Thinkpad X220 specs revealed!

EDIT: looks like it does according to sgogeta4.

 

The 2.5" model is 7mm and uses a spacer to fit into the 9.5mm standard sized space, so yes, it will fit if you remove the spacer (which is simple to do).

 

Excellent, ya'll were scaring me thinking I might need to pay more than I could afford for the ssd upgrade.

 

This is still the case.. I hate this stupid whitelist of wireless cards!

 

Wait, really? Last I checked, the PVA panels in the X2xx series tablets were done by Samsung and were labeled as such (with the exception of a few that had Samsung-style model numbers, but no manufacturer label). Did AUO do the fab for those, or did they actually produce their own models?

(I realize this is off-topic -- I'm just curious, since I spent ages trying to round up a bunch of X200-compatible displays.)

 

tabook has now updated to include X220:

http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf

No price list is included in the tabook. But if you Google the type number, you can find the listed prices of these pre-configured models on various website (not available for order yet, of course). Compared the prices of different models we can figure out roughly what certain upgrade options would cost.

What I care is the prices for the i7 and IPS upgrade. For example, the only difference between the two models below are IPS display, and battery (cannot find two that differs ONLY in the display...)

4290-33U i5-2540M 4GBx1 12.5" HD Prem 720p 320G 7200 Intel 6205 WWAN upg Fing Blue 6 vPro Pro 64
4290-32U i5-2540M 4GBx1 12.5" HD 720p 320G 7200 Intel 6205 WWAN upg Fing Blue 9 vPro Pro 64

Google brought me to costcentral.com:
429033U - MSRP: $2049, costcentral price: $1734.38
429032U - MSRP: $1949, costcentral price: $1649.73

which suggests that the IPS together with the 9-cell battery upgrade costs only $100 MSRP!

Now for the i7, compared to the 2nd fastest CPU option i5
4290-35U i7-2620M 4GBx1 12.5" HD Prem 720p 320G 7200 Intel 6205 WWAN upg Fing Blue 9 vPro Pro 64
4291-2VU i7-2620M 4GBx1 12.5" HD Prem 320G 7200 Intel 6205 WWAN upg Fing Blue 9 vPro Pro 64
4290-33U i5-2540M 4GBx1 12.5" HD Prem 720p 320G 7200 Intel 6205 WWAN upg Fing Blue 6 vPro Pro 64
4291-2UU i5-2540M 2GBx1 12.5" HD Prem 720p 320G 7200 Intel 6205 WWAN upg 9 vPro Pro 64

429035U - MSRP: $2239, costcentral price: $1895.20 (i7-2620)
42912VU - MSRP: $2309, costcentral price: $1954.45 (i7-2620, no 720p webcam)
429033U - MSRP: $2049, costcentral price: $1734.38 (i5-2540, 6-cell)
42912UU - MSRP: $2079, costcentral price: $1759.77 (i5-2540, no fingerprint reader and no bluetooth)

This suggests that the i7 together with the 9-cell battery upgrade (from i5-2540) costs around $190 MSRP.

 

Wow, there's a massive price jump from X220i to anything with i5 or better.

4286-2AU - i3-2310M 4GBx1 12.5" HD 720p 320G 7200 Optional Optional Intel 1000 WWAN upg None None 6 None Pro 64
4286-2AU - MSRP: $979, costcentral price: $865

What concerns me now is whether an X220 with i3 will be offered by Lenovo for CTO to get the IPS panel + fingerprint + bluetooth. X201i was only offered preconfigured right?

 

Do you know how easy it would be to do the upgrade yourself stick in an mSATA ssd? Would you have to disassemble multiple parts of the laptop or is it as simple as a hard drive upgrade?

 

Well if the i3-2310M isn't available for CTO I hope at least the i5-2410M is.

4287-2VU - i5-2410M 4GBx1 12.5" HD 720p 320G 7200 Intel 1000 WWAN upg Finger Blue 6 None Pro 64
4287-2VU - MSRP: $1129, costcentral price: $997.82

Depending on where they've put it you'd either have to open the bottom access panel (most likely location, 1min job) or get to it by removing the keyboard (2-5min). Very easy.

 

• i5-2520M
• 6-Cell
• IPS
• 2GB ram
• 160GB hdd
• 6205 Wifi
• lowest Win 7 option

would be about how much? And then subtract student discount.

 

Typically very easy, 99% all you need to do is to unscrew and lift the palmrest + keyboard up.

Lenovo provides a Hardware Maintenance Manual on their website to show you exactly what you need to do to remove and install each components. Better yet, they have installation videos on their website. I had gone as far as to replace the CPU fans of 2 older Thinkpads, which required me to remove almost everything because they had to be unscrewed form the back of the motherboard. But the HMM and videos were extremely helpful.

Just google the model number from the tabook and you will see. These are pre-configured model, typically you can drop some options when you customize them on Lenovo website to make it cheaper. Not to mention that coupons and discount are typically higher on Lenovo.com.

 

If Someone gets a new X220 and decides to install one of them new Vertex 3 SSD's in them please update us if you get 6Gbps.

 

Unless the Vertex 3 is a 7mm drive with a plastic spacer like the X25-M, it won't fit.

 

Replying to myself: 12.0" is the width. Not too happy with the top X series notebooks getting wider and wider...

 

X220 dimension says thickness is 0.75-1.05" (19.0-34.6mm) but 1.05" is 26.7mm. Why does the spec says 34.6mm? Anybody know the true measurement?

 

The i3 model is a TopSeller model, and those are always a lot cheaper. The i5 TS models aren't a lot more expensive.

Reviews have said that the X220 with the IPS option and an i5-2520M is around $1300. With the i7-2620M and USB 3.0 I would expect around $1500 for the CTO model.

 

Yea I've come to the same conclusion. If the T420 can be used as a model, the i5-2410 will be a $50 upgrade from the i3, and the i5-2520 will be another $50. If that's the pricing I'll go for the i5-2520.

 

That's just a metric conversion error. It should be 1.36", not 1.05".

 

Thanks for confirming but that's disappointing. X220 should be half that thickness when T4XXs is 26mm.

 

What exactly is a spacer? Does this "spacer" help shock absorbency or anything?

Does this mean the Intel 510 SSD will work with the X220?

 

The drive is shipped with a plastic spacer so the drive can be used in 9.5mm 2.5" bays as well as 7mm bays by removing the spacer.

 

So that means I can use the Intel 510 SSD?

 

I haven't seen any definitive statement on SATA II / SATA III in relation to the X220 in particular and new ThinkPad models in general. It appears that the drives that have been officially validated by Lenovo are SATA II.

Mechanically, the removable spacer will eliminate the concern with respect to 7mm drive height in the X220. Interface-wise, though, my comfort level is with SATA II SSD right now.

You're welcome to try the Intel (SATA III, 6Gb/s) 510 SSD.

 

Intel 510 SSD is 9.5mm heigh and not 7mm, so it won't fit.

http://www.storagereview.com/intel_ssd_510_review_250gb

Yeh the tabook only mentions the original hard drives offered by Lenovo in the X220, which are all SATA II.

 

Ah, so this drive does not come with a spacer. Thanks for the info!

 

It's 19mm (0.75"), about half that thickness, if you choose the 4-cell battery.

Nice to see that they shaved a couple of mm thickness off the X220 vs its predecessor the X201.

 

Now it says "Buy now" for the X220, but the link takes you nowhere but the X120/X201 order page.

 

That doesn't appear to be accurate.

If you zoom an image of the side view of the X220 to life size and measure with a ruler, the thickness while closed is over 1" without including the feet. I believe the 19mm (0.75") thickness dimension is arrived at with the laptop open. In other words, if you lay the display completely back, that it the maximum thickness of the X220 from the tabletop.

The X201 is 35.3mm thick and the X220 34.6mm thick. That's a fraction of a mm (0.7 mm to be exact). Not much to write home about.

 

I see "Browse X Series".

 

It's measured with the lid closed. What you're seeing is the additional thickness which results with the larger batteries.

The 19mm is with the 4-cell, a couple of mm thinner than the X201 with its thinnest battery.

 

I don't agree. I can tell the notebook from the battery. Look at the image in tabook, zoom to life size and measure for yourself.

http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf

 

You can see the bulges of the 6-cell battery in the tabook picture. The 4-cell battery has a flat bottom, and is thinner.

I haven't seen a good photo of the X220 with the 4-cell yet.

 

Aha, just found one, posted by k2001 in this very forum!

 

technically the PSREF sheets are both correct and incorrect.   the imperial measurement is correct for a 4-cell system and the metric measurement is correct for a 6- and 9-cell system.

the X220 is 1.05" (26.7mm) at the back with a 4-cell.   the 6- and 9-cell batteries up the thickness to 1.36" (34.6mm).   this makes a standard-voltage processor X220 with 4-cell slightly thinner than a UV/ULV X200s/X201s with 4-cell.

in short, the X220 is thin.

 

That is an image of the back of the X220 (apparently). Zoom it up to 12" wide and I still measure a good 1 inches thick without the feet.

 

Ooohhh, nice behind. Is this lust or love?

 

So it appears that the X220 uses magnets in the lid. Nice.

Also, in case anyone's interested, I found a good comparison of the X201 and X220.

 

Nice find, ThinkRob!

The reviewer correctly mentions that the recently-released Intel 510 SSD (SATA 6Gb/s) and most of the commercially available drives are of 9.5mm thickness. The X220's 7mm drive bay height would be a concern.

And this...

 

Oh, no, it's not thin. Air is thin. Asus u36jc is thin. X220 is just not-really-fat. Don't get me wrong - it's a wonderful machine. In fact, my dream one - a size that appeals to me very much. I was waiting for something <=X301 sized to replace my T42 (T410s was too big for me, I wanted something more mobile this time) and X220 is finally there. But it's not really think, Lenovo could do better.

I hope that with this thickness a real ThinkPad durability comes along.

My T42 was renowned by my friends for being indestructible, and indeed it has been with me for 6-7 years now, being carried by the screen (the hinges are AMAZING), dropped several times, stomped accidentally on the floor by many people and its still intact. I hope I won't have to become careful and cautious with my new X220 when I will get one.

Can't wait to get my hands on it.

By the way - do I understand well that the 9-cell battery is protruding from the back, like it was with older ThinkPads as well? And one more - will it be possible to attach a slice to a 4-cell battery, or is it only compatible with 6-cell one (as shown in many reviews as an example)?

I would seriously consider a 4 cell for portability, with slice if more battery time would be essential.

 

Right, the X220 is not thin. Nor are the X200 and X201.

Yes, the 9-cell protrude from the back. I presume, as in the case of the X201, the 4-cell flushes squarely to the body, the 6-cell raises the body up a tad while flushing to the back, and the 9-cell both raises the body up a tad and protrudes from the back.

​

The reviews, to date, have shown only 6-cell with slice. I understand the slice may be attached to any of the 3 battery options, as indicated by the "tabook" below. However, only the estimated "6+slice" battery life is given.

​

 

Thank you, Kaso! I hope Tabook is right about the slice - for longer travels it would be a real battery beast.

 

IPS is soooo... BEAUTIFUL !!

CAR...X220...CAR...X220...CAR...X220...CAR...X220...
Damn you Lenovo, damn you...

 

When I saw X201 and X220 side by side I started to really like this new X220(X201 seemed more like sci-fi machine from lab till now), its clean and at the same time ThinkPadish look is just perfect+its specs and battery life, if it all turns out to be true+1600x900 screen option makes me WANT this laptop !

 

Just out of curiosity... whereas I don't really like 1366x768 (in fact - the 16:9) for work due to limited vertical space... how would you see ANYTHING on a 1600x900 on a such small screen?

For example [email protected] and 1440x1050@14 (similar pixel density) is the absolute maxed comfort zone for my eyes, any more pixels would be a stretch. In fact, this is a stretch.

Whereas I love 16:10 on my Eizo 22" at home, I really miss 4:3 for work in mobile devices...


M.

 

Yeah, how would you see anything in 1600x900 density on a 12.5" screen?

Anyway, this important question should really be posted in its own dedicated thread, which is running past 4 pages already!!!

 

By using an OS made within the last 5 years which is capable of resizing fonts to accommodate high-resolution screens?

 

It doesn't work well in many cases. Not everything scales well - icons and toolsets of many applications are really hard to use with high density screens. That bugs me, because photos look really stunning and text is amazingly sharp - but without really acute vision you are out of luck. I certainly am.

Anyway - just as Kaso said, another thread is solely about this issue. Sorry for disturbing this one, I haven't noticed there was another one going on


M.

 

The X220 with 1600x900 IPS would be awesome. The only thing I can't get past is the lack of dedicated graphics card. Spending $1k+ to browse the internet, albeit fast and comfortably, doesn't cut it for me, I want gaming power too! If only they could put something like an ATI 5650 in there it would be the perfect laptop. Thinkpad build quality + IPS + 9 hour battery + ability to play games = sell like hotcakes. Oh well, Lenovo will probably never change that

 

While using an ultraportable as a gaming platform (or for workstation like computationally-intensive tasks) intrigues me and I never thought of a mobile computer that way, I agree X220 could use from a nice discrete. I would gladly welcome some nV chip to be able to do some CUDA computations on the go as well. Nevertheless, X220 still seems like a hotcakes!

 

I'm sure it will still sell well but they could have had the portable gamer market if they had some sort of video card with ~6k+ 3d mark score.