x120e Owner's Thread

It seemed at first that the bloatware might be to blame, but I made sure to uninstall everything that I wouldn't be needing with Revo when I first got the computer. Everything checked out in the device manager and the various hardware checks I ran though, so it appeared that it was probably just a software issue.

I guess I should have elaborated more on Chrome being the culprit for the behavior. I uninstalled Chrome, then reinstalled it. However, I found that when I reinstalled it, the stutter/freeze problem magically went away. I finally realized the one key detail that I hadn't done this time around--Google Sync with all the dozen or so addons that I've been accumulating all this time on my i7 laptop.

After realizing this, I slimmed down the number of addons that are getting loaded each time I start chrome, and the problem looks to be resolved. I'm not sure if it was one particular addon or just the sheer amount of them, but hopefully things are cleared up and I certainly haven't seen the same behavior after that.

Thanks again for your help!

 

that makes sense.
In the past, several revs back, Chrome had a problem which led to it creating HUGE "blooms" that would continue to grow to many gigabytes. I had to go find them [expose hidden files] in my User settings, and delete them manually. Later revs supposedly resolved this.

I use and reco CCleaner regularly, but I also have Chrome set to use Click&Clean everytime I close down Chrome, and it does a very good job of cutting the clutter. The only time I see stuttering is on streaming feeds that can't feed the GPU a healthy frame rate. [mine has 8gb and a crucial ssd]

 

Hi,
I am looking at getting an x121e from lenovo UK. They currently have 10% off until tomorrow. Am I right in thinking that they always have a deal on, or do I need to get it ordered today?

Anything I need to watch out for, or is this a pretty good machine.

How does it compare size/weight wise to the S205, which is the only one I can see in a physical store.

I notice they ave pulled the AMD option from their website. Is this because there is a newer AMD option coming soon? How does the i3 option compare. I understand CPU is better on intel, but GPU is better on AMD, but some stuff I'm reading seems to say GPU is better on i3?

Finally, I notice there is an X130e coming soon. Is it worth waiting for this, or even waiting to see if the 121 price drops on the back of the 130 launch.

Thanks

 

Also, I have a choice of 3 wifi cards for negligible money difference. What are the differences and preferred option.

 

since i'm in the usa I cannot add value here, but I sure am keen to hear the answers!

per your note I looked up the usa version of the x130e, just released: a ruggedized school/education version, and oddly it does not offer e350 or e450, but e300 and a downspeed i3
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=135A781CA29B4ECB9ADAD8E72CF6FD61

also I would say, in the states we have an ideapad model that has the e450 and is sometimes aggressively priced - you might look into that one. I love the x120e e350 model i have, but I would opt for the slightly better e450 if i could.

just one big gotcha: if you are going to use silverlight streaming, i.e. in the states netflix, slingbox, and a few other items, this is not what you want. you need a lot of cpu for that [I sure wish microsoft would kill that ugly project]

 

Hey, I purchased an x120e from Amazon a few weeks back and have been following the discussion since then.

I wanted to see if anyone had done any interesting upgrades. I've been reading a bit about the Intel WiFi card and was wondering if anyone had any success stories with it, or noticed any difference. I haven't had any problems with the Realtek card so I haven't really considered it. The only interesting upgrade I did was I purchased a 32GB SD card for some permanent extra space (I only have an 80GB SSD in this) and quickly realized that the built-in card slot is not spring-loaded, so the SD card sticks out halfway. I found a mini PCIe to SD card adapter from this site and will hopefully get it delivered soon.

I also wanted to get behind the "clean install" of Windows 7 when you first get the computer. I used the stock version for a day and instantly regretted my purchase because it was crawling. Once I reinstalled the OS and a select few drivers, it became much quicker (and I have the single-core E-250 and 2GB RAM!) There's a guide online but basically you can download a copy of Windows for free and use the OEM code on the back of your computer case to register it. Also note that your code works for both the 32 or 64 bit versions.

Overall I'm pretty happy with my purchase (and this is from someone who is coming from a Mac)

 

This is not an interesting upgrade but doubling the RAM to 4gb sure helped and it only cost me $10.

I'd be interested to hear about whether or not the intel wifi upgrade is worth it, if anyone has installed win7 via usb (and if so how?) and whether or not anyone is dual booting Linux on the x120e (I really think Ubuntu or Arch would fly on this thing).

 

When I did a clean install I used a flash drive. I used this guide though overall it's very straightforward. Be sure to make that config file change to OEM, and to use a USB flash drive (not an external hard drive- apparently the Windows program knows the difference). Just open boot options when you start up and choose your flash drive as a boot device.

About the RAM, one of the first things I did was purchase an extra 4GB stick of RAM. The problem (other than the fact that I'm dumb) is that when I downloaded Windows from MS, I got the 32bit version because I thought the product key on my laptop was specifically for Home Premium 32bit. Turns out product keys work for both 32 and 64bit. So I have 6GB RAM installed but can only access a little under 4GB. I'll reinstall a 64bit version sometime in the future. I'm using software from my university now with a limited number of product keys so I can't reformat without "using up" a key.

Also, the mini PCIe to SD card adapter came and works perfectly. I read elsewhere that a similar product for mini SD cards didn't work. But the one I linked above works fine.

 

Ok, well maybe that's my weekend project. If I can reinstall windows then I can easily plan for a Linux partition with no problems.

I've been having some trouble connecting to the wifi at the coffee shop I hang out at. I've never had any problems with any of my intel chips so I'm wondering if I should swap that out. I guess I'll try reinstalling the drivers first and doing some research.

 

for you with some technical bravado, this thread Windows 7 Universal Installation Disc - Create - Windows 7 Forums describes a 'universal' win7 installation disc or SD that can be utilized to install any/all forms of windows 7.
Personally, I did a clean/fresh/naked install of win7 from SD using only the OEM 64-bit version that the license COA covers, but mainly due to the size of sd I had handy.

How To Setup a USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 7 - How-To Geek

 

Hi guys. I just bought 3 units of this model which are refurbished and I'm having an issue with it.

I reinstalled Windows 7 and all the drivers manualy and the system run pretty well. I don't have any problem with the screen or waking up from sleep or wifi disconnecting and so on.

However, the graphic performance is pretty bad. Firefox runs really sluggishly and the tab animations are really jerky. Everything feels jerky with firefox and I barely can get 30 fps with the fishtank webgl test. Chrome is slightly better but there are times it feels jerky too. Even if I set the processor to constantly run at 1600Mhz it's still the same. Video playback is very smooth on WMP but extremely jerky for 1080p on VLC or MPC.

I don't understand this when my previous laptop with Intel C2D SP9400 running at 800Mhz with it's dismal 4500MHD intergrated graphics ran much smoother than this.

I have the latest catalyst drivers from AMD and all the other drivers from Lenovo's website.

Do you guys feel the similar jerkiness and slow video performance? Is something wrong with my setup?

Btw here is the webgl fishtank

WebGL Aquarium

 

please tell us what version hardware you have? memory? disk?
there are two models in the usa, ... I don't know about international.
also, when you say you've loaded drivers; do you mean catalyst from amd, or video drivers from lenovo, or both?
take a close look, ie. via device manager and let me know what is shows [or download/run either belarc advisor or SIW]

 

Thanks cognus. I figured out the problem myself already. I had not installed the Power Management Driver when I wrote the previous post. Now everything is really fast. Video playback is still stutters at 1080p for MPC classic, but that is probably some setting problem combination of the program and the ffmpeg decoders. Video runs smooth using WMP though. I don't really have the time to care about MPC now, if if anyone has the right setting and decoder combinations please let me know =)

Both Firefox and Chrome runs perfect now. I've installed Yet Another Smooth Scrolling too and enabled D2D and Direct Write. Direct Write somehow makes quite an improvement in rendering time. I forced Vsync on in Catalyst and pretty much the two browsers are super snappy.

 

excellent news.
wish i knew what the cause of the stuttering is - i've not seen it unless I deliberately load up the system to see where the breakpoint is.
I have absolutely every unneeded service turned off [win7 Admin Tools - Services] and all the various updaters squelched except for google's, which creates no load on the system. Defender is off, card readers etc etc off.

 

hey all! so I just went searching around and have found no leads on anyone trying to DIY LCD screen change on the x120e. How hard would this be to actually go through changing the screen with something better with these, since there a lot of 11.6 screens. I figure the dimensions can't be that extremely different. Has anyone made or found a thread talking about the possibilities? What about the macbook air 11.6 screen? it seems like they have the exact same dimensions, I just can't find anything on the fit of the frame that goes around the edges.

 

Thanks for all the help gang. I was able to do a fresh install of win7 and fix up my wireless issues. Dual booting Ubuntu is the next challenge.

 

Anyone used both the 32 bit and the 64 bit installation before? I'm wondering if i should set up my other x120e with 64 bit Windows 7 or should I just clone the HDD. Now I have 3.12GB of RAM usable out of 4GB and I heard windows 7 utilizes unused RAM. I've used Windows 7 64 bit before but my previous laptop game me 3.85/4 on 32 bits so I didn't see any performance difference between 32/64.

 

Actually I'm still suffering from the stuttering issue. Any ideas, I tried disabling and enabling the Power Manager service but it's still the same.

 

I solved the stuttering issue already. It's not the Thinkpad PowerManager Driver nor Microsoft Battery ACPI Driver. The culprit is the AMD PowerManagement in the Bios. I disabled the Processor Powermanagement and PCI Link State power in the Bios and it all works fine now. No more mouse stuttering. I still have dynamic frequency thanks to the drivers and I can still see my battery meter.

 

Questions.
New x120e owner here, my first Lenovo product.
Went up to 8GB of RAM. Installed a Crucial 128gb SSD.
Cloned the original drive with EZGigIV.
I've never done the latter two actions before.
Oh yeah. Running Windows 7 Professional, 64 bit.
Using Firefox I installed and pre-installed Chrome.
ANYWAY.
Computer seems slower than I'd anticipated. There is, however, so much I don't know about. Mouse, too, seems delayed, particularly in browser-use.
Attached is a picture of my drive(s) as they stand. If it's relevant.
I've pretty much determined my processor is a bottleneck. But how can I work around that for quick browsing, etc.
I want to re-install Windows 7... does that overtake the entire original Lenovo image? If not, how do I get rid of the original image? (I did see an earlier post listing the necessary drivers to have, at least. Are my drives partitioned incorrectly? How do I partition accurately if I sidestep the original image? Or get rid of Protected Microsoft Office Quick-to_run?

Anyway, sorry for all the q's. I'm good at following directions, so... and I apologize for any naivete.

 

No you are having the same problem that I had. The processor cannot be the bottle neck. This scores higher on on the processor score in Windows 7 compared to my SP9400 which clocked at 2.5GHz. Now, When I underclocked my SP9400 to 700Mhz, browsing is still find. Browsing is fine on older computers too at my school.

So make sure you installed all the drivers. Most importantly the Thinkpad Power Manager Driver, not the software, or utility, the driver. Install the AMD AHCI and AMD USB drivers too. The latter two has to be installed from the device manager so read the read me int he folder after you extract it.

Also make sure you disable processor power management in the bios. You don't need it and it is the cause of the slowness. You can also install all the Thinkpad utilities. Just keep the drivers and the hotkey thing. Not sure what to install and what not, make a list and we'll tell you.

 

Hmmm. To the above.
So my Thinkpad Power Management driver for Windows 7 is up to date, or it was as of 2/4/2012. (1.64)
My Power Manager for Windows 7 on the other hand is 3.48, where the most recent is 3.66.
Is that of any relevance? What is the difference between the two, anyway?
The first time I've ever fussed with the BIOS in a computer was with this one, so I'm nervous... I do recall switching it to AHCI in the BIOS for startup?
I want to fresh install Win 7 to start with, but my question remains: is this going to entail my re-formatting the drive? In that case, how is the drive re-partitioned? Is it done *by* Windows during the install? Again, a real newbie here to some of this stuff.

 

I think you can uninstall the power manager software. You just need the driver.

Well you can't really go that wrong with the bios. Just jot down the changes you make and if for whatever reason the computer fails to boot, just change it back on the next startup. You can't really mess anything up. The only dangerous thing about the Bios is a power failure while it's updating.

AHCI is for the harddisk. On the second tab in the bios, you should see power management. Click enter and you can then disable the amd power management and the pci link state power management.

You will be given an option to select which partition you want to install Windows into. Most likely you will only see 1 partition. Making partitions is super easy with windows 7. Google it up and learn some stuff. It's trully really hard to spoil a computer these days. Be master over it don't let the computer be master over you.

 

In other news, I noticed that Lenovo has stopped selling the x120e. I wonder if they're dumping them to retailers?

 

x130e is now here.

 

Is there a way to reverse the function keys? For example right now Fn + F1 is decrease sound, is there a way to swap this so F1 lowers sound and Fn + F1 is the actual F1? It's one of the things I miss from my Macbook. I searched but could only find information about switching the Fn and Ctrl keys.

 

There is an option in the bios that provides an "Fn lock" function. It's under Config - Keyboard/Mouse. This might be what you're looking for.

 

Do all Lenovo computers provide this feature? I recently purchased an E425 and would be surprised if it has that too.

 

The recent ones without the 7-row keyboards, yes. So your E425 should have that function as well.

 

I see that Lenovo has stopped selling the x120e on their website to make way for the x130e. I prefer the x120e over it though, but it is hard finding a bargain. Are their any other sites besides eBay that are selling it for a good price?

 

Lenovo Outlet - X Series - ThinkPad Laptops - Laptops - Discounted Laptops, Cheap Laptops, Refurbished Laptops, Discounted Desktops, Cheap Desktops, Refurbished Desktops

The outlet seems to have their remaining stock at decent prices. I'm with you though, I prefer the sharper edges of the x120e compared to the more curvy x130e.

Also, the "Fn lock" seems to be more of a sticky-keys type deal, and resets after one use. For example I can press Fn once, then let go and still press F1 to lower the volume. But after I do, it goes back to normal. I was looking for easier use of the multimedia keys. Apparently some Lenovo BIOS's have that but ours doesn't. Oh well.

 

Thank you for the link! Of course it would be temporarily offline when I try to view it, but I will check it out later and see if I can spot some good deals.

Edit: Found one for about $380 which seems a little on the high side for a refurbished laptop. Think I'll just bookmark this page and see if the price goes down.

 

Check Lenovo Outlet now! There's a bunch of sub-$300 X120e laptops available

Going fast, though, so most of the ones left are unfortunately single-core E240 models.

 

Hi.

I just wanna know if it will be possible to change the CPU (Intel i3) of a x121e Intel with the new IVY brigde ?

I read someone do the same trick few month later on a Lenovo but I don't remind me where I read it.

Thanks

 

I would be surprised if they dump this design - its better than the x130e - slimmer, smaller, nicer lines.
what I would expect is the same design to come out with the i3 / e450

i wonder if the mboard of the x130e has same footprint as x120e?

amd e-series getting long of tooth.... what's the followon and when?

 

they had their mini-upgrade with the e-300 and e-450 but that felt more like they were fleshing out the line. Something makes me think Q2 or 3 of this year there should be something new in the line, or am I just making that up? The new atoms that the e- series are competing with don't look like anything special so i guess amd should work more on dropping the price rather than making it better and competing with their own a-4s.

also, last month walmart had the x120e as part of their computer sale, is that still going on for whoever is looking to buy one?

 

There is a significant performance increase in the e-350 so I guess I'll be waiting until the next deal pops up. That's assuming there will be anymore deals.

 

Judging from the Hardware Maintenance Manual, the motherboards (among other components) are not interchangable between the X130e and X120e. They're just too different.

No, I believe Walmart has exhausted its supplies with that sale, at least online. There may be some left in stores, but don't count on it.

Agreed. The E-350 models went really quickly during that sale. Not sure if you count on more X120es appearing in the Lenovo Outlet, though.

 

Hello Everyone,

I just finished reading all 109 pages of this thread & i must say that I love your passion for this machine. I also admire how you people support the ones in need.

I have also ordered a X120E here in INDIA with AMD E350, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 6cell, Free DOS, 11.6" HD LED Antiglare, 2x2 broadcom WLAN + a backpack for $350(when converting from my currency INR to USD) with 1 year warranty support.

I will be installing Windows 7 64 bit with SP1. In a few days i will also test install the Windows 8 consumer preview on this.

I know most of you love this machine, so i just wanted to ask for your take on somethings :

1. My primary use would be for writing/blogging, movie maker while I am out & I would like this machine to cool & to give to good battery life with a 6 cell, but is undervolting really necessary. My experience says that undervolting can sometimes seriously affect your CPU life. What would your take on this be ?

I have already read MidnightSun's review & undervolting guide.

2. Someone in the previous pages said that you have to disable processor power management from BIOS, is that really recommended ?

3. IMO 4gb ram seems enough, anypoint upgrading to 6 or 8 gb ?

4. Upgrading to a 128GB SSD would cost me another $150. Is it worth spending ?

5. Anything that I should keep in mind while using this small TP as it's my first one.

My regards to all.

 

i upgraded to 8gb because my machine came with 2gb and it was only an extra $20, but i don't regularly use more than 1.5gb and the rest is cached eventually. i upgraded the ram and got an ssd and with linux i'm getting about 7 hours on the battery with light usage at school.

 

Hello everyone, my question is for shan2129: from where did you order x120e in India? I couldn't find this offer at $350.
ThankS!

 

hello,

a buddy of mine works at the lenovo distribution centre. He had one in stock & gave me some goodies with it & as i heard Lenovo has stopped selling all AMD based notebooks here. Though a bit high priced deals are available at flipkart.

 

It was a great deal anyway!

 

hello everyone,

Its been 3 days now since i got the delivery of my X120e. I haven't faced any real problems yet, though running a 1080p video on battery did show a slight hiccup once. My X120e came with the BIOS version 1.13 & 1.16 is available. Do i need to update my BIOS ? even when i am not facing any real issues ?

EDIT: Just now noticed just one horizontal flickering line across the screen on the very top, but it's hardly noticeable. I am using 12.2Vision center. Any help would be highly appreciated.

 

@shan2129: I believe the flickering line issue was resolved with one of the BIOS updates. Try updating to the latest BIOS version and see if that solves your problems.

 

Greetings. Newest owner here.

Picked up an X120e (0596) last week, lightly used, for $200. It gets an SSD (Crucial M4 128GB) on Saturday.

When I got it, it was loaded with bloatware and Win7Home64. I decided to go with Win7Pro32, which installed nicely. I'm using the hard drive to test configurations, and I *think* I have the drivers set up to where I want them.

The only thing I don't understand at this point is the battery icon on the Fn+End key. What, if anything, is it good for? I suspect that the answer is somewhere in this thread, but it's a deep thread. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and the BIOS is currently at 1.15; what advantages, if any, in going to 1.16?

 

Nice deal! The battery icon button is configurable in the ThinkVantage power management tool. You can set it up to either enable Battery Stretch or to turn off the display. I find the latter somewhat useful.

You can find the release notes for the BIOS here: BIOS Update Utility for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Vista (32-bit), XP - ThinkPad X120e

Updating the BIOS is pretty easy, so you might as well.

 

Johan:

Thanks for the information. I was very pleased with the price, given that the week before someone had been advertising an X100 for $450 on the same list.

Anyway...one other question. I can remap the DEL key using one of the various utilities out there to mess with the registry, but do you know whether there's any significant risk in changing keycaps other than the function and control (which I've already swapped, as well as in the BIOS).

 

Physically changing the caps is pretty easy - just be gentle pulling them off and sticking them on. If they're remapped in the BIOS then you shouldn't run into any weird compatibility issues with recognizing the keys. The operating system and everything else will read them correctly, which might not be the case if you change it in the registry.

 

Anything that gets its keyboard info from the OS will follow the registry, so I expect that everything except the Fn+ versions (which are probably hardware mapped) will be correctly moved over to the new scheme. I've done this already on this machine to swap Home and End with the PgUp and PgDn keys (since I tend to spend a lot of time writing in Word, I find I don't use PgUp and PgDn a whole lot) and I always disable Caps Lock.