Thinkpads Forum

I'm in a fairly passive market for an IPS X220. A couple of months to maybe a year ago I was seeing relatively many listed in the marketplace forum. Now there's nothing. Do these come in cycles? Coming off lease maybe?

Just noticed your new location, old friend...hope all is well.

The problem with IPS-eqipped X220 machines in particular is that there are quite a few people who deem those to be the final "real" X- series ThinkPads...

With that said, the final X220 builds should be just about their expiration date in most corporations on this side of the pond. Over there where you're now...no clue.

Happy hunting.

Usually it's cheaper to pay $100 in shipping... Thinkpad prices on our side of the pond are ridiculous. In a lesser way that also shows up in used prices.

I've been checking eBay regularly for X220 IPS too, and indeed; the volume is rather low the last few months.

To be exactly: it's zero on eBay now. That's searching for Thinkpad X220 IPS with international shipping.

And indeed: the *20 was the last series with decent keyboard layout. *30 brings next to no gains in hardware performance, so all that's left is DP1.2 at the cost of a degenerate keyboard.

ajkula66 wrote:With that said, the final X220 builds should be just about their expiration date in most corporations on this side of the pond. Over there where you're now...no clue.

Same here, but... Very few of those were bought with IPS screens to begin with. I know for sure that in my, pretty big corporation, the standard X220 build was Core i5, no IPS. Pretty sub-par if you ask me...

With that said, bar the possibility to get a high-end config to begin with, I'd prefer an i7 X220 with non-IPS to an i5 with IPS. Because changing the screen on these models is relatively easy, but only the i7 mobo comes with USB3...

Thanks all! I'm good, London is exciting. I really am looking passively and with no rush, and still have people who could take a package for me in Canada and U.S., so not too worried about geographical price differences.

I agree about X230 being a bit rubbish, it might be a small thing but the PrtSc location is the last straw for me (loss of Esc row being second-last). I have an X200 but I busted the swapped-in IPS screen and messed up the screen assembly in the process, so I'm thinking of upgrading to something that's still an upgrade before the X200 falls apart altogether. Not totally thrilled about the bigger dimensions of the X220 in the first place, but would prefer to avoid the hassle of trying to find a good-enough non-Thinkpad machine.

Non-IPS X220 machines have good availability on eBay UK from ~£160 to £300 at the moment depending on spec and condition. An IPS screen can be bought from a UK seller for £75. So if you know how to change the screen then availability is good.

Let me guess: all with "UK-only" shipping?

And if you buy the UK variety... you also have to factor in some costs to get a decent keyboard. The UK ones are sold with the double '\' key, half-length left shift and double-height enter.

rjwilmsi wrote:Non-IPS X220 machines have good availability on eBay UK from ~£160 to £300 at the moment depending on spec and condition. An IPS screen can be bought from a UK seller for £75. So if you know how to change the screen then availability is good.

When you screen, i'm assuming you mean the lcd itself rather than a complete assy inc bezel.