Upgrading issue(SSD, TV tuner) related to x201

I am a Chinese student now, and I will go to US to study this August. I just ordered a x201(the "X201 with 3 Year Accidental Damage Protection" configuration) at lenovo.com.
I plan to replace the HDD with Intel 40 GB X25-V SSD. But I am not sure whether my x201 is compatible with this SSD.
Also, can I buy a external enclosure to use my 320G HDD as a external hard drive, if so, which kind? I have no idea about the interfaces like SATA, SATA II, PATA...
Another question is, university housing says they provide free basic cable TV. So I think maybe I can buy a usb tv tuner to watch TV, which is cheaper than a TV, right? Also, I am not sure if this tv tuner$ will help me. because TV network is different in our country.
Thank you very much for any suggestions!

 

The Intel SSD is compatible with the X201. You need to get an enclosure with an internal SATA controller. SATA II is backwards compatible with SATA. It doesn't matter which you get as your drive isn't faster than SATA. I don't know much about TV Tuners. Perhaps someone else can help here.

 

Thanks a lot! unfortunately lenovo rejected my order, they say international credit card is not allowed.. Now i am seeking help from my US friend. ToT

 

If you are purchasing the laptop from USA, then you can't use an international credit card.

Regarding, SSD compatibility, as long as its 2.5 inch and 9.5 mm thickness type then it is okay.

The internal platter hdd uses SATA interface, they are compatible with either SATAI or SATAII mode.

Regarding, Cable TV and the like, you should just buy the tuner card when you get to USA.

 

Usually, cable companies provide the basic channels in HD (like national ones, nbc, abc, cbs, etc.) To get those you need a tv tuner with QAM decoding. For the premium channels (like HBO) last time i checked (a year ago) it was impossible to decode without several hacks.

I think its the same for SD channels too. However, you have to check with USC to see which channels are encoded or not. This is just my experience with Comcast cable.

 

I read the details: Analog TV: (NTSC) Digital TV: (ATSC / ClearQAM)
So i guess NTSC is obsolete now in US?
and most channels you are watching are (clear)QAM?
ATSC is the program using receiver to watch, not cable, right?

 

thank you guys! I can see this cute puppy every where in this forum, also this naked guy! you must be thinkpad fans!

 

:laugh: lol. Oh yeah those guys are fans alright! I was wondering "what is this guy talking about???" It took me a second to catch that you're referring to lead_org and ZaZ' avatar!

I was thinking where do a naked guy and a cute puppy come into this discussion??!!

 

QUOTE=xusi;6506758] you must be thinkpad fans![/QUOTE]

Thats an understatement!!!

 

Yes i love my Thinkpads.

 

Do you still have ALL of them?

 

All the ones i listed i still have them. My X301 and R400 got taken back to China. While, i have sold quite a few of them including the W500 i had, so that i can get the W510 and X201t from USA (my friend is going there for a business trip).

 

lead_org,
which one do you find you find yourself using the most often? And what do you mean your X301 and R400 "got taken back to china?"

 

my father took them back to China. So i don't have to bring them when i go at November. As i am going to travel between few cities in China by train, i don't want to take too many luggages with me, i can always use my X60 when i travelling, since it small and compact. Even if i lose it (touch wood), i wouldn't be cry over it.

Regarding which laptop i like the best and use the most.

I guess i use my R500 a lot at home, since it is dead quite (never hear the fan running) even when i stress it with lots of application been opened at the same time. It also has the Displayport and VGA, which means i can connect two external LCD to it, without needed the advanced mini dock (i only have one).

I am currently, using Dell U2410 (H-IPS) in landscape and one Dell 2007WFP (S-IPS) in portrait. When i had the U2711 (friend took it for at least few months till the end of year), i was running the U2410 in portrait. But the U2410 looks really strange in the portrait mode. I also had a Dell U2311 (e-IPS) but that screen's LCD quality is no where as good as the H-IPS or the S-IPS, so i gave it to my girlfriend to use it as a TV.

For portrait mode operation, the S-IPS monitor is the best monitor to have. The 22 inch Lenovo with TN (Thinkvision 2240p) LCD i have and used in portrait mode, gave me a headache when used for long periods of time. No amount of adjusting could make the annoying inconsistent backlighting effect from going away.

For taking the laptop out i always liked the X200 (which i sold since i wanted a tablet and someone offered me a price that i couldn't resist) and X301, since they are both light and compact sized, most importantly they run cooler and silently unlike the X61 that i had (which i hated the most due to the T7xxx CPU). The X60 and X61 keyboard is slightly too small for typing long documents. The X20x with the full size keyboard is ideal for portability and usability.

But the X301 is not with me, so i have to use my T400 with Win 7 Ultimate with me. If i can't be bothered carrying the T400 or T61, i can just take my beaten up X60 with me (the LCD needs to be replaced, since it has 7 or 8 dead pixels, the casing has a big chunk of corner taken out).

For photographic and Photoshop work, the T60p is definitely worth its weight in gold with the IPS UXGA.

Since, i can't play piano, my T41's keyboard becomes my musical instrument when i feel frustrated.

 

order placed yesterday. but i'm worried about this spp order. some people say lenovo cancel orders when there's a deal.

 

They would cancel your order when they run out of stock.

 

@xusi:
Just so you know, all "over-the-air" TV broadcast is now digital in the United States. There are no more analog broadcasts so an analog-only card or USB adapter will not work. It's probably not an issue, I doubt they even still sell analog cards/adapters anymore. But, I don't know.

 

Thank you!
so which one has better image quality, reception, more channels? i'm in 90007
which is more popular? a tuner connecting to a cable, or a tuner with antenna?
can you suggest some top sellers?

 

I sure hope they answer your question, as it seems I can't get any answers to mine regarding this. I want to purchase a TV Tuner right now, but don't want to pull the trigger on something that will not work or work as good. I want something hidden, so I'm not a fan of the USB type.

 

how to hide a tuner in a notebook? that would be cool

 

ok, first i want to know how do most Americans watch TV? through cable or over the air?

 

I wish I could give you a recommendation but I haven't used a TV tuner with a laptop or any computer since they switched to all digital broadcasts. I had one years ago with an HP laptop but it didn't work very well. It was an ExpressCard tuner with a little antenna for over-the-air broadcasts.

EDIT: To answer your latest question: most Americans have cable or a satellite dish -- very few use over the air. Those in rural areas where cable isn't available will still be using over-the-air but they need to use a digital-to-analog convertor for older TV sets. Also, some in rural areas will have satellite reception.

 

Cable TV is big here, then satellite. Over the air is very good now, since it is digital. I tried that and swore I was watching a cable channel. The reception and quality was that good.

 

oh i get it. you mean most CATV is using ATSC format, so is over the air. So all tv tuner supporting ATSC & clear QAM is OK, right?

 

I'm really no expert on TV tuners, but all that I want to suggest here is that you search for an ExpressCard TV tuner instead of USB...

 

Yes. I think so. Very few Americans get their TV over-the-air and very few will watch TV on their laptops.

ATSC Standards