X31 will be arriving. Couple of questions. :)

I currently own a Dell Mini 9 Atom 1.6ghz with 2 gigs of ram.

My question is:

Will my new x31 Centrino M 1.4ghz 1.5 gigs of ram be quicker, slower or about the same in terms of performing.

Thanks.

 

Atoms are weaker than Pentium M architecture. The only benefit of Atom would be cooler and less power.

 

The x31 does run hotter but it is a far more robust machine.

 

The Centrino will certainly offer advantages in processing power, but depending on your needs, you may be held back by other factors - the older DDR memory will be a factor, and I'm not sure whether the X31 had a PATA or SATA controller. I will say this, in a head to head battle, my X41 is about even with my Atom N455 based Google Cr-48 notebook when running Linux, with the sole exception of data access speeds. The Chrome notebook's SATA based SSD makes my X41's slow 1.8 inch drive look positively pitiful.

 

X31 uses pata hdd.

 

I remember my x31 was really, really slow.

 

Thanks for the responses.

Is there anyway to use a pata to sata converter for the x31?

Once the lap arrives, I will do a side by side comparison video.

Stay tuned!

 

I don't think you can convert pata to sata. They do have SSD mods using Compact Flash Cards, but I heard the drives die quickly or something like that.

 

No, that is not possible, and even if it were, you'd still be limited by the PATA bandwidth. Overall, though, definitely not a bad machine.

 

Thanks for the comment.

Would you say the x31 can handle standard hulu smoothly?

 

what resolution is standard hulu? 720p? My x31 handles 720p movies poorly.

 

Graphics are one of the weakest links in machines that old - I don't have a Pentium M machine to test it out on, but I would venture to say that the 480p (which is, I believe, standard on Hulu) videos should play fine. 720p probably won't work as well, though.

 

Pentium-M beats the first gen and maybe second gen if not all gen Atoms.
SATA beats PATA
CF Card beats SATA
SSD beats SATA

Converting SATA to use as PATA saves $ but gains no speed and there's no room for it

There are some PATA based TPs that have a PATA and SATA controler but the SATA controler isn't wired. Some soldering allows you to use SATA HDDs. The X31 Doesn't have a SATA controler.

For better graphic you're looking at an X61 or maybe an X60 core2duo, not the core duo one.

You can use PC2100, PC2700 and some people say some sticks but maybe not all PC3200 works. One guy uses GSkill PC3200. You can use a max of 2x1GB.

If you don't use the factory XP, get the Fn key program and the update program from Lenovo.

 

SSD beats SATA? sorry can you elaborate on your comparison? not fully understanding what you are trying to say there.

 

Faster boot times.

 

But ssd is type of hdd while sata is a type of interface. Ssd is also connected through sata.

 

Perhaps he meant a traditional platter 7200 rpm SATA drive vs an SSD, then it's a no brainer.

Doesn't the X31 ThinkPad have Mobility 7000 GPU? It should be able to handle standard definition video, but no HD lol.

 

I think it was ati radeon 7500.

 

ThinkPad X30, X31, X32 - Hardware Maintenance Manual (August 2005) (4,375,026 Bytes)

 

ATI Mobility Radeon 7000

 

Youtube will run fine, I'm not 100 percent on Hulu however. If my memory serves me right it struggled through a lot of stuff. It's definitely a good machine, pretty good on Linux too.

I could bring the x31 out and try it, but not anytime soon my brother is currently using it.

 

i just checked mine X31, it is the 7000 graphics card.