Questions on the X40

[mfbernstein]

Been looking for an ultralight for a while. Saw some X40s on eBay in $750-800 range that include 3-year IBM warranty (is this out of line?). Looked appealing.

On the other hand, I've heard that the performance of the X40 is rather problematic: ULV processor, 4200RPM 1.8" hard drive. I'm not intending to do anything very strenuous with the machine, but I do use Lightroom occasionally to organize my photographs. Would this be too much of a stretch (presumably I'll need to upgrade the RAM and maybe the HD)?

Also, how is the X40 in terms of heat/noise? Thanks.

[pianowizard]

Also, how is the X40 in terms of heat/noise? Thanks.

I had an X40 for 11 months and these were the two biggest of that particular unit: the palmrest got too hot, and the hard drive made frequent clicking noise. The 4200rpm hard drive was actually a minor inconvenience in comparison. But I've read that some people's X40's stay very cool. So it's variable.

[boon]

You may want to check on the x31 and x32 if you want a a regular hard drive. x31 have pentium M banias while x32 uses dothan with 2mb cache. X31 will be definitely cost less than the x40.

The ULV processor won't be much of the problem. While the 4200 rpm 1.8" will be the bottleneck.

[underclocker]

FWIW, I've had very good epxeriences with X40's. I've owned many ThinkPad models and the X40's rate as one my favorites. They are everything that I expected, light, well made, and capable.

The hard drives can not be upgraded past 60GB 4200rpm, at this time, but they seem quite adequate for most of my computing needs.

X40 processors range from 1.0GHz (Banias) to 1.6GHz (Dothan), so not much of an issue here. Prices are now dropping to a very enticing range, as you noted. Also, don't forget, you can upgrade warranties on machines that are still under warranty.

See if you can find one to test drive, then decide.

[seneca]

The ULV ones are very cool (as in cold) compared to the LV and up. I've got an LV and it's reasonably warm, but when I use NHC ( www.pbus-167.com ) it's very cool.

And the harddrive is a real bottleneck, but some X40's have Gigabit NIC's, so if you do editing in photoshop or premiere (as I do), have your working directory on a network volume (a cheap NAS or similar) over a gigabit link. And at least a 1Gb of RAM is a must.

"Very niiice!" - Borat

[mfbernstein]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the X40 would be a good fit for me. If I can find one to try out ahead of time, I will, but they're not so easy to locate these days.

One question though regarding the warranty: if the machine has already been used, can one still extend the warranty? And how long can one extend it to? Thanks again.

[senkan]

I too was looking for an ultralight and lurked here for awhile doing some research. Not to highjack this thread, but something I felt swayed me to the X31. The 1.8" HDD drives. I plan to use my X31...coming in a day or two...to field edit digital images and transmitting them, not mention other non-work related tasks.

I scoured auction sites and me living in Japan, found a X31 2672-FJ7 PM1.7/512MB/80HDD/802.11a/b/g for $590. I plan to upgrade the HDD to Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 from this thread:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=40803 , then max memory to 2GB and change the keyboard and OS to US.

After upgrades, I would be in the range you are looking at now, but I would have a 7200rpm HDD, and possibly a faster CPU than the x40's on eBay.

Other threads noting bottlenecks of the 1.8" HDD and heat issues swayed me toward the X31.

X40 may have better battery life in the field, but slight performance gains may be worth it.

As this is my first post here, perhaps some of the veterans can correct me in my thinking, but what others have posted above, maybe have a second look at the x31 or x32.

[pianowizard]

I too was looking for an ultralight and lurked here for awhile doing some research. Not to highjack this thread, but something I felt swayed me to the X31. The 1.8" HDD drives.

I chose the X40 despite its slow HDD because of its weight. At that time (Dec 2005), it was the lighest Thinkpad available (2.7 lbs), almost a pound lighter than the X31 (3.6 lbs). That's why the Ultralight X60s was such a great addition to the Thinkpad line: even lighter than the X40, but uses a 2.5" HDD.

Welcome to the forum!

[underclocker]

I like ALL X series machines, back to the X20 models (but the X22's onward are preferred). Bottom line, find the X that fits your needs/desires/wallet.

[mfbernstein]

I chose the X40 despite its slow HDD because of its weight. At that time (Dec 2005), it was the lighest Thinkpad available (2.7 lbs), almost a pound lighter than the X31 (3.6 lbs). That's why the Ultralight X60s was such a great addition to the Thinkpad line: even lighter than the X40, but uses a 2.5" HDD.

The weight's what appeals to me about the X40 too. 2.7 lbs! I suppose the only solution to slow disk performance is the exceedingly overpriced 32GB Samsung solid-state drive. Anybody have experience with one of those?

[seneca]

I chose the X40 despite its slow HDD because of its weight. At that time (Dec 2005), it was the lighest Thinkpad available (2.7 lbs), almost a pound lighter than the X31 (3.6 lbs). That's why the Ultralight X60s was such a great addition to the Thinkpad line: even lighter than the X40, but uses a 2.5" HDD.

The weight's what appeals to me about the X40 too. 2.7 lbs! I suppose the only solution to slow disk performance is the exceedingly overpriced 32GB Samsung solid-state drive. Anybody have experience with one of those?

Does not fit.