Getting my first Thinkpad

So I have decided to take the plunge and not only buy my first laptop since 2001 (I haven't used a laptop proper since 2004). I hadn't given much thought to buying a laptop since then, primarily because the battery life was not sufficient, I didn't want to have to take the laptop out with me, and also have to carry the batter pack. Those promising long battery life normally came at the expense of good hardware, particularly CPUs.
I was in the process of buying a new desktop to replace my trusty old machine, but thought I would check out what's going on in the laptop market, not expecting much to have changed. For the most part, things haven't moved on greatly, in terms of battery life and feature-packed machine, but I came across the X220 which seem to meet all my requirements, and with the price under £1000 with the i5 processor I couldn't resist and ordered one last week.
I am very excited about this, my first new laptop in over a decade.
But before I get it, I wanted to know what basic things to do to get it up and running properly. How much redundant software does it come with that I can do away with? Do I need to do a fresh install to get a system minus bloatware, and can I install all the Thinkpad progs if I do do a clean install?

Thanks for all your help.

Shing

 

All of the applications and drivers are available Lenovo's web site if you wish to do a clean install.

ThinkPads don't have too much bloatware, but no one probably uses all the ThinkVantage tools. It's probably best to learn what they are, then decide for yourself whether you'd use it. What I may use probably will differ from your usage.

I usually do a clean install, but I don't know that it's necessary for everyone. You can disable anything you're not using and see how it goes. You can always do a clean install later if you want. Be sure to make the recovery discs and make a copy of the SWTools folder on the C:\ drive before you do anything. The SWTools folder contains all the applications and drivers installed on your X220, and may come in handy down the road.

 

Thanks for the info as I am also a Thinkpad newbie and awaiting for my X220 to arrive.

 

As I say for all people, I would first create an account and make your recovery media first, so at least you can get all your original content if your hard drive takes a dive. I would use the stock image and see if you like it, gradually disabling some of the stuff unless you really can't stand it.

 

Hello! Congratulations on your brand new ThinkPad X220. I'm quite certain you'll enjoy using the ultraportable notebook.

My only suggestion is that, when your X220 arrives, you simply turn it on, create the Recovery discs, install your own software applications and just use the machine. (For the Recovery discs, you'll need an external USB optical drive, which may be purchased inexpensively.)

 

So it looks like the only thing I need to think about is creating the recovery disks and just go about using the thing. Sounds good to me, I was worried it would be like my sister's Dell, we had to pretty much wipe it clean and start afresh with the amount of junk that came pre-installed.

 

IMO Dell and Lenovo's ThinkPads have some of the least bloatware out there. Haven't really used a stock Elitebook but business class notebooks typically only have the most basic stuff installed and necessary stuff (Adobe Flash, Reader, Java), stuff you would be downloading had they not preinstalled it.

 

Just enjoy it.

 

Talking about fresh installs...

When I bought my X201, it came with 4GB RAM, but curiously, the OS installed was Win 7 Pro 32-bit, which I found very strange. If the OS would have been 64-bit, I would have made the recovery disks, but since I wanted the 64-bit version, I had to reinstall the 64-bit version.

Kinda strange from Lenovo to offer a 4GB RAM machine with a 32-bit OS (and this is preconfigured - Lenovo does not offer CTO where I am currently residing).

 

Where is that located?

 

I would try C:\SWTools...

 

I read in another thread that you can make your recovery discs with a 16gb USB drive. I bought one for this purpose so hopefully that works out.

 

^^^ Yes, it is possible to create Recovery "discs" with a single USB flash drive. Official instructions here.

 

I just got the X220 yesterday, it was a long wait at work waiting for the day to end so I could go home to have a play.
And from initial use, I am more than happy with the choice, even managed to get some work done on it last night.
Just a quick question, I wanted to make a recovery disk, but wanted to know if I could put these onto a USB stick, and if so what capacity would I need for this? Or is it best just to put it all on DVDs?
Thanks