x220 tablet HUGE vs x220

Hey guys,

I just now realized how much bigger the x220 tablet convertible is compared to the x220 standard. I thought the only difference would be that the 6-cell battery is flush with the x220 and extends for the tablet version but no. The x220 tablet case is actually 2cm deeper than the x220, NOT even considering the extending 6-cell battery.

Anyways, the difference becomes really apparent with the slice battery attached... here's a comparison of both I just did in PS:

What is that extra volume used for? Can't be just the pen... can't be the battery, since the 6-cell battery is flush in the x220 and extends when attached to the x220 tablet. So what's in that volume?
Seing this, I'm actually thinking about cancelling the tablet order... what are your thoughts?

 

The hinge.

 

2x2cm spreading 30cm wide? 120 cubic centimeters of volume... if there is steel in there for a mega-hinge this would be 900g in weight... sure
The x220 has two hinges too... granted, the tablet needs a different hinge design, more massive... but this ... I'm still a bit stunned...

... attaching the slice battery surely looks VERY ODD... just "not meant to be" -kinda odd ^^

 

Are both machines scaled equally in your image?

 

2cm is HUGE? Ouch. The spec sheet has all dimension information. Have you looked it up before placing your order? Moreover, the tablet is also heavier: 3.9lbs for X220T vs 3.0lbs for X220. It's probably time to panic!

 

If a few cm in differance is a big deal to you than ThinkPad probably isn't the brand for you.

ThinkPad focuses less on "pretty design" and more on function.

 

How about simple curiosity, did that ever come into your mind?

 

"Seing this, I'm actually thinking about cancelling the tablet order"

Probably not.

 

Mmhm.

OK let me rephrase my original post here slightly:

REALLY? OVER 2 FREAKIN' CENTIMETERS?

 

For ~0.6 pounds more than my 6-cell x120e, its a much more powerful computer that is also a TABLET WITH A FREAKING IPS SCREEN

Personally, footprint matters far less to me than carry weight. Even coach airline trays aren't that small.

Step back and look at it this way for a dose of reality:

The x220T is barely bigger than a sheet of paper, x120e is a sheet of paper.

They are both massively dwarfed by stupid binders and briefings I get stuck with a couple times a week

 

as stated... I just wonder what the volume is used for...

Yes, images are scaled correctly and both machines have the 6-cell battery.

 

You can probably find out by analyzing the HMMs.

X220: Lenovo Support - Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad X220 and X220i
X220t: Lenovo Support - Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad X220 Tablet and X220i Tablet

 

well... looking at those Hardware Maintenance Manuals there seems to be "nothing" in those 2 cm but the hinge in the middle. All the volume left and right of it seems "empty". Can't wait for somebody to dismantle one.

Compare Manuals (links in prior post!):
X220 (page 80)
X220t (page 84)


That just makes me wonder, why the 6-cell battery then has to extend as well. No flaming intended... just curious, if that space really is empty it surely could have been used for battery or something else...

 

Well, even the X200t is a little bigger than X200. But I thought most of it is for the 8-cell battery. If the weight isn't a big deal I think it's not a big deal.

I'd guess part of it is the space for the stylus. On mine, stylus length is almost 1/2 of the laptop width.

 

It probably wasn't used for battery to maintain compatibility between models.

 

@colonel o'neill,
the batteries are not compatible as it is... because of the hinge. So that can't be it. The 6-cell on the x220 is flush with the back whereas the 6-cell for the tablet extends like seen in the image that i posted on page 1.

@unreal25
The stylus accounts for some of the extension, yes, but it's clearance can be seen in the manual (page 84). This does not account for the "empty" space at the very back since the stylus sits 5cm from the very back.
I basically don't see this as a "problem", it's just that I'm curious to what justifies that additional (including battery) .2 liter (estimated) volume of case + extending battery vs. the x220 with same battery capacity. A stylo covers maybe a fourth of that.

 

You obviously haven't been in coach lately - good for you.

I can only use my 14" Dell in coach maybe half the time. If the person in front of me reclines at all, fuhgetaboutit. This is a primary reason for me to go to an "ultra-portable". OP has a legitimate point and I'm glad I saw this before I bought one. I was pretty much assuming that at 12.5" and squashing the aspect ratio to 16x9 that I would cut at least an inch off my current laptop but I think it is less than that now.

And the "pretty" comment above is way off base - has nothing to do with what it looks like. Weight matters, but for many of us - size does as well if not more. I get some of my most productive work done on planes but only if I can open my laptop enough to see the screen and type at the same time.

 

Yeah but I'm saying, whatever it was in the place of stylus (I assumed) had to go somewhere. I'm not saying all space went for stylus, just some. I don't see what the big deal is either way.

On the bright side, the tablet screen isn't pushed all the way back - so I doubt there's any difference in using either X220 or X220t on the bus/plane.

 

This is the key question - maybe somebody who has one can measure from desktop to top of monitor when it's opened up.

 

when I open up my x200t, I see that there's a lot of empty space.

I feel sad about the wasted space around the pen storage.

indeed it could be shrunken to the size of x200 if they paid attention to it.

although x200t is thicker than x220t in every aspect, I would say it goes the same for the x220 and x220t.

the only reason why I got x200t was the better screen than the most of laptop.

now the x220 sports an hd premium screen, I would reconsider between x220 and x220t

 

Wow! You are correct. I had assumed the batteries would be the same for the X220 and X220t, but that is not the case.

6-cell X220t Tablet 0A36286


6-cell X220 0A36282

 

Okay, I just ordered an x220t yesterday and while I expected it to be bigger/heavier, looking at the two side by side does make me pause for a second to wonder if I should've gone for the non-tablet version.

The caveat, here, is that I am a worrier. I fret. Probably over what many will consider small and inconsequential things.

At the end of it all though, and as with everything else, I think people will need to figure out what it is they want a tablet vs non-tablet for and what they can/cannot live with. I came down to my decision because I wanted the touch capability. Am I happy that the x220t is a whole 2cm bigger and 0.7lbs more? Meh, you could say that I'm not and I wished it was smaller and lighter. Can I live with these two "deficits" for the added functionality? At this time, yes, I believe I could.

IMHO, it's probably more pragmatic for those who need the tablet functionality to compare the x220t to other similar tablets in terms of size and weight. Currently, the x220t is in a class of its own. Until the HP is released, that is.

Stay tuned, I may change my mind when I see my machine in person...

 

Does anyone on this forum know when they are putting up the guerrilla glass (I don't care if the screen isn't multi-touch) option on the X220T?

 

what do you mean... gorilla-glass is available for the outdoor display on the x220 tablet already and has been announced the day they announced the device.
so I don't quite get what you mean?

@et10yl
I tell myself the same thing and will stick to my order (outdoor display though vs. your multitouch)..

 

Those of you on the fence should look at the tablet 6-cell battery in the couple of videos on youtube. It is seriously chunky compared to even the 8-cell from the X200/X201 tablets.

 

In the US Lenovo, when customizing my X220T it upsets me when their only available screen is the multi-touch display.



NOTE: I stuck in the box that states no guerrilla glass.

 

You obviously made an assumption without any basis for facts, no sarcastic praise will be awarded

Exactly, because its a laptop, not a tablet. (and unreadable outside the small sweet spot like 99% of laptops)

Close the lid, then come back and tell me its too big to sit on the tray and read the Dell logo.

You never actually wanted a convertible tablet so the choice is now easy and a couple hundred dollars cheaper

 

@AESdecryption
very strange, let's hope it's either a bug on their webpage or a delay for availability. I'd really like the ability to read stuff in a train when it's sunny e.g.

 

I talked to a rep a couple of day ago and he said that the gorilla option will be coming out about a week or two. Just wait then.

 

There is no keyboard in tablet mode. I guess I should have been more specific in my definition of productivity. While tablet mode has valuable uses, one for one substitution for laptop mode isn't one of them.

I didn't mean to start anything - my point was just that there are ultra portable laptops that can be used in coach airplane seats, and my expectation had been that the X220T would be one of those. But I'm thinking now obviously it is not since it is the same height as my 14" 4-year-old-dell when open. Perhaps I need to reconsider the value of tablet for other purposes and instead get an 10 or 11" laptop that meets my portability needs.

 

for me tablet usage scenarios are:

• reading & reviewing PDFs on a train and on the couch (Master/Bachelor thesis, scientific papers)
• taking notes in meetings (I always found people typing on some keyboard quite annoying during meetings!)
• taking lab-notes

although the quite significant depth difference is strange, I'm fairly certian the whole thing is still handy enough

 

I think people who really need tablets won't mind, but I prefer conventional laptops. Maybe OP would be better served by the HP 2760p, it's probably going to be the same design (albeit 16:9) as the 2740p, which is a pretty sleek tablet (doesn't have the excess bezel of the X220t).

What I'm puzzled about is how USB 3.0 and eSATA were omitted, despite being on the X220 (even if you had to pony up for the i7 to get USB 3.0).

 

I'm with you. Maybe later down the road we can DIY to get them.
(I did ordered x220t i7 ).

 

2 port flush expresscard with the popular NEC chipset (2.0/5Gb) is under 20 bucks and easy to find: BC618T though not always listed under that name.

2 port flush esata/sata cards are about the same, not sure about which chipsets they use (likely sil) but for most cases the drive is the slowest link.

I would kill for a nice portable SAS card, flush or not.

 

No.

But having said that the design, especially the hinge, of the T's seriously compromises the case area able to house the battery. So taking my X201T example, what you have with the 'compact' X201T config is a totally pathetic battery - so to have a usable machine you really need the 8-cell. The sticky out 8-cell battery has another issue: Because it sticks out, they've billed it as a handle and that means that it has to be toughened in terms of construction.

The resulting mega-huge battery that I run (the 8 cell) is actually only a 4600mah battery - which is significantly less than e.g. Sony's standard cells. Yet weighs more than Sony's extended cells. This is a major part of the T-models hugely increased weight.

 

So will I need a 4 cell battery to not have anything stick out of the back of the X220 or will a 6 cell do already?

 

maybe Sony is keeping the good battery and selling other the junk battery cells.

 

Just to clear up some confusion, here are the dimensions of the X220 and X220T.

X220: 305.0mm x 206.5mm x 19-34.6mm
X220T: 305.0mm x 228.7mm x 27-31.3mm

So the tablet is 22.2mm longer, which is less than 1cm, not the 2cm you keep talking about.

 

fwiw, 10mm = 1cm, so 22.2mm = 2.22cm.

 

Sorry, I was using the conversion to inches ^^

 

No worries... I thought you might have been

 

Since I waited too long to purchase the x220T and the discounts and cost both are pau and went up....I've decided to get the Gorilla Glass version. Is there a timetable for that right now? I swore I saw it available on the 19th but maybe they are low stock right now... I probably can afford to wait a few weeks only.

 

Though they might be delivering an opinion representing bad news. I'm defending the original poster I'm sorry, but the quoted comment above boarders on circular logic.

[Additionally, there have been a lot of compact Thinkpads made. If I were silly enough to make assumptions about the Thinkpad as a brand, it would be a mention of durability and reliability, and not size/volume, over anything else.]

 

nope, with the x220 the 6-cell battery is flush with the case! With the x220 tablet, the 6-cell battery sticks out quite significantly!
Again, check out my first post of this thread, the image shows tablet and non-tablet version both with their 6-cell batteries!!!

haha... hilarious math man


Have you all seen this "reflectivity-demo" by Jesse?


Great stuff! Source: Jesse B Andersen

 

I wonder how much difference the gorilla glass is in terms of glare.

 

I read reviews that most of those can't power a portable 2.5" USB HDD. So I think those cards are pretty useless.

I don't think the battery is built any stronger than any other laptops. I tore apart a 8 cell from my x61t trying to replace the cells inside. It felt solid and heavy before I tore it apart, but after opening it up, there's nothing that feels heavy or well built thing. It's just the space that is wasted from the hinge.

But I wish they used the empty spaces in the tablet rear for better purpose, make it a air passage for better cooling, or something. Comparing x61t vs x61s, x61s builds up heat pretty bad compared to x61t, but x61t is bigger. I read x220 is really good at heat management, I expect x220t to be even better.

My 8cell battery from x61t (has 4 cylindrical and 4 square cells):

For the battery, I blame the hinge, and also the wasted space for the controller.