X220 - help me decide

[thinkquan]

I'm going back to school for another degree and I am looking at getting the X220 as the prices seem reasonable with lots of local availability for refurbished units. This ThinkPad would be specifically for school.

Important criteria in deciding which model are:
1 - Keyboard. A lot of the work will involve typing so it must have an excellent keyboard.
2 - Battery life.
3 - Portability. I will probably have to lug around textbooks along with it.
4 - A ThinkPad would be preferred

Some background: My daily workhorse is a T430, i5-3320, 16G RAM, NVidia. I've got the dock and have it hooked up with an external monitor. The intention is to keep this machine as a daily workhorse and use another machine specifically for school work. I don't mind the weight of the T430 with 9 cell battery, but I absolutely can't stand the keyboard with island keys and 6 rows. If any typing is needed on the T430, I do so on an external keyboard with Cherry MX mechanical switches. Taking lecture notes on the T430 keyboard is not something I would look forward to. Yes, the T430 is still better than the laptop keyboards you find in big box stores, but I have been a ThinkPad user for many years and it is just disappointing.

I haven't owned an X series ThinkPad yet. Would you think there any advantages of getting the X220 over say a T420? Input for those of you that have used both would be appreciated. What is more of a factor, screen size or weight?

An X230 would seem an option considering Windows 10 support and power usage, but then again it has the island keyboard. My concern is that the school might use specific programs to do assignments/exams that have an OS requirement. I like Windows 7, but there might be a need to upgrade to Windows 10. How well would an X220 play with Windows 10, considering that we now have the Anniversary Update?

Any recommended upgrades if I were to get an X220? I would likely boost RAM to 16 plus boot the system off an mSATA SSD.

Any other models I should be considering?

[Puppy]

Would you think there any advantages of getting the X220 over say a T420?

Yes, X220 is the only .20 model having IPS display option. The keyboard is exactly the same as the T420 one so there is no size difference.

Be aware that Windows 10 are not supported on .20 series by Intel, .30 series is the first CPU/GPU generation supported. There are issues with generic display driver provided by Microsoft and permanent anti-aliasing that can not be disabled https://communities.intel.com/message/398671#398671 I am wondering how comes that those who use Windows 10 with generic video driver on X220 haven't noticed it because the text is almost unreadable on internal display.

As for portability, due the stupid 16:9 aspect ratio screen format the X series laptops are no longer that portable as you might think. It is definitely bigger than X60 or X40 (they had smaller keyboard) and the weight over 1.4 kg is also way too much for today's standards. Another X220 issue is noisy fan with high pitched sound, there is possibility to replace the fan assembly with X230 one which is supposed to improve it but I have no personal experience with that.

I understand your keyboard preference. In case the exact 7-row layout is not mandatory for you and Windows 10 is required I would try to find something more up-to-date and lighter, probably not Lenovo.

[ajkula66]

I haven't owned an X series ThinkPad yet. Would you think there any advantages of getting the X220 over say a T420? Input for those of you that have used both would be appreciated. What is more of a factor, screen size or weight?

This really boils down to what's most important to you. I'd choose X220 as a "travel" machine rather than T420, for both size and weight.

An X230 would seem an option considering Windows 10 support and power usage, but then again it has the island keyboard. My concern is that the school might use specific programs to do assignments/exams that have an OS requirement. I like Windows 7, but there might be a need to upgrade to Windows 10. How well would an X220 play with Windows 10, considering that we now have the Anniversary Update?

I doubt that any school would impose a W10 requirement yet. Having said that...there's a BIOS mod that allows for *30 series machines to accept *20 series keyboards, see here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=120776

If you're up for performing it, both your current T430 and (potential) X230 would benefit from it. If not, my advice would be to stick with the X220.

Any recommended upgrades if I were to get an X220? I would likely boost RAM to 16 plus boot the system off an mSATA SSD.

That should be plenty...

Any other models I should be considering?

If you need more screen real estate, T420s - or T430s if you're up for the aforementioned BIOS mod - might be worth considering. You're extremely unlikely to get the same battery life as of X220 out of them, though.