Thinkpads Forum

The X200s has 3 CPU Options:
1. Celeron M 1.2GHz 1MB L2 Cache 80
2. Intel Core 2 Duo processor SU9400 (1.4GHz, 3MB L2, 800MHz FSB)
3. Intel Core2 Duo processor SL9400 (1.86GHz, 6MB L2, 1066MHz FSB)
[UPDATE] 4. Intel Core2 Duo processor SL9400 (2.13GHz, 6MB L2, 17W, 1066MHz FSB)

If you have a X200s, please let us know your:
A. CPU model,
B. Your Battery Life and your conditions
C. PCMark Benchmark Score(get it here: http://www.futuremark.com/download/)
[UPDATE:] D. Your monitor type: WXGA CCFL or WXGA+ LED Backlit

I hope to answer these pressing questions:
- Do the Celeron and the 1.4GHz processors offer any significant battery life over the 1.86GHz SL9400?
- Is there much of a performance difference between the SU9400 and the SL9400, and How much of a step back is the Celeron?

I'm guessing there is a significant performance gap between all three processors, but if any of the slower processors offer better battery life, this could be very interesting

The SL and SU are already pretty low watt at 10w and 17w. I doubt there's much of a power advantage for the Celeron. The Celeron is probably slower, but for every day stuff like office and internet, it's probably fine.

I have the SL9400 CPU. I originally wanted to get the SU9400, but at the time that I bought my X200s, the wait for an SU9400 was way too long, so I took the SL9400.

With the 9-cell battery I basically get all-day computing: I can unplug between 8 and 9 AM, and the battery lasts until 5 or 6 PM -- I have seen it as high as 10 hours before Windows starts telling me that there is only 30 minutes left. This is with "Max battery" power scheme, wireless on and screen brightness typically at about 3/4. It does include some breaks for lunch etc where I leave the system on, but not being actively used.

This is not very precise, but I really don't want to take a whole day to do a controlled test, and basically I find that the battery life is plenty long for me.

The Celeron has the same TDP as the SU9400, so I would just go with the SU9400 if your more concerned about battery life and the SL9400 if your more concerned about performance. If you do a lot video editing or photo processing then you will benefit from the SL. Otherwise I would recommend the SU.

And the Celeron isn't really a step "back" as it is a step down. That Celeron is a very low end Core 2 Duo.

If you have a X200s, please let us know your:
A. CPU model

SL9600 (PCmark program reports: 2.13 MHz @ 2128 MHz, 3984 MB, Lenovo's 128G SSD, vista 64)

B. Your Battery Life and your conditions

6-cell, good condition, life varies hugely, with wifi and wwan off and light editing it's way over 5 hrs, but with wifi on, 4-some hrs, wwan going 3+, when doing Java development hard running CPU-intensive testing, battery down around 3 hrs.

C. PCMark Benchmark Score(get it here: http://www.futuremark.com/download/)

5711 PCmarks (I think a paid license is needed for the breakdown score?)

X200s:
A. SL9400

B. Battery Condition: 15 cycles. Basic office work + WIFI on: document creation, image editing, emailing, web surfing. Varies from 8-9.9 hours.

C. Not tested.

Herm, are you using a WXGA or a WXGA+ LED backlit display?

I also notice you seem to have a slightly rarer SL9600 which I didn't even see as an option.

I am getting about 8 hours of battery life with reasonable brightness using my 9-cell battery. The unit weighs so little (3 lbs) that if I need to I bring along a 6-cell battery for additional power.

I am always worried a bit about being underpowered so I'd recommend the SL9400 1.86 GHz which has 6 MB cache. I'm not certain you'll get much more battery life with the reduction of the TDP from 17 to 10 Watts.

> are you using a WXGA or a WXGA+ LED backlit display?

the WXGA+ LED-backlit display

> I also notice you seem to have a slightly rarer SL9600 which I didn't even see as an option

Yes, the SL9600 was a choice in April when I ordered, and it's still on the Lenovo web pages if you select France as country, and in US distributor web catalogs for the tablet version. Maybe MacBooks are gobbling these chips all up, as plentiful Macs seem to have them at the local Mac store. Both this processor and display are off the Lenovo (US) web site now.