X200 or another Lenovo

[lenovobee]

I have an older X200 which I stopped using after 2015. Moved to Dell Latitude which is heavy. I am now thinking of reusing my old X200

Everything works on it but I want to upgrade. Some questions

I was told I should chuck it as it is 34 bit-is that true?
What can I replace and upgrade in it? The motherboard and RAM upgrade is what I want-is this even possible?
I am going to completely erase and reformat-any suggestions on how best to do this will be great (I don't need any files from it)

Thank you

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the Forum.

There's no such thing as 34-bit, it's either 32-bit or 64-bit.
Your X200 can run both, but should use a 64-bit OS with up to 8GB RAM and a nice SSD.
W7 will run great on it for a few more years.
Or e.g. Linux Mint if you are so inclined.
Don't fall in the Micro$haft W10 crap-trap!
The CPU is soldered, not upgradable, unless you swap out the whole motherboard.

[wujstefan]

Well this system is still up-to date if you're not super-picky. Runs cool and quiet, and with a good wireless card, 8gigs and SSD (+ potential AFFS mod) it's still very snappy. P8700 (2x2,53GHz) boards are cheap nowadays. These CPUs run cool at their own, and undervolt nicely.

[bayou self]

I am going to completely erase and reformat-any suggestions on how best to do this will be great (I don't need any files from it)

For my X200, I bought a set of ISOs to install Win 7 Pro x64 onto my from a forum member for $7.00. I had to burn them to DVDs. Then I purchased an inexpensive external DVD drive, and installed the Lenovo factory OS. I'm satisfied with the result, and I don't even have an SSD!

[TonyJZX]

I have a real soft spot for the X200. I have a bunch of these... largely P8700 4Gb 120SSD Intel 5300 etc.

They run Win7 fine and you even get ok battery life if your 9 cell is anyway decent.

However lots of CCFL out there and they are hell on wheels to repair... eg. my favorite x200 has an LED screen but the fan is faultly and I find it very hard to repalce the fan.

I find the 12" 1,280 x 800 to be ok to use too.

[wujstefan]

Well the battery life is decent even w/6-cell

Take in mind that this is the last classic X-sereis capable of undervolting. That said, my P8600 unit runs on 0.95V! Added daylight-kit under Hynix -120 screen I can easily hit 6hrs on 6-cell battery with little load, and over 3hrs under load. Not to mention a full-stress temps of 65-68C w/ 25C ambient.

If need one, drop me a PM. I have recently sold my X200 (one of them) and X200s, but still have a X201 (i5-580m) and X201s (i7-640LM). I was also planning to build another X200 w/hynix screen, albeit I have only -110 and -100 screens left, and my hands are not so agile anymore

LED-mod is not a must on those panels, since they are reasonably brighter than stock Lenovo. AUO stock panels are fine in this model too.

P8700 units are 133MHz faster, but - for whatever reason - do not accept such a low voltage as P8600 do. Or I was unlucky with 3 P8700 units I tried to undervolt.

Did not try this one on W10, but W7 works flawlessly. The only thing I'd LOVE to upgrade is GPU capability, but you can't have everything

[TonyJZX]

There's no reason Win10 wouldnt be perfect on an x200 given there isnt much exotic hardware inside.

I am an LED purist so I prefer my one special x200 that I got for free but came with a smashed screen. Got a guy to put in a new LED screen and it was a real workhorse until the fan croaked.

As far as I can work out the fan is sort of glued or taped in and you have to pull out the motherboard...

I'm ok with the lack of touchpad... 99% of the time I have a mouse anyway.

My other CCFL model is just my kid's machine now.

I'm sentimentally attached to my LED x200 so I keep it in hope that I can repair it someday.

[wujstefan]

Fan is screwed to the mobo so no big deal pulling it out. You need to take out the mobo (because it's screwed from the downside and not from the upside), but it is fairly easy really.

First thing I do in each touchpad unit is turning the touchpad off

Also note that X200 LED screens have poor contrast. Swinging in the Hynix AFFS screen and led-modding it makes it one of the strongest points.

[Geartooth]

I have a real soft spot for the X200. I have a bunch of these... largely P8700 4Gb 120SSD Intel 5300 etc.

They run Win7 fine and you even get ok battery life if your 9 cell is anyway decent.

However lots of CCFL out there and they are hell on wheels to repair... eg. my favorite x200 has an LED screen but the fan is faultly and I find it very hard to repalce the fan.

I find the 12" 1,280 x 800 to be ok to use too.

Can't you just either swap the heatsink or the entire lid assy? 4 screws and the Palmrest are what hold it in, it's really easy to remove.

[TonyJZX]

I refer you to our esteemed site hosts.

THey say this a lot: Read the HMM.

Its the bible for any system you own.

For most normal full sized T400/500 class machine you just pull the kbd, the kbd frame/bezel and maybe some underneath cooling duct, copper sinks etc. and its pretty easy.

I did a few 400/410/420 etc. for work.

But the x200 x220 etc. are a different kettle of fish. To get the compact size they have to do some weird tricks like mount the fan underneath the motherboard etc.

Its not a big deal, like I have heaps of laptops so if I'm down one I just pull out another.