Thinkpad x20x (s/t/i) Owners Thread

I am now an elated owner of an X201i. This machine is oh so awesome. Ordered it from jr.com. I'm currently downloading the official Win 7 Pro install files, ABR win7, and all of the necessary drivers to clean install.

Dock + Monitor is the best.

 

What is the warranty on open box item? Is the warranty from Lenovo?
I am curious about this. Thanks.

 

Yes, it is from Lenovo. And it is still upgradable to at most the 3 year limited lenovo warranty. But then again, I can only say this is true from jr.com. I'm not sure about other retailers open box items' warranties.

Edit: Warranty good 1yr from 3/8/2010 to 4/2011.

 

Recd my X201 few days ago which was purchased through the EPP program. When I went to price the same exact configuration online right now, it's about $50 cheaper.

I did a search for price protection from Lenovo but didn't come up with anything. How do I go about doing a price protection/matching?

 

Just call them. They will reverse the proper amount on your credit card.

 

I'm about to buy the same open box condition from jr.com, but there were x201 and x201i. The open box price wasn't that much a difference and x201 is far more superior to the x201i in terms of the specifications (according to me). Which one is better?

And I was just wondering if an open box laptop from jr.com is a good buy? Does it have any cosmetic damage to the laptop? If so, can I return it to jr.com if there is any problem with the open box x201?

 

You can return it to jr.com within 30 days. Mine was in perfect condition; no cosmetic damage or anything like that. However, their Open box policy states their may be blemishes and whatnot, but the product itself is in perfect working condition.

You take your chances, but there's always the ability to send it back after 30 days. I purchased the 3-year basic warranty extension for mine by calling lenovo customer service, so in case anything unusual does go wrong -outside of simple hardware expendables- I can just send it in to get it fixed.

 

Hey guys i am ready to buy a set of CORSAIR 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 for my X201 Win 7 (64bits). Is DDR3 1333 going to work? Cause DDR3 1333 in pretty much same price to the DDR3 800. Thanks in advance!

 

Can you find any at 1066MHz? Your BCLK is 1066MHz with an Arrandale, so getting 1333MHz RAM only gets you worse timings (since it will downclock to 1066MHz anyways), and 800MHz is slower than ideal.

 

Thanks, if it downclockz to 1066Mhz, will it functions at least like a normal 1066Mhz Ram? This Corsair 4 GB 1333Mhz ram is much less expensive the the 1066Mhz. Thankyou!

 

If there's a big price difference, 1333MHz will be good enough. 1066MHz RAM will give better performance, but the difference is negligible anyways. So yes 1333MHz will work fine.

 

what about latency timings, tho? If the 1066Mhz is more expensive but has lower timings than the 1333Mhz, it's definitely worth it, imo.

 

I suppose I should've asked what sort of price difference.

 

Thankyou guys! A simple google search found some cheaper seller. Actually i order from Crucial webpage rather from Newegg. i ordered 8GB(2 x 4GB) DDR3 1066 (CL 7, Timing 7-7-7-20). Thankyou for helping me out!

 

I added 2 GB DDR3 1067 to my original 2 GB samsung DDR3 1067 memory a couple of days ago, battery life x200 has dropped for about an hour ! is it normal?

 

Can I install a Intel 6300 to replace my full length Intel 5300? Are there any benefits from doing this?

 

I have my X201 on the way here. Unfortunatly I didn't add the GOBI2000 module when ordering. I have a Novatell D870 EU870D module. Would it work with the X201?

 

How come my thinkpad automatically turn off my wifi after it's gone to sleep for awhile? I mean, it's a good thing to turn it off while sleeping, but the problem is it won't turn back on after I wake it up. Kind of annoying to press fn+f5 and click turn on wifi again if you know what I mean. Anyone knows how to solve this problem?

 

Only problem is whitelist in bios of your x200(?).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/networking-wireless/454533-intel-5300-vs-intel-6300-a.html

 

Question: can we use DisplayPort to HDMI cable to put display into external monitor? I mean there are cable like that but does thinkpad x201 support hdmi or it'd be the same as DVI?
Thanks

 

You can use a display port to HDMI cable.

 

Have you tried playing with InstantResume? I didn't but it looks like this is what you need.

 

Another question: is there any 2.5" laptop hdd incompatible with the ultrabay? I got the x200 ultrabase and the sata adapter from ebay. Now i'm looking for an HDD and saw this Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Some people said that it did not work with their ultrabay slot and had to do something with the jumper.
Can you guys let me know what you got and any problem etc?
thanks

 

My X200s has been pretty good so far. I just installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04LTS, and it was amazing how fast the installation was. I'm pretty happy with the Intel X-25M 80GB G2 so far.

The one issue I have is that my trackpoint no longer works for whatever reason. I've removed the keyboard and its connector, reconnected it, and still nothing has changed. I've tried function F8, and still no luck. My next course of action will be disabling it through the bios, and then reenabling it.

If anyone else has encountered this trackpoint issue I'd be interested to hear how/if it was fixed.

 

yes i have encountered this issue of trackpoint fail to respond (but the left and right mouse button for the trackpoint works), which was a due to a faulty trackpoint.

 

I just tried the bios settings, and no luck. The buttons don't work either for me.

 

Why not just get a different drive? I'd say a 5400RPM drive is better for storage. Plus they're cheaper too.

 

the problem is I don't know which hard drive is compatible for the ultrabay in the docking for x201. Not all drives have the people putting reviews on.

So my question is what do you guys use for yours thanks

 

Hmmm... I thought the Momentus XT (hybrid SSD) was problematic, not the ST. I actually thought any SATA 2.5" HD will work in the ultrabase. Did these people you mention had the original HD caddy? Because not all 3rd party caddies work.

 

Nope they didn't. I dont know, I got a hitachi sata and a 3rd party caddy - we'll see if it works
btw, you guys were right - the ultrabase is almost like new from ebay. the bad thing is that there's no key - well i keep it at home anyway, and the kensington lock looks a bit used. but saving $80 from that is totally fine with me.

 

Considering my left and right mouse buttons don't work either, I'm really hoping this is software related somehow.

Nothing has changed so far; the mouse buttons and trackpoint don't work, but the keyboard is working fine. If anybody has a guess at what's up I'd be interested to hear.I've tried the bios settings, the function key combination, and reseating the connection to the motherboard.

 

Do you guys prefer using Access Connections or the generic wireless manager on Windows? I've been using Access Connections for awhile but I don't think it's any convenient. Is there any way to completely disable it?

 

I used to use Access Connections too, but my feeling was that it takes longer to connect than the regular Windows service. Also sometimes it just wouldn't connect... no idea for what reason.

 

Access Connections is trash. Gave me many problems on the () Edge 13 I used for a month.

I just got my X201. i5-520m, 4GB RAM, 9-cell battery.. this thing is mind-blowingly fast, the CPU is more powerful than the overclocked E6600 in my desktop gaming machine.

Only issues thus far - the hard drive vibrates a lot and the speakers are awful. But seriously - should it be vibrating this much? If I put it on a surface, I can hear a humming noise from the vibrations (very audible). The backspace key kinda gives my finger a massage as it just vibrates so much. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, I'm seeing some kind of dynamic contrast or ambient lighting change going on with the screen. I'm guessing it's dynamic contrast/brightness as it changes when the predominant colour on the screen changes. Happens gradually. Very annoying. Does anyone know how to resolve it?

 

It is your Intel HD Graphics power management. Open up the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel, then go to Power and play with the settings there. You can find the program at C:\Windows\System32\GfxUI.exe.

 

Open up your hard drive bay and check if the hard drive is properly seated with the two rubber rails tightly fitted over the entire hard drive. When closing, avoid over-tightening the hard drive panel. The 7200RPM drive in my T500 before I replaced it with an SSD was quite audible (louder than the fan, by far), but it didn't cause the chassis to vibrate at all. Given the similar HDD mounting technique used in all Thinkpads, I'd imagine that your case is abnormal although I don't have an X201.

This is the Intel graphics, as the previous poster mentioned. If you disable power management features, this behavior should stop.

 

I still cannot figure how to enable the SMS function! It is indeed crap. They need to improve this. Windows connection is way faster.

Code:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkVantage-Technologies/Access-Connection-SMS-Menu-disappeared/m-p/293092#M13003

< I found this from Google and didn't work after all the tweaks

 

I've pretty much narrowed my computer "want list" to the X series. Should I grab X200, X201, or wait for whatever comes out early next year? I don't play games on my laptop, I just watch hd movies and the work needed to complete my pre-med courses (start this spring)

any advice would be nice

 

Any model you mentioned can do what you need; even the ULV s-versions should be powerful enough.

X200 is hard to find new at a reasonably discounted price; the best deal I think is the occasional $600, 3 year warranty X200 at buy.com. A plus with these is that you can upgrade the screen.

X201i and X201 usually have good prices from online retailers and from the lenovo.com website (with 20% ecoupon), with the X201i being closer in price to the X200.

New X series: expect to pay $1000+? That's why I settled for X201i, because I figured the sandy bridge models would be out of my price range for the performance I require.

 

Thanks for info. Would this be a pretty good deal? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146895
What exactly does "windows 7 professional downgrade to xp" mean?

 

It is kind of hard to tell if that newegg one actually comes with the ultrabase or not, but if so then that is ok. You do get bluetooth and 2GB memory. The downgrade to xp I think means it had windows 7 pro but was downgraded to xp. I'm not sure if you'll be given the windows 7 pro activation, however.

I was thinking more along the lines of this deal for an X200: Thinkpad X200 buy.com. It comes with a Webcam, but it has no bluetooth, ultrabase, or extra 1GB memory.

Those are all things I would upgrade on my own to get more bang for my buck.

 

strange that it doesn't show all the specs like the others on buy.com. Seems like a good deal though.

 

That is a very good deal. Not quite as good as the one with the three year, but still very good.

 

Yeah I think I am just going place an order on that one, and grab 2 or 4 gigs of ram a little later.

Thanks fatpolomanjr

 

OMG, the item was removed from my cart as I was checking out! Must have been popular!

 

It's back for $667. That happened the last two times too. Then, in both cases, it came down to $600 after a day or two.

 

There were only 2 available. X(

jr.com has good open box deals on X201 and X201i, and lenovo.com has the occasional 20% discount. Other than that...camp the outlet.

 

I ordered it at lunch and it was 600 dollars. I am just hoping they don't do me in like last time by telling me it went out of stock a week or so later after I ordered it.

 

I was about to pull the trigger on an i7-620M refurb'd X201 at the Lenovo Outlet.... but they were all 32 bit. I called to ask why one of the refurbs had 8GB of RAM and was 32 bit, and the rep said it was probably a refurb based purely on having been built with the wrong OS (!).... but why couldn't he sell me a new i7-620M with W7Pro x64 for the same price (!!), so I said OK, and he did. 4GB of RAM and the 500GB 7200 rpm HDD are "free" in the current promotion, plus rep's full delegated discount... added options of 9-cell batt. w/camera, 1 yr warranty, total of $1196. (!!) The refurbs on eBay are about $1150, but are x86, no cam. Picked up a 3 yr CPS extension warranty on eBay for $79.00.

The rep said that the X201s was discontinued because they were losing money on it. Not enough volume.

 

It still sounds pretty expensive, compared to what was offered just recently on Black Friday: http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebook-tech-bargains/535393-20-off-thinkpads.html .