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Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
Hello guys, my X201 gets here tomorrow, wowee I'm excited, first Thinkpad! I got it refurbished for cheap, new battery as well. I'm planning to use it for light tasks such as basic C++ coding, internet browsing and... not much more actually, I just need something portable to work on, for my university studies. I wanna ask you Thinkpad gurus some things to get my X201 set up and running as well as possible though!
1) Why should I flash a new BIOS? If so, do I go for an official Lenovo up-to-date release or something custom? What are the advantages of both cases? (Also, I heard that flashing a BIOS can get your Thinkpad bricked, so is flashing a BIOS even worth it at this point?)
2) How can I keep the laptop as cool and battery friendly as possible? Tips for both Linux (I know powertop or something is useful for power management) and Windows?
3) What distro should I slap in? Thought I'd use Xubuntu because it's lightweight on both memory and CPU, but why not do something more considering I have 4GB RAM and an i5-540M. I'd like to install Ubuntu MATE on it cause I just think it's nicer all-around, and I know for a fact that the hardware on this X201 could run it well. But still, my main goal is to keep temperatures to a minimum (I know old Arrandales can get kinda toasty) and battery to its maximum performance. Do you think Ubuntu MATE can be more demanding than Xubuntu at the point that it actually reduces battery life and makes the laptop run warmer? Cause if that's the case I'm definitely going for Xubuntu, but if the difference is negligible, well, I'll stick to MATE and have a nicer OS (to me) for some degrees more and some minutes less of battery life.
4) The machine comes with Win7 Professional, but I would like to get Win10 running on it in a separate partition, just in case. All good with Win10? Power management (aka batt life and CPU usage) are as good as Win7? No missing drivers/utilities?
Thanks bunches! Really hope I'll set this up as I wish so I'll have my dream (portable) machine <3
1) Why should I flash a new BIOS? If so, do I go for an official Lenovo up-to-date release or something custom? What are the advantages of both cases? (Also, I heard that flashing a BIOS can get your Thinkpad bricked, so is flashing a BIOS even worth it at this point?)
2) How can I keep the laptop as cool and battery friendly as possible? Tips for both Linux (I know powertop or something is useful for power management) and Windows?
3) What distro should I slap in? Thought I'd use Xubuntu because it's lightweight on both memory and CPU, but why not do something more considering I have 4GB RAM and an i5-540M. I'd like to install Ubuntu MATE on it cause I just think it's nicer all-around, and I know for a fact that the hardware on this X201 could run it well. But still, my main goal is to keep temperatures to a minimum (I know old Arrandales can get kinda toasty) and battery to its maximum performance. Do you think Ubuntu MATE can be more demanding than Xubuntu at the point that it actually reduces battery life and makes the laptop run warmer? Cause if that's the case I'm definitely going for Xubuntu, but if the difference is negligible, well, I'll stick to MATE and have a nicer OS (to me) for some degrees more and some minutes less of battery life.
4) The machine comes with Win7 Professional, but I would like to get Win10 running on it in a separate partition, just in case. All good with Win10? Power management (aka batt life and CPU usage) are as good as Win7? No missing drivers/utilities?
Thanks bunches! Really hope I'll set this up as I wish so I'll have my dream (portable) machine <3
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- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 2670
- Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:25 am
- Location: N. Bellmore, ny
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
Welcome to the fourm!
You picked a nice entry level Thinkpad, a durable workhorse. That X201 will serve you well.
1) For an X201, flashing a custom BIOS is really unnecessary. Unless you are planning on installing an aftermarket wireless card or something of that nature, you won't need something custom. Only very certain machines like the 61 and x00 series REALLY benefit from the modded bios. I do recommend updating to Lenovo's latest BIOS though.
2) An X201 will not run cool. There is just nothing you can do about it. The 1st gen i-Series like their predecessor the Core series just ran hot. The 2nd and 3rd gen CPUs bring down the temps significantly and the first "COOL" CPU was the 4th gen. With a NEW battery, you should be good to go. I'm not a Linux guru of any kind so just ask them what kind of utility you could use for power management. Running C++ and light browsing shouldn't be too intensive on the processor, and therefore should result in good battery life.
3)Not a Linux guy, couldn't tell ya.
4)W7 is the way to go. It is supported better on the older hardware, and W10 is a PITA. You don't want W10 unless you REALLY NEED it. It just won't run well, especially because it was designed for a the newer CPU's that behave differently than the old Westmere Cores. Almost anyone here would say run for the hills when it comes to Win10.
The X201 will be good for you. It is light, has decent performance, and you can laugh when someone who brags about their MacBook gets a big ol' dent in the side of it while your trusty Thinkpad has nothin' but a few scratches!
-Thinkpad4by3
You picked a nice entry level Thinkpad, a durable workhorse. That X201 will serve you well.
1) For an X201, flashing a custom BIOS is really unnecessary. Unless you are planning on installing an aftermarket wireless card or something of that nature, you won't need something custom. Only very certain machines like the 61 and x00 series REALLY benefit from the modded bios. I do recommend updating to Lenovo's latest BIOS though.
2) An X201 will not run cool. There is just nothing you can do about it. The 1st gen i-Series like their predecessor the Core series just ran hot. The 2nd and 3rd gen CPUs bring down the temps significantly and the first "COOL" CPU was the 4th gen. With a NEW battery, you should be good to go. I'm not a Linux guru of any kind so just ask them what kind of utility you could use for power management. Running C++ and light browsing shouldn't be too intensive on the processor, and therefore should result in good battery life.
3)Not a Linux guy, couldn't tell ya.
4)W7 is the way to go. It is supported better on the older hardware, and W10 is a PITA. You don't want W10 unless you REALLY NEED it. It just won't run well, especially because it was designed for a the newer CPU's that behave differently than the old Westmere Cores. Almost anyone here would say run for the hills when it comes to Win10.
The X201 will be good for you. It is light, has decent performance, and you can laugh when someone who brags about their MacBook gets a big ol' dent in the side of it while your trusty Thinkpad has nothin' but a few scratches!
-Thinkpad4by3
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.
The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.
The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.
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- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 3831
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
- Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
2) For linux, installing tlp is recommended. Disabling Turbo Boost also helps. Another suggestion is installing powertop.
3) I'm a Debian XFCE user. Xubuntu is roughly comparable to it. IMO having a desktop environment with lower memory consumption is always better, regardless of whether you have 2GB or 16GB RAM.
4) I'd agree with Thinkpad4by3 on this one.
3) I'm a Debian XFCE user. Xubuntu is roughly comparable to it. IMO having a desktop environment with lower memory consumption is always better, regardless of whether you have 2GB or 16GB RAM.
4) I'd agree with Thinkpad4by3 on this one.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
Thank you (both) so uhm, how should I go about disabling turbo boost? There's just a switch in the BIOS right? And other BIOS settings I should care about?axur-delmeria wrote: ↑Tue Nov 07, 2017 12:18 am2) For linux, installing tlp is recommended. Disabling Turbo Boost also helps. Another suggestion is installing powertop.
3) I'm a Debian XFCE user. Xubuntu is roughly comparable to it. IMO having a desktop environment with lower memory consumption is always better, regardless of whether you have 2GB or 16GB RAM.
4) I'd agree with Thinkpad4by3 on this one.
As for Linux, I think I'll go for xubuntu rather than Debian XFCE. I think. It's just personal preference after all
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- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 3831
- Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 5:49 am
- Location: Metro Manila, Philippines
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
TLP has a configuration file. Turbo Boost can be disabled there, somewhere. You need to open it in a text editor with root privileges in order to save changes. Read the documentation on the web site, or on the config file itself.
To be honest, I haven't tried any modern versions of Gnome, KDE, or even MATE--I started using Xfce on Debian 4.0 around 9 years ago.
IMO when it comes to Linux, it all boils down to personal preference, because there's simply too many distros too choose from.
To be honest, I haven't tried any modern versions of Gnome, KDE, or even MATE--I started using Xfce on Debian 4.0 around 9 years ago.
IMO when it comes to Linux, it all boils down to personal preference, because there's simply too many distros too choose from.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E
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- Freshman Member
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:01 pm
- Location: Cheshire, UK
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
I just run Linux on desktops, so can't answer any of those questions.
With the Windows setup, I'd very strongly advise taking an image of the full Windows 7 before making any changes. A usb HD is always useful and worth having anyway, and would be handy for this.
I currently run 2 X201's and 2 X200 Tablets. One of each model is on W7, the other on W10. I totally agree with the previous comments. W10 is a complete PITA, particularly with the regular major updates that can a) move things around and disable things and b) can take up to a full day to complete the update interfering with, if not losing, whatever you were working on.
Most things work the same on W7 and W10 and drivers haven't been a problem on the X201's. On the tablets, drivers have been a nightmare for the tablet features.
These are excellent machines. I don't worry about the heat. The X200's have new batteries which are good for at least 5 hours.
With the Windows setup, I'd very strongly advise taking an image of the full Windows 7 before making any changes. A usb HD is always useful and worth having anyway, and would be handy for this.
I currently run 2 X201's and 2 X200 Tablets. One of each model is on W7, the other on W10. I totally agree with the previous comments. W10 is a complete PITA, particularly with the regular major updates that can a) move things around and disable things and b) can take up to a full day to complete the update interfering with, if not losing, whatever you were working on.
Most things work the same on W7 and W10 and drivers haven't been a problem on the X201's. On the tablets, drivers have been a nightmare for the tablet features.
These are excellent machines. I don't worry about the heat. The X200's have new batteries which are good for at least 5 hours.
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- Posts: 14
- Joined: Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:49 pm
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
What is TLP?
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
I have Windows 10 on my X201 and I love it. With an SSD it boots and runs faster than my wife's $700 Lenovo that she bought last year.
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- Senior ThinkPadder
- Posts: 2670
- Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2015 9:25 am
- Location: N. Bellmore, ny
Re: Thinkpad X201, set up and tips?
A CPU that has more voltage than a pair of earbuds is always nice, and its winter too. Crank up AIDA64 and let the heat pour out.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.
The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.
The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.
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