SSD Choice on X301.

[jibanes]

I've noticed the following on pricing a X301 for the choice of a SSD:

* 64GB Solid State Drive
* 128GB Solid State Drive [add $200.00] [Lenovo recommended]
* 80GB Solid State Drive [add $500.00]

Now, why is the 80GB option the more expensive? Also, I've noticed that the laptop's memory cannot be increased past 4GB while some people on this forum say that it can be ordered with 8GB in germany, what's the final statement here? My understanding is that this is a 32bits laptop and therefore can't address more than 4GB of memory.

Thank you for clarifying.

[escape1]

See http://forums.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=74224. The 80GB is probably the X-25M, which I think is a bit more expensive than the Samsung MLC drives--it's faster, at lesat for reading. The fact that it's _that_ much more expensive now probably has to do with it just being introduced by Lenovo.


Also, I'm pretty sure the x301 (oops) 64-bit. Even if you can order it w/ 8GB in Germany (I couldn't on lenovo.de), it'd be cheaper to buy that much RAM on newegg.

[Marin85]

Welcome to our forum!

1. The 80 GB SSD is the Intel X-25M SSD that is currently enjoying great popularity because of very high read speeds (about 250 MB/s sustained), much higher than those of the 128 GB SSD made by Samsung (as well as the 64 GB one), which are actually quite high This might explain why the Intel SSD is so overpriced IMO.
2. X301 has x64-capable cpu and. With the proper OS (64-bit Windows, 32-bit Windows Server, any recent Linux) X301 can address to my best knowledge at least 8 GB of RAM. Standard 32-bit windows cannot utilize more than ~3 GB of system memory.
3. IMO the Intel SSD is not worth any penny of those 500 bucks.

Hope this helps,

Marin

[jibanes]

Welcome to our forum!

1. The 80 GB SSD is the Intel X-25M SSD that is currently enjoying great popularity because of very high read speeds (about 250 MB/s sustained), much higher than those of the 128 GB SSD made by Samsung (as well as the 64 GB one), which are actually quite high This might explain why the Intel SSD is so overpriced IMO.
2. X301 has x64-capable cpu and. With the proper OS (64-bit Windows, 32-bit Windows Server, any recent Linux) X301 can address to my best knowledge at least 8 GB of RAM. Standard 32-bit windows cannot utilize more than ~3 GB of system memory.
3. IMO the Intel SSD is not worth any penny of those 500 bucks.

Hope this helps,

Marin

Interesting point, thank you for the clarification.

As far as the HD is concerned, is it doable (or at least easily doable) to purchase the 64GB SSD and later swap it (myself) for a 80GB or whatever drive-of-the-moment? How easy is it to swap a drive on X301-series? I've once opened a Sony Vaio to replace the HD, and it looked like a web under the hood, it somewhat reminded me of the pre-printed circuit board era, when wrapping was king. Would we lose the warranty by swapping the drive on lenovo?

As far as 8GB of ram, it's an interesting option, I'm not quite sure why it isn't offered, but once again, I may assume that memory is something that we can always easily replace or upgrade or add later, correct? And, presumably from a third-party to keep costs down.

Thank you,
J

[Marin85]

Yes, it´s fairly easy to upgrade both HD/SSD and RAM after-market, and both upgrades won´t void the warranty. Buying both things from third-party is in most cases noticeably cheaper than from Lenovo.

[jibanes]

Finally, I'm faced with a last question: Considering that my local computer store sells Lenovo laptops (although they do not carry all the accessories and only few configurations are available) is it better to purchase the laptop from the local store (which by local doesn't mean small) or online from lenovo.com, considering that I would get the onsite support for a duration of two years (after which I consider it's time to upgrade the laptop). Let's assume that, for this exercise, the two configurations (from the local store and lenovo.com) are similary priced (in fact the local store is about $200 cheaper, but I think I wouldn't have to pay taxes if I buy online, so it somewhat works out.

Thank you,
J

[ssd_thinkpad]

SLC SSD is - having same controllers - better than MLC SSD. However, intel made good controllers so that their mlc chips have a much better reading speed than other slc chips. The 80 GB SSD is from intel. The 128 GB SSD is a non-intel MLC SSD. Old x301 had 64 GB non-intel SLC SSD. Newer x301 have 64 GB non-intel MLC SSD. I'd buy the standard 64 GB SSD option and if you want to upgrade next month, you buy an additional intel 80 gb mlc ssd for 400 $.

[Marin85]

@OP: The choice of a market depends on the configurations and their prices the market offers. Lenovo site has probably much more (if not all) possible configurations, so you may want to check first them out and see as what prices they are available. Then you can compare between both markets.

[ssd_thinkpad]

Lenovo blogged about intel 80 gb ssd and samsung 64 gb ssd

http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=173

[archer6]

<snip> Finally, I'm faced with a last question: is it better to purchase the laptop from the local store or online from lenovo.com,<snip>

I have done both on more than on occasion, and I would highly suggest doing business with Lenovo directly. Here is why. In the rare event that you get a computer with a lot of problems right out of the box, Lenovo has great customer satisfaction policies and will take it back and give you a new one. However that said, they will deny it, and say there is no exchange policy which is officially true. But once you plead your case calmly and politely I've found them very accommodating. I have had them replace one for me so I know it's possible. The store may not do that for you. So it's wise to think about that. I know because I've been through it before, having purchased from a store because they had the ThinkPad I wanted when the wait to obtain it through Lenovo was six weeks. Having learned that lesson the hard way, I _only_ buy direct from Lenovo now.