X200 - Have any shipped yet?

Okay here are the picture with a piece of printer paper (standard size).

 

Jaredy - is that the x200 with a 4 cell battery in the picture with the A4 blank paper?

 

No, that is the 9cell. It sticks out a bit, making it overlap past the width of the paper (as seen in the 3rd picture).

 

I rather think that 9 cell battery is really good. It won't fall or loose when you hold them with your hand. Laptop was as stable as it is even when I held the battery on air. Good battery hour too. When it first came, it had about 28% battery left; it recorded about 2 hours and 50 minutes or something like that.

 

Great job with the pictures, jaredy! If my room weren't so darn messy I'd take some too.

The paper sheet comparison is interesting. My old X21 was *exactly* the length and width of a letter-sized sheet, which made it easy to carry along folders and binders. This one, being a widescreen, will be longer but not as wide.

 

wow... that paper really gave me a perspective of the size... now it's kicking in.... that it's really small

 

Hey guys, getting ready to order an x200. Since 4GB of RAM in the sys configurator is a scam I'm going to do 2G, then upgrade after. Anyone know if this is the right part?

Model name 43R1988
Description 2GB PC3-8500 1066Mhz DDR3 SODIMM Memory

This is $90 direct from Lenovo, yet to go from 2G to 4G in the configurator is $140...

 

How hot and noisy does it get when the CPU is being maxed out for a while (the X61 could get both rather toasty and noisy when being maxed out)? Also, is there a PAVP option in the BIOS (for utilizing the hardware accelerated decoding of High Definition content by the 4500MHD)?

 

Just put in my order last night! Was deciding between this one and the Sony Z, but landed on the X200 because of build quality, battery and a nice phone call The lady at the Lenovo Call center managed to squeeze a good 250$ on my system, while Sony gave my nothing.

Ordered a nicely spec'ed X200 with the P8600, 3GB memory, 160GB 7200rpm disk++. Also added the Lenovo Port Replicator and a power adapter. The Ultrabase just seem too expensive, considering it doesn't include a power adapter.

YEY, just a good 3 weeks time now, I guess!

 

I haven't pushed it COMPLETELY but I have heard the fan spin up past the very LOW setting (to maybe the medium one); it is still quite a pleasant noise. If you put your ear to it, there is a whine but it is not bothersome. To put some perspective...I like to build quiet PCs. The loudest things in my desktop are my hard drives.

Regardless it runs pretty cool, if it does get hot it is in the back left (where the CPU Heatsink is). But even that is comfy on your lap with pants/shorts on. The power brick however gets VERY hot.

I have not tried hardware accelerated video as I usually find it to be pointless in comparison to a efficient codec (CoreAVC...compared to nvidia's acceleration). Also the integration of it is usually specific to one program, but I guess I should look into it.

 

Yes! Thanks for the pics. Ok, my pic requests are done

That is really small. Now I can see it really is pretty much the size of a normal sized keyboard width and less than a letter paper depth.

The X200 is really the only thing that is preventing me from buying a netbook right now.

 

what you waiting for? ENTER THE DARKSIDE BWHAHAHAHAH X200 ALL THE WAY!!!

 

I took some more pictures and took off the keyboard:

 

That is nice. If the X200 is that silent (and cool), then this time around there might not be as interesting of acquiring the low voltage model (X200s) as it were with the X6x-series.

Oh nooes .... now I got to keep my pants on ;-)

Well, it depends (doesn't everything?). When it comes to high bit-rate encodes of 1080p material even a C2D 2.4 GHz will have stuttering playback, so GPU-assisted playback is very nice to have.

Check out post number 58 in the following thread

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1054632&page=2

There you will find info on what software/codecs supports GPU-assisted acceleration on the X4500MHD. The guys at AVSforum really know their stuff and they say that BIOS support of PAVP is very important.

Would you mind browsing your BIOS to see if there is a PAVP option in the BIOS of the X200?

 

I looked through BIOS yesterday and didn't see anything about PAVP but I can check again later on. I have no issues playing back 1080p material on a 2.13ghz Core2 (E6400). It is just about using efficient decoders (as I mentioned earlier CoreAVC). I have a lot of experience with playback and some encoding, but if there is compelling use for the x4500MHD I will look into it. Thanks.

 

Many thanks for checking the BIOS as well as advising about CoreAVC. On a side note, funny that Lenovo seems to supply 1.8" Samsung SSDs in the X200 instead of 2.5" SSDs.

I wonder if the 1.8" to 2.5" adapter can be used in another (non-Lenovo) system or if it is just a bit too wide.

... Oups noticed the big plasticky "clips" ... seems unlikely to be compatible with other notebooks.

 

Ya, when i took off the plastic covering for the drive I was wondering how to use those clips...I just stuck a thin screw driver and sort of pulled them out slightly on each side until it was enough to just pull the whole drive...(alternatively there is a tab too but I didn't want to pull that).

 

It is really great that you posted the pictures. Looking closer I notice that the weight saving features (perforated bottom metal plate) from the T400 and T500 keyboards have found their way to the X200.

Some T400 and T500 users have complained that this weight saving feature is causing the keyboard to exhibit "flexiness". Can you please comment how your X200 keyboard feels and the amount of flex in it.

 

Good news! I brought back the recovery partition back!

I think I figured out what was the problem with Rescue and Recovery.

It basically asks for 3 types of CD:

Operating system disc
Product and Recovery disc
Supplmental disc

It has to be in that order.

I'm guessing I was supposed to insert a Windows Vista disk at Operating system disc.

I've been inserting Product Recovery discs at those steps. So obviously it didn't work. Then I pressed cancel to exit.

I noticed now that when you exit it asks to insert CD again. That's where it moves to Product and Recovery disc steps (where and which you should insert your 2 Recovery discs).

I don't know what is supplemental discs, but I canceled it. So it started installing drivers and applications on its own (without CD). Went through first-time stuffs (Enter your name.. etc)

Everything went through, I see both Q: (Recovery partition), and S: (ServiceV003). I couldn't be never happier than this much bloatwares

It seems like everything is back to factory setting now.

Could you kindly go over the custom factory setting again? I want to be really sure this time. Is there a way to do that in Windows or do I have to boot it from startup?

I was looking at R&R on Windows, but I wasn't able to find an option to do custom factory install. It only let me choose from medias (ex: CD, USB HD). So does it mean that I have to do it from startup/ThinKVantage blue button?

Jackboot, thank you very much for your help.

 

Could anyone kindly lists the original boot order? I kind of switched around when I was doing recovery, so I just want to be sure.

 

Boot order in what..? Bios? It doesn't matter. It just needs to be whatever you want/need it to be (probably the hard drive ).

Keyboard comments:
I noticed the design of the key was much the same of the Tseries. I have to say that it feels pretty darn solid. The keyboard feels great and there isn't any major weak spot. I think the "worse" flex" is if you hit the Fn the shift, capslock, and ctrl keys right next to it SLIGHTLY depress. VERY slightly. If flexing is an issue with the x200, then the keyboard should not be of worry. There is more flex on the top of the screen near where it is attached (near the center). I am not sure why the keyboard does not exhibit the same issue as the tseries but it might just be that the chassis itself is thinner and the keyboard is supported by the main body of the laptop itself.

 

I think that default setting had FDD first, something else as second, then USB CD, fourth being SSD.. So you'd put SSD as first option?

 

Well if I recall bios correctly it did have FDD first. However, we don't have a FDD anyways. You can put the SSD first with no problems. You can always change it or manually select it otherwise (using f8).

 

Mine has been delayed a couple weeks, they say its because of a shortage of the 9 cell battery..

 

Hmm well i guess the 9cell shortage finally hit the x200...use to just be the tseries. Sorry to hear that.

 

My parents said that they received my X200 recovery discs today. I will check it out once I go back home for the weekend but a very nice of them. Free UPS 2-3 days and of course, free discs.

 

Glad to hear it

To do a "custom" factory install, boot into R&R by using the blue thinkvantage button. You cannot do this from inside windows. Once inside R&R, click on "launch advanced rescue and recovery" and then click "restore your system". During the restore process you will be given to option to customise the installation. It is really simple. During the customisation process you just select or deselect the programs that you do/do not want installed with windows.

Once you have a customised Vista Basic install, use your retail vista DVD and upgrade to ultimate. Like I mentioned earlier, you will need to create a new vista DVD with SP1 slipstreamed or download a vista SP1 DVD and use your legitimate key code.

 

A quick question, as I'm about to do a clean install myself... I assume that if I just want to wipe off *everything*, including Lenovo's and all recovery partitions, it wouldn't be harder than any XP clean installs--right?

 

Right.

IMO, wiping the recovery partition isn't worth saving the small amount of disk space. The recovery partition is very useful to have if only for returning the notebook to its factory state when you want to sell it.

 

I fell asleep early yesterday after my sister had a birthday party

I think I'll try do it tonight when I return from work. But sounds pretty simple from what I read. Hope it works out this time!

 

I think someone should post the new wallpapers of the (xx)00 series.

 

Here are some wallpapers posted by jaredy.

 

Good point. I might just keep it.

 

Definitely keep the partition with the original factory installation intact for many reasons.. You never know when it will be needed down the road..

 

I would think so too, especially because X200 did not come with internal DVD. I paid $69 (was on sale) for Samsung external DVD and $14 for 2 year replacement plan just in case since optical drive seems to die fast.

 

You guys can also take images and put them on flash drives . That's what I plan to do. Either that or transfer ISOs over the network...or I could even boot from the network and serve backups off my server 2008 workstation (I will have to look into that).

 

Does anybody notice same problem? I think that the unit automatically changes its power mode to lower setting when it's on battery.

It tends to take much longer when it's on battery as opposed to AC adapter.

I didn't count the seconds, but you know the green indicator bars that flashes few times during startup. It only took 4 times on AC, but about 12 times on battery.

 

Jackboot, I'm now trying to do a customization but it's not same as the steps you listed. It's much more complicated. I remember seeing Custom Factory Option but I'm not sure where.

I went to as far as choosing drivers (step 5/6), so I choose to keep Q: and S: and delete C:, but I didn't wanted to go into step 6 without knowing much.

 

The "battery manager" utility is able to configure your power usage when on battery and when plugged in. By default I believe it is set to drop performance in favour of efficiency when unplugged to obtain more battery life. You can customise how your thinkpad uses power when unplugged/plugged in by using the battery manager utility.

 

Don't worry - you can't screw anything up. At worst, you will do a factory restore that isn't exactly customised as you wanted. If that happens, just boot into R&R again and do the restore option again.

Go through all the steps and you will be prompted to choose which software to keep and which to leave out. Just ensure that at some point during the restore process you choose the "custom" option so that you are prompted to customise.

 

I want to keep Q: and S: too that's why.

There are 3 options after I selected 'Restore your system.'

STEP #1
1) Restore my entire hard drive, including all personal data and settings from a backup.
2) Restore only the Windows operating system and applications from a back up
3) Restore my hard drive to the original factory state.

I chose #3.

Skips STEP #2 and goes to STEP #3
I selected 'I want to choose which files to save from a list of current hard drive contents.

STEP #4
Then I chose to save Q: and S:. I deselected C:.

STEP #5 (This is where I'm confused)
It asks 'Where do you want to store the files?

So I rescued the files to my external hard drive.

It seems like the files are copying but it also seem like it will delete the partition once I'm finished with custom installation?

STEP #6
It goes to recovery, but it didn't show any options to either do full or factory install.

 

It looks like it's doing a full factory install. And I think that the whole operating system got messed up. It's not even booting up anymore.

Edit: It says 'Cannot boot from any device.'

Oh my gosh..........................................

I don't think I can handle this anymore. I suddenly got an increased attempt to return this product. Would they charge restocking fee? I did it just as manual said (both R&R help and the instruction sheet I received from Original DVD).

 

Do I have a valid reason to return without a stocking fee now? All I did was to what computer told me, then it restarts, everything goes invalid. No operating system found and none of the device found. I'm trying with my external DVD using original DVD they sent me, but still not being found.

SSD brought me to Lenovo from Sony (8 year user).. man I don't know. I've always done all the recoveries for my family all these years without any problem, but this is driving me nuts. I've been using my mother's laptop for the past 2 months (she's been without one). I'm very pissed off right now.

 

Yes, a restocking fee apply. Find a find who feel comfortable playing with the BIOS and find a bootable CD, all of your problems will be solved.

 

Nothing works anymore. It won't even boot. I press F1 to access BIOs.

It tries to access into Intel Boot Agent, but it failes. It's not dectecting anything.

All I did was follow the instructions given on papers and R&R help. Everything went well until the computer decided to restart..

I don't know what could go wrong. There was another guy on the one of T400 thread telling me same thing...

 

I don't know what you screwed up so much. Take off the battery and restart and look at BIOS. If you have media you can boot off of it. You couldn't have messed it up that much if you have discs. But I am not sure what your issue is, especially if you have done recovery installs a number of times. You can't really go too wrong if you have the media. Worse case is you waste your time doing it again. At least you've never bent CPU pins or something . Messing with computers and you eventually get bit, but your case doesn't seem horrible in that it should be easily fixable (just more time).

Good luck.

 

It's been two weeks since the school started and I've not been able to focus on my studies because of my laptop.

My mother owns a business and she needs her laptop too, but she's been letting me use because I need it for school. This semester is very important for me because it's my last semester before I can apply for college of my major. I've been wasting far too many hours.

It won't let me do anything. It says F1 to Power-On, but it just goes back to the screen that says 'Cannot boot from any device.'

I tried F8, F11, F12. It still leads me back to the same screen.

It doesn't detect my external DVD.

I've had absolutely no problem playing with mine & my family's Sony, HP, Toshiba for the past 8 years. I've done all the recoveries myself.

I was so happy because I was finally able to get a ThinkPad with my own money, but I don't know if I still feel that way. Should've stuck with HP dv5t when I originally ordered, but moved to Lenovo after SSD deal. Maybe it was too hesistant on my side. Or I should've just coughed up more to order Vista Ultimate and possibly sell my current Vista Ultimate disc.

I don't know.

 

I took off the battery and rebooted it. It goes to same screen if I do press anything or F1.

So I took off the battery again, pressed F12. I selected to boot from my external DVD. Fortunately it led me to R&R.

Man it's driving me crazy.

Is there a way to upgrade to Vista Ultimate w/o doing any type of custom or full factory whatsoever.

I'm using the original recovery DVD Lenovo sent me this time.

I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm really thinking of returning them even if it works. I don't know if I have enough guts to handle this situation in the foreseeable future.

 

OH MY GOSH

Lenovo sent me a copy of Windows Vista ULTIMATE SP1 Recovery Disc. I just noticed it now as I was trying to recover using the discs. I just finished installing the ULTIMATE SP1 portion of the recovery and running the Application and Drivers disc.

These are exact names of three DVDs I received from Lenovo two days ago:

1) Start Recovery Disc
2) Operating System Recovery Disc Windows Vista - ULTIMATE SP1
3) Applications and Drivers Recovery Disc

When I talked to the technical representative, he asked me what version of Windows I have and I told him that I have 'Windows Home Basic.' He verified a lot of things many times so I don't know what's going on. I'm hoping that it's really an Ultimate version so that I don't have to go through with it.

It seems like there is no problem or error when running recovery through R&R using DVDs, but there seems to be massive bugs when running from hard drive. I recovered twice with recovery discs (one with my own DVDs and now with Lenovo's original DVDs), it was fine. When I tried using hard drive, it would not even reboot once it restarted. Another person from T400 told me the same problem, so I think that it could be a bug.

Edit: All the progresses are done and now it's installing on hard drive.

 

Well honestly strangesweet, this doesn't really have much to do with Lenovo aside from them sending you the wrong disc (so if you need to have a serial key...you might need to call MS have have them manually generate a serial to enter in the OS based off of your retail license key). I don't really feel that you have a reason to not like the thinkpad or to return it for reasons of not enjoying your purchase because this is all your own doing. Now I empathize with you, but think of it as a learning process. I have scared the crap out of myself repeatedly working with computers over the years (much more in-depth than this). It will help you in the future. But again you have not REALLY broken anything.