Will my preowned X30 satisfy my needs?

[BlueDevilTide]

Hello everyone, this is my first post in this forum and I want to say what a great community it has been to lurk and read. After years of wanting a Thinkpad, I finally bought two preowned ones, a T23 and an X30. I was fed up with the weight/heat/cheapness of my Inspiron 5100 and while it will remain my "main" computer, as well as my multimedia horse, these new Thinkpads, especially the X, will I hope be great products. They haven't arrived yet (eBay, $350x and $330t, maybe I overpaid...) but should soon, and I hope they're in good shape. They seem to be, especially the X.

I am a bit concerned that the X may not be up to par with my usage, but perhaps you can assuage me. I plan on using it almost entirely for "school" needs, on the way to class and such. So lots of typing (OpenOffice Writer), lots of websurfing (Firefox), lots of emails (Gmail), streaming video online, tons of AIM, etc. etc. Typical college needs on the go, not stuff I'd do at the desk like listen to mp3s, download large files, or watch any divxs even.

The stats for the X30 are as follows.

Processor: Pentium III –M 1.06GHz (512KB)
Memory: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 20 GB
Screen: 12.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD
Battery: Lithium Ion (2)
Modem(CDC), Ethernet(LOM)
Ports: USB/Serial/Headphone/Microphone/PCMCIA Slot
Power: AC Adapter Included
Ultrabase 3x with CD

That's from the ebay auction. Will that processor be fast enough? I doubt any of my processes will be CPU intensive, and with all that RAM (my Inspiron has only 384 itself), I imagine it could be quite good. But will it take foreverfor programs to boot up with the slow processor? I can't complain too much, as I got a computer I could afford, but I do hope it doesn't take forever to load. Also, I doubt the batteries will be any good, right? How much should I pay for a brand new X30 battery? on eBay or perhaps else where? I really do want to take advantage of its 4 hour battery life. If the provided battery works, well great! But from what I've read, since it's older, I doubt it will.

As for the T23, it'll be more of a desk worker with some apartment portability. I'll do more with it, the occasional DVD perhaps, but mainly everything the X does but with listening to Winamp and my mp3s via my external HD (I will probably buy a PCMCIA USB 2.0 card if the 1.1 turns out to be too slow to listen to music). It's stats are as follows, just for reference:

PIII 1.13ghz processor
14" LCD with native 1024 X 768 resolution
30GB 4200rpm hard-drive
640mb memory installed
DVD-ROM
Integrated 10/100 network port
Integrated modem
IBM AC adapter included

It doesn't have Wifi, but the X30 came with an apparently quite good 3Com card, and I doubt I'll ever use both with wifi at the same time, so I'll just move that baby on to whichever computer needs it.

I hope these are good buys...I feel like I should've spent a tad more and gotten a T40 but I didn't even think of it and felt like it might be too expensive. I wanted an X31 but those are too expensive, I almost got conned in fact!

Sorry for the long first post, but I hope someone can let me know if these will meet my needs. Thanks!

[_erazor_]

you will be satisfied with both and the X30 will please your needs, I am more than sure about that. You should calculate about $40 for a battery from ebay. Those do just fine in the X30.

About the T23: It will play music with USB 1.1 without ANY problem. That´s by far fast enough for music. You can even play DivX movies via USB 1.1, that also works Just for copying a lot of files it will be really slow on 1.1

[pianowizard]

I was fed up with the weight/heat/cheapness of my Inspiron 5100

I know what you mean! I got to play with the Inspiron 5100 at my friend's place and it's the cheapest looking laptop I have ever seen! If someone gave me that laptop, I would sell it within 24 hours.

[BlueDevilTide]

Hey now pianowizard...hold back on the insults...I'm still typing on it! Hah, just kidding...I make fun of this piece of crap enough. The screen is quite nice, and the keyboard is a tad mushy, and once in a while it'll be okay, but it is just so heavy and the fan so loud. Of course, if I don't use the fan, it'll idle around 58C and the fan will turn on by itself anyway. So, Catch 22.

Can't wait for the T and the X. I am glad to hear it should be just fine! I think all the RAM should make up for its rather slow processor...I'd like more hard drive space, and really, had I gotten a T40 I'd be set for the rest of college, but hey...maybe this will convince my generous uncle to hook me up with a T60 in a year or two

[hadoken]

The X30 will do just fine. I probably would install Windows 2000 if you don't need the bells and whistles of XP, but not a big deal if you go XP. The X30 is a little cramped for long duration typing but it should be fine for classes. I bought a battery from one of those HK vendors on Ebay...quality is OK. For the price of an IBM battery, you can buy 2 generics and that should get you by.

[fschwep]

I am a bit concerned that the X may not be up to par with my usage, but perhaps you can assuage me. I plan on using it almost entirely for "school" needs, on the way to class and such. So lots of typing (OpenOffice Writer), lots of websurfing (Firefox), lots of emails (Gmail), streaming video online, tons of AIM, etc. etc. Typical college needs on the go, not stuff I'd do at the desk like listen to mp3s, download large files, or watch any divxs even.

The stats for the X30 are as follows.

Processor: Pentium III –M 1.06GHz (512KB)
Memory: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 20 GB
Screen: 12.1 XGA(1024x768) TFT LCD
Battery: Lithium Ion (2)
Modem(CDC), Ethernet(LOM)
Ports: USB/Serial/Headphone/Microphone/PCMCIA Slot
Power: AC Adapter Included
Ultrabase 3x with CD

That's from the ebay auction. Will that processor be fast enough? I doubt any of my processes will be CPU intensive, and with all that RAM (my Inspiron has only 384 itself), I imagine it could be quite good. But will it take foreverfor programs to boot up with the slow processor? I can't complain too much, as I got a computer I could afford, but I do hope it doesn't take forever to load. Also, I doubt the batteries will be any good, right? How much should I pay for a brand new X30 battery? on eBay or perhaps else where? I really do want to take advantage of its 4 hour battery life. If the provided battery works, well great! But from what I've read, since it's older, I doubt it will.

The processor is plenty fast enough and with 512 MB RAM it will run XP without any problems. I have a pre-owned X30 with Win XP SP2 and it performs quite well. Do ensure that if it does not come with the original OS pre-installed, to get the proper TP drivers from the IBM/Lenovo support site. Once logged in (uding MS Internet Explorer, not FireFox unfortunately) the site can automatically analyse your system and provide a list of drivers you need (as well as the warranty status, original sell date and probably if it was stolen or not...).
I went into Windows system setup and turned off the Windows virtual memory page file, to limit unneccessary disk access. It keeps the HD a bit cooler and saves power. The machine runs quite well this way, with 512 MB RAM. It boots fairly quick, and of course you can let it hibernate.
A new battery will cost anywhere from 40 to 80 dollars through eBay. I'd get one from a place that specializes in laptop batteries and uses good branded cells (Panasonic etc). I got a new one that way and the X30 runs for about 4 hours flat on it. Put the old one in the X3 dock and any charge that is left will add to those 4 hours.
Note that it will normally be set up to dim the screen when it runs on battery power: even the brightest setting using the screen buttons (a Fn-Home/End combi) will be hadly as bright as the lowest setting on AC power. You can change that in the machine's BIOS by setting screen brightness to 'normal', so it will not dim if you pull the AC plug. Then you can dim it using the keyboard or set it for a lower brightness setting in the Windows power settings.
Spend a few dollars on a 2- or 4-port USB PCMCIA card. The X30 has USB 1.1 ports and these are too slow to burn a DVD on an external burner or to transfer files at high speed.
What your specs do not show is that the machine also includes a built-in Compact Flash drive. It's on the left side of the case. Very handy if you have a digicam that takes CF cards, or to keep a CF card as a kind of permanent data drive that you swap with your desktop pc.
The X series apparently have few weak points, one rarely reads about spontaneous motherboard failures and the like. The case has potential weaknesses though, the most important one being a potential crack point just above the PCMCIA slot (on the left), and another being the palmrest on the right front corner. If it has been mistreated (thrown around a lot with the screen open, grabbed by the front of the palmrest), that is where it shows. Cracks there are just cosmetically, the underlying hardware usually works, but it is worth a close inspection.
I keep mine (without the X dock) in a 12-inch Crumpler 'Gimp' sleeve, as most laptop cases are far too large for it. It just slides into my shoulder bag, and I carry the power adapter and other loose parts (PCMCIA cards and such) in a small bag stuffed in a corner of that same shoulder bag, which leaves ample room for paperwork and books and such.
Provided it is in decent condition and has not been terribly mistreated it will give you a lot of pleasure. Of course the keyboard will be heaven compared with the Dell!

[BlueDevilTide]

Thanks for that incredibly informative post! I am checking my email frantically now that classes are done today for the notification of a package at the post office! It arrived in Durham on Saturday so it should be at the university post office today. I was considering turning off the virtual page filing thing, as I heard that helps, so thanks for that tip as well.

[schmaud]

Hi,

I am runningan XP on a desktop with 1Ghz and les memory, and it is fast enough. So don`t worry.

The only thing I could imagine that it will be limiting sooner or later is the hardisk size, but a reasonable fast 40 or 60 GB is everything but expensive.

cheers

ralf

[BlueDevilTide]

Hi, I'm typing on the X30 now and it's great! Came in perfect shape and everything. Plenty fast, even accessing programs. The USB is quite slow, but that is remedied with the PC Card, naturally. I am realy astounded how clean and new it looks...quite great. The trackpoint was dirty, but I ordered some new ones anyway, as the T23's was dirty as well. That model is quite a bit older, but also in fine shape except for one dead pixel and a loose keyboard. I'm not sure what to do about the keyboard exactly...the left side has a lot of flex, if that's the correct word. But the X is beautiful, light, and great. The battery...well, one battery is in quite crappy shape, holds about 2 hours charge. The other is about 3, maybe more. I'm just going base off of the timer thing, not acutal usage, mind you.

How accurate is the "battery health" thing by the way? As the crappy one is described as in poor health, has a red indicator label thing on the program, and suggests a reconditioning. I think I'll just get a new one...

Thanks for the insight, everyone!