Thinkpads Forum

My tablet is up for sale since I realized that I like the idea of having a tablet but I think having something a bit more thin and integrated DVD would be better. Do any of you think that you would like the benefits of the tablet over your x301?

What are the biggest downsides to having the X301?

Thanks,

The tablet has a much better screen.

I recently traded my X200 tablet for a X301. I had just graduated from college and didn't see the need for the tablet functionality anymore. The main benfits is that the X301 is much thinner and very light with only a slight increase in profile. The DVD burner is nice too. The SSD change is very worthwhile (I can bump my latop now!), and the screen realestate is better.

There are several major cons though.

1. You will obviously lose the tablet functionality
2. The screen quality of the X301 is horrible! Much worse than the X200T, especially viewing angles.
3. No SD/Media slots (this can be a pain).
4. No dock
5. Less battery capacity with integrated DVD (I have the ultrabay batt installed 90% of the time and get aound 6hrs with both batteries instead of 8 hrs with the tablet). With the 6cell you probably can only get 4hrs.

I suggest that you try out the X300 for several minutes before you commit.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=79411

The link above will show my specs. Since I have the multi-touch, do you think the X301 screen is still worse? Is it the brightness or just clarity of the screen that makes x301 bad?

What type of broadband connection do you use with it? Via usb, express slot, or internal? Right now I am using the v740 express with verizon.

Also, what did you find was the best way to clean the screen? I have only been on my x200t a few times but the screen could use a nice cleaning.


Thanks,

ipXpert, I bet there're Fry's stores in your area. I've seen an X301 at Fry's in Houston TX and your local Fry's probably has one too. Play with it in person and compare it with your X200 tablet.

Great idea, Fry's is only 4 miles from here. Thanks,

LenovoGringo wrote: 2. The screen quality of the X301 is horrible! Much worse than the X200T, especially viewing angles.

let me elaborate on that statement.
if you are looking for a laptop to get a non-graphic dependent work done then X301 screen will be fine and you will enjoy your notebook for its light weight, speed and productivity.
if you also want to use your notebook to look at pictures or watch movies then don't touch anything that has X30X on it.

ipXpert wrote:Since I have the multi-touch, do you think the X301 screen is still worse? Is it the brightness or just clarity of the screen that makes x301 bad?

It has no contrast, no black color and about 0.5 degree viewing angle. It is the worst notebook display ever for the given notebook price category. Even my 180 USD camera has better display quality.

To give you some quantitative number, the contrast of the X301's screen is 250:1, while the contrast of your tablet's screen is 1000:1. That's a big difference!
Also, the viewing angle of the X301's screen is somewhere from 30 degrees and below in any direction, while the viewing angle of the X200t's screen is around 150 degrees from every direction.

AvalonXIII wrote:To give you some quantitative number, the contrast of the X301's screen is 250:1

The measured value here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 852.0.html is 122:1 only. I'd believe since I've seen the "display" in real. The good thing is that Lenovo haven't found cheaper vendor of tablet panels yet producing the same horrible crap we can see in new X non-tablet and T models.

Keep your tablet, you've got an exceptional product considering todays Lenovo standards.

Puppy wrote:The measured value here http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 852.0.html is 122:1 only. I'd believe since I've seen the "display" in real. The good thing is that Lenovo haven't found cheaper vendor of tablet panels yet producing the same horrible crap we can see in new X non-tablet and T models.

Keep your tablet, you've got an exceptional product considering todays Lenovo standards.

Okay, the official spec from the TAbook is 250:1 so that's why I list that. It means that it's even worse than I thought.
And believe me, Lenovo has found a cheaper alternative to install into tablets. They moved from BOE-Hydis IPS panel to Samsung PVA panel now. The color is not very accurate, so my relative who has a X200 tablet decided to swap the PVA panel out and replaced it with a IPS panel, and the difference is quite significant.
Funnily enough, Lenovo lists the tablet panels as IPS in the TAbook, even though they're using PVA panels. Talk about false advertising.

EDIT: Upon further research, I found out that Intel Graphic Manager automatically reduce contrast while on battery to save on battery life. This probably explains the lower contrast compare to the rated spec. Luckily this functionality can be disabled if needed.

AvalonXIII wrote:Lenovo has found a cheaper alternative to install into tablets. They moved from BOE-Hydis IPS panel to Samsung PVA panel now.

I see. So they are continuing the trend to decrease the quality as much as possible. Is it really a S-PVA panel ? Samsung produces TN ones as well. The advantage of the Boe-Hydis panel (which is acutally AFFS technology) is also lower power consumption comparing to traditional IPS panels. Lenovo seems to kill two advantages at once.

On the other hand if they could found S-PVA notebook panel vendor for tablets, they could find it for non-tablets as well. Of course, if they wanted.

AvalonXIII wrote:And believe me, Lenovo has found a cheaper alternative to install into tablets. They moved from BOE-Hydis IPS panel to Samsung PVA panel now. The color is not very accurate, so my relative who has a X200 tablet decided to swap the PVA panel out and replaced it with a IPS panel, and the difference is quite significant.

If I'd choose a tablet model now, I'd take the PVA model because a VA panel naturally provides you with more contrast than an IPS panel. And that's what I want when doing office work: reading through text pages more easily - I do not want to watch movies on a 12 inch notebook. As I read, IPS sucks on battery life, I am not sure if VA panels do also need as much energy as the IPS panels, but they need indeed more power than the TN panels.

For the idea of switching from tablet to x300 series: Do take a personal look at the x300 display and work on this notebook for 15 minutes or so - if you still like it, the display is okay for you. The rest of the x300 series is good.

ssd_thinkpad wrote:Do take a personal look at the x300 display and work on this notebook for 15 minutes or so - if you still like it, the display is okay for you.

I second that. If you don't get sick from it in first ten seconds, try to look at it in similar light conditions it will be used most of the time. Especially if you are used to work at nights in dark environment. It might happen that you'll see white/gray shades only on that component (I can't call it display in any condition).

I want to make a decision but if I cant sell my Tablet, I will not be able to buy anything else. I hope to make it to frys today to look at the X301. I believe someone mentioned this to me but the X300 and X301 both have poor screens. Is that correct?

I want to sell my thinkpad quickly so I dropped the price to what I think is low. Is 1400 with Free shipping too much for my x200t? Its in the marketplace area if you want to check the specs but its pretty loaded.

Has anyone had luck selling a like new or new Thinkpad on Ebay? I have not had to use ebay in sooo long and I hate the idea of using it now. Fees are high, lots of scammers, and your not selling within a community you like.

S

ipXpert wrote:I believe someone mentioned this to me but the X300 and X301 both have poor screens. Is that correct?

Yes. The same for T400s.

In general, if you never use a IPS screen before, you won't have any problem with screens used in Thinkpads nowaday. Otherwise, your only option for decent screen is a tablet.

AvalonXIII wrote:In general, if you never use a IPS screen before, you won't have any problem with screens used in Thinkpads nowaday.

I don't think so. The X30x (and very likely T400s) display quality reaches the next level of ugliness. It is worse than most of current non-Lenovo and past IBM notebook TN panels because it has no contrast.

Puppy wrote:The X30x (and very likely T400s) display quality reaches the next level of ugliness. It is worse than most of current non-Lenovo and past IBM notebook TN panels because it has no contrast.

I can attest that the screen of my 8.5-year-old 240Z is significantly better than the WXGA screen of an almost-brand-new R500 that I saw recently, even though both are TN. The X301 that I saw at Fry's actually looked better than that R500, though I believe it was still a a little worse than my 240Z.

AvalonXIII wrote:In general, if you never use a IPS screen before, you won't have any problem with screens used in Thinkpads nowaday. Otherwise, your only option for decent screen is a tablet.

Depends.

The R61 15" WSXGA isn't so bad (relative to ?)
The T61 14" WXGA+ is however isn't anything better then what the T22 had.

Puppy wrote:I don't think so. The X30x (and very likely T400s) display quality reaches the next level of ugliness. It is worse than most of current non-Lenovo and past IBM notebook TN panels because it has no contrast.

Any display I've ever seen had a better display than the x301 I had for one day. That includes all old fashion crts and tfts. If you value display quality, value it when buying a notebook. In this case, I'd buy the x200 tablet.

Or a X200(s) and mod a AFFS screen in it.

Still the low resulution... 1280x800 versus 1400x1050 for the X61t

To tell the truth I never use a X301, so I don't know that the screen can be that bad :p
I do have a T61 with LG WXGA+ panel, and it does look very decent, until I use Flexview for the first time.