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    X220/X230 speakers SUCK

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by vinuneuro, Jul 30, 2012.

  1. vinuneuro

    vinuneuro Notebook Virtuoso

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    After going to the Dolby drivers I thought they were at least decent. After getting the Samsung SIII I'm back to believing the speakers in this notebook are inexcusably horrid. I can't believe how much better than tiny speaker in the phone is better than the two in a notebook.
     
    vinuneuro, Jul 30, 2012
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  2. Chemster

    Chemster Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah it is quite pathetic. I bought a Bluetooth speaker to solve this problem though.
     
    Chemster, Jul 30, 2012
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  3. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I mean...there are ThinkPads with worse speakers. My Z61t at max volume you couldn't hear more than like 10 feet away. When you buy a ThinkPad, you get supreme reliability...not good speakers. And the X220t speakers is far better than the ones on my X60t, X61t, X200t..
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Jul 30, 2012
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  4. tongdakfiend

    tongdakfiend Notebook Consultant

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    They are pretty pathetic, but I usually plug in the headphones.
     
    tongdakfiend, Jul 31, 2012
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  5. jjesusfreak01

    jjesusfreak01 Notebook Guru

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    My T60 was way worse. The brightness and speaker volume is lightyears ahead of what the old Lenovos had.

    Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
     
    jjesusfreak01, Aug 1, 2012
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  6. ThinkRob

    ThinkRob Notebook Deity

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    Am I the only one who starts out with an assumption that *any* laptop's speakers will suck?

    In almost 20 years of laptop usage I've never once heard a laptop that had speakers that could outdo even a $5 pair of powered desktop speakers...
     
    ThinkRob, Aug 1, 2012
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  7. AboutThreeFitty

    AboutThreeFitty ~350

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    The JBL speakers on my old Ideapad were pretty nice. However, I will say that a $20 speaker system from Walmart would outshine them... :p
     
    AboutThreeFitty, Aug 1, 2012
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  8. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    I say buy the right tool for the right job. Saying a ThinkPad speakers suck is akin to buying a BMW M3 and going a demolition derby, you don't have the right tool for the job. You buy a ThinkPad for supreme reliability as well as ergonomics, not awesome speaker quality. Again coming from other ThinkPads, especially x series tablets, the X220 is nowhere near the worst speakers I have heard. Do they get pwned by my Alienware's speakers, they sure do.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Aug 2, 2012
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  9. Pintu

    Pintu Notebook Consultant

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    I think what vinuneuro intended to say with this thread is that the speakers of the X220/X230 are worse than those of a mobile phone! This implies that the technology for better sound is there, and I can't believe that it is too expensive, but is somehow neglected by Lenovo.

    I don't think comparisons with (older) Thinkpads should be the benchmark. Some people raise the issue that you don't buy a Thinkpad for its speakers. That is true, I don't buy it as a home cinema replacement, but I regularly require the speakers for presentations, and better speakers would increase the audibility. So there is a case for decent speakers, even for a Thinkpad!
     
    Pintu, Aug 2, 2012
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  10. unreal25

    unreal25 Capt. Obvious

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    The X200 speaker (singular) sucked even worse. It was mono. lol.... :D It was more in the range of an old "PC speaker" than something that is supposed to produce an actual spectrum of sound frequencies.
     
    unreal25, Aug 2, 2012
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  11. sciencefair

    sciencefair Notebook Consultant

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    Would anything happen if I installed the Realtek audio drivers for the X230 on my X220, or is the sound card/chip used in the X230 actually different?
     
    sciencefair, Aug 11, 2012
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  12. JAmerican

    JAmerican Notebook Consultant

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    I installed the Dolby Home Theatre Drivers from here...

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/657971-dolby-home-theater-your-thinkpad.html

    and even when the Dolby Software is off, my speakers sound much louder than before. Highly recommended over the stock drivers.
     
    JAmerican, Aug 11, 2012
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  13. sciencefair

    sciencefair Notebook Consultant

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    That'd be the easy solution, but I'm running windows 8. Just curious since I noticed the stock X230 drivers seem to have dolby software built in.
     
    sciencefair, Aug 11, 2012
    #13