Pros/Cons Advice!!! x200 vs x200s vs x200t

[Adam_g]

I've read countless threads on countless forums and would love to wrap this up...
I'll be an MBA student come August and need a portable laptop for all day use in Colorado...

I currently have a P4 1.6ghz desktop running XP Pro with a 24" HP screen. Getting y 1st laptop.

Thinkpad quality and battery life brought me to the x200 series. The minimum system reqs per the CU website are as follows:
Intel® Core2 Duo 2.2 GHz
1GB - 2GB RAM (as much as you can afford is recommended)
80GB - 100GB SATA Hard Drive
Re/writable CD-ROM or DVD
Wireless 801.11 b/g card (internal or external)
Windows XP (Home or Professional) with Service Pack 3 (if you buying new, just get Vista)
Microsoft Office 2007 (need Word, Excel and PowerPoint)

I think a 2.2ghz processor is overkill, especially for business school, I can grab an external DVD drive or an ultrabase from a topseller model. It is why I am expanding my options from the x200 to the s and t with the SL9400. As far as my main concerns:

1) battery life - I would like 6+ hours so that I can walk to school and not have to use an adapter. I'd like to be able to use my computer all day (thinking I'd be on campus from 9am-5pmish) for internet, MS Office and any programs needed (though I can't imagine they'd be labor intensive).
2) portability - I will be walking to school when it's nice out and around the business building. less than 4lbs is a must, the lighter the better.
3) processing speed - while MBA use will not be intensive, potentially working from CO on a VPN doing contract work for the job I currently have is a probability. I use excel and access mainly, some intense work, mostly pretty typical. I have a feeling the 1.86ghz would be plenty fast. Would I notice a slowdown compared to the P8600?
4) screen - I will be typing on this while in class, library, coffee shop etc and couch. I do have a desktop and screen mentioned above to plug the laptop into while at home. Will I really notice a difference when typing on the x200 vs the x200s vs the x200t? I want a screen that won't hurt my eyes to type on too long as I may be typing for several hours at a time on this laptop. Real estate isn't THAT much for a concern for me, though I do love having as many items open in the taskbar at a time. I am not one for using side by side windows, I like to see a lot on the page at a time. At work, my current settings are 1280 x 1024 (maxed out) on a 19inch screen. Seems to be the ideal setting, though if I could go one more I would.

I think these are my main concerns... The tablet has the "best" screen, though I sacrifice weight and processing speed. The x200 has the best speed, though I sacrifice screen quality and battery length. The s is smack in the middle in nearly all aspects, which is why I'm leaning towards it, though I've read that the screen is not that much better than the x200 ...Any ideas if I'd be comfortable on ALL of these writing extensively? Stinks you can't try these anywhere!

Your thoughts are extremely appreciated...anyone who has all 3 or even 2 would be a valuable resource to compare which is the best to work on for ~6 hours a day. Thanks again, this forum has a lot of useful info!

Adam G

[aau007]

If you absolutely want 6+ hours of battery life, I suggest the x200s. With the 9 cell battery on the x200s, I can easily get 6+ hours with only some power management. The 9 cell battery is rated up to 13.2 hours. x200 with the 9 cell battery is rated up to 9.8 hours. x200t with the 8 cells battery is rate up to 10.3 hours.

See my post here at the bottom about the battery life I get on my x200s in real use.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=74429

[Adam_g]

Wow... that's amazing battery life!
I think the x200s is definitely the way to go regarding battery life and weight.

Regarding screen and processor speed, I think this is where I need to focus my energy. Is it worth the trade-off of a half a gigahertz (2.4 vs 1.86), albeit at what I believe to be 10 less wats? I understand it will be more efficient, and if I purchase the samsung SATA HD on newegg that everyone is raving about, it will most likely even be more on par with the p8600.

Is the x200s screen THAT much better than the x200? I understand it's brighter and the resolution is higher, how does this translate into real world application? I get that I will be able to see more data on the screen, smaller icons, etc ... am I missing anything else?

Thanks again, this is a LOT of help. This community is a wealth if info!
adam

[ajdedo]

Hi,

I've got the x200s and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the screen.

1) I put it next to my 8 year old Dell and I ran the same video on both. The video looked better on the Dell, it was blurry on the x200s. I went frame by frame and examined each scenes details. (Though I have to admit, it may be the video player setting, but I do not know for sure.)

2) But to address your concern, I DO find the print on the x200s screen a bit small. I have great eyes and no problem seeing, but if I had a choice, I would go for less resolution.

3) I have never seen an x200 so I can't compare them.

[ssd_thinkpad]

Regarding the display, you should compare the tablet against the other models. Tablets are the only actual notebooks from lenovo that have an ips (flexview) panel which provides a very great viewing experience: high viewing angles (pictures from review) and contrast ratio. It could be a good idea to buy the tablet just for its display, even if you have no use for tablet functions and have a heavier, more battery hungry machine. In the lenovo pdfs you'll find lots of informations about contrast for all actual models (this is the difference between black and white). The higher the difference, the higher the contrast ratio. The higher the contrast ratio, the easier it is for your eyes. The tablet has a contrast ratio of 500:1 (which only have lenovos 15.4 high resolution models) and the best viewing angle from all notebooks of the lenovo line.

[csv96]

Ditto the previous comments. If you want the best display (best viewing angles, contrast etc.,), go with the X200 Tablet. If you want the best battery life (i.e. 6+ hours of real use) and the lighest laptop, go with the X200s. But keep in mind that the X200s comes standard with the higher resolution WXGA+ 1440x900 screen. That's fine if you know what 1440x900 looks like. For some people, the text is too small. If you're use 1280 on a 19" screen, you're gonna get a headache with 1440 on a 12" screen.

One more suggestion - if you're actually considering the X200 Tablet (especially the Multi-Touch/Multi-View models), then your budget is not that far from an X301. The X301 can be configured with 9 cells (6 + 3) for 4.5 hours actual use. The processor is much slower (1.4ghz SU9400) but the SSD makes up for that. In my opinion, 1440x900 is just fine on a 13" screen (similar to 1280x800 on a 12" screen).

[ssd_thinkpad]

The x301 resolution (1440x900) was far too small on its 13.3 inch screen at least for me. I only could stand it by lowering the dpi. Windows 7 has rather good dpi resolution changing capabilities where Vista at least brings you in the direction. Windows XP is not good at manipulating dpi.

[Adam_g]

Wow. Seems like the general consensus is the 1280x800. I see what you're saying csv96. I am very used to the 1280x1024 at work as well as my girlfriend's Apple Powerbook g4 which I believe sits at or around 1280x800 as well as my roommates MacBook which sits at 1280x800. I wouldn't mind seeing more on their laptops, but that doesn't mean I feel immediately comfortable with 1440x900 especially with a smaller screen size.

Thoughts? This is really personal preference, it's killing me!

[aau007]

The 1440x900 resolution stoked me initially but I love the LED screen over the CCFL on the x200. I did spend a good amount of time to enlarge the text and icons though. Or you can run the display at 1280x768 with pixel translation.

x200s also have a well published issue of small viewing angle. Look straight at it (90 degree), you probably have a +/- 20 degrees when the image start to wash out.

I kinda suck up the screen issue with the battery life. It is nice not to have to carry around the AC adapter knowing you have can have a full day use with a single charge. I loaded up some movies and played them for over 3 hours during a flight from chicago to LA (pretty much the full flight - take off and desend time) and had 50% juice left at the end. Keep in mind I also have the SSD installed.

[Adam_g]

I've received so much mixed feedback regarding the 200 vs 200s screen it's unbelievable!
Between this forum and the notebookreview lenovo page, it seems that some people like the 1440x900 and others hate it. I did my best to search for a comparison between the two and came up with this:

See Rovers3 post: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=68978

My eyes can tell that it's smaller, but not by that much. After speaking with archer6 over PM and he mentioned, without doubt that the x200 would be far superior for my situation and that he prefers to work on the x200 vs his x200s over long periods of time. Yet i still have reservations grabbing this as:

A) the SL processor would be more efficient
B) battery life is longer on the x200s
C) weight is ~.5lbs less on the x200s

I think the 1440x900 would clearly allow em to see more, yet I would be doing the labor intensive, multi cell spreadsheet work at my desktop, so no worries here. I feel as though I'm swaying back to the x200 save for A-C mentioned above.

I can get everything i want in the laptop (both x200 and x200s) including SSD, XP, 3gb ram, etc for $1,600 with 3yr Depot and Accidental spill etc with the current sale.

This is killing me, and I'm sure it's killing you to read!
My apologies for all of the post and many thanks for helping!

[aau007]

One thing to cautious about the x200 screen. It uses CCFL backlight, which tends to get yellowish or pinkish over time (9 months to a year). LED, in theory, doesn't have that problem. By Lenovo's rating, the LED screen is brighter than the CCFL on the x200. With 1400x900, you have a choice to make the texts and icons bigger using the dpi or "display properties", "Appearance" or even run at 1280x728 using pixel translation. You don't have that choice with the x200 lower res screen.

[ssd_thinkpad]

I'd only chose between the x200 tablet or the x200s. If you need battery life and very few weight, then there is the x200s. If you want to have a good display, take the tablet even if you do not need its additional functions. I am not sure where the advantages of the x200 over the x200 tablet are.

[ZaZ]

If you want to complicate things further, there's a poster on NBR who swapped out the regular LCD on the X200 for a AFFS screen from the tablet. It's almost the best of both worlds - the power of a regular notebook with a gorgeous screen and without the extra weight of a tablet, though still not as light as a X200s.

[tomh009]

The 1440x900 resolution stoked me initially but I love the LED screen over the CCFL on the x200. I did spend a good amount of time to enlarge the text and icons though. Or you can run the display at 1280x768 with pixel translation.

I just got my X200s a few days ago, and the high-resolution LED-backlit screen was what clinched it for me (combined with the lower heat of the LV CPU). I end up doing a fair bit of photo editing on the road, and the XGA on my old X61 was not enough.

I ended up switching Windows to 120 dpi (my eyes are starting to get close to the bifocal stage) but I'm happy with the smaller icons. Text is super-sharp and editing images in Photoshop is wonderful, with almost 1200 pixels of horizontal workspace available, even with the dock exposed.

(I'm using a 5K500.B for a disk: great performance, immense space, and very lowe power consumption. The SSDs just aren't quite there yet for me.)