x200 7455-33A queries and WWAN

Hello all, thanks for being such a nice and vibrant community for Thinkpad owners and uhh, i have finally sprung for a new x200 7455-33A. Unfortunately, being in Singapore where online purchases are rarely made and with the lenovo's pricing at like US$200 more than retail, i got my new x200 7455-33A from a shop at roughly US$1650 with the external USB burner and an upgrade to 3GB RAM.

on analyzing the tabook.pdf which one of the members helpfully posted a link, my model/part number is no where to be seen?

i need some help on a few queries

1. the retailer told me that this laptop is WWAN upgradable and the laptop does come with a SIM card slot in the battery compartment. but the lenovo website has no mention about my model, 7455-33A being wwan upgradeable when the other model for sale, 7455A41 (but i didnt spring for that) was touted as wwan upgradeable on the site. Did i made a poor choice picking the 7455-33A? Is it safe to assume the presence of a SIM card points to WWAN upgradability?

2. which brands of HSPDA modems you recommend? Ericsson or Sierra Wireless? Opinions will be very much appreciated.

3. does Turbo Memory come with all models/variants of the x200? The retailer was telling me that my model is a higher spec'd one as it comes with 2GB of Turbo Memory. Is this feature very expensive and useful to warrant that kind of price?

4. i am tempted to use a SanDisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC card i have lying around as a ReadyBoost cache. Is this useful? I was thinking of dedicating the intel turbo memory to ready drive activities while the sd card could be used as a readyboost cache. may i know your opinions?

5. finally, when i checked my warranty online. it seems that the warranty start date is actually the date of manufacture of the laptop. how does it work out? shouldnt warranty start from the date you actually receive the notebook? its quite worrying for me for this x200 was manufactured sometime in october 2008. which means i effectively lose 5 months of my warranty.

my specs are:
P8600(2.4GHz), 3GB RAM, 250GB 5400rpm HD, 12.1in 1280x800 LCD, Intel 4500MHD, Intel 802.11agn 5300 wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 5-in-1 Memory-card reader, 1Gb Ethernet, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, Camera, 2GB Intel Turbo Memory, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32 + Win XP Recovery CD, Super Multiburner w Lightscribe, 3 yr Intl Warranty

for 1650 USD. Is it a reasonable price? I understand buying from retail will cost me slightly more but it gives peace of mind and moreover Singapore is too far away for the laptop to be shipped over.

Thanks so much everyone and i appreciate your time and kindness in helping a noob.

 

1) To my knowledge, every x200 model has the WWAN antenna and SIM slot. So you should have no trouble installing WWAN. If you want to check, remove the keyboard and see if you see loose antenna leads near the open mini-PCI slot.

2) My x200 Tablet has an Ericsson F3507G. This is a GSM modem and should work internationally. You MUST buy a modem that is for a ThinkPad as Lenovo has a white-list limitation in the BIOS for WWAN and WLAN cards.

3) Turbo memory only comes with a handful of models, and only works with Vista. It is overpriced and has little effect in my opinion. If you want a similar effect, for very little money, just buy a 2GB SD card and set it to be a ReadyBoost drive.

4) See above. This is a good alternative to Turbo Memory. ReadyBoost is most useful if you have limited RAM (<2GB) and a slow HDD. If you have 4GB of RAM and/or an SSD it is of limited value.

5) You can call Lenovo and see if they can adjust the warranty. My model was a CTO and the warranty actually started about 3 weeks AFTER I received it.


The price is about right for that spec and a 3yr Intl warranty. You could probably do a little better (especially if you get a no name optical drive), but it's not too bad.

 

I think the retailer fiddled you. The Lenovo website does not say anything about the 7455-33A being WWAN upgradeable. It does say that the 7455-A41 is WWAN upgradeable.

If you are super lucky you will find antenna leads. If not you have to decide whether to buy the antenna parts yourself and install them, or buy a USB or ExpressCard WWAN modem and call it good.

 

Hello, but it comes with a SIM card slot. So was wondering perhaps its a modified set of that -33A? Our country is infamous for getting modified sets of the original configuration.

Keeping fingers crossed that a SIM card slot means that its WWAN upgradeable

 

To my knowledge, EVERY X200 HAS THE WWAN ANTENNAS (same for x200 Tablet, but not x200s) . It is possible that some international models do not, but EVERY model in the states has them.

 

dear jonlumpkin, thanks so much for your kind response to my queries. i have just opened up my x200 and confirmed the presence of the wwan antennas. will keep an eye open for your ericsson hspda modem. hopefully i can find one on ebay.

im glad you think i got a reasonable configuration for my money for i bought it before a local fair where the 7455A41 is retailing for $1800 US without turbo memory, xp recovery disk and burner.

its quite a relief. or else buyer's remorse will be overwhelming.

 

Now enjoy the x200 .

 

Hi to TS and the rest,

I was googling around for some answers for the same model of X200 which TS has bought (which I believe from the IT Show) hence I share the same queries as him.

However, I got a question about this opening without any flap underneath the right palm rest area. I am worried about dust getting in or is there supposed to be a module there (e.g. a SD Card reader or etc?) And I realize that there is a 5-in-1 card reader, how is that supposed to look like as I couldn’t find any picture of X200 with that installed. The distributer which I got from did not advise me on that.

Secondly, it came with a set of Windows XP Recovery DVDs so assuming if I downgrade to XP already and wishes to upgrade to Vista at a later time, how do I get hold of the recovery DVDs? Do I have to ‘burn’ my own set of Vista Recovery DVDs before downgrading to XP or are the Vista DVDs supplied with the package?

Lastly, our approving authority deactivated the WWAN module for all X200 coming in which is a pity and after doing some research it seems only the Ericsson brand is white listed in the BIOS and not Sierra. Can anyone confirm that?

Thanks in advance!

 

That opening is a 3-1 card reader, or a 5-1 card reader (if you have a regular modem as well). If you're worried about dust, just buy an SD card and leave it in the slot. You should be able to find a 2GB card for <$10 or an 8GB SDHC card for <$20. I leave an 8GB SDHC card in my x200 Tablet ALL THE TIME. It sit's flush and is a convenient way to boost storage. You can also use the SD card as a ReadyBoost drive if desired.

You need to burn your own set of Vista recovery DVD's. Search for "Create Product Recovery Media" in the start menu, and follow the wizard. You will also be able to delete the recovery partition (about 10GB) after making recovery DVDs. This will allow you to switch between Vista and XP as desired.

Lenovo (and IBM before) is notorious for whitelisting WLAN and WWAN cards. To my knowledge you need a Ericsson F3507G that is labeled for a ThinkPad.

 

Hello so sorry for the late reply. Was very busy these few days.

I didnt get this wonderful machine at the IT Show. Was in too much of a hurry and got this the Sunday before the IT Show at Funan Mall (for the other readers: its a mall in singapore famous for a variety of computer retailers)

My x200 comes with a 5-in-1 memory card reader and i suggest you put something into the empty slot to prevent dust from entering. Perhaps a cheap sd card or a dummy sd card. I sprung for a SanDisk Extreme III sdhc 4gb card to use as a readyboost drive and i think its making quite a bit of difference whenever i start up larger programs.

As for the recovery dvds, yes you have to burn 'em yourself as advised by jonlumpkin.

Yes regarding IDA's failure to clear the WWAN modules. But i think it was a move on lenovo's part to opt out of sending to IDA for certification to keep costs of this notebook low in Singapore. Honestly if it came together with that thing, i would pay up to $150 US to avoid the inconvenience of looking and ebaying the module over.

Suggest ebaying a Ericsson one soon.

Hows the x200 so far?

I'm one delighted and satisified customer. And the shop, Lenovo by AddOn Systems at Funan has gone well and beyond their duties as serving the customer.

 

thanks jonlumpkin for the clarification. i came across that particular model number as well. looks like i have to save up for that. haha... yes, after reading your response, i got a 4gb sd card to fill up the crevice. it looks better than looking empty and inviting to the dust in the environment.

P.S.: i am wondering is there an error with the forum? i tried to reply the other day but when i clicked submit reply. there was an error code generated hence this reply can only be posted now *assuming the server load is not high*

 

oh funan, you are lucky you did not go for the fair during the weekends. it was chaotic; human traffic almost came to a standstill. yeap i was there the other day looking around at addon systems and the sales personnel know their stuff very well when i asked them for clarifications. but seeing that the IT show was round the corner, i decided to pay a visit to the various distributers to see what they can 'throw' in to make me bite the bait. initially i wanted to go with addon systems since they are willing to throw in a 9-cell batt, external lenovo dvd burner and ram upgrade to 4gb but the sad thing was there was no 0% installment plan for payment. therefore i decided to go to newstead as they were offering 12 months 0% installment plan with uob/ocbc/dbs. service wise, newstead was more concerned in gaining a higher profit margin rather than to work within the customer's bargains but i was quite persistent in trying to get what addon systems can offer for their price of sgd 2,730 (of course pericynthion you got a better deal if i done my conversion correctly from usd 1650).

but if there wasn't any installment plan available for either parties, i would not have hesitated to buy from addon systems.

back to ida, yeap i was speaking to addon systems staff (i assume she was the sales manager) and she told me frankly that ida only released those thinkpad models with wwan modules to govt agencies and to singtel bbom (broadband on mobile) promo. other than that, it was illegal for distributers to sell to end-consumers to which i find it funny that other brands of notebooks already have the built-in wwan module! on the other hand, she and a staff from newstead tried installing the wwan module which they got from ebay and they claim it works. like you i would rather pay a little more just to avoid ebaying and the hassle of bringing it in. till then, i have to be content with the huawei usb stick to surf while on the go.

and yes! my x200 is serving me very well. i love its small form factor especially when i have to go to school as compared to lugging my still functioning t42.