x30 or x40 which one is better?

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chazz · #1 Post by **chazz** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:51 pm

which one is better, performance wise and upgrade-ablity

aaa · #2 Post by **aaa** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:54 pm

Well the X30 uses a Pentium III, so it's obviously slower. X31 and up use the new processors. X31 vs X40, perhaps?

pianowizard · #3 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Dec 17, 2007 8:58 pm

The X31 performs better than the X40 because the X40 is stuck with a 4200rpm HDD, but the X31 is much heavier. I'd choose the X40 over the X30 any day.

Jason404 · #4 Post by **Jason404** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:47 am

The X30 has a Pentium-III-M, while the X31 has a Pentium-M Banias, which is quite a lot better. Better still is the X32's Pentium-M Dothan, with twice the L2 cache. The X40 came with Banias and Dothan.

I have an X40 as well as an X31, and I tell you that I much prefer my X31 for some reason. I just think the X3x series is a nicer design and feels better built.

As it is getting quite worn out, I bought the mint condition X40, but I plan to give the X40 to my dad, and get a mint X32 instead.

Here's a good site to look for specs, even though it is aimed at providing Linux information.
www.thinkwiki.org

BobA · #5 Post by **BobA** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:43 am

One other important note - the X30 has USB 1.1 on the motherboard.

The X31 and beyond have USB 2.0. Makes a huge difference if you're transferring a lot of data.

I also really like the X31/X32 systems. I've been getting some and fixing them up for resale. They are a well-designed system and pretty durable.

Bob

Jason404 · #6 Post by **Jason404** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:05 am

Oh yes, I forgot about the USB difference. You are right that it can make a lot of difference. I think the X30 is getting too old to be considered as a workhorse these days.

BTW BobA, you are underselling your machines by saying they have Pentium 4's in them. They have Pentium-M's, which are the evolution of the P-III and PIII-M, and have a much better power efficiency than the flawed P4 and P4-M, with Netburst architecture. The original Core is the further evolution of the Pentium-M, both of which were sold alongside the P4.

Intel realised that Pentium 4's Netburst was a mistake, and stopped the marketing-led lie that higher clock speeds meant more power, and returned to the original PIII line, with the Core 2 as their flagship processor - scrapping Netburst.

I have seen Thinkpads on eBay being advertised as Pentium 4 or Pentium 4-M powered, when they actually have Pentium-M's.

ajkula66 · #7 Post by **ajkula66** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:42 am

It really all depends on what you're going to use it for...

X40 is sweet, light and much cooler than X31. If you need "on the go" machine to use in the field without any excessive weight, this would be the way to go. However, you're stuck with 1.8" HDD that doesn't go above 60Gb/4200rpm, and maximum RAM of 1.25 or 1.5Gb, depending on the model.

X31 can be a baby workstation if pressed hard. The last one I've had had a 1.4 PM, 2Gb RAM and 60Gb/7200rpm HDD, and it was pretty fast. However, it was a little too hot for my liking, and its biggest limitation is the video chip.

I was never too impressed with build quality of X30 and X31-can't speak of X32 because I've never had it. Plastics break way too easily, and they simply do not have the solid built feel of X2 series. In that respect, I tend to like X4s better, as gentle-feeling as they are.

Just my $0.02...good luck with whatever you decide...

pianowizard · #8 Post by **pianowizard** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:00 am

ajkula66 wrote:X40 is sweet, light and much cooler than X31.

My goodness, the X31 must be very very hot! I owned my first X40 for a year and one of the things I didn't like about it was how hot it could get. On the other hand, the 4200rpm HDD didn't bother me much.

emoticonartist · #9 Post by **emoticonartist** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:59 am

I was thinking of jumping ship from my X30 to a X40 but wasn't sure about some things:

Dothan vs Banias: much difference in an X40 despite the 4200 rpm drive? Even if one Pentium uses less energy and produces less heat, doesn't necessarily mean it's better than the other P-M right?

X40 USB ports have a tendency to conk out - true?

...or should I splurge $$$ for an X6x series? I hear the X6's are bigger than the X4's. (Core 2 Duo machines do sound appealing too!)

"Blerg!" - Liz Lemon

Jason404 · #10 Post by **Jason404** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:56 pm

emoticonartist wrote:Dothan vs Banias: much difference in an X40 despite the 4200 rpm drive? Even if one Pentium uses less energy and produces less heat, doesn't necessarily mean it's better than the other P-M right?

The Dothan is more efficient, so less power is used and it has longer battery life as well as less heat. It is faster due to it having twice as much cache, which makes a lot of difference.

Still, my Banias X31 is fast enough for anything I use an ultra-compact for. I use my Core 2 Duo desktop machine for large applications.

brianoes · #11 Post by **brianoes** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:31 am

I'm about to jump ship from my X30 to an X40. I need to be doing some Firewire audio recording, and the boost in chip speed will set me over the threshold that the PIII in my X30 prevents me from attaining. The X30 is a wonderful machine, but I'm hoping to get a bit more power and battery life out of the LV P-M.

Emotionconartis: If you have the extra $400-500, go for the X60. But stick with the "s" version (X60s, X61s) if you want great battery life ( not that the X60 has bad battery life).

Brian

brianoes · #12 Post by **brianoes** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:32 am

I'm about to jump ship from my X30 to an X40. I need to be doing some Firewire audio recording, and the boost in chip speed will set me over the threshold that the PIII in my X30 prevents me from attaining. The X30 is a wonderful machine, but I'm hoping to get a bit more power and battery life out of the LV P-M.

Emotionconartis: If you have the extra $400-500, go for the X60. But stick with the "s" version (X60s, X61s) if you want great battery life ( not that the X60 has bad battery life). But for that price, I can have two X40's and I worry less about the safety and long term value of the notebook. If it gets stolen when I am traveling, not *such* a big deal, it was only $450, not $950.

Brian

ThinkPad · #13 Post by **ThinkPad** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:34 am

pianowizard wrote:the X40 is stuck with a 4200rpm HDD,

Cant the hard drive be upgraded?

pianowizard · #14 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:42 am

ThinkPad wrote:Cant the hard drive be upgraded?

Nope, because the X40 uses a 1.8" HDD and they're all 4200rpm.

DVormann · #15 Post by **DVormann** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:50 pm

brianoes wrote:I'm about to jump ship from my X30 to an X40. I need to be doing some Firewire audio recording,

X40 and X41 lack Firewire. You'd have to use a cardbus FW card which affects speed.

phr · #16 Post by **phr** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:48 pm

I've had an x40 for 2+ years. I went back and forth when I bought it about whether to get an x32 instead, and I've had buyers' remorse at different times. All I can say is there's not a clear cut answer. The X40 is noticably smaller and feels better designed, but its limitations (mainly the 1.8" drive) are quite significant and have been getting more so. I'm not sure if you can get a compatible drive larger than 60GB, while you can put a 250GB drive in the X32. There is also a memory limitation, 1.25GB or 1.5GB depending on configuration, vs. 2GB in the X32.

I use my X40 primarily as a travel machine so the limitations aren't too terribly oppressive, while the smaller size is very nice and it does work ok with an external usb disk if I need more storage, including powering an external drive from the usb port. The x40 is almost as small as the new diskless pc's (EEE PC etc) that are much less capable. It's under 3 lb with the standard battery pack. But, the x32 isn't enormous.

These machines aren't worth much today. If I were buying a used one now, I'd decide primarily based on how much HD capacity I thought I'd needed. Buying new, I'd probably go for a 2.5" drive. It even looks like 12.5mm height 2.5" drives are coming back, with Hitachi having recently announced one with 500gb.

I'm sort of thinking of buying a new thinkpad and am leaning towards a loaded T61 configuration as opposed to an X61, since I want the big screen to use at home, and for travel my X40 continues to be enough for my requirements.

Otter · #17 Post by **Otter** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:20 am

Love my X40 with the wedge extended battery that adds very little weight. My x4 ultrabase is parked on my desk, and I keep the extended battery in my bag for trips.

I believe that the X3x can't match the battery performance of the X40 (correct me if I'm wrong).

synchromesh · #18 Post by **synchromesh** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:03 pm

ThinkPad wrote:Cant the hard drive be upgraded?

Actually it can. Not with another hard drive, but with SSD or CF cards instead. Granted, it has limitations such as being fairly expensive and smaller storage space but it makes the machine more quiet, reliable and lightweight. If you get the proper speed cards it will be faster too. The space is going to be limited but if you are not planning to store large amounts of movies or MP3s it should suffice.

chazz · #19 Post by **chazz** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:23 am

last month I picked up a x30 with dead motherboard from a new seller (I took a gambled) on
Fleebay and after cleaning it up ..it was quite nice ..with no cracks, nice screen, and no broken palm rest and later bought a used x30 motherboard that I "finally" got it to work..

I am surpizzed how small this is and how cute it is... it feels pretty snappy but the usb1 is really slow. just plugged in a wireless card from the side add an old Hitachi 7200/60GB. and its working! feels pretty fast ..but the resolution really suxs.. I need to scroll alot...up and down and sideways.. .it was a nice weekend project that was more trouble than its really worth...I think it will be a nice workhorse laptop, for heavy duty traveling that can take a beating-- if it gets destroyed ..I won't feel so sad.
just a update :So far the best screens I have come across are :

1) t60P BoeHydis --really amazing color and a slight edge on
sharpness--when I saw this screen--first thing that came to my
mind was/is...I must have one of these and (too bad its not
mine)

2) QXGA --IDTech--good brightness but becomes #2 when u see
Boe--but the resolution can't be beat!

close 2nd) t60P IDtech --good color but not as sharp...

oh well.

ribbonfish · #20 Post by **ribbonfish** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:30 am

I've seen an increasing number of posts over the internet talking about Solid State drives (1.8") being good replacements for laptops / UMPCs / iPods.

Some buy expensive SSDs outright. Some mode CF cards into drives, using an adapter to covert CF card into IDE drive.

The first option is of course quite expensive. The latter is around 150 dollars for a 266x 32gb cf card. Adapter is cheap.

Stop sniffing on the size, hear me out on the perf increase...

Usually the read speed of a 1.8 HDD is 20~ MB to 11~MB/s from the inner tracks to the outer tracks.

And a CF card mod the price stated above is a steady 40 MB , and with much lower access time / much faster responses.

Better of all, these media is getting cheaper every day!

dbregman · #21 Post by **dbregman** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:18 pm

I just converted my newly aquired x40 to Flash - a discussion along with benchmarks can be viewed in this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... &start=360

x30 or x40 which one is better?

x30 or x40 which one is better?

Re: X30 vs. X31 vs. X40

SSD to the rescue of x40 / x41

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