Two questions about the Thinkpad X200s with WXGA+

[Edward Mendelson]

I've got a Thinkpad X200s with WXGA+ on the way, and I hope the experts here can answer two questions:

1. Where can I find a BIOS that removes the whitelist so that I can install an 802.11ac mini-PCI card? I found a BIOS through this page:

http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... ad/page501

but I'm not clear on whether it's the latest available or whether it works on a 200s.

2. Another thread seems to say that I can take the lid from the 200s (with the WXGA+ screen) and put it on an X201 and that it should work perfectly. Assuming that's right, will the resulting Frankenpad be heavier than the 200s or basically the same weight?

Thanks for any help with both these (probably naive) questions.

[91011]

Post# 5001 is the correct & most recent x200/x200s BIOS and it works fine - have used it several times.
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/thread ... post696456

But there are two versions in the download, you'll have to decide which to use based on this from the Lenovo x200 driver page:

•BIOS ID 6Dxxxxxx-based computer
(Upper two alphanumeric characters of BIOS ID are 6D)
•BIOS ID 7Xxxxxxx-based computer
(Upper two alphanumeric characters of BIOS ID are 7X)

The lid swap is fairly easy and the resulting x2faux1s will be slightly heavier and have stereo speakers but will never support a webcam.
I have two available if you want to avoid doing the swap.

[Edward Mendelson]

Thanks for that clear and helpful information!

About your two x2faux1s machines: I may be interested in one of them, but I want to see how I like the weight of the 200s first - because the weight is one reason I bought it. (It's a replacement for my wife's X61s, which is beginning to get a bit flaky.) Meanwhile, when you get a chance, could you PM me with details of price, condition, etc.?

Thanks again for your help with this.

[Tasurinchi]

The weight difference will be minimal IMO, these are very light machines... I did the same swap to my X201 and I don't notice any difference in weight, but never bothered putting it in a scale

[91011]

No longer have a stock x200s but do have a stock x201s and would guess their weights would be nearly identical.

With no battery installed:
x201s is 34.45oz
x2faux1s (x201 /w WXGA+ LCD) is 38.25oz
Less than a 4oz difference.

I'll PM with specs tonight.

[Edward Mendelson]

Thanks! Still waiting for the X200s to arrive...

[jdk]

Good luck with your swap. It took about 30 minutes to swap lids and put both laptops back together. It's the best upgrade on a laptop I've made.

[blank001]

I also have an X200s WXGA+ lid on an X201 body. It's awesome. I believe it's among the finest thinkpads around. Great performance with a great screen for coding. It's a little heavier due to I believe the extra heatsink/fan/chassis material, but by a small bit. I also prefer copper heatsink to the alu of the X200s. Oh and it's a bit faster than if you had just purchased an X201s.

Swap is easy ~20-30 minutes. I would put the X200s palmrest on the X201.