Thinkpads Forum

Just joined the site as I am excited to be purchasing an X220 soon.

I am planning to buy from Lenovo's Refurb Outlet, so I don't have complete control over the options as I would have if I had bought it new. So I have some questions about speccing it out how I would like it sometime in the next couple of months.

1.) IPS Screen. How can I tell if the laptop has the IPS display or not? It doesn't seem to say under the specs on their outlet site. This is definitely an option I must have from the get go.

2.) Processor. I plan to go with the i5 processor, but I have read on this site that you only get USB 3.0 with the i7 processor. This isn't really a dealbreaker for me as I could always add a USB express card, but I was wondering if there is a way to add it myself at a later date. If so how much would this mod cost?

3.) No Webcam + 3 antennas. I don't mind having a webcam, but I also don't plan to use it either. Therefore, my preference would be to change the bezel at some point and add in the 3rd antenna. Does this 3rd antenna only relate to mobile broadband or does it improve regular WiFi reception? If it only relates to mobile broadband then I wouldn't be interested in this mod. If it does improve WiFi, approximately how much is the cost to do this mod?

4.) Fingerprint reader delete. All the models in the refurb store come with the fingerprint reader. This isn't really a dealbreaker, but I would rather have an unobstructed palmrest. How much are the parts to swap this out?

I think that's pretty much every issue I am currently pondering over. Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know which outlet store you're going to, but it usually says if it's IPS.

It can be done, but since the CPU is soldered to the board, you'll need to replace the planar to upgrade the CPU.

this is the specific model I'm looking at in the Lenovo Outlet...

http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/co ... de=4291X04

it doesn't say IPS, so does that mean it isn't IPS?

Most likely not an IPS panel.

is there a reliable place to buy the IPS panel for an x220 then? I am thinking about getting the cheapest refurb that lenovo offers and just doing all these mods myself over the next couple of months, because I can't really find the configuration I want.

Cicada88 wrote:is there a reliable place to buy the IPS panel for an x220 then? I am thinking about getting the cheapest refurb that lenovo offers and just doing all these mods myself over the next couple of months, because I can't really find the configuration I want.

eBay. I recall there was an informative topic where posters provided references for the right IPS panels to buy and also pointed one or two sellers who had those panels; try to look up for that.

thank you...ill do a search