Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Review Discussion

And it's 2k$ cheaper.

 

it's only $500? my bad
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=AB685843BDD4412BB8FAB17D26FADACF

 

No, but the X300 starts at $2500, this X200 starts at $1120....

 

Look at the price of the x300 before rebate (which is its price at launch) on your link: 3k3$.

The x200 is a new product, while the x300 has been out since a few months so you can't compare the current price of x300 with the announced price of x200 (I'm pretty sure that the x300 after montevina refresh will climb near 3k again),

 

[SARCASM]
No way man, you've got to believe in widescreen, if you don't, you die. You work so much more effecient thanks to 256 more pixels horizontally.
[/SARCASM]

Yes, they are pushing widescreen everywhere and I hate it. I've got myself two Dell 2007FP 4:3 1600x1200 desktop monitors before they would disappear forever. With 30" you can run a pivot'ed 20" 4:3 on each side. It's gonna be ugly if you use a 20" for that since sizes won't match.

As far as the X61 vs X200 sizes goes; look back at the T61. The T61 14" wide is actually wider then the T60/T61 14" 4:3 in the name of offering 40 more pixels horizontally. The benefit would be less depth what came at the cost of 150 pixels (sarcasm; offcourse you can't do anything with 150 pixels vertically while you could fit another few milimeters of Windows Sidebar in those added 40 pixels horizontally ). And yes, we got less depth what resulted in a very little less deeper notebook what was having only room for a 4 cell battery. Heck everyone needs the 6 cell battery. And what results we get? Right, we get a 14" wide laptop with 1440x900 in the footprint of a 15" 4:3 what could easily be 1600x1200.

Oh yeah, offcourse we have those people who don't care about battery life since they only use it in the dock. Well, my guess is they don't care about 15 milimeters more depth either

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A few other remarks to the X200:
-No firewire (personally I say "firewire is something from A pple (sorry, no Ap ple linking adds in my post) so we should drop it, good development" and "heck, the best external harddrive connection is gone"). It would be nice if we got an eSata port in retur for it. The Intel chipset has again three SATA ports I suppose? Well, one for the harddrive, one for the dockingconnector. Where is the third? It would be soo nice to easily add a TeraByte of high-speed storage using eSata instead of CPU cycles and power hugging slow USB.

-We got Displayport, nice! Offcourse everyone has a Displayport monitor and nobody needs DVI. (Where are the displayport > DVI adapters/convertors anyone?) Honestly, I approve the idea of using new standards and I approve they choose Displayport over the overhyped HDMI (what is really only DVI with audio and has a inferior connector). But hey Lenovo, if you are happy to use new standards like Displayport, then where is the eSata port? (You didn't get any money from Dell to use Displayport do you?)

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And under the second line: really good batterylife! I wonder what the X200s will do . Perhaps I'll get one to keep my T61 company. And I hope the accu's used in this X200 are better then in my T61 (down to 42.5 Whr of original 56.2 Whr after only 95 cycles. And even worse for the Ultrabay battery. Toghether they are around the designcapacity of the 56 Whr accu. )

And Lenovo, please be nice this time and keep prices normal. $1200 in the USA means with the current exchange rate €920 (included 19% VAT) in Europe, so don't make it €1500 like with most of the other ThinkPads. If not I'll be eager to give UPS / FedEx $100 to get me one (hmm, sounds familiar to me).

 

Will there be X301 or something with 13.3" led backlit screen and P8600 CPU?

 

Oily keys on keyboards have been my # 1 pet peeve and #1 priority to
avoid it when buying computers. I have recently purchased an Apple
keyboard for my Dell desktop and it seems to be the only keyboard
that doesn't get oily. Taking a look at this image of X200 here,
I can already see an oily print on the CTRL Key:
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/newgallery.aspx?id=16341&img=13
The one and only reason that is keeping me from buying the X200 is
that I am afraid that its keyboard will become oily easily, just as
any conventional desktop keyboards.

I might just end up getting the new VAIO laptops as they seem to
adopt the Apple keyboard design (minimal key push-down travel time =
less tendency for users to slam their fingers on it = less
contribution to oily print) if the X200 have an easier tendency to
get oily.

For anyone with experience in using Thinkpads, how easily does your
keyboard gets that smooth oily print on them?

 

Quick review, as usual NBR No one else dishes them out this soon after a launch...kudos!

Battery life is pretty impressive. I don't think the lack of a touchpad should be a deal breaker for anyone ... I tried a lenovo tablet the other day and the pointing stick was great to use (this is coming from someone who has never used one). I adapted almost instantly.

 

This X200 seems to be a compromise between innovation (Montevina) and the usual policy of crippling lesser-priced units.

As has been pointed out above, you don't get an optical drive, nor a touchpad, nor a LED screen, and the whole unit is relatively thick and heavy. To compensate, you get $1000 to $2000 more in your wallet.

Consider this. In everyday on-the-road use, how often have you *felt* the need for an optical drive, especially now that applications can be loaded on increasingly larger (and cheaper) USB flash drives and our music and videos mostly reside on our iPods or similar? Also, ThinkPads have TrackPoints--if you can't live without a touchpad you may not want to look at these laptops to begin with.

As for the bezel, of course that's just personal taste. I've always loved the almost retro look of ThinkPads, but it's fully understandable to hate them.

Finally, and most importantly, look at the battery life. It's an ultraportable owner's wet dream. Not only that, but the unit outperforms X300, is only .5 lb heavier, and its battery lasts twice as long. Its heat and noise management seem to be stellar, which is a huge pro for some, myself included.

Personally, I'm sold, and I'm glad I didn't buy an X61 just a few weeks ago. Looking forward to seeing what the X200s/t will have to offer.

Thanks for the great review, Andrew.

 

I think it's too heavy still. Too bad they couldn't split the difference between the X200 and the ideapad U110

 

The X200 also loses the touchpad...

But a PC Mark score of 800 more (and that's comparing a SSD in the X300 v a 7200rpm in the X200) makes a big difference.

I'm upgrading from a Dell e1401 - kind of tough to go to the X300, and see a decrease in the PCMark score ...

 

Great questions! I'll try to answer where I can.

1. No, in fact none of them have the same rubber paint treatment that the X300 gets, it feels just like the existing generation. No LED backlighting option for the X200 either, though I'm assuming the X200s will of course offer that.

2. I don't have the X200 UltraBase to be able to answer that question unfortunately, just a specs sheet, but they did tell me that the Tablet will use the same docking solution.

3. It is not listed as being supported in the documentation I have. I'm guessing that's just left out of the documentation though or it will be supported soon after launch, they have so many business customers using AT&T there's pretty much no way they could just not support that.

4.

Yes, I tested and the SD does go in all the way so it's flush, and then you push to eject.

Great question, and I don't have an X200 with the 5-in-1 to answer that, it seems like the card reader is placed at the front and far enough away to not interfere with the modem card, but I wouldn't be surprised if you are correct on this point.

 

I'm a Thinkpad fan, but I haven't looked much into the new X series until today and this article.

I've been strongly interested in a portable laptop (eee or msi wind) but this is quite intriguing to me now.

I really liked the previous X series, but it would have been kind of similar to my T61p. Since this is the next generation technology, I'm more inclined to bite.

Having 10 hour battery life is extremely impressive with that kind of computational power. Yeah the bezel is uglier, but I coped with the "off center" T61p 15.4" screen just fine. The retail price on it is good as well, and there will be discounts still. I might just be willing to bump up the size a bit and get this instead of a "netbook". And stay in the Lenovo family

 

Thanks for the review, Andrew.

This machine is right on so many levels, and may be my next purchase, but I too don't like the "Bezelpad" look.

 

I'm not a fan of the bezel, but it really isn't affecting things like weight by too much (it still weighs under 3lbs with the 4 cell), and as you said, there is so much else in it that makes up for the bezel. Battery life, keyboard, battery life, ThinkPad build quality, battery life, performance, battery life, value for money, battery life, and so on.

 

Nice laptop, I want one looks like 51nb couldn't resist referencing (and snipping a bit of) this review:

http://51nb.com/viewnews-39022

oh well, AFAIK they gave proper credit.

 

That bezel... ugh. It reminds me of an EEE.

 

I would call the review "Lenovo's Ultraportable Has Just Gotten Bigger"

I waited for this machine, but now that I see how it stacks up against the X61 (look at the shot where they are on top of each other), I would rather go for the tried and true X61. Ultraportable needs a T60 keyboard? - to me it's a joke, I've been very happy with my IBM X30 keyboard and screen size - actually I do not want a bigger keyboard. My girlfriend brings home her 12.1 widescreen dell from work on and off, but she still prefers working on my X30 for the screen size, you can simply see more of the Word page. And now this machine it is even bigger than the X61?
Is there anything I am missing here? Or are we redefining the ultraportable idea?

 

an ultraportable must be the lightest as possible, not the smallest

 

Actually, Ultra portable should be smallest AND lightest. Size comes before weight though.

 

I thought they are meant to be both

 

Seems to be interesting to compare X200 with HP Compaq 2510P - the latter has thinner bezels, DVD, and X200 inside... :wink:

 

I want to trade my T61 for that!!!!

 

...maybe wash you oily hands more often?

 

Sure you wanna trade your screen for 12.1?

 

Screensize isn't the problem. The lower resolution is...

 

Nope an ultraportable should be thinnest and lightest (not smallest). Size will compromise screen size and keyboard size. An ideal ultraportable would be one that is thinnest, lightest, and w/ the minimal compromise. In this way, ultraportables are:
- MBA (thinness and weight are excellent, but too many compromises: low battery life, too few USB ports are some, expensive)
- X300 (not as thin as thin as MBA but much fewer compromises: it has optical drive, more USB ports, but still just as expensive)

What you are describing however are subnotebooks (ideal subnotebooks should be smallest and lightest where size is prioritize over screen size and keyboard size):
Sony VAIO TZ - they are small and therefore their screen is also very small at a 11.1 inches across
Fujitsu U

Netbooks are a particular form of subnotebooks in that it still aims at being smallest and lightest, as well as inexpensiveness though the inexpsensiveness would be outweigh by more compromises (e.g., no optical drive, smaller size harddrive, etc..)

 

Yeah, 13" laptops are not ultra portables. That's just something Apple is trying to say.

Sub-notebooks are below 10.6"

 

well I'm in. My other order didn't go through, so here we are X200. I hope it comes out in early august as rumored, I could really use it by september !!

edit: is there still a think light? It wasn't in the review, maybe it is just assumed.

 

Ya right, so I can take a 15.4'' notebook, make it really thin and really light, and call it ultraportable
There is a reason why people like the 12.1'' notebooks.

 

exactly, you stretch jessica alba to widescreen and see if she still pretty

 

By the way - have you noticed the new thinkvantage looks on the screenshots? Power manager and access connections look definitely new. Are these new versions or some kind of theme? Are they available for download for other thinkpads?

 

Jee, that would suck

Could someone educate me and let me know why 12.1 widescreen is better than the original 12.1, apart from when you need to watch a movie (strange if you take into account that X series do not have an optical drive) and comparing 2 documents side by side (how often does an average viewer gets to do this?)?

 

in the future more and more website will not be in xga resolution or 4:3 format, since more and more people (website creators) have widesreen


besides, i get an x61, and i have to scroll horizontally as soon as a crappy-sized picture is inserted in a post on every forum

and i don't really like the small back-space/enter key

 

If it is better is one question (the answer will depend on how use use your computer). The right question is to ask why these widescreens are pushed by manufactures? The answer is that is cheaper to produce them for screen manufactures, thats all. Screen manufactures are "forcing" (indirectly) computer manufactures to use widescreens in all products.

 

Ok, why is everyone complaining about the switch to widescreen? Its better, it has a much higher resolution screen than before, XGA 1024x768 on the old 12" to WXGA 1280x800 now, so you're gaining pixels in BOTH DIRECTIONS. There isn't anything to ***** about, unless you're going on about the look of the device itself, which, I mean, its a ThinkPad, they all look fundamentally the same.

Also, with WXGA, there really isn't enough room to go side by side on any windows - you just get more pixels on that one window. Simply, its just a higher res display - in my experience, you need at least WSXGA to comfortably run side by side windows.

 

Andrew (of NBR),

Can you give us some dimensions on the screens of both the X61 and the X200 and how much of it is recessed from the edge of the bezel?

I'm seriously considering the X200, but don't want the screen to get too small with too high of a resolution.

 

An optical drive has nothing to do with watching movies. If I watch a movie on my laptop I always rip it first because I can't stand the noise of the optical when watching. Most of the time I rip the movie on my desktop (I still wonder why it takes 12 minutes to rip a 4.3GB movie while it takes 5 minutes to burn it ?????) and transfer it to my laptop using Gbit LAN (laptop HDD is limiting so never more then 30 MB/s).

Widescreen or 4:3 has not really much to do with websites. Only the width matters. Horizontal scrolling is not an option, vertical scrolling is (I have no problems with websites with adds on the invisible right side ). I think your point is that websites creators are more and more using 1280 pixels width as a mainstream width instead of 1024 (or even lower). But there are enough wider 4:3 too. I own three 20" 4:3 1600x1200 monitors. If you want to trade for 20" wide with me I'll only accept if you offer two times as much monitors as I do since I'll immediately sell them and buy 20" 4:3 again. 1200 pixels vertical is a completely other class then 1050 pixels vertical.

When typing or reading websites the vertical resolution is the limit, not the horizontal. Are you saying those last 32 pixels are holy?

In fact, it's a decrease, just like with the 14" screens. The X61 tablet is available in SXGA+ (1400x1050), what is a lot more useable space compared to 1280x800. So if one does not want a descrease in any direction they have to offer 1680x1050 for the Tablet what is unlickyly to happen I guess.

Oh, and there is the point that you can't devide 800 by 3 so you get black bars on all sides when you want to run a game in 4:3 resolution and don't want to use scaling.

 

andrew please do a video review if u can

 

A lot of websites are now being optimised for 1280px wide screens, whether they be SXGA or WXGA, and in general, I find it more comfortable to view on a 1280px screen width.

Look, if the X61 was actually available with an SXGA, I'd have bought one. Its not that I dislike 4:3 screens. Its just that I'd have ended up paying close to $800 more for a slower and heavier laptop with extra features I did not need SOLELY to get an SXGA+ screen, which is why I don't actually have one. Its just that the notebook that the X200 replaces, the X61 (not tablet) had an XGA screen with a significantly lower resolution. Hence, I view it as an upgrade, not a downgrade.

 

I like widescreen because I'm a programmer and it helps to have more width than height.

Also some programs (especially graphical programs) have a lot of docked windows. With a widescreen I can get more working space area.

Scrolling up and down is a lot easier than left and right.

 

Does tpfancontrol work? And if it does, how fast (rpm) is fan level 1?

 

yes, i was talking about 4:3, with especially low resolution (xga), which is, I think, the worst combinaison possible

a wide screen with a low resolution (wxga) on an 12" is an improvement for me

 

Interesting. I'd have figured that programmers prefer as much height as they can get, since more height means more lines of code fit onto the screen, so less scrolling. I don't know though, since I'm not a programmer.

 

That is what I thought too and I'm a programmer. What I discovered is that for application programming, I preffered to have as much vertical space as possible.

However, when I moved to web programming, I discovered that web coding is more practical if you have more width. Also a lot of IDE's cram in all these panes and you are stuck hiding/un-hiding it. As somebody mentioned earlier, I find it easier to scroll up and down rather than side to side.

Solution is to get a higher resolution screen with super high DPI!!! Alas, SVGA+ on 12"!!!

 

Foldable screens! When will they be reality!?

 

ans also for the next levels

on the x61 it's badly managed
lvl1=3000rpm=lvl2 + acceptable noise
lvl3=3000rpm=lvl4=lvl5 + terrible noise
lvl6=4000rpm= it's an f16

could you also disable the fan and let the pc running idle in order to see the highest temp in idle ?

and do you confirm that the WLAN card is NOT hot ?

where is it located beneath the keyboard ? is it under the palm rest like the x61 ?

is the palm rest not warm after running the laptop for a long time (like 24h+) ?


thank you

 

andrew, could post a picture of the three laptops stacked but from the top ??

and how did you get it ?

 

what do you mean? how he got the X200? companies regularly send reviewers loaners of their products early.

 

Hi, could you confirm whether it has ddr2 or ddr3 ram?