x120e Owner's Thread

There seems to be a lack of any sort of cohesive community built around this new device. It'd be great if we could get some recent owners to post their thoughts/tips/tweaks about their new laptop in here as help and discussion for current and potential owners.

I got my no-OS the day before and have finally gotten a fresh windows install in it, including first party drivers off Lenovo's site. I've found that the Catalyst Control Panel is pretty powerful, but also buggy at this time.

I have also been installing and running some preliminary game tests on the machine. Thus far, I've found Minecraft and Source engine-based games (Half-life 2, Team Fortress 2) to be mildly choppy but very playable at moderate settings, I'll have to get some real benchmarks later.

I have a second 2GB stick of ram in the mail, as the current 2GB is inadequate for multitasking work.

The 250GB hard drive scoots along nicely for magnetic storage. For the time being, I have decided that I like games, movies and music too much to justify a smaller capacity (though undoubtedly speedier) SSD in the immediate future.

So, what are your thoughts?

 

Really interested on how Linux runs on it.

 

Here are my initial impression of the laptop.

I found out when playing with the BIOS menu is that, the laptop to also have uefi like the regular Thinkpad which is a plus.

The screen have a ok viewing angle, but color seem to be a little desaturated, especially with low back-lighting level.

The pixel density are a lot denser than I have imagined, but I got used to it pretty quickly

Another problem has been the shuttering audio that show up randomly when playing mp3 files

Overall I love this laptop, and debating whether to get an extend warranty on it.

 

So far I like mine.
There are certain issues that some are experiencing with the PC such as stuttering audio/video and general performance complaints but from what I am hearing it is mostly good.

I too am a bit disappointed in the performance, but I am hoping I can tweak things a bit and work through them because I do love the build of the device.

Still playing with it and learning.

 

Stupid question, but how to get into BIOS?

I haven't read any manuals or anything.

 

Press enter when the screen show you the Thinkpad logo, and select the first item from the list.

 

I'm running Mint 10 (base Ubuntu 10.10).

Wireless doesn't work so I had to download the rtl8192ce driver from realteks web site and build it.

I'm using catalyst 11.2 which seems to support the 6310 just fine. I downloaded it and built the packages manually.

Webcam works, and gpointing devices enables the trackpoint scroll.

 

I just want mine shipped...

First was promised the machine shipped on 14th, bumped up to 10th, nothing. Called them up and gave me 3 possible shipping dates: 21st, 26th, April 12th (??!!)

 

For those who are looking for the x120e drivers,

Lenovo Support - Drivers and software - ThinkPad Edge 11, Edge E10, X120e

 

I removed the lenovo power manager and man what a difference. No stuttering and streams HD like a champ!

Just needed to tweak a bit. woot!

 

To access BIOS, press F1 while booting.

Also, F12 to select boot devices.



Now, let me share my experience with x120e. I ordered mine with E-350, BT, no OS for $305. Got it Monday. So I've been playing with it for about 6 days now. I think the build quality is excellent as a netbook, and for $305, I can't complain, haha.

Battery life: Brightness set at 5/15, wifi/bt on, it idle's at 7-8 watt, and when playing 480p MP4 movie, it uses 12.3 watt. This gives 2.5 hours of movie time on 3cell battery, which has 32 WH (not the advertised 40 WH). Just for comparison, Sandy Bridge MBP13 with Core-i5 ran the same movie for 7.5 hours with 63 WH battery. Also, I read that x220s uses about the same power as our x120e, but is much more powerful machine. So I have to say I'm not impressed at all with the battery. It might be the OS difference when comparing with a MBP13, but still, not impressed. Maybe I should have ordered the 6-cell.

Heat: Almost none on my body. But the fan is running all the time. It's not loud, but I can hear it in a quiet room. With HWMonitor, the CPU was around 50C when idle, and 60C when playing the movie, up to 70C when doing more taxing stuff. Again, MBP13 was something like in the 40C-50C range while playing movies. My thinkpad x61t is usually around 50-55C for the CPU. My room temperature is around 24C(75F).

Windows boot time: With the factory 250GB WD Scorpio Blue HDD, using Event Viewer, I was seeing 120 seconds for boot time after installing Adobe Acrobat 9, Photoshop CS3, Office 2010, Visio 2010, VMWare 7, Chrome, and all the other usual stuff on Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP1. I installed all the drivers and battery gauge too (I want to start charge battery only from 70%, and top to 90%). I disabled lot of graphics enhancements and services, after a day or two, it went down to 42-47 seconds range. By the way, I upgraded the RAM to 8GB since I had spares. After switching to intel X25-m G2 80GB SSD, it's booting in 36-38 second range. Not much difference in booting speed, but the system is much more responsive with the SSD. At least the storage is not limiting the performance any more. I can feel that the CPU is very limiting though even compared to my 4 year old x61t which has Core2Duo LV7500 (1.6GHz low voltage).

Bluetooth/wifi: Works well, just like any other thinkpad. Was advertised as Bluetooth 3.0. But I only see the drivers and software saying 2.1 + EDR. And they use the same software/driver as the thinkpad x61t, x61s. So how can I get Bluetooth 3.0 to work? I have a Logitech V470 BT mouse, and it's working flawlessly. The mouse itself has a little lag, but it's okay since I'm not gaming with this. Transferring files from my Sony C905a phone works with no problems. Wifi has no dropping problems or anything. I have the default 1x1 antenna card. If you open the bottom panel, you'll also see two antenna wires for WWAN.

Mic/Speaker: Works well, no problems or complains here. The sound doesn't completely shoot to the floor, it's like 30 degree angled towards the front. Mic picks up sound well too.

General use: It's much better than Atom N450 netbooks, but honestly, it's kind of sluggish for Office 2010, multi-tasking, Ubuntu in VMWare. I only do light C++ coding in Ubuntu. I can say that 1080p mkv files are working fine with about 25% CPU use. You just need to make sure Movie Player Classic has hardware acceleration enabled. I think it's a good netbook if you watch lots of movie with this. The webcam is good in low light. MBP13 webcam was too dark. Using Skype didn't slow down the computer like how Netbooks do.


Recommended things to do:
-Fresh install Windows 7 SP1 (if you have no OS option). Installing 'SP1 Upgrade' takes like 40 minutes. I just started fresh all over again once I got the Win7 SP1 integrated version from MSDN. (If yours came with a OS installed, you might not want to do this because they do some optimization for faster boot time. You'll lose that benefit if you clean install.)
-Chrome browser, in address bar, type "about:flags" and enable the two GPU hardware acceleration options. It makes internet browsing much faster. (or just install Internet Explorer 9 now that they are released)
-Set theme to Windows Basic or Classic.
-If you have 8GB RAM, disable page file.
-Office 2010, Disable Bluetooth COM-Addons to prevent app crash. Run as admin, then completely delete it in Office 2010. (same problem in thinkpad x61s, x61t)
-If you have SSD, get the updated AHCI SATA driver for TRIM support from AMD. You can download a package, then run it, it'll ask you where to unzip them. Then you can manually point the driver location to that directory. Current driver that lenovo provides does not support TRIM. Besides, there seems to be lots of fixes according to their change log.
-Gigabit lan (7.40.126.2011), wifi drivers (1005.15.223.2011) are also updatable (download from realtek), but I'm not sure if it's really safe to do so or not. I doubt that Lenovo would have done much testing anyways.
-Install graphics driver from AMD - I didn't need the catalyst control center, so I just installed the driver only.


I kept Superfetch and Indexing enabled even after swapping to SSD because I couldn't find a better use for the 8GB RAM. With all the software opened, I can't even get past using 3 GB. I'm hoping the Superfetch will start filling up all that RAM with the softwares that I have.

Although I don't know how durable the touchpad's buttons are, I'm being a little careful while opening the lid so that the buttons don't get caught by my fingers.


My SSD was $370 in Feb 2009, 8 GB Crucial 1333 RAM was $80 in Dec 2010. It's funny that the SSD alone costed more than this netbook.


Edit:
When playing movies, I had audio hiccups like once in five minutes or so, so I tried removing ThinkPad Power Manager from Startup in msconfig. After that, I had no more hiccups. Then I tried to reproduce the problem by enabling it again and reboot. I had no audio hiccups. I don't know what fixed this problem, but I'm happy that everything is working as it should now.


Question for guys with Factory Windows 7 image, what boot time are you guys getting? I'm just curious because those factory images are tweaked for Lenovo Enhanced Experience program.

 

I hope Lenovo updated their power manager software soon. Thanks for the info stickboy2k.

 

So was it the power manager all along that was causing the stuttering in playing music and videos?

 

If that was the case, I wonder whether changing some of the many settings in PM would resolve the issue, without entirely uninstalling the program. I'll see if I have an issue when I start using my X120e after break begins.

 

More thoughts:

The screen has generous pixel density but mediocre viewing angles and brightness. I highly recommend going into the Catalyst Control Center and modifying the screen temperature and saturation. It really livens up the very dull stock colors of the LCD.

The trackpad is vertically clipped and thus small even compared to other ultraportables. However, the trackpoint and its large buttons on the other hand are excellent. All the mouse buttons on the unit push generously deep and are very soft.

The keyboard is well-spaced, generously sized and very satisfyingly clicky. It's similar aesthetically compared to the macbook air keyboard, but much more satisfying to type on. The latter is much too squishy with no satisfying click at the end of the key press (yes, I've used both).

The cpu is definitely the only real "weak" point on the machine, at least compared to other ultraportables (c2d, i3 ulv, etc). You will feel a tad sluggish trying to do hardcore multitasking, but it is certainly zippier than any atom and my previous machine's Pentium M.

Build quality is excellent, especially compared to my previous ultraportable (HP nc4000). The hinges are very smooth, tight and solid with no creaking, and there is no flex anywhere to be found on the machine.

Even doing multimedia playback or light gaming, this machine can keep it's cool. Moderately warm air ejects out the side, but it only slightly warms up underneath and hardly at all on top (this is with the standard 5400RPM hard drive, 7200RPM may cause more heat).

I installed some of the lenovo windows 7 64-bit "hotfixes" off the website before I installed windows 7 service pack 1 (fresh install), and this caused some sort of driver incompatibility, causing me to have to start all over again. Not reccomended.

 

Got mine last Tuesday. This is my third ThinkPad but first netbook/quasi-netbook. I got the E-240 with 4 GB RAM and the 5400 rpm drive. It is of course noticeably slower than an Intel Core-based system, even in just moving around Windows, but for my intended usage of it (Web browsing, Office) it's fine.

First impressions:

• 
  Video does jump a bit, and a 720p MP4 I have doesn't run smoothly. This is acceptable as far as I'm concerned. If you got the E-350 this problem may go away.

• 
  The system runs quite cool. In part this is why I chose the E-240 over the E-350 although I'm not sure the difference between the two in terms of heat generation is significant. I haven't really had a chance to assess how loud the fan is.

• 
  I got both a 3-cell and a 6-cell battery. I haven't taken the 6-cell out of its packaging, but with the 3-cell, WiFi on, and default Energy Saver settings, the battery lasted almost exactly 3 hours.

• 
  Aesthetically, I find the X120E quite pleasing. It's significantly more lithe than even my old trusty X61, although it still feels like a brick and is probably about the same weight.

Oh, another thing. The chiclet keyboard is good as advertised and the trackpoint as always is great. I only occasionally use the trackpad but it feels fine; it's completely smooth, unlike the textured touchpad on my T410. The one thing I really miss from the standard ThinkPad keyboards though are the very useful forward and back buttons. Of course you can just alt-left and alt-right, but I'd gotten rreeallllyyyy used to the forward and back buttons while web surfing.

Update 3/15/2011: My quote of 3 hours of battery life on the 3-cell above may not be realistic. I had WiFi on, but I wasn't doing much surfing on it. Today, after heavier sustained use, I was down to 20% after 2 hours, which would translate to more like 2 1/2 hours instead of 3 (and before then of course Windows would complain loudly).

 

Thanks for the detailed review, hp79. My X120e is waiting for me in the US, but I'll only get it in May. In the mean time I enjoy reading about it to get my expectations right.

It's good to know that the battery is only 32Whr, and not 40Whr as advertised. That's disappointing, and I hate it that the wrong figure is quoted, but at least I'll know not to expect too much.

BTW, what's the difference in power consumption between using one so-dimm or two? I have 4GB I can use, and I'm wondering if using just that vs. 2GB+4GB will be better for battery life. I imagine that 4GB will be enough for most uses.

 

RAM power consumption is very minimal compared to the CPU/GPU, screen, and HDD, so it really doesn't matter whether you have one or two sticks. If you have extra RAM that's not being used, install it in your X120e where it may at least have some benefit.

 

My now 5 day old x120e went from dead quite to sounding like a helicopter landing. I think the bearings on the fan are going bad, I have to wait till Monday to see what Lenovo is going to do about it. Has anyone else had experience in dealing with support or exchanges(I really don't want to send a 5 day old unit off to repair.)

 

I am not 100% positive about this.
I removed the Lenovo power manager and after rebooting tested some video.

I ran 2 720P youtube videos simultaneously while also running a HD live tv show in Media center. This is on 2GB ram.

I was very pleased to see it run without a hitch for several minutes. However, it started stuttering after about 5 minutes. Could it be heat? I will try this test again later.

Just haven't had enough time to play with it.

 

so weird.
This morning I was play three HD streams at the same time without an issue.
Just now doing ONE and it was a stuttering mess.
MCE HD channel was not performing. Youtube HD alone was still ok. It may just be MCE.

So strange...

 

I'm looking forward to joining the thread, hopefully in a little over a week.

Ordered - 3/5/11
Estimated Ship Date - 3/17/11
Order Status - In Process

Config
AMD FUSION PRCS E-350
2GBPC3-10600DDR3 1333SODMM (have another 2 waiting to go in)
250GB HRDDSK DRVE,5400RPM (500GB Momentus XT waiting to go in)
6 CELL LI-ION BAT2.6 AH

 

I am having the same problem docangle. I have had my x120e about the same amount of time as well. The fan was nice and quiet until today and now it sounds like a helicopter. Between this and the audio glitch I am beginning to think the x120e wasn't quite ready to be released.

 

I have been using TPFanControl to keep the fan noise to a minimum, but I am sure it is not the healthiest solution(more heat stress on the CPU.)

I want to like this thing, but with the fan problem, audio glitching (power management driver issue,) sub-par display, and trackpad issues when typing(also two finger/single slider scrolling issues.) you get the feeling that this unit is half baked.

One more thing, don't set your power button to hibernate the machine, because 1 out of 4 times it will reset the device instead of hibernate the system.

 

Some info on the audio/video stutter

Slickdeals.net - View Single Post - Thinkpad X120e (new AMD platform) is available on Lenovo Website, $379

 

While this did reduce the issue, it still happens with less frequency.

 

Alot of these issues sound like they're driver-related. Especially on a brand new platform (zacate), I'm a little disappointed but not very surprised. I really hope Lenovo makes an effort to address these by pushing out updates.

I have not experienced issues similar to others on the forums yet, except the trackpad gestures are exceedingly spotty and Catalyst Control Center is very buggy.

 

im about to pull the trigger and order one of these, since a friend is visiting the US. any good deals around? cheers.

 

Coupon STPATRICKS will get you 5% off at the Lenovo store.

 

Does anyone know what drivers/programs to install if you do a clean install of Win7?

 

I would suggest installing Lenovo ThinkVantage System Update, it will find the appropriate drivers and software for you--just uncheck anything you don't need.

 

The power management driver, the audio driver(for mic), the wireless driver, and the video card driver.

 

Well, I called Lenovo and the helicopter (aka the x120e) is heading back for a fan replacement. From talking to them it sounds like the fan has been a problem. Fortunately, it should arrive back at just about the same time as my new intel SSD (only $170 for the 120gb at buy.com today).

 

New day, new problem. On a brand new install of windows 7, every single time I completely shut down and boot it, it's giving a page fault BSOD and forcing me to reboot into windows 7 repair. This allows it to work for a single booting instance, and then on subsequent boots the same issue repeats. I don't know if this is a driver issue or what, but it's completely unacceptable and is rendering my laptop unusable.

 

I got my x120e on Wed, then woke up Sunday to the "helicopter fan". I thought it sounded more like an idling diesel.

Lenovo said to ship it in for fan replacement, no questions asked. They said the turnaround time is 5-8 days, maybe sooner, so I figure it'll be out of commission for about two weeks, a little more, with shipping.

Other than that, great little machine. With an Intel 510 SSD and running Linux (Ubuntu 10.10), it's fast and works great.

 

I only have the shuttle audio problem, hopefully I don't get any other problem like you guy experience. I also hope that Lenovo will release new driver soon to fix that problem soon.

Master Kuni try running memtest, you might have a set of bad ram.

 

I just got my new x120e today, is anyone elses insert key slanted to the left? That isn't normal is it? I don't want to warranty it much but I am worried about problems down the road.

 

Looks like it was a bad driver, can't be sure which it was, though it may have been AMD's.

I ran memtest for over one full run and it came up with no errors, so I did a system restore before a driver update and all is well so far.

 

You can call in for a replacement keyboard--Lenovo typically does not require you to send your laptop in to replace most CRUs.

 

Just sitting here playing with this thing.
Have media center running HD stream from a HDHomerun and it is flawless. I think that I was pushing it playing 3 HD streams yesterday, but that could also have been my network choking.

Funny thing is, I realized while on the web that I missed something in the show I was watching and went back and reviewed it. Yep media center recorded everything in HD...perfect.

No fan noise, but I will keep an eye on that one. Now I am just doing a video conversion test with the AMD video converter. I think a RAM upgrade and maybe a new HD and I will be golden. I don't think I am going SSD though.

I think this is going to be perfect for me.

 

I wonder if Lenovo going to release a new bios because my fan 100% of the time. With the fan running less often I might squeeze a little bit more battery life out of this laptop.

 

My Fan has somehow went from 'Helicopter Loud' to quite again. I am not sure what happened, bearings loosened up or something that was stuck in it is now free?

Also try using 'TPFanControl' if you want to control your fan.

 

I feel very fortunate, I'm not running into any audio/video issues, and I don't even hear the fan run. The machine is wickedly fast and its the best $500 bucks I spent. Very happy I went with the x120e instead of the ipad.

The DOS/No-OS orders did not come with stickers on the x120e, I'm Sticker Free!

 

Agree, why does Intel and Microsoft need to stick their sticker all over the place. Good thing I don't need to clean up the residue from the sticker.

 

How do you get to this, I tried searching and running 'TPFanControl' and nothing shows up.

 

They don't consider the keyboard as customer replaceable unit (CRU)s. You have to send it in, or they can send the part to a partner site near your location. You bring your laptop to that location, and they will replace it for you. They used to just send me the keyboard for my thinkpad x61t or x61s. They even sent me x61t motherboard so I can replace it myself, but that was like 3 years ago.

Back to topic, I don't think it's worth the hassle just for a minor flaw. I also called lenovo because my upper right side key was sticking out a little higher than the others. I was going to replace the keyboard since it's only three screws with the HDD taken out. I'll maybe let lenovo replace it when my warranty is almost up.

 

Google had no trouble finding it here.

 

I thought it was built in, thanks, that should have been the first place to look.

 

Where can you buy the x120e with no OS? I looked around lenovo site but cannot find it.