thinking of buying x220

im thinking of getting a x220 because of the 20% back to school sale right now but idk...
im very trackpad dependant tough i use the trackpoint from time to time (had a old t61 a few years ago) so all these reports of bad/buggy trackpads are making me very uneasy... also, the x220 has been out for about half a year, would it be wiser to wait for the x221?

thoughts?

 

There shouldn't be a refresh until Intel releases it's new processors, which should be released about mid 2012? I don't think it's worth it waiting another year. If you keep waiting for something better, you'll never buy anything

 

I'm not a fan of my X220's trackpad, but I've been spoiled by Apple's multi-touch trackpads (the best, IMO). The feature set of the X220 is what appealed to me over a 2011 MBP, but the trackpad is becoming a bit of a deal-breaker. I'm holding out hope that the drivers will get better, and I'm working on getting used to the TrackPoint nub.

If you get a bum UltraNav, send it back to Lenovo and get it fixed. I'm doing the same, since my TrackPoint and trackpad are both jumpy with various sets of drivers and settings.

 

I would agree if you're a padder and would never consider the idea of using the stick, it might be a good idea to at least check one out if you can. I used to be a padder too, but when I got my X200 I had no choice. It me some time, some people take to it like a fish to water, but now I don't think I'd go back.

 

I came from an MBP. The touchpad on the x220 is pretty bad. Like a lot of others though, I ended up getting used to the trackpoint. Took me maybe 2-3 days and I find it be much faster than using a touchpad. Having a middle button also helps.

 

Personally I hate all buttonless touchpads, including the Mac touchpads (I briefly had a MacBook Air). I especially hate the fact that the Mac touchpads are noisy, which gets very distracting in class or meetings when someone else is talking.

That said, I would take an Apple touchpad over the x220 touchpad. It's bigger, it responds to gestures better, it messes up less frequently, it has a nicer texture, and it has other advantages.

Overall though I would take my x220i over an 11" MacBook Air. The x220 is cheaper (~$700 for the x220 + $300 for an Intel 160GB SSD, vs $1200 for the 11" Air once you factor in the upgrade to the 128GB SSD and 4GB of memory, plus I would need to buy Windows for the Air for some games). Even the x220i has the same if not better performance than the 11.6" Air. The x220 also has more useful ports (Ethernet, one more USB, always-on USB, VGA, SD). The x220 has a better keyboard, especially with regards to the F-keys (which are tiny on the 11" Air) and keys like Delete/Home/End/PgUp/PgDn (which require FN combinations on the Air). The screen is better on the x220 (IPS), the camera is better (720p vs VGA on the Air), battery life is better on the x220 (~7 hours vs ~5), and you can upgrade the x220 to 8GB of memory (I did).

I had a bad experience with heat/throttling on my x220 (with an i5) and I ended up returning it. The x220i (i3-2310M) is cooler under load, does not throttle, and still has great performance. The IPS screen on the x220 is simply fantastic.

The 11.6" Air is lighter (2.4lbs compared to 3lbs for the x220), thinner (about half if you measure from the thickest point, since the 6-cell battery sticks out the bottom of the x220), has a better touchpad, has Tunderbolt, has the MagSafe power port, and runs Mac OS X.

If you need the absolute smallest laptop, substantially prefer OS X to Windows 7, are a touchpad fan and can't stand the trackpoint, or don't like the way the x220 looks, maybe the Air is a better choice. Once you factor in an SSD on the x220 it's not even that much more expensive.

But the X220 is a fantastic laptop now that most of the issues have been shaken out. It is light, well-built, has good performance, is easy to work on, has good connectivity, has an excellent screen, is reasonably affordable, has a great keyboard, has a TPM (for BitLocker full disk encryption), and is generally a pleasure to work with.

 

hrm yeah i weas thinking about the air but i dont really like the keyboard too much and the lack of a Ethernet port is glaring, maybe im spoiled...

btw whats the diffrence between the x220 and the x220i other than the processor? is the x220i thinner or something?

i really wish they had the option for a standard 4 cell in the battery selection lol, i dont like my batteries sticking out and the dammed thing is like $130 extra

 

the difference between the X220i and X220 is down to hardware specification, chassis and weight are the same.

 

thats what i thought, seems a bit silly to add the i suffix just for that though.
btw do you know what the keyboard type is by default? like as in nmb/chicony/alps

 

chicony is usually what is shipped in OZ but not sure what is shipped in the NA market.

 

keyboards ship in batches with no way to know what you'll get.   on my two personal X220s i received an NMB on the first, alps on the second.   my W510 (which uses the same keyboard) came with a chicony.

there is no specific keyboard supplier deemed for a specific market.   it's random worldwide.

the HFE (human factors engineering) department at lenovo will tell you the same.