Good X series laptop to choose

Hi all, I presently have a T500 that I love, but it is too heavy for carrying around. I am a student and would really like something a bit lighter for classes (note taking). I am quite tough on my laptops so of course I choose ThinkPads.

I am really attracted to the X series, however the price is a bit high for a new one.

I would like to know a good model to buy that is under $500, say from eBay or similar.

Thanks

 

The X61(s) series is a good option. My favorite ultraportable form factor. Tiny but very practical. Only issue can be the thermal design. It can get somewhat hot on the palmrest and after longer use also at the bottom. Not so that you cannot continue working though. All in all my favorite ThinkPad ultraportable after the X200.

An alternative is to sell your T500 and spend a bit more money on a X200. To date, the X200 is the best laptop and ultraportable I have owned. You can get it with up to P8800 CPUs and lots of fast RAM. The thermal design is excellent, keyboard is full size and weight is still low. Build quality is top notch and battery life is excellent as well.

 

x60(s) or x61(s) would be the most logical choice. Fairly recent, inexpensive, well made, great keyboards, dual core, small and light. The x61(s) gets a little hot, but it's still certainly manageable.

If you only intend to use this for note taking, you could potentially get by with a single core model. The x31, x32, x40, and x41 are all great notebooks. The x40 and x41 are very high quality and very light. However, they have the disadvantage of a very slow and hard to upgrade 1.8" 4200rpm HDD.

You may also want to consider an x41 Tablet or x60 Tablet. These will be about a quarter inch thicker, one inch deeper, and a little under a pound heavier than the non tablet models. However, the pen input adds great flexibility and should allow you to remove far more than a pound from your carry load (especially if you can get electronic texts or scan in your physical ones). You should be able to find one of these for under $500 as well if you look around hard enough.

 

X61s, X60, X60s are good choices.... the X61 can get quite hot due to the T7xxx CPU it uses, and it is not recommended to be used on your lap, and probably need a 8 cells battery.

 

Let me add to that. The X60(s) and X61(s) series can get quite hot regardless of CPU.

I have worked with the X6X(s) series for many years now with both T and L CPUs. All of them can get quite hot. Seems to be slightly better on i.e. a X61s L7500 versus a X61 T7300 system, but very marginal if any. Especially when I am in Southeast Asia, both thermal designs will struggle.

 

Yea, I had thought about selling my T500, however the vent is damaged, and I think that would scare away some buyers.

So do you all think the that the "s" versions of the X60/X61 get too hot, or is it both "s" and non-"s" versions? I am not a big fan of heat, but can stand a little of it.

I will also look into tablets as well, but have never really used one, and don't know if I really would use it.

 

The 's' models can get a little hot because they're thinner and have a smaller heatsink. However, they tend to use low voltage CPUs with a max TDP of only 17w. The x61 was often equipped with a T7xxx CPU with a TDP of 35w and can become quite hot.

Conversely, the x200 is almost always equipped with a P8x00 series CPU with a TDP of 25w and a great heatsink. Similarly, the x200(s/T) have a good heatsink and an SL9x00 or SU9x00 CPU with a TDP of 17w and 10w respectively. As a result, all of these stay very cool.