X220 Reviews

If there's no X220s, will ULV processors be offered in the standard model (non-tablet)? Footnote 3 at the bottom states their existence, but doesn't say the tested config is a tablet.

Lenovo Newsroom | New Lenovo ThinkPad Ultraportable Laptops Recharged, Reenergized and Renewed

 

at this time i can't say if LV/ULV processors will be a standard offering.   footnote #3 refers to a notebook config.

regarding pricing, topseller models usually pan out to be good deals once one factors in the 3-year warranty.   in some cases they can be better than an EPP CTO config depending on the coupons offered at the time.   in the end, buying from a reseller can be a great option -- especially if someone is in a hurry to receive a system.

 

That cnet review was poor. Lenovo laptops have some of the worst screens on the market, yet the guy says that his screen was good. It was probably an ips. In any event, even though cnet is for the average joe consumer, if apple can tout the virtues of having a nice ips display on the ipad to the average joe, then surely cnet can be more clear in its review about which screen they were viewing.

It's kind of odd how they said that the macbook pro 13" is a hair bigger, which it is. But it's certainly quite a bit heavier, so I don't think that the implied comparison, the 13" mbp is in the ultraportable category and a direct competitor, is fair.

 

i think one should not rely on one single review to form a balanced judgement on any products, since reviewers and the website or company they work for can be prejudiced. Furthermore they may not review a product according the strictest guideline.

 

When will the x220 be available for order?

 

Sometime in April I believe.

 

I found this:

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 4287 - Core i5 2520M 2.5 GHz - 12.5" TFT - with UltraB - 42872WU - Notebook Computers - CDW.com



When i do a search, more models with other configurations show up:


Search Results



Provantage have started taking orders, listed as "special order":

http://www.provantage.com/scripts/search.dll?QUERY=thinkpad+x220&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0

 

Is it only in selected markets you can configure you Thinkpads? I cant find anything on the danish site its rare you hit the exact preconfigured one you need.

 

In Finland you cannot preconfigure systems. Retailers usually carry a few variants. Some put up many variants, from which you can choose, but wait times are weeks, because they need to be ordered separately (they will not stock up on every possible variant).

It should be similar in most European countries.

The Lenovo site contains a list of models you can order for a region. If you have a good retailer they will order any product code from there, but you will have to wait of course.

Same was when I bought my T500. I had some configurations to choose from. You want a better CPU? You will also need a larger battery, etc, because you cannot customize it. Really sucks, since they "lock" certain components together, so you can get a better of one (better CPU) but you need to upgrade something else as well, which you would not want to (RAM, HD, battery, etc).

I actually was thinking of getting my next ThinkPad from the US, custom built. There is a company that specializes in this: they sell machines to overseas customers (overseas meaning us Europeans ). They will allow you to choose your build, have it built and send it to you. Just make sure the warranty is world wide!

HIDevolution.com - Specializing in customized computers, electronics, and mobile devices for gamers and professionals

The price, even with shipping and VAT added (there is no customs for computers sent to Finland) is cheaper than what they sell for in the US.

 

Computer Shopper Review

 

I'm thinking of buying an X220 when it's available.

I've a T500 (2.66GHz) which has serve me well.

Will the X220 be enable to run VMWare with Window Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, SharePoint 2010 & Visual Studio 2010 installed with 8GB RAM? This VMWare set up is power hungry and I plan to add an SSD.

I'm no gamer.

 

Yes it can. Make sure to get the higher clock one. The i5/i7 is about 15-30% faster than c2d clock to clock.

 

Thanks,

Another concern is the screen size. I've always been using 15" (1680 X 1050) and I don't know whether I'll get used to a smaller screen for my developement.

This size of 12.5" will require a lot of scrolling even during web browsing

 

Maybe consider an external LCD setup when you are working from the desk. So you can take the X220 with on the road, and resort to higher resolution external LCD when working from the desk.

 

I don't like connecting to an external screen and when I'm at home, I use my laptops in bed.

I'm only thinking of buying the X220 because of the battery life with slice of 20hrs.

If I can see an alternative with larger screen with the same battery life, I'll go for it

 

You must have a very comfortable bed: that's a lot of heavy software-development work!

Seriously, though, aside from the small screen (duh!), my X201 can do whatever my T510 does. I review huge and complex Adobe design documents using the X201 while on the road. So, I figure the X220 will certainly fly. And, yes, the X220 batteries -- 6-cell, 9-cell, slice combo -- are great.

 

Have you consider the t420 if screen resolution is a concern.

from Lenovo Unveils T420s, T420, T520, L420, L520 And W520 Business ThinkPads - HotHardware

 

Wow! Even this...

realistically adjusted down to 12 hours, is wonderful!

 

I don't really believe these battery life estimated.

When I bought my T500 with 9-cell battery 2 years ago, I was promised 6-7 hours of battery life.

As of today, I hardly get 40mins of battery juice

 

Yes, the manufacturer estimates are not always reliable.

How many hours did you get back then? Maybe not close to 6 hours, more like 4-5 hours, but not 40 minutes. Batteries degrade over time, with use, with non-use, or with abuse.

 

I can't remember, probably 2 hours. My T500 is always on charger unless when I forget to turn the wall plug on, then in within 30 minutes is all gone.

I'll looking for one that will last at least 9 hours at work without charger. Then I wouldn't bother to take my charger with me at the time

 

Currently, only the X201 with 9-cell battery gives me straight 8 hours of leaving-charger-at-home mobility.

The claims made so far indicate that an X220 with a 6-cell can beat that.

 

I'll go for the X220, but when is the release date in UK?

 

Late April, I'd say.

 

Not meaning to go OT here, but how much time does the x201 give with a 6-cell battery? And, when you say 8 hours, does that leave the 9-cell completely drained?

 

I don't use a 6-cell. I never worry about the 9-cell - not even having the status shown - when I do day-trips. I plug it in to charge when I get home.

 

That must be nice! Thanks for the input. Maybe I should have ordered for a 9-cell battery.

 

lines_of_flight, I think you could opt for 9 cell on X201 and get 4 cell on R400
I would love it if I had 6 cell battery on my laptop, flush batteries make it look so much better, but I would have to sacrifice quite alot on battery life.
You on the other hand can afford to cut the battery life by half on your R400 due to incoming X201 becoming your main ultraportable and travel rig

 

And what do I do with (1) the current 6-cell in the R400 and (2) the 6-cell that comes in the pre-configured machine that is incoming?

You see the problem with buying ThinkPads in India is you only get what you is on offer and customization is not one thing that is on the table. My X201 comes with a 6-cell. I have to buy the 9-cell as an extra.

 

Well, 6 cell on your R400 can stay in refrigerator and wait for better days
Seriously, you might find that your R400 looks even better with battery that does not protrude, especially if R400 might not get as much autonomous use as it did before.

X201 and 6 cell is different issue, if you cant upgrade your order to 9 cell then I would not stress about it, youre probably going to get much longer battery life on it than you had with 6 cell on R400 anyway. But do remember that some day you might want to have those couple of extra hours and freedom that 9 cell on X201 might have offered, after all, in the beginning you had only R400, now youre getting X201 and there might be no way back for you after that
On the other hand - 9 cell protrudes from the back of X201 and you might not like it, then again, the battery is smaller than the one on T/R series so it wouldnt protrude as much as it does on T/R.
I definitely appreciate how 9 cell on T410 sticks out far less than it did on R400.

 

@Veer...I think I will have to buy the 9-cell for the x201 as soon as I receive the machine and keep the default 6-cell in the refrigerator!I definitely need to stop worrying about battery life when I am working.

Anyways, back on topic, I am eager to learn how the reworked screen res works in the X220. From the couple of reviews that I have read, no one seems to have a problem, though none compare it with the 1280x800 res and share their impressions.

So, if some of you have owned machines with the same res as the x220 and have used the x201, a brief, rough comparative outline would be most helpful.

 

Have a 13.3" with 1366x768.

Basically, it's not wide enough to truly have two windows side by side, and it's shorter.

I never have problems reading, I never have to squint, but I do find myself having to scroll a lot. I didn't notice a difference between this and my 1280x800 MacBook from back in 2006.

 

What are the benefits on getting an ips screen?

 

Better viewing angle, colour accuracy and colour contrast... which are important to some people.

 

Engadget.

 

Another review confirming 8hrs out of the 6-cell, and seems they can't praise the IPS screen enough. And they corrected the overly optimistic price previously quoted, $1300 without the external battery.

 

The X220 looks quite pretty, even with the slice attached.

• "display is pretty close to perfect, especially in comparison to the cheap, glossy panels we see on so many machines these days"
• "that laptop is now the longest lasting and fastest ultraportable we've ever tested"

I am in love!

 

I just wished they offer discrete graphics for this baby. So close of becoming the perfect all-around laptop.

 

That's a bummer that the 1300 does not includes the slice battery. People are complaining for Engadget only giving the x220 an 8/10 instead of 9/10, which Macbook Pro get.

 

It is a bummer but 1300 for that config w/ slice was never realistic.

How long do the first batch of orders typically take to ship? I need to sell the T400 to put whatever it fetches toward the X220.

 

Saw this posted at Lenovo Blogs: "Design Matters".

Design Matters ThinkPad X220: You Sexy Beast

Notably, the majority of negative comments are related to the low (vertical) resolution of the display and the change to the wider and shorter 16:9 display aspect ratio from 16:10 of the previous X series.

 

In real world photos it looks like the little brother of the X300/X301. That never hurts. Functionally, arguably one of the best available anywhere (well in a few weeks).

 

Practically every Design Matters blog post has negative comments about the move from standard 4:3 to widescreen. It's honestly gotten old for me to see complaints about widescreens book-ending every good, useful, informative comment on those blogs.

 

I wish it had HD+ 1600x900 resolution available, other than that and laptop getting wider together with T420/T420s these 3 laptops seem like perfect working machines. I really like new ThinkPads, at least on paper they seem to be rather impressive(except for T420s still having subpar battery life for me) and only thing I dont like its them getting bigger bezels on both sides of their keyboards
Lets see what X1 and X220 tablet turn out to be like.

 

Yeah, I begin to like "your" X1, too, vēer.

 

Notebooks.com full review.
Pretty photos of the X220.

 

This would be great...

​

 

and that would decrease battery runtime and add much more heat which they would have to figure out how to handle. in the end, the final result would be a laptop which won't look, weigh, or perform like the x220.

 

With 24 hour battery life, I think they can spare an hour or two. Heat? I don't think so. Weight? Not much.

The main measure usually discussed is price.

 

you're assuming everyone chooses to get the battery slice. while it's a great option, not everyone wants or needs that such runtime, not to mention the cost and extra weight either. losing 1-2 hrs on a 6-cell battery, even with the claimed runtimes on the x220, is a big sacrifice.

the GPU would definitely add extra heat issues (remember that many thinkpad users [i hope] actually use their machines for more than web browsing and watching video, which means that the laptop will need to have adequate cooling for medium to heavy processor loads), combine that with such a small form factor and it's practically a given that the design of the laptop, eg. the size/thickness will be different.

the x series has always been about a portable business machine in a small factor. graphics performance, beyond what is capable with the integrated chipset du jour, was never its intent.