ThinkPad X220 Info/Ordering/Shipping Thread

I've been wondering about this since the first pictures came out. There's a cut-out to grab the lid when opening it, but where do you hold the base?

 

For now anyway, this is how I do it.

I hold the base on either side with my fingers while lifting the lid partway. Then I move one hand to the center of the base on the other to the center of the lid to finish opening.

 

GomJabber could you please answer me question about the material on the palm rest? Is it magnesium alloy (the rubber on the outside lid), or is it hard plastic?

 

In the first pic you can see the grain of the plastic. Why would it be Mg? The rubber on the outside is just a coating; the X300/X301 had it on it's plastic palmrest.

 

I can't really tell. My guess is plastic, but I could be wrong.

 

Thanks for taking the time GomJabbar. I'd love to see some pics outdoors or in the sunlight if you get the opportunity!

Thank you!

 

Yeah that's why I asked. I thought the entire thing was magnesium, and in the pic it looks like plastic. That's disappointing. Also I think my classmates T60 (or 61, not sure) is all magnesium.

And in Engadgets review it also looks like all Mg to me =/

http://www.engadget.com/photos/lenovo-thinkpad-x220-review/#3982225

 

If my memory serve me correctly no Thinkpad was all magnesium.

 

im looking at the tabook and it says no msata ssd for x220

 

None of the current Thinkpad are shipping with the mSata ssd, but I believe you can still upgrade yourself.

 

Yes, mSATA is possible: see this post

http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...ndwagon-intel-320-ssd-wait-2.html#post7369528

 

Great find.

So let me get this straight. In order to install your own mSATA SSD, you have to:

1) Remove the battery pack (instruction 1010)
2) Remove keyboard (instruction 1040)
3) Remove palm rest (instruction 1050)

Sounds simple enough .

I was planning on getting the 80GB mSATA SSD from newegg but perhaps I'll just go with the 160GB Intel 320.

 

GomJabbar,

Would you be able to test to see if the DisplayPort outputs audio as well?

Thanks.

 

It's not hard at all, it'll take you 3-5min to install the msata ssd. Apart from the service manual, Lenovo also posts videos on how to do these things.

If you really don't want to do it yourself (and don't have anyone to do it for you), find a Lenovo service center around you and I'm sure they'll do it no charge since it's simple. But removing the keyboard and palmrest are easy and a good way to get your feet wet.

 

I would have to buy a DisplayPort to HDMI cable. I'll see what they cost at the local stores.

 

There was no full magnesium ThinkPad as I recall, not even the good old T41-T43 series. My T42 certainly is not. It's a hard plastic (which, however, endured drop on the concrete floor from over 1m height).


M.

 

Thanks! If it's too much trouble or cost then just forget it.

 

Try monoprice:
Video Cables - DisplayPort

 

You might need an active DP to HDMI....

 

Here is one with the 3:00 afternoon sun shining directly on the display. There is a red broomstick behind the X220 and you can see it's shadow on the brick wall (I moved slightly to the side so you could see it's shadow in the image). Screen brightness was on maximum and I was running on the battery.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

The screen is still readable, pretty nice. How do you like the screen on it, any graininess on the screen?

 

So I just took a look at the New Product Showcase page on lenovo.com. The availability date for the X220 as well as all 4 new Edge models has been changed from "April 2011" to "April 19, 2011." Unfortunately the X220 Tablet still says "Summer 2011."

I am still hoping it gets released too but I am starting to doubt it. But I would think it must be available before summer considering they are showing up on external sites.

 

In the official Lenovo X220T unboxing video he specifies 19/4 as release date.

 

Costcentral shows the tablets in stock. In fact that great deal I posted has now gone out of stock.

Gom, could you please measure the depth of the face of palmrest before it falls away?

 

X220 now up to build and order on the UK lenovo shop

 

Huh.. IPS upgrade only £33.60? That seems extremely cheap

 

I would say about 2-3/8" or 6 cm.

 

Hey Guys n Gals. Great forum, long time lurker. Going to be upgrading my 7 year old dell lap for the x220, pretty excited. I was just hoping you guys could give me a little input. In considering processors, would you go for the 2520 or 2540? Is it worth the money to upgrade to 2540? Ha, I know more than the average joe about computers, but the fine details are like calculus to me.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

You can compare 2520 and 2540 here, only difference is Clock Speed (2.50 vs 2.60GHz) and Max Turbo Frequency(3.20 vs 3.30GHz) everything else is the same.

Personally I don't think this will be noticeable in real life usage and thus not worth the extra money. Upgrading to a SSD will make a big difference, so spend your money on that.

 

Just get the lowest spec i5 which is Core i5-2410M and 2520M.

 

According to the specification from Intel's site, the chipset does support audio over the DisplayPort interface.

Intel Q67 Express Chipset - Overview

 

Displayport has supported audio since the T500. There's no reason it wouldn't now.

 

Great, informative site.....this is my first post so please take it easy on me!

I'm excited to buy the X220 when it comes out but I'm confused about the hard drive options. Lenovo's "rapid drive" seems to indicate that you can have both a SSD and spinning drive but as I configured an x220 on the UK site today I didnt see that as an option.

I love the idea of having a small ssd for quick boot up while having a large 7200 drive to store music, etc on so this is a big selling point for me.

Thanks for the help!

 

Also, at least according to the UK lenovo site, I saw only 2 hard drive options, a 320gb 7200k, and a 128gb SSD option. So, the mSATA option will be totally "aftermarket."

 

hello guys,

i'm also new here.
i am willing to buy also a x220 but as i live in belgium it will take a while before the laptop will release here and the prices wil be very high. so i am thinking about buying one in de states and lett it ship towards belgium.
Does anybody know such a webshop where they can do that?
I found this site New Thinkpads items - Get great deals on Lenovo W510, Lenovo X201 Tablet items on eBay Stores! but the x220 ist yet available and i dont know if it is trustworthy

thanks
lucas

 

Thank you much for the advice on the processors guys, I'll be snagging the 2520.

 

But from what i've read on the Newegg Buyer review, There are so many cable out there which having the problem with the audio.
Like only video appears but audio doesn't

 

I saw plenty of German websites that offer the mSata option.

For example :
http://www.uni-notebooks.de/Single-Ansicht.140.0.html?&no_cache=1&tt_products[backPID]=4076&tt_products[product]=16144&cHash=94e6a12c1416cdc27496f028baf49518

 

There are many threads on displayport here from the last few years. Someone posted within the last few days of what inexpensive adapter he used to get displayport audio from his T420. See which ones have worked for others and buy that.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/569211-audio-out-via-displayport-t420-easy.html

 

Are you referring to the active or passive adapters?

 

So which e-tailer has the absolute cheapest price for a X220? The only option I will need is IPS, everything else is bone stock.

I'm from Canada but I can buy from the US, and with the CDN$ being so strong, I think it might be a good idea to buy from the US.

 

So probably the reason why the audio couldn't be transmit is due to the hardware limitation on their laptop not the cable.
To be honest, i just search on that website and read the review written by the user, so i have to admit that i don't really know much about the technical term.

But glad to hear that there is no issue with the X220.
Thx.

 

I don't want to add confusion, but you might also consider the i7 processor if you want USB 3.0. I suspect the i7 will be significantly more expensive without too much noticeable speed increase, but the USB 3 port (not available with the i5 processors) could be worth it.

 

Looking at the tabook, 4291-2VU and 4290-35U seem to be identical, except the latter has a camera and is priced lower at Cost Central, Provantage etc.

What's up with that? Does the 4291 series offer something I'm not seeing?

 

tabook models are really expensive compared to how much CTO will likely end being for the same config.

- i7 is very expensive. Most people don't need that much power.
- Most people don't use USB often. Especially now since the X220 can internally have an ssd and a 500gb hdd.
- There are flush usb 3.0 expresscard adapters, even ones with aux power.

 

Will Lenovo be releasing any coupon codes for US/Canada at the release of the X220?

Hope we do since UK has them.

 

What happens with RapidDrive with such an mSata option. Is it automatically enabled and can it be disabled manually?
I don't won't RapidDrive because if one drive is faulty all data on both drives is lost.

 

"Implementing this does require a driver. Otherwise the SSD shows up as one drive and the HDD shows up as a 2nd drive. The driver unifies them and allocates/manages space."

 

So this means that I can choose if I want RapidDrive or not, right?

 

Sounds like it. Just don't install the driver and you have drives. I think the feature might be best for the consumer lines where buyers may not like having to manage two drives. The implementation is still scary though with reports of total data loss when one fails because of data being scattered across both.