X200s vs X201, which is lighter for a custom build?

[kingcodez]

I recall reading that the X200s had a special magnesium hyper tritanium alloy which made it lighter and stronger than the X200 chassis, but I'm having a hard time finding comparable weight figures between that and the X201. Are the bodies exactly the same dimensionally? On these forums I read that someone said something about how the improved X200S chassis was incorporated into the X201. True?

I just bought an x201 for the wife and I like it so much I would like to build my own for fun and as a spare which is okay to throw away. Since these computers are like lego systems, What would the best mobo/cpu be for battery life? I would use this only for basic tasks, which is why I was thinking that the old SL9600 or whatever would be fine. If the X41 is thinner/lighter I'd even consider going for that.

I would like to build:
X200s or light chassis with WXGA+ screen.
WWAN card
Webcam
SSD
The lightest battery
Fingerprint reader which works with Linux
Something fun in the express card slot
Trackpad and Trackpoint

Furthermore, does the X220 mobo fit in to the x201/x200s chassis? I believe it has USB 3 which is nice. I'm just looking to build a light bulletproof windows box that I can really abuse.

I know there is a x201s, but I hear it is rare, I'd like to not spend a lot of money so this could stay in the throwaway/loaner category.

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

WXGA+ combined with a webcam is a no-go on there machines from what I recall.

X220 board won't fit the X20*/s shell either.

I'm certain that someone will chime in with more data.

Good luck.

[ZaZ]

I believe the X200s/X201s are about a half pound lighter than the standard X200/X201. The X200 and X201 share the same HMM, which probably means they have the same parts except the CPU.

The X200 cannot have the touch pad because there's no connector for it on the motherboard. You'd need the X201 fro the touch pad, though it's very small.

You can put the whole upper assembly from the X200s/X201s including WXGA+ LCD onto a X200 or X201, but can't swap the screen itself as it doesn't fit.

[Tasurinchi]

you can put the whole upper assembly from the X200s/X201s including WXGA+ LCD onto a X200

I tried long ago putting an X200s WXGA+ screen into a X200 and it didn't work for me. Even after updating the BIOS

We had discussion threads in the German sister forum about this, since many users there couldn't make the swap work either. It seems to work for a X201/s though.

Links below (German only):

Link 1

Link 2

[kingcodez]

Ok, so I guess it would be better to spend more and track down a X201S then. The alternative seems to be to buy a X201 mobo and swap over that and the palm rest.

I've read about some people getting the WWAN, Webcam, and WXGA+ screen to fit, so it should be doable.

So the X200->X201/i
And the X200s->X201s?

[91011]

Ah, you’re hunting the Thinkpad unicorn. You’ll to need to make some choices to stay within the x-series.

The WXGA+ X200s easily available used but:
-No WWAN antennas in the 1440 lid although I’ve seen one of the WiFi antennas used for WWAN and the owner said it ‘worked’. Probably possible to add an antenna but might not be room for two in the lid.
-George is right, no webcam possible with the 1440 – LCD cable is different from 1280 and has no webcam connection.
-No touchpad on any x-series prior to the x201

You can tell a 1440 LCD from a 1280 by looking at the top of the lid.
The 1440 lid is one solid piece and the 1280 is two pieces with a seam running left to right in front of the Lenovo & Thinkpad logos.

The closest small TP that meets your wants is the x301. It has everything but the express card slot.

It’s quite easy to move a x200s lid assembly to an x201 and get a touchpad but still no webcam & WWAN.
I have two if that would interest you and also an x301.

Just saw your most recent post.

I've read about some people getting the WWAN, Webcam, and WXGA+ screen to fit, so it should be doable.

Like to see that, I've tried but there are so many hardware differences it's not really a matter of fitting.
At the least you would have to modify the 1280 LCD cable.

[Tasurinchi]

I've read about some people getting the WWAN, Webcam, and WXGA+ screen to fit, so it should be doable.

Regarding WWAN I recall reading that some users installed the antenna in the lower case, since it's very tight in the screen assembly.

[kingcodez]

Without starting a new thread can anyone tell me, in general, how do the hinges on the X200t and X41 hold up over time?

[schen]

Without starting a new thread can anyone tell me, in general, how do the hinges on the X200t and X41 hold up over time?

I've owned the X4x series and those hinges were pretty robust. I work at a school which has issued X Series notebooks to students the last few years and our tech people tell me that the hinges have gotten flimsier over the models as they have progresses from X6x to the current X20x machines. They're take on it is that Lenovo has been saving weight there and using the frame of the LCD itself as more of the structure in the newer machines. Of course, computers being issued to teenage students probably suffer the worse case scenario in abuse!

I would agree with the earlier post in that the X301 seems to be the best fit for the specs you are looking for, with the exception of the Express card slot. I use one as my primary notebook after an upgrade from the X300. It's very light, capable in routine tasks and extremely rugged. One of my friends bought one which suffered some inordinate crushing in transit with UPS. So much so, that UPS paid for the complete machine. Apparently something VERY heavy fell on the box and mashed it so much that the machine is "bowed", yet completely works as normal.