A Few Questions for X31 Owners

[NorrisCell]

I have a chance to pick up an X31 for a project and I wanted to verify some info from those that have owned one

1- The HMM and the Wiki list the X31 as being available with a 1.3-1.7 CPU. Since this is a Pentium M, I'm assuming I could run a faster P M (1.8-2.0). Am I correct?

2- Which, and how many ports are physically on the laptop versus the docking station? Does the Dock take the same AC adapter?

3- Which kind, and how many Ultrabay slots does it have? If I recall, there is no slot on the laptop, but there is one on the dock.

4- Do these take the same 2.5" PATA drives as the T40-T42? Will they accept a 7200 RPM drive?

I'm also open to any input you guys have that I didn't address, such as opinions compared to other machines, or important info I should know.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

[makai]

1- The HMM and the Wiki list the X31 as being available with a 1.3-1.7 CPU. Since this is a Pentium M, I'm assuming I could run a faster P M (1.8-2.0). Am I correct?

The CPU is soldered to the motherboard. There is no "socket", so you cannot upgrade unless you change the entire motherboard.

To answer the rest of your questions... read this >>
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2440

Have fun!

[NorrisCell]

That's really good info. I wouldn't have been happy to find that out AFTER I bought, heh.

That brings on another question. Did any of the CPU/board combos come with a Dothan CPU? The 1.7 didn't come in a Banias version in the T series, but I believe the 1.6 came in both versions.

[Harryc]

X31 = Banias

Code: Select all

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_Pentium_M_(Banias)

[fasterbybike]

Did any of the CPU/board combos come with a Dothan CPU? The 1.7 didn't come in a Banias version in the T series, but I believe the 1.6 came in both versions.

The X32 came with Dothan. They're somewhat scarce though because they weren't made for very long.

[snv]

4- Do these take the same 2.5" PATA drives as the T40-T42? Will they accept a 7200 RPM drive?

I think so. I replaced the original 4200rpm HDD with a Hitachi 100GB 7200rpm HDD and it works fine. I do feel some vibraton in the palmrest after the upgrade. If you think that it might bother you, you might want to consider a larger 5400rpm PATA HDD; the newer ones should be pretty fast too, and they are also much easier to find these days than 7200rpm PATA HDDs.

Adding more RAM should help as well.

[Puppy]

7200 rpm PATA HDDs are no longer available http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=62359

[jtt3011]

I have a chance to pick up an X31 for a project and I wanted to verify some info from those that have owned one

1- The HMM and the Wiki list the X31 as being available with a 1.3-1.7 CPU. Since this is a Pentium M, I'm assuming I could run a faster P M (1.8-2.0). Am I correct?

2- Which, and how many ports are physically on the laptop versus the docking station? Does the Dock take the same AC adapter?

3- Which kind, and how many Ultrabay slots does it have? If I recall, there is no slot on the laptop, but there is one on the dock.

4- Do these take the same 2.5" PATA drives as the T40-T42? Will they accept a 7200 RPM drive?

I'm also open to any input you guys have that I didn't address, such as opinions compared to other machines, or important info I should know.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

1 - I know that the X31 CPU can be up to 1.6Ghz, but they might go higher. But bear in mind that they can't be changed - you're stuck with what was installed during manufacture

2/3 - The docking station adds only a PS2 and a serial/COM port to what is available on the main unit. It has one ultrabay slot for installation of either a CD/DVD drive or an additional hard disk. It
takes the same AC adaptor output as the main unit, and has provision for a second battery.

4 - The X31, and the docking station, take standard 2.5" IDE/PATA drives, including 7200rpm, and since I presune ditto for the T40/42, the answer must be 'yes'.

[fschwep]

I have a chance to pick up an X31 for a project and I wanted to verify some info from those that have owned one

2- Which, and how many ports are physically on the laptop versus the docking station? Does the Dock take the same AC adapter?

Most has been answered already; I can just say that the X31 has ports to connect to anything you want., both cabled and non-cabled - except Bluetooth. Very few X31s come with BT built in.
Having all those connectors on the machine itself without the need for a media slice, dock or port replicator is a great advantage that should not be underestimated. The media slice does not really add any connectivity, unless you need a serial port (and then a USB-serial cable is a lot lighter to carry around). For an optical drive, there are USB drives on the market that are hardly larger than a CD jewel box, again, far less mass than that dock.

Note that the X3.. series fit in the same 'minidock' as the T4/R5 series laptops. I have a T42 in such a dock, and an X3.. swaps right in. Those docks add more ports, like PS/2 mouse and keyboard next to each other, 4 USB ports, sound, VGA, serial, digital video... and note that the ports on the pc itself that remain accessible will remain functional. Such as the left-side USB. Which, with the X31, would give you 5 USB ports when sitting in a minidock. Those docks are available for practically nothing on eBay these days. Worth having on your desk hooked up to all your peripherals. Just lift out the X31 and go, you can leave the small power adapter in the shoulder bag as the dock has its own (bigger) one.

[jtt3011]

I bought a used 1.6 Ghz X31 for my daughter. Turned out to have Bluetooth. Works well, she's pleased and gobsmacked!

[agarza]

I'm also looking for a reburbished X31, my questions (sorry to hijack this thread):

- How many RAM does it take?
- Any tendencies to CPU overheating, are these machines cooler than say a T42p? in the bottom of the laptop
- Are these machine reliable

[jtt3011]

1 2Gb, as far as I know

2 Dunno - but mine doesn't get particularly hot. Warm, yes. but I wouldn't put it stronger than that.

3 Well, I've bought three, all second user, and all 3-4 years old. One was pristine, the other two well used - judging from the shine that had been worn on to the matt surface of the keys. I've upgraded my 1.4Ghz job from 500K to 1 GB. No problems on any of them so far, and the family menbers (and myself), for whom they were bought, are delighted.

[snv]

- Are these machine reliable

They are definitely not the worst among ThinkPads in that respect. But, it might be useful to keep in mind the following observations by ragefury32:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... ht=#378062

Again, it's not a reason to get scared, X31 is a nice sturdy laptop (better than T4x in that respect, I would guess), but handling it with some care won't hurt. So, I followed the advise by ragefury32 and got a sleeve and an Extended Life Battery.

- Any tendencies to CPU overheating, are these machines cooler than say a T42p? in the bottom of the laptop

It can get quite warm at the bottom, but only if the processor is busy and not scaled back to its lowest frequency. In linux, I use "ondemand" cpu frequency governor, so the cpu is at lowest-frequency state most of the time, unless I am running some heavy load. There should be a way to tell Windows to do the same. The Extended Life Battery partially shields the heat generated at the bottom, so that I can use it on my laps if I wish.

[makai]

I'm also looking for a reburbished X31, my questions (sorry to hijack this thread):

- How many RAM does it take?
- Any tendencies to CPU overheating, are these machines cooler than say a T42p? in the bottom of the laptop
- Are these machine reliable

- Definitely takes 2gig of ram max

- X31 can get warm, but if you run NHC and use ACPI, you can control when the fan turns on. I have my fan turn on at 47deg, so laptop never gets overheated. Also note that it takes quite a while before the unit gets to 47 degrees in the first place... dependant on base CPU speed, of course. Recommend you stay at 1.6ghz as I would imagine the 2ghz (X32) possibly runs warmer... although can't say for sure as I don't own one of these.

- I would say they are very reliable... surely as good as any Thinkpad series. Handling with care helps. Both my units are dated 2004 and running very well.

Word of caution... the X31 has 16mb video card. Good for 2D stuff, but not so great for 3D. Office programs run well, as well as Photoshop type apps. In the end, if you need a traveler and not some gaming type machine, then you can hardly go wrong with the X31/32. They are very nice!!!

[Spimoles]

They are very reliable. I haven't had any problems with my X31 thus far and my buddy had one before getting an x61 and his worked flawlessly as well. Even after it fell from his lofted bed in his dorm room.

They do tend to run a little hot but that's just when at high performance mode. I haven't had any problems keeping it on my lap when running it under power saver mode.

Great notebook for on the go. It gets great battery life and its so light/small I can take it anywhere. I often get many compliments on the size as people compare it to their huge HP's.

I plan on holding on to this machine for a while but also looking into upgrading to a X200 in the near future.

[bobbarker]

Word of caution... the X31 has 16mb video card. Good for 2D stuff, but not so great for 3D. Office programs run well, as well as Photoshop type apps. In the end, if you need a traveler and not some gaming type machine, then you can hardly go wrong with the X31/32. They are very nice!!!

The X31 can't game well but it beats out an integrated graphics card out there. I've played CounterStrike:Source on my X31 before without any problems and Google Earth, too.