X200 Discussion & Issues/Critique

I just wanted to start a new thread for this since the "x200 shipping thread" doesn't really apply anymore. This will make it a bit easier for people to discuss the x200.

I have also included pictures and the wallpapers that someone requested from me.

Pictures and Wallpapers - Plus some samples below

Issues/Critiques:
1. Screen is brighter than older X series but has poor viewing angles that quickly washes out with tilts or changes of viewing position. The colors are also not great. However, it is usual for an office environment. Another user and myself included have expressed a complete inability to use the x200 has a photo editing or graphics workstation.

2. Possible recovery media issues expressed by member strangesweet. I have no confirmed if it is exactly like the issue the tseries users are reporting but I am noting it.

Good Aspects of the X200:
1. The form-factor is great. It appears to be much smaller than many expected. You can view some pictures I have. The bezel is not really an issue in person (my opinion). The black lets it blend in and it actually still looks like a pretty slick laptop.

2. The keyboard is awesome. As you can see in the pictures, it appears to have the same new design as the Tseries which has brought some critique regarding flex. There is not much flex in the x200 (in any major noteworthy fashion...). There is some flex when pressing around the enter key area in the top right when pressed hard). It is not significant to me and this is not where the majority of hard key presses are.

3. Build quality pretty good. The battery has a slight wiggle but is definitely secure. I feel comfortable as using my 9cell as a handle. There is a solid feeling about the whole laptop but there is some give on the top near the back central (where the screen is connected). There is still the top lid "roll cage" so I do not worry. The area around the ThinkVantage button has a little bit of flex...but this is really minimal and you wouldn't be holding the laptop at all like this. The latching for the screen will not always secure if you do not press down on the screen where the unlock switch is. I have sometimes thought I closed the screen but found I needed to apply a little more pressure around the area where the switch is (very little...but if you quickly close it hard thinking it did secure...well check again to get an idea). This is basically a non-issue though.

Also very easy to take out the hard drive (for SSD users it is an 1.8" and there is an adapter). Also easy to access ram and to take off the keyboard.

4. Thinklight works fine and does not blind you (just wanted to mention for T series readers).

5. Finger print reader has not had any errors for me (same reason as above).

6. Very quiet and cool. On the low setting it is "silent" (can't hear it unless you put your ear to it). On medium it is still very quiet and not easily heard. The highest setting is audible but not annoyingly harsh or loud. For some context I like to build quiet/silent PCs. The main noise sources for my workstation are hard drives. The palm rests never get too hot like some x61's did.

Please add comments.

Sample Pictures:

 

I want to ask you what notebook case did you find that fits the X200 with 9 cell battery the best so far??

Jaredy, I did get to use an X200 and find the color's in the notebook's screen spot on and match up to the macbook air for example although slightly smaller. The black level's by default were not set correctly on the machine I looked at however I'm sure they can be improved in the settings. Have you tried changing/adjusting the color or black level settings on your X200? A photo and video editor would definitely calibrate the monitor as a first priority before making a claim that it is unusable for editing.. I do agree that the viewing angles are poor, however it is a business laptop first and my critique was while looking at it from a normal distance with no angle....

Besides the screen, it sounds like you really like the notebook and I'm glad that you too found it smaller than you imagined.. Yes, the pictures on the Lenovo website make it look fat and not like its ultra-thin brother the X300.. However, the reason it is slightly thicker is because they wanted to add more connections and a VGA port. I agree HDMI would have been way better, but it is not an issue for most and probably the VGA port makes things easier for most that want to use it to connect to projectors without an adapter(most are VGA only).

I found the keyboard excellent and worthy of the thinkpad name..The 9 cell battery was a concern for sticking out the back but is actually a blessing to be able to hold on to as a handle when moving it around. The extra 3 hours it gives you is a plus as well since portability and not being constrained to an outlet is why we all started using laptops in the first place. Let me know what case you found to be the best as I have yet to look for one since I am waiting to receive my own soon.

 

Hi supermans,

I actually do not have a case yet. Some users were talking about the "custom" cases from sleevecase that are meant to specifically fit our laptop. Another user mentioned using a 13inch sony case that seems to fit fine. I don't want to spend too much so I will look around still.

I did change the screen settings a bit and that did help the blacks as you said, but I still find the saturation and just depth of color to be rather poor. I do not have the tools to calibrate as I just edit photos for personal use and do not want to invest in such options (though I'd love to if I could justify it).

The thickness of the x200 does not bother me at all, I was just mainly commenting on the bezel as many originally felt it was ugly, etc.

Thanks for you input.

 

How quiet is the x200? I am in a silent room with my sony sr, and I can hear the fan from anywhere in the room. Is the x200's fan always on?

 

That was me. I've been using 13.1" Sony SZ sleeve and it's been fine with 9 cell battery. I'm going to try to get Zero Shock III once it's available.

Other than the screen (bad screen, small font due to small screen = can't get any worse. It seems like a huge degrade from Sony SZ in terms of monitor quality) and some problems I had earlier, it seems like it's a perfect ultra portable machine.

I'm on highest bright setting, high performance on battery, and it's showing about 5:46 left at about 94%.

But problem is that it's hard to see when I should lower the brightness. It could be just me because I wear contacts/glasses, but I don't know.

I don't think it's that thick, but being so small, I think it could've been thinner. It looks somewhat unbalanced.

 

I agree the monitor is not as good as any Sony Vaio laptop monitor and the small text will take some getting used to. Are you talking about the Shinza brand for the laptop case?

http://shinza.com/product_info.php?products_id=75

If so, it does look like one of the best cases you can get and I probably will invest in it too if it fits.. I'm hoping mine ships next week as it has been delayed too long in my opinion.. However it is a testament that the X200 is hugely popular and Lenovo is having trouble with the supplier for the 9 and 6 cell battery's.. They say they will have the problem resolved by next week for me and others. I haven't heard of anyone else though getting their's delayed that visit this or the other lenovo forums, however we are but a few people I guess who bother..

 

I am not lying when I say that my x200 is completely silent. It appears as though my fan is also always running, since I can feel hot air coming out. I am very impressed with that aspect.

 

I also thought I would add in some more comments. Firstly, I am a business school student, so having a computer that is very portable and can run Office and stats software and basic internet apps are my only requirements. So, take my comments with that in mind.

My setup has the faster processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, fingerprint reader, no cam, bluetooth, 4cell

1. It is smaller than I expected. My wife also got one (she will be a full-time student with me as well), and this thing will fit in her purse. That is impressive.

2. Everything runs very fast. Admittedly, I am upgrading from a P4 desktop, but it runs very smoothly.

3. Installing a 64-bit version of Vista (after installing 32-bit business over the XPP install) worked fine, and all drivers run properly.

4. The screen is absolutely fine for MY needs. Some may be complaining, but this laptop was not designed to be a graphics workhorse. I must be seeing something else, but photos and video look totally fine for casual use. This isn't a big priority for me, but they look fine.

5. Fingerprint reader and card reader work great.

6. The keyboard is even bigger (by a mm or two) than my Microsoft wireless keyboard for my desktop. This keyboard is huge! I hate the Ctrl key placing, however. That is VERY annoying.

7. Unit runs very cool, very quiet.

I can't think of anything else, but I am very happy with the performance of this unit given its size.

 

Agreed. At least in Energy Star mode, the laptop is almost completely silent.

It'll stop being a problem soon. I was shocked the first time I used a ThinkPad, some 5 years ago, but within a couple weeks I was completely accustomed to it.

On a much less pleasant note, I was going to upgrade the RAM last night and what do I see? One of the screws is stripped! Nothing I did; this was Lenovo's doing. Now I have to see if I can remove it (the damage does not look extensive) or if I have to RMA the notebook for this.

(I'm discussing the issue in more on-topic threads in the proper forum, so I don't mean to hijack this one; but as we're talking "critiques" too, well, this is my critique to the Lenovo techs).

 

They going to make a model of the x200 with an LED panel?

Tom

 

That would be a X200S.

 

I updated the original post regarding noise levels.

 

I'm running an USB cooling fan (Belkin) and I can tell you that Belkin fan is much noiser than Lenovo's. I don't think I ever heard noises or X200 really needs a cooling fan if you have 9 cell battery.

 

Is it normal for a machine to not charge anymore after 99%? I'm pretty sure it used to charge up to 100%, but it doesn't charge anymore after 99%.

 

The battery doesn't start recharging until it drops below 95 or 96%. It's a setting that is supposed to extend the life of your battery by decreasing the number of partial recharges, or something like that. Regardless, it's intentional. If you drain it to the low 90s and plug it back in, it will charge back up to 100%.

 

Just to let you know, the zero shock III is available.. but in orange.. I don't care about the color so I just placed an order for one..

http://shinza.com/product_info.php?products_id=96

It will fit the X200 very nicely if you have the 9 cell... And it makes it waterproof once it is zipped and protects it from shocks.. Very nice indeed..

 

I want to buy black. I would love to buy white too, but I don't buy white that will get dirty. Maybe like a white camera, but not white case. Orange is too bright for me

I'm waiting for 13 inch black Zero Shock III. I'm using Sony sleeves in the meantime, so I do not mind waiting a little while.

 

You can probably check eBay. I am waiting until I move back to school before I look for the sleeve.

 

Exactly. It's a setting you can change in the Power Manager (a fantastic software). I believe you can associate a different level to each battery profile, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

At any rate, yes, the setting is meant to protect your battery. If you have 1 or 2 hours left at the end of the day and you know they won't be enough for tomorrow, you should let the battery drain to zero (run some intensive benchmark or whatever to accelerate the process) and then have it recharge overnight.

 

This is my personal problem but location of Fn and Ctrl has been really bothering me. I keep pressing Fn + V to copy while I was writing a paper for one of my class.

But I'm in love with the keyboard. You can't miss a spelling you want to type. For someone who is a fast typist, this is a must.

 

I've never heard about that ZeroShock sleeve, but I took your word for it and ordered it I actually like tha orange color.

 

Have you considered Ctrl2Cap to make Caps Lock an extra Ctrl key? I highly recommend it.

 

What RAM did you add to the system? I'd like to get 2G after I order my x200 with 2G already in. I'm not 100% sure what specs to get, and where to get it though.

 

You can use PC Magazine’s TradeKeys utility below....

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,1656363,00.asp

....to swap the keys you want. Bad thing is, the fn key cannot be mapped because it really isn't a key per se. The way that keyboards work in windows is that each key corresponds to a certain scancode which tells the OS what to do. However, the FN key doesn't return a scancode to the OS but rather modifies the scancode of the key that it is pressed with and is relegated to do that by the computers bios.

What you can do is switch the control key with the caps lock to make it easier to use and get used to that change...

 

These are the specs I chose below. I opted for 2Gb of ram because I feel it is plenty fast for what I'll be using the laptop for and all the benchmarks you see in the reviews had 2GB in it. Furthermore the X200 tops the benchmarks on all the lists using 2GB's. I did upgrade the CPU to 2.4GHZ as it will make a big difference so I recommend that upgrade for $50. I downgraded to Vista Basic to save $50 (glad that was an option) and I upgraded the wifi to the 3X3 intel 5300 for obvious reasons. I think I will use the bluetooth down the road so I got that since you have to get a usb bluetooth adapter later that sticks out the side and you can't add it internally later. The 9 cell battery was a no brainer as well for an upgrade. The solid state hard driv will be the most important asset inside the notebook as the Samsung drive that they are using is the best SSD available in all the benchmarks.. This is what I would get however if I couldn't get the SSD free, I'd go with the 80GB standard choice.. DO NOT GET TURBO MEMORY... It is not a stable technology and will slow the machine down if you get it in conjunction with the 64GB SSD.

I got the solid state drive free and the base price was a little lower the first day it came out because of a price mistake which showed the option to add a solid state drive for (subtract $70). Basically it was a $900 free gift upgrade. Because they delayed my ship date now by over a month, they offered to give me back $75 on top of this price so I can't say no to that since I want my X200. Their customer service is excellent in my opinion, much better than Dell and HP. Overall My best friend paid a bit more for his since he opted for the fastest shipping solution while I went for the free shipping which ended up delaying my order since they processed those people who paid for shipping first. I end up saving over $200 bucks in the end on top of the $900 On the website, the upgrades I ordered come out to $2,424.00 in total price before taxes. The Cpp price is a few hundred lower.

1 X200 CONFIGURED SYSTEM
$1,449.00 $1,449.00
SBB INTCORE2DUOPROCT8600(2,4GH
VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC
SBB GWV HOMEBASIC 32 US ENG.
SBB 2X2UL.CON.II ANT.,WWAN,CAM
SBB 2GBPC3-8500 1067MHZ2DIMM
SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
SBB TRACKPOINT
SBB 64GB SOL.ST,DRIVE,SER.ATA
SBB 5-1MEDIACARDREADER+MODEM
VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
SBB INT.WIFI LINK5300
SBB INTEGRWIRELESSWIDEAREANETW
SBB THINKPADX200SER.9CELLENH.
SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA
SBB LAPACK US ENGL

 

For the life of me I can't figure why, but the SDD is not an option when building a x200. This is probably some BS related to my being in Canada, though when it all comes from the same factory I can't figure it out.

I feel like I'm really missing out by not getting the SSD...

EDIT: Turns out it's becuase I had Vista 64 selected. Going to a 32-bit opt brings the SSD back. Unfortunatly it's a $1,030 option!!!

 

Yeah, you are better off waiting a few months until the SSD prices drop.. IBM is getting into the market now with their SSD but it will very hard getting one since they are only making 1,000 at first.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Intel-x25-m-SSD,2012.html

However the Samsung drive is still number one on terms of benchmarks, but more expensive however the 64GB drive should drop down in price once the 128GB drives roll out in higher numbers and demand.

OCZ SSD's are rebadged Samsungs (same as the samsungs) and are sold for half the price.. I would look into getting one of those and it will be fully compatible with the bios in the current X200.. The price of these will go down as well but it may take longer since they are already low.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/flash_drives/ocz_sata_ii_2_5-ssd

 

The one Intel making now is based on MLC, and so is the Samsung one rebadged by OCZ. The one comes with my X200 is based on SLC. SLC is said to last 10 times longer than MLC, and also fast. That's why you can get a 64GB OCZ Core series for $200 after $40 rebate, while Lenovo asks more than $800 for the 64G SSD in X200 and X300.

Sean

Sean

 

Excellent link! And very exciting news!

I wonder if the X200s will utilise Intel's latest 80GB SSD. The article mentions that the drive is shipping starting today.

 

It may be annoying right now, but I think you'll get used to it if you give it some time. You just have to retrain a little bit of muscle memory.

 

The X200's are currently shipping with the Samsung "brushed aluminum" 64GB SSD's which are the top dog for now for the 64GB range.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/10/samsungs-64gb-ssd-better-faster-stronger/

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4368

 

I find it funny because I know that the buttons are switched, but I keep doing the same and wondering why it does not copy (Ctrl + V) or save a document (Ctrl + S). I'm actually getting used to copying by highlighting them and right click to copy

 

Supermans the x200 actually ships with the same drive as the x300 which is a 1.8" Samsung SSD with model number MCC0E64G8MPP.

 

Myself, I've decided to go with DDR2, since I absolutely need 4GBs and I can't afford 4GB of DDR3 (costs around $170, which is twice as much as DDR2). With time, maybe, I'll switch to DDR3; the performance benefit is minimal.

 

But what about the yet-to-be-released X200 s?

If I understand the article correctly, the Intel SSD offers similar or better performance compared with the Samsung for about half the price (not to mention an extra 16GB). Personally, performance is not the factor holding me back from SSD; it's the sky-high pricing.

Both Dell and Lenovo are holding out on releasing information on the E4200 (Dell) and X200s (Lenovo) notebooks. I wonder if the Intel SSD might find its way into one or both of these ultraportables.

Here's hoping that Lenovo offers the Intel SSD!

 

does anyone know what lcd panel the x200 uses? Samsung or LG?

 

claudione314, is it true that the DDR2 memory works in X200? I am about to get an X200, but not sure whether it will take DDR2 memory. Some people said the 200 pin DDR2 chip will not fit in the 204 pin socket.

 

DDR3 slots are supposed to be backward-compatible, so DDR2 should work.

I haven't had a chance to test it yet, as I received my X200 with one stripped screw on the memory panel and I need to figure out how to take it out without breaking anything. Then I'll be able to upgrade.

 

Intel MLC SSD writing speed is substantially slower than that of SAMSUNG SLC SSD. With my experience with EEE PC 900, the writing speed is much more critical than reading speed for normall everyday application (Not database). The review by Tom's Hardware is not a good one. It looks like written by someone paid by intel. Everytime you load a new webpage, the computer needs to write it to your regular HD or SSD before you can read it. With a slower writing speed, it could take a while. And SAMSUNG SSD is the best at video coding according to the biased review. And the author did not mention the shorter life time of MLC at all.

The point about the Intel SSD is that intel uses a new controller, but there are better ones made by korean companies on the way. Intel does not improve or make a revolution in the quality of MLC SSD. With the same controller, SLC is far superior than MLC.

Sean

 

I did not know that the one that was used in the X200 was the 1.8, I simply had the link pointed towards the 2.5.. Both of which should fit inside the X200 btw and. Samsung makes one SSD that is 1.8 the other is 2.5 however the actual performance is the same..

version number in your post and now confirmed is inside the X200 and X300.
http://www.hardware.info/productdb/bGVkaZiUmJnKYMg/viewproduct/Samsung_MCC0E64G8MPP0VA_64_GB/

the one in the link I posted is the 2.5 of the same drive (same internals..
http://www.hardware.info/en-US/prod...Samsung_SSD_25_64_GB_SATA2_MCCOE64G5MPP0VA00/

The mini sata is more expensive because it is smaller.. However it is the same controller and memory inside so performance should be identical..

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/11/06/samsung-unveiled-new-64gb-ssd-with-sata-ii-interface/
"The SSD memory will be available in both 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch by early of 2008."

 

How do you get rid of fingerprints on the keyboard?

 

Watch out, you might damage your memory slot! DDR3 slots are not backwards-compatible with DDR2:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3789809#post3789809

Also, Kingston mentions this in their FAQ (Although it is talking about desktop memory, the same thing applies to laptop chips)
http://www.kingston.com/channelmarketingcenter/hyperx/literature/MKF_1223_DDR3_FAQ.pdf

You can also see a picture of the DDR3 module in the X200 on this page if you scroll down, and you'll notice that it is physically different from DDR2.:
http://www.51nb.com/viewnews-40228-page-3.html

I know that the review unit came with DDR2 - but keep in mind that the Montevina chipset has the circuitry to support both DDR2 and DDR3. It is not difficult to manufacture a motherboard with a DDR2 slot instead of a DDR3 slot. So it is very possible that Lenovo's early test units had DDR2 slots, since DDR3 laptop modules were not available until recently.

Edit: Just thought I'd make things more clear:
Below is the DDR3 socket, notice that there is only 1 notch:


Here is the DDR3 SODIMM, note the location of the notch:
:

And now, look at the location of the notch on this DDR2 SODIMM:


And of course, in addition to the notch being in a different location, DDR2 has 200 pins whereas DDR3 has 204. So their compatibility is really out of the question.

 

I would not put DDR2 into your X200, listen to Faruk on this one.. Spend the extra money or wait until the prices go down for DDR3 memory..

 

WD-40 works pretty well..

 

Do I spray WD-40 directly at the keyboard and wash it off with a cloth? It seems like X200 leaves a lot of marks.

 

Just use a microfiber cloth used for screens or cameras...or glasses...you can polish it away essentially.

Edit: btw the price dropped on the x200
From: $1,434.00*
Sale price: $1,147.20*

 

I would try using soap and water before anything else.. As a last resort for stains, spray the wd-40 on a cloth and lightly run it on the stain. Then use soap and water on it afterwards.

wd-40 got the name because it has many many uses.

http://www.gomestic.com/Homemaking/15-Uses-For-WD40.32880

If you just spray it on the key with the red stain and rub it clean, it might take off the lettering on the key if it is painted on however if you spray it on a cloth or paper towel, it should be fine. But be sure to clean afterward with soap and water to get whatever is left off..

WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion—a task which is done by displacing water. Norm's persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try.

Definitely use microfiber cloth for the screen...

 

The other option would be to buy some thin-cloth gloves to use while typing..

 

I was afraid of that. *sigh* As soon as I can open up the memory panel I will try aligning the module with the slot, even though by now your post almost convinced me. We'll see when DDR3 prices get down a little bit...

Interesting. Being a sale, I doubt one can claim the price protection guarantee.

 

No harm in trying. I got the free SSD, however. So I can't really match .