Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review Discussion

Yep, same problem here. Mine is scuffing directly to the left of the touchpad. The tiny pads on the screen bezel aren't sufficient to provide clearance when the laptop is closed, so it scuffs under the slightest pressure.

 

is the scuffing quite noticable? also, what about the outer surfaces?

 

Yeah, on my X100e there's also two lines on the palmrest next to the touchpad where the bumpers on the screen bezel would come into contact, but it's not too noticeable. I am still pretty satisfied with the laptop, especially with the keyboard, although it still bums me that Lenovo have not released a Flash 10.1 compatible video card driver, since the official 10.1 version was released by Adobe today. Hopefully this is something that they'll rectify ASAP. BTW I've tried to manually install the graphic driver as per Peter Wong's comment, but no joy so far.

I do agree with some of the other concerns that were brought up by kubel, although they do not present as big of a concern for me. While having a HDMI port would be nice, I've found that the VGA port is able to export 720p video to HDTV very well. The FN key is fine since I've always used Thinkpads (plus my Macbook Pro also shares the same FN key placement). About the only thing that bothers me a little is the heat output, especially along the left side. However I can't really blame Lenovo too much about this shortcoming - after all this is the price you pay for having a AMD processor and ATI 3200 IGP in such a small package.

 

Hey guys, it's been a while. Yesterday, I picked up an Intel X25-M 80GB SSD. Last night I reinstalled with Windows 7 Professional x64. So now I'm taking advantage of my 4GB of RAM and I've got an SSD that makes everything very, very fast to load. To say the least, I'm very pleased.

Loving the X100E, but man, some of those X200's in the outlet the other day for $600 were surely tempting.

 

How much battery life are you getting with your dual core?

 

I can probably get around 3 hours depending on usage with my L335

 

I bought one for my girlfriend with Neo X2 L335 2GB and Samsung 128GB SSD and she gets 3 1/2 to 4 hours of websufring, email, Word...

 

I think you may be about right on for my battery life now. I upgraded to an 80 GB SSD this weekend and didn't do a real test until today. Not scientific, but I definitely got over 3 hours today.

 

I also have an Intel 80GB SSD installed on my X100e, but I have the single-core version. I routinely gets at least four hours with Wifi on, which is not too bad with an AMD processor.

 

What are the odds of Lenovo updating the dual core x100e line to include AMD's newer K625 processor?

The x100e form factor is perfect my needs (anti glare screen, keyboard, weight), but its "old" processor and thirsty power consumption are major turnoffs

 

Well, should Lenovo decide to stay with AMD in the next revision, then the chance is very good that it will upgrade the X100e with the K625 processor, however as a current owner, the processor that I am really interested in are the new Intel Core i5 and i7 ULV processors (such as the 1.2-GHz i5-430UM). The Acer TimelineX 1830T has it (also a 11.6 inch ultraportable), and both the CPU and graphics benchmarks look very nice. More importantly it runs cool and has a very long battery life. If Lenovo decides to use this processor then the X100e will be perfect.

 

I was looking at that Acer model as well.

Does anyone know:

1. Is the keyboard as solid x100's? Or does it bounce and rattle when you type?
2. What's the overall build quality like? (My previous Aspire had very noisey hinges)

 

Hi itsallsp,

Laptop Magazine just did a nice review of the TimelineX ( http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/acer-aspire-timeline-1830t-3721.aspx?page=1), and they note that the fit and finish is good, and the keyboard is very nice as well (although in my opinion the X100e's keyboard is probably still the best in the industry). The only downsides that I can see is the glossy display, and the small trackpad area (looks even smaller than the trackpad on my X100e, which is already on the small side). Still, in a couple of years, if Lenovo does not upgrade the X100e with an Intel processor, then I might have to consider switching to the TimelineX.

 

@macroecon

Thanks for the link.

What's your personal experience of x100e's battery life and temperature? Is it uncomfortably hot on your lap, for example?

The dramatic fall in its UK price over the past 90 days would strongly indicate excess inventory, or an upcoming refresh...

 

My X100e usually last between 4 and 4:30 hours of battery with Wifi on doing internet surfing, but I have the single-core version, with an Intel X25-M 80GB SSD, so this may represent the best case scenario. Usually the heat is not too bad, however after playing flash-based video for an extended period of time, the bottom does get really hot, almost too hot to touch with bare skin. Unfortunately this is the price for going with an AMD processor.

Lenovo had aggressively cut the price of the L625-equipped X100e soon after it was introduced in the US market a couple of months ago, so I would probably go with excess inventory as the main cause of the fall in price that you see in the UK. Personally I wouldn't hold my breath for the K625 version.

 

Unfortunately this may just be a pipe dream for us. I think Lenovo knows not to put an Intel processor in the x100e because it would then completely undercut the sale of the x201s. They're already very similar laptops (very light weight and compact), if Lenovo gave the x100e great battery life and performance good enough for business use, the x201s would be a hard sell for its price.

 

Yeah, I've also came to the same conclusion myself, but that doesn't prevent me from dreaming about such a machine ;-) I think if we want an Intel Core i5/i7 ULV equipped 11.6" ultraportable, we either have to go for Lenovo's IdeaPad U160 (@$1049 a bit too expensive), or the Acer TimelineX 1830T (much more reasonable @$699). Another machine that has caught my eyes recently is the new Toshiba Protege R700 - Core i3-350M processor running @ 2.26GHz, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 13.3" display, built-in DVD-RW drive, Intel WiDi to wirelessly send video to HDTV, 8-hours battery, and it only weighs 3.2lbs; best of all it's only $799 at Best Buy. Lenovo might not want to make X100e too competitive on the account of the X201s, but it will lose a lot of customers (like me) that way if it doesn't recognize the state of the competition.

 

Are most X100E's that come from say amazon and 2GB's of ram coming with 1 stick of 2GB or 2 sticks of 1GB each?

 

I ordered a x100e from the lenovo outlet the other day. Got the L625/1G/250GB version for $335 refurbished, couldn't pass that up. Can't wait to try it out.

 

What's the difference between the L625 and the L335? Does one of them get better battery life is what I'm really asking as I assume performance is about the same.

edit- Looks like the L335 does not support Power Now?

Also, has anyone here used RMClock on either the L625 or L335 for undervolting?

I was considering the 1410 or the 1810 or the 1830T but they are all hard to find and all are $600+. Might as well get an Alienware for that price.

_update_

Still don't have the money to get one yet but, I will next month.
From what I gather the L625 is the only one that supports power now which may or may not give it more power states or better compatibility with RMclock.
From searching around the net it looks like RMClock works fine if you limit the processor to two power states.

Stock Power States are:
4.0x (800MHz) = 0.8000V?
8.0x (1.6GHz) = 0.9250V

Based on a battery drain test done HERE, which I would consider an "average or medium" use test that is detailed HERE which is still somewhat inaccurate but better than nothing, undervolting the CPU should give you a big boost in battery life depending on how CPU intensive the video player they are using is. Also, 4hr34min battery life with TurionL625. The ATI 3200 in the x100e probably stays at one voltage setting so GPU intensive tasks that don't force the CPU to go above 800mhz shouldn't effect battery life. If C-Net was getting 222 minutes at full CPU usage then forcing the 800Mhz option should get you a 13.5% improvement in battery life at stock volts and a 24.5% improvement with a .1v drop from RMClock or about 4.5 hours battery life vs C-Net up to 5.5 hours based on this sites review.

This thinking just makes me want an x100e even more. It just seems like the most well rounded budget netbook on the market.