X200 Discussion & Issues/Critique

How do you determine the wattage use? What program are you using to get these numbers?

 

What are the drivers that I need to get the X200 up and running? I intend to take out the existing HD which have the drivers and OS and replace it with a 320GB 7200 RPM HD. This way I'll be able to do a clean install of Vista on the new HD.

Also, what does the ThinkVantage software do? I notice there is a dedicated key on the keyboard for it. I hope it's not a frontend to manage the battery life of Vista as I can do that within Vista.

 

for the drivers, i think you can copy the installers from the SWTOOLS folder or something on your C Drive and just install them on your new hard drive.

RE: ThinkVantage:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/think/thinkvantagetech.html

There you go!

 

I was in the same boat. A few days ago, I replaced the HD in my just-received X200 with a 320GB 7200RPM HD.

Read this thread:

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=X_Series_Thinkpads&thread.id=5261

I've used that ThinkVantage key to get into the BIOS.

 

Anyone have any updates on the clocking down issue?

 

I have to say that the more I think about the new x-series, the more disappointed I am by the price of the X200s.

When the X61s was initially released I paid $968 USD for the following configuration (on June 7 2007):

1.6GHz / Vista Basic / Ultralight display / 60GB / 512MB / 3945 wifi / BT / 8-cell

A similar config for the X200s through the same purchasing portal (CPP) today is $1533:

1.86GHz / Vista Basic / standard display / 80GB / 1GB / 5100 wifi / BT / 9-cell

That's an increase in price of $565 for a nearly identically equipped X61s. How can Lenovo justify this price hike?

I've been waiting since August to buy an X200s and just can't make myself do it. The value is just so poor. Not having a notebook sucks, but getting ripped off sucks even worse. I'll just keep using my desktop I guess.

 

i think the wifi on x200 tablet is weak. im not sure if it is the 5100's problem, or attentional by the carbon fiber, reflection/phase-cancellation from the magnesium, or maybe weird construction in the hinge (an unshielded portion?)

when i need to hit up the shoddy wifi i reach for the aspireone. with its Atheros card and cheap plasticy case

 

also the fan is incredibly awesome, as in silent. even when maxing out the CPU for a half hour at a time compiling a new GCC or something. and the case only gets slightly warm where presumably the CPU Is.

theres a tiny jet of hot air streaming out the left corner. so yeah... awesome cooling system

 

Just wanted to say Hi! as a new X200 owner! I just received my X200 today. It was a purchase from the Lenovo Outlet during a special sale they had last weekend for employees. I've previously heavily used a T42 and T60p at work, but this X200 is for my home use.

My system contains the P8600 cpu; 3gb DDR3; 160gb 7200rpm Hitachi; Intel 5300 wifi; AT&T WWAN; BT; 9 cell battery. No fingerprint. Vista Business.

I have not decided if I'm going to upgrade the warranty or not. How long do I have to decide? 30 days? or until the end of the 1 yr warranty period?

The system looked essentially pristine. The only sign of wear I saw was a bit of rub to the bottom to the Vista license sticker...but it is completely intact, just a slight rub.

There is a large amount of bezel around the screen! Seems like there is enough space they could have put a 13" screen in! But, I'll survive with the 12.1".

I haven't decided what to do about an optical drive. Whether I really need one or not. I do need to install Office. Can I make an image of my CD using something like Daemon Tools on my desktop and then mount the image on the X200 to install? Isn't the Ultrabase around $160 without an optical drive? A USB external burner would be more price friendly I think.

I don't hear much noise from the system at all. There is a very slight noise, but I'm not sure yet whether it is from the hdd or the fan.

What do I need to know about WWAN? It can with the AT&T card installed. I do have an AT&T phone account, but no data plan. I have just a basic plan. I really don't anticipate needing to use the WWAN since the system will mostly stay at home; travelling only on the occasional family vacation. So I guess I will leave the WWAN radio off. What is the GPS program though?

I'm about to take a look at the Vista thread and make some settings changes, but if anyone wants to chime in on best practices for ThinkVantage Power Management and Access Connections, etc. then please let me know!

 

Hi,

I would upgrade the warranty to a couple years.

The bezel accommodates a number of the features in the x200, so it wouldn't be that easy to to stuff a 13" screen in there without some more crazy engineering and costs.

I would go with an external drive if you don't need the other features of the ultrabase.

 

You're allowed to extend the warranty once, at any time before your warranty expires (so, after a year for you). However, maybe during the first 30 days you're allowed to change the warranty without it counting as your 'extension'? It might say on the website, or you can call and ask, if it matters to you. I'm a big proponent of the 3 year warranty. On my t43, some little things that could have been a huge hassle were made into non-issues because lenovo quickly and painlessly solved them. But everyone has their own opinion about warranties.

Mine was new and had part of the vista license sticker rubbed off. They might do it while transporting or sometime to verify it's real.

I was surprised by the bezel also, it seems a little excessive. There are antennas and the camera in there, so I guess they need some of the space. You get used to it, though.

Enjoy your new computer. I am very happy with mine.

 

What type of laptop bags are people using?

 

just wondering, for those who have 6 cells how long does ur battery last?

 

Why WWAN is removed from X200? I didn't see this option anymore.

 

Depends of course:
Constant usage (web, word, installing): 4 hours
On and off: 5 hours

This is with max battery settings, 60% brightness, bluetooth off, aero and sidebar off, wifi on

 

thanks!

yea, right now trying to decide between the X200 and U330...

i don't like how the 9-cell budges out, and the u330 has some issues with battery life. how does the screen look on the x200? i'm moving up from an eeepc 1000h, which has a really bright LED screen and just wondering how bright the screen is on the x200, if possible a comparison with the U330

 

Most situations I can get by on 60% brightness. In one classroom, I did have to up it to 85%ish to be bright enough. I don't think you need to be worried about the brightness unless you're looking to use it outside. Coming from a glossy MBP, the screen hasn't been a downer or anything.

 

UPDATE on CPU throttling issue:

All the P8xxx series and my T9400 CPU can indeed throttle down to ~800Mhz at maximum battery mode. Do not use CPUZ. It is not compatible yet with the current Penryns. Try this method to test it out:

If you are running Vista, startresource monitor. You can open this by starting task manager (ctrl+shift+esc), switching to the performance tab, and clicking "resource monitor" in the lower right corner. This will give you detailed graphs of CPU, Disk, Network, and Memory. Look at the % Maximum Frequency

According to the Performance Monitor, my CPU is running at 31% maximum frequency, which is 2.53x0.31x100%=784Mhz in maximum battery life setting.

 

anyone receive a new x200 lately? sorry for the newbie question. i just ordered mine and got an expected delivery date of dec 19. is lenovo still slow to ship as they were in oct?

thanks

 

I just got my X200 in 5 days, they shipped from China.

 

I ordered mine on 11/24, shipped on 11/28 and delivered 12/01. Exactly a week.

 

Does anyone find the build quality on this model sort of not so good. For instance at the top of the lcd lid at the corners (left and right) the nice rubbery feeling is worn off and I can see the plastic below. Also where my right palm sits, just above the usb , there is a half inch crack. I noticed this today. Ive never dropped my laptop and I carry it around in a foam case. What should I do? This is upsetting because I've only had this laptop for a month.

 

The rubber finish wears off on the edges. That has happened for a while for all thinkpads. That does not really retract from the "build quality." Your palm rest breaking is of concern. Contact support and they will send you a new one.

But in general, no, I do not think the quality is "not so good." I think most people would agree that the overall build and solid feel of the x200 is great.

 

THanks for the response. I will contact lenovo so they can fix it.

 

I'm joining the x200 family!! Just placed an order 5 mins ago

 

The build quality and feel of my X200 is great! No complaints whatsoever.

 

So, I got my outlet X200 back on the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week and so far I really do like it. The 9 cell battery life is amazing! And it has seemed to be running great.

But...

I noticed for the second time tonight that when I hit Start>Shut Down (and yes, I'm sure I hit "Shut Down") that it didn't actually power off. Vista closed and lcd went dim, but fan was still on and the power light was still lit (along with power light and battery light). Gave it a few minutes but still the power light remained lit. Tried various keys to try to wake it up in case it had suspended instead, but nothing, so finally just held down the power button.

I noticed this once last week but assumed it to be a fluke. Now? Not so sure.

Not a major issue so far...I'll continue to watch it...after all, it is under warranty for another 11 months and 1 week. :>

 

and it just happened again...no one else has had this problem with their x200 so far?

 

Double check your settings on power manager. You can set different actions for closing the lid and hitting the shutdown button for each profile in Vista. Do the following: right click on the battery and "launch power manager", expand events, configure "start menu power button" to "shutdown". You will need to do this for every power profile, or apply it to all of them using "global power settings".

If this doesn't work, try and shutdown using the command line. Bring up the run command (windows key + r), and type "shutdown -s". This should start a system shutdown command with a countdown timer (usually 30 seconds).

If by some chance this fails, you may want to try a system restore to factory (blue button at pre-boot) or a live Linux distribution (Ubuntu 8.10 is well supported on the x200) to try and determine if it is a hardware or software problem.

 

You can also do "shutdown /p" for immediate shutdown
Also, check your power manager profile for Windows, you may have hybrid sleep enabled

 

Ya it might be shutting down and then you close the lid and then it sleeps. I always remove any action when the lid is closed because you might need to relocate with your laptop on for a moment.

 

Ok, thanks. Just made this change and we'll see what happens.

 

Nope, hybrid sleep disabled.

 

I received my X200 here in China from a vendor's warehouse within a day of ordering. It came with the P8600 2.4ghz processor, 1gb DDR3 ram (doing a self-upgrade to 2gb later), bluetooth, Intel 5100, fingerprint reader, 250gb hard drive, turbo memory (disabled), and the 6-cell battery. So far I am quite impressed with this machine - it runs fast and gets a decent amount of battery life (on and off 6 or 7 hours and constant use about 4 hours). I must say that i was disapointed to find that a camera was not included, I assumed that they all had one - they even "rub it in my face" by leaving some plastic blank in place.

 

I just received my x200 today and loving it so far. How do I make a recovery disc of this OS just in case something bad happens? I'm planning to load vista business into it instead of home basic.

edit: Is this normal? There's a small clicking noise while I close the screen at about 45 degrees mark. It doesn't click while I open the screen though

 

Mine doesn't make any noise, so that does not sound normal.

 

It sounds like it's coming from the hinge. It's not that annoying, but I hope it's not a hardware defect. I can also hear a tiny click coming from the laptop when tilt it left and right while closed.

Nobody else has this quirk?

 

UPDATE: It turns out to be a flaw. Gone with a replacement machine.

Hi, guys,

Just got my X200 7454 CTO (2GB ddr3 / 5400rpm).

I've spent much effort in the past some hours to explain one headache I have here.

Could other owners help try the following to see if anybody else has similar problem?

1) adjust your LCD brightness(particularly away from full) and see if you hear different noise from upper right part of keyboard (maybe some current ground issue resulting in some feedback in the speaker) ?

2) when abnormal noise does come up, try pressing the frames of the LCD and see if it vanishes.

I'm pretty sure mine has some problem in the circuits associated with the LCD connection. Now I'm thinking of returning this to Lenovo and buying a similar X200 somewhere else(to avoid excessive wait!!). What's your suggestion?

Details of what I experienced is here:
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=X_Series_Thinkpads&thread.id=6305

Thanks.

 

So, here is a quickie update. Since Dec. 19th, though admittedly, I have not used my system every day, this shut down problem only happened once and on that shut down it also installed updates. So, my theory at the moment has to do with Windows Updates impeding the shutdown...but we'll see...I'll continue to watch.

On another topic: does anyone else have 1 USB port that is tighter than the others? I've noticed that the USB port towards the back on the left side is tighter than either the front left or right side port. Not a big deal. I just bought a VX Nano mouse and since I plan to leave the transmitter part in all the time, I popped it into that tight one. That way I'm not fighting to remove other USB plugs that I use more frequently.

 

I also wrote this to another topic, but I think this topic suits more.

I moved from X31 to X200. X200 has a good performance but I had two big problems with x200:

1) X200 has higher screen resolution than X31, but X200's screen is larger than X31 in size only marginally. I did some calculations and saw that per pixel area of X200 is around 40% smaller than x31! It means that total area of everything (fonts, images etc.) is %40 smaller in x200's screen than x31 under the same settings! It makes harder to read pages, documents etc. My eyes start to ache after a long use!!! I believe that X31 has the optimum pixel size for business use. Also there is a bigger gap between the edges of the laptop and the screen in X200 than X31. They could have made x200's screen a bit larger by filling this gap. X31's screen does not have a so big gap with the edges. As a result, I am very disappointed with the screen.

2) I am using Vista 64-bit. I think X200's network drivers are very buggy. After uploading many files over ftp with a high speed connection, windows kernel starts to use almost %100 of both cpu cores during file transfers and only restarting solves the problem.

 

Most users find the DPI of the x200 perfectly fine. The screen is not that great for other reasons already discussed though. Turn up your DPI and change your font sizes if you can't read it very well.

 

So most users did not find DPI of X31 so fine?

Unfortunately it causes more problems than it solves. Usually breaks the site and document layouts. Also it is not a solution for images.

 

The x31 is rather old now at this point. It is unfortunate that it does not work well for you but you're the first person I've seen who says it is too small. Usually there is more discussion of if the 1440x900 on the x200s is too small vs the regular x200.

 

Are there other icons? Like for Documents, etc.?

 

That's all i had in my theme folder in SWTOOLS.

 

hi guys,

just to check, how do i know if my battery if fully charged?

does the battery indicator goes off once the battery is fully charged? tks in advance! I am a new thinkpad user.

 

The lenovo battery gauge or windows battery gauge should tell you.

 

hi there! tks for the fast reply.

Is there any way to check the charge status from the external battery indicator (mine is showing perm green and I dunno if it is fully charged) as I am charging the laptop with the lid closed up.

wondering if the battery indicator will go off once it is fully charged.

thank you!

 

Unfortunately there is no charge indicator on the battery itself and the green light on the laptop for the battery is just to notify you that it is installed (I believe...). You will notice that the prong light is visible when AC power is plugged in.

My battery light on the laptop is solid green even though the battery is not charging.

 

I see....anyway, i did a search and found out abt this website.

http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=79 - Battery Indicator Light Behavior

lol, some of the comments are quite interesting.