x121e -Trackpadbuttons +Fingerprint +Logolight

lenovo probably realized the "mistake" they made since the X120e was cannibalizing sales from the higher end ThinkPads so much that they had a parts shortage.... so they had to come up with ways to make it less appealing and this was the end result.

 

I wasn't bothered sourcing an x120/121 from over the atlantic/channel and went for an Edge 11 and I am delighted. The keyboard is spacious, it is undersold as weighing 1.5kg while in reality it's more like 1.4, the screen is not matt but also not a high gloss and at 11.6" is just the right size and the speed is a delight. After a Samsung netbook this feels like paradise.

I only use it for browsing and word processing and it's just the right size sitting in a bar or on the couch. The fan can ocassionally get a bit noisy but it only comes on for a few seconds after prolonged use. The battery life is about 4 hours and can be extended by lowering the power settings. I don't know why they changed the trackpad so that a tap is no longer a click but the small buttons for the thumb work well. And the coolest bit I like is the little lit up dot on the 'i' of Thinkpad. One little point is that it has no other lights so you can't tell when the machine is off whether the battery has finished charging. Overall highly recommended.

 

The only thing I do not like about my X120e is the screen. I want a screen with a better contrast ratio and better viewing angle. I guess I am going to upgrade to the X220 in a couple of months, but I am still going to keep the x120e. The X120e is going to serve a netbook/bedside computer.

It might cannibalized the sale of X220 for people that uses them just to type documents or use it as a thin-client. There's not replacing a workhorse like the X220. The x120e is only slightly more powerful than Atom.

I don't think the X121e Lenovo's answer to make it less appealing.

 

The common atom is single core. The integrated GPU isn't much faster than Intel Integrated 3000.

 

I was down to go for this when it came out, been waiting for 3 months. Its being sold here soon (its on the Lenovo UK site) but its really disapointing, going for a Dell V130 instead, bar battery life it seems better in every way (apart from graphics) even though its slightly bigger.

 

I may wait for a E-450 version of the x121e, which might come out by fall.

 

Haha, good luck with that, because it isn't likely to happen.

 

What are you basing that on? Actual knowledge, a fanciful whim, or do you just like negative attention?

The E-450s were seen at CES, and it being a mild change, I don't see any reason that they will have problems. They are due toward fall, and it would seem that Lenovo would slipstream them into the X121e, then. I thought that the E-350 was not being made now.

 

X121e unboxing video.

Code:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlxg11Ilbb8

looks cheap

 

I've bought the x121e and I find the trackpad horrible. It's much too small, the 3 buttons eats space at the top and you have only around 3cm vertically available. Do you think it's possible to mount a different trackpad from a different brand (not USB, internally) ? I didn't open the x121e to check the feasibility (connections, buttons....) because I must check if I can get a refund first.

I'm a tech enthusiast and I've almost not touched this new machine because of this ridiculous touchpad. I come from mac, so I know what a real touchpad is. I'm furious after the engineers who designed this, do they ever touch what they design ? Do they touch what the other brands do ?

I've visited the synaptics page, for drivers, and they show a demonstration of the gestures. Of course it is shown on a large trackpad, with 2 flat buttons at the bottom of the trackpad, just what I had on my mac. I wonder if it's possible to mount the touchpad upside down. It would invert the two buttons, but maybe I can correct it with software ?

edit: and by the way, the scrolling function in windows 7 fails 3 time out of 4. Do the scroll gesture once, it won't work, do it 4 times and it might work once. Keep a thumb on the touchpad to click and the index to point and you will eventually be unable to move since..... it's just too small, just get rid of the 3 buttons!!! When you have used a mac multitouch for years, there is enough frustration to shoot yourself after trying hardware like this one.

 

have you tried playing around with the Trackpoint for a few hours yet? Its a much better way of moving the mouse around compared to the touchpad or external mouse imho.

For the trackpad, I doubt you could replace it with anything. Also, I believe the top buttons belong to the keyboard as they are the Trackpoint buttons so turning around the touchpad if even possible would be useless.