheapskate and didn't make many upgrades, just the IPS and the 320GB hard drive. Given that yours has shipped, the ThinkPad WiFi card or the hard drive seem like the best candidates at this point. Like I said, I'm probably doomed to wait it out at this point.

 

$100 for the 40GB, $180 for the 80gb (except it's out of stock on Newegg ATM).
I'm really thankful that my dad works at IBM, the employee discount is fantastic

That's pretty much my plan as well. I don't feel that I need an i7, a huge SSD, or a ton of RAM, but IMO the IPS display and 9-cell battery both seem like worthwhile upgrades.

 

I don't understand why you would get 2 sticks of 2gb ram each and replace one of the sticks with 4gb of ram which totals 6gb ram, WHEN for the same price you could have gotten 1 stick of 4gb ram (It is available at no extra cost as I noticed while doing a test quote) and then added the other 4gb of ram for a total of 8gb of ram? Unless you something against too much ram ! Since you read these threads, then you are aware that the 2410 is a stripped down processor, unlike the 2420. Everything else is a personal choice.

 

I would hardly consider it "stripped down". Compare Intel® Products,

The only difference (other than the .2ghz clock speed difference) is the lack of VT-d and TEP/AES-NI, neither of which most people will notice. Statements like these are what confuse the other readers of this forum.

 

It is indeed quite stripped down. Yes the 2410 not only lacks VT-d, trusted execution technology, and AES. In addition, its turbo clock is a full 300 Mhz less than the 2520, which is hardly insignificant.

The GPU clock is also 100 mhz less. Depending on how much you value those features, that can be quite stripped down.

 

Meh. I ordered the Trackpoint caps collection to try them out, as I have no idea what the differences are. My last real laptop was a PowerBook 540c, so I have no experience. (Well, I've worked on other people's laptops with Trackpoints, but only ever for a few minutes at a time.)

I just think it's odd. I mean, this can't be that big a piece of kit. I'd expect a shoebox in the warehouse somewhere to hold several hundred of them. And the can't coordinate the shipment with the laptop?

 

There was some sarcasm there. I think you may have missed it.

 

At least the way things were when I looked last night, 2x2gb is a free upgrade from a single 2gb stick, but a single 4gb stick isn't extra. But I'll check again, although 6gb would be great, I certainly wouldn't mind 8

I am aware that the 2410 isn't as fully featured as the 2520etc, but that doesn't really matter to me. It'll still be plenty fast for everything I need, and I don't think it would make sense to shell out extra money for no reason. I'll check again to see how much the price difference is, but unless it's a couple bucks, I don't think I'll spring for it.

 

Yep. Sorry, it's hard to tell through text.

Even if the 2x2GB is a free upgrade from the single, if you are just going to replace one of them why get it?

 

does nobody have an idea why the supposedly integrated magnets to hold down the display are so weak?

Watch this:
YouTube - Lenovo X220 Tablet - Rotation + Latch

They should have left the hinge in there if they didn't intend to install proper magnets like Apple does for instance. The display is not being held down AT ALL, can't even stay closed under it's own weight ...

design flaw! In this case the previous hinge would have been the way to go!

 

Not seeing the issue in mine, even running the same test. (Both with and without putting my fingers between the screen and the body before turning it upside down.)

 

but I suppose you have the x220 NON-tablet, right. I'm still hoping that Mr. Andersen has a pre-release unit that is missing the magnets!

 

I'm going to be stealing the 4gb stick out of my headless W500, and I'd rather it have 4gb vs only 2. The X220 would be my main machine, but I would still like the W500 to be usable...

 

Quick tip for all of you guys out there who have not ordered yet.

Do not upgrade the RAM or the HD. A 8 GB ram upgrade will cost you around 80 dollars if you do it yourself. A upgrade into 320 GB 7200 HD upgrade will run you around 70-80 dollars, and you will have an extra HD if you happen to need it. You can also buy a case for the stock 250 5400 RPM HD and use it as an external.

i7 Processors tend not to be worth their price on these machines. Unless you're seriously going to do some hard core stuff on a portable laptop, stick with the i5 and upgrade to a SSD or something with that money.

Also, just a quick tip. Here is the 320 GB 7200 RPM HD for only 55 bucks. Save your money guys. Never upgrade RAM or HD on laptops.
http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-Trave...8Q12/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304906574&sr=8-1

The only thing I do not know is what is the difference between the lenovo b/g/n card and the intel centrino card. They both are the same price, but I can't seem to find information on the differences. Can someone clarify this for me?

 

Yay! Just got shipping confirmation email.

Core i7
128ssd
9 cell battery
3x3 Antenna
WWAN
Fingerprint
Bluetooth

 

Yet people say that same 2-300Mhz difference from the i5 to the i7 is insignificant... if the 2410 were clocked at say, 1.2Ghz then yes, I would say it is stripped down.. but chances are most people won't ever notice the difference between 2.3Ghz and 2.5Ghz, seeing how most of the time the processor isn't even clocked that high for power conservation.

 

When did you order?