Considering returning my X220

Yeah, here are my list of negatives:

Backlight bleed
Touchpad sucks
Only accepts 7mm drives (no vertex 3)
Fan was constantly on and whiny (tpfancontrol fixed this though)
Gets pretty hot on my lap (stays around 50-55oC just web browsing)

 

These are pretty good temps, but you're not stressing the system enough anyway. I think the GPU will do most of the work when you're watching the movie. Try something like wPrime:

Downloads | wPrime Multithreaded Benchmark

In wPrime I get steady around ~68-70C on both of my cores on my docked X200t (it's an old ULV CPU tho). And I can't even hear the fan at all. X200 I had was pretty silent and cold too. I used them both on my lap and my bed a lot of times.

I would still bet there is something off with OP's laptop. That just doesn't sound right.

 

After unzipping, I cannot seem to run Prime. Says 'unexpected error, quitting'. Tried it with 204 and 155 versions. Funny, because I had trouble trying to install the Open Office file I downloaded earlier- but on the fifth download, finally installed. Using Chrome and MSE.

 

When people say the fan makes a whining noise, how whiny are we talking? Very high-pitch like what some laptops make? My fan doesn't sound all that high-pitch... just sounds like air being moved.

 

For me a high pitch whine but I can barely hear it- perhaps 'whine' was the wrong word -) Shouldn't have mentioned it really.

 

@Unreal: But the GPU is on the chip here too, so the core temperatures are accurate right? (I'm not saying that we're stressing the system enough, but your comment seemed to indicate that there was temperature being generated elsewhere that reflected system load, but the CPU temperature didn't reflect this load).

 

Hm, good point - I'm not sure what the sensor will actually measure. But still watching a video isn't a very demanding task (even on the old core2duo CPUs). The OP was complaining about playing games - which is why a lot of people want this laptop. The other reviews mentioned it can run games on lower settings - and that will stress the laptop quite a bit higher than watching a video.

NBR review is quite the opposite compared to what some people are reporting here:

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 Battery Life, Heat and Noise

 

Id rather say that TPFC setup ini file has to be manually edited to suit ones individual needs and machine setup rather than using default INI settings that have been made years ago for older ThinkPad laptop model, you can find all the info in developers web page .
No one uses TPFC with default INI, you have to make changes to it so it will do much better job at cooling and keeping quiet your laptop without stressing components of your laptop.
The only thing that TPFC lacks is ability to set CPU fan speed manually to desired RPM's, at the moment it allows only those fan speeds that BIOS supports (its BIOS that has RPM speed options set at their respective RPM's?).

Computer nerd you say ?

 

Heavy web browsing and I get 39/42c
My system does not get hot at all. Its on my lap as well.
I disabled the touchpad and rely on the trackpoint and mouse
I have no backlight bleed to speak of
I researched this X220 first so I knew it only accepts a 7mm drive. Wish others would have done the same.

 

Agreed....

 

I too have backlight bleed
The touchpad drives me crazy. ty drivers too. It's not too bad when pointing or scrolling (with synaptics official driver, not lenovo broken driver), but when typing the cursor jumps.
Yeah that sucks, especially since there is no good reason to restrict thickness. Only two useless tabs (no effect on structural integrity and does not hold/touch anything) block the entry of thicker drive.
Fan is not too bad on my side
45-50 while web browsing on my lap. Hits 80-90+ easily when doing anything a little intensive.


So yeah, I too considered shipping it back. But none of these issues is eligible to waive the 15% restocking fee.

Edit: after 10 minutes in wPrime, I hit 87 degrees.

I have an i5 with turboboost at 3ghz.
When the GPU is stressed too, I'm sure I can near the 100 degrees. I know that this machine is not meant to have hardcore performance. But I paid to get the i5 and I can't even use it to its full potential because of a design flaw on lenovo's side.

 

You seem to want to look at the glass half full. You pay $800-900 and seem to want perfection. That seems a little low for perfect.

My machine has bleed too, but I only notice it when booting. I can't argue the touchpad. It's fair, but nothing great.

P.S. - Watch the language. We don't roll that way around here.