Thinkpads Forum

I asked this question in x6x forum....but i realized i should have posted it here. is it worth the upgrade? is it significantly lighter? is battery life significantly improved?

thanks

christy

It's probably not a huge performance upgrade, other than the ability to use really fast SSDs like the X25-M or OCZ Vertex. If you've got the XGA screen and want more screen resolution, the WXGA offers it.

Only reason I'd up grade is for the LED brighter screen and the better vid card.

Performance-wise, the upgrade of a single generation isn't gonna be worth it.

If higher resolution and/or widescreen format rock your boat, then perhaps it is.

In Thinkpad land, Screen brightness alone is a HUGE leap... well at least going from an x31 to an x61 anyways.

thanks guys..thats lot of good info.it will help me in making the decision.
christy

i just ordred itnel x-25 g2. do you guys think the practical perceivable performance improvement would be significant?
i know theoretically there is a big difference,

The X61t's SATA controller is capped at SATA I speeds, which is right around 120MBps, while the Intel drive is capable of around 250MBps. To use it to its full potential you'll need a machine that supports SATA II speed drives. The X200t would be one of those machines. I had a SSD in my R60, which is a SATA I machine. There was not a big difference between it and my regular 7200RPM platter based drive for the things I do. I don't know, maybe it would have been better on a different machine. It did seem to boot a bit quicker and a few slower apps like Photoshop or iTunes seemed to open a little faster. Where a SSD is going to shine is anything hard drive intensive like booting the machine or copy large files for example. Webpages won't open any faster cause you've got a SSD.

The only benefits I'd expect is less drain to the battery and... maybe being lighter for the laptop? I keep hearing in performance it's not that much in improvement.

It depends on what kind of applications you run on your PC. As mentioned above, your net connection will not become faster with a SSD.

Besides better battery performance, you can also worry one less spindling device in your machine. It's not that SSD don't fail, but that they are not subjected to the same vibration and shock limitation as their spindling counterparts.

Cheers.

Ok... stupid question alert. When they say LED backlit they are talking about the screen like how HDTVs have LED in them now right? Not the little LED light that helps light up the keyboard to see at night.

Thanks

Yes, in some models they replaced the CCFL backlight with a LED backlight, allowing for a wider range in brightness and lower energy usage due to higher efficiency of LEDs

Ok... This thread has got me really thinking about getting an x200. I like the x61t but there are features that this laptop doesn't have that I'd like to have. Brighter screen, better battery efficiency, the little keyboard light, faster processor, and better video card. I really can't honestly say I've used the tablet part for what it was designed for.

i installed the 80 gb intel g2 ssd. I didnt notice a big improvement from my 7200 plstter based drive as far as speed is concerned. boot time is a little better and some pps load marginally faster.

i do like the fact that i dont have to worry about hard drive failure due to sudden movement . it is quite and battery life is better. i will however get x200 whenever i find a good deal.

Do it! Do it as SOON as you can! Upgrading from the X6 series (particularly the X6 Tablet) was THE best thing I've ever done. Aside from the brighter, clearer screen, THREE USB Ports, Express Card Slot (can use Express Card SSDs), the 1200 x 800 display. The X200 in my hand feels the same weight as the X61 (not X61T).

The X61 was a good machine, but way too heavy, bulky and large!

VipFreak wrote:The only benefits I'd expect is less drain to the battery and... maybe being lighter for the laptop? I keep hearing in performance it's not that much in improvement.

I disagree. I recently installed Intel SSD's in a couple of our z61t's (including my own). The performance difference is astounding. Boot up and shutdown times are not tremendously better, but the time it takes to login is hugely improved, (~10 seconds on Windows Vista with a ton of services to load) and the time it takes to open programs, populate Windows explorer with thumbnails, etc. is a huge improvement. Specifically, programs like Outlook with a 2GB inbox and over 10,000 items opens instantly. On my old drive it took ~30-45 seconds to open. Overall, the laptop just 'feels' much snappier. It's at the top of my list for upgrades, and I would much rather have an SSD than a faster processor or video card, for example.

Like said - SSD can offer great improvement to every day tasks, where fast seeking and quick random access are the most important things. In copying large amounts of data and sequential operations, the boost will be far smaller. But how often do you do that?

UPGRADE! I had the X61t for about 2 years, and the x200t for about 5 months. I use it everyday. On paper, the differences seem slight, but in reality the x200t is WAY BETTER!

The inking and touch is much improved, the sound is much better, and the screen brightness is much better as well. Battery life is a bit better, the processor is zippier, and it is a bit more solid feeling and lighter feeling. The screen swivel is more solid, and the screen latch is stronger. Now if I could only get Presentation Director to work in Windows 7 x64! I really miss it (windows key + p is not sophisticated enough for my needs).

I was also thinking about upgrading but I believe WXGA is not enough screen realestate for me, thats only 1024000 pixels vs. 1470000 on SXGA+, 30% less pixels!