Thinkpads Forum

Hey guys,

I thought it'd be fun to see which X series you guys thought was the best. I've had experience with all of them except the X40 series. The X30 is probably the most rugged and indestructible, but it was heavy and hot. The X300 was top-tier, but also prohibitively expensive. The X60 series was light, had a thin bezel, but the palmrest got hot from the heat of the WLAN card. The X220 is the newest, obviously fastest, but there are reported ghosting issues on the IPS screen.

They all have their ups and downs, but all around I think we can agree that they're the best ultraportables out there.

What are your experiences? What was your favorite and why (you may choose 2, because I also can't decide between my old X61s and my new X220)?

form-factor: x61s
overall useability: x201 (nice blend of cpu power, battery life, and screen resolution)

my dream machine would be a 5:4 LCD (1280x1024) in something approximating the size of the x61s but with x201 cpu power and battery life.

Though I've had mine for a month, I'd say the X220. It's got a few things the others do not - two hard drives and IPS screen. Plus it's got all the things the X series are known for - it's well built, it's got great battery life, mine runs cool and quiet, it's imminently portable, etc. I'd be biased towards the new machines as I prefer WXGA to XGA.

When you say 2 hard drives on the X220, do you mean the 1x 7mm hard drive/ssd and the mSATA mPCIe ssd card?

You've missed the X300 from your list of choices.

My favourite is a X61 with the SXGA+ screen modification

The X220 is very impressive - modern, great features, great battery life, and an IPS screen.

I also have a strange affinity to the design of X3x. The front-mounted 6-cell battery is a big selling point to me, compared to X4x/X6x which you could either configure with a 4-cell (insufficient battery life) or 8-cell (extra bulk).

iamdmc wrote:When you say 2 hard drives on the X220, do you mean the 1x 7mm hard drive/ssd and the mSATA mPCIe ssd card?

Yes.

I like the X60s/X61s form factor and weight, especially since you can do the SXGA+ screen mod. I almost picked the x120e for the size, but it has too many cons to be picked as a favorite.

X200-series was basically a wide X60s while maintaining the weight. Not a bad little machine at all. I would consider voting for the X220 but I have no hands-on experience with it.

I voted for the X301. It was the last Thinkpad that got me excited.

iamdmc wrote:I think we can agree that they're the best ultraportables out there.

I think back in the X2*-X3** generations, they were the best, but right now Sony and Apple have better ultraportables IMO.

My favorite so far is my X120e, I have had an X40 and X60 and the 120e. I'm sure my opinion might change if I get a newer model, but right now I'm more interested in a T400 series.

I like my little 120e, pretty peppy and doesn't have a glossy display

X220. Compact, well built, no flaws performance and extraordinary screen !

The X120e has the best keyboard. Otherwise, not having had the pleasure of using an X3xx series, it would have to be the X220.

I've had an X31, still have an X60s, and last year added an X201s.

I miss the ruggedness and the keyboard tactile response from the X31, as well as the thin bezel and the dock available for that series, plus the dedicated firewire slot, and the dedicated ATI graphics card.

I still use the X60s for specific tasks while leaving the X201s free for all the rest.
I felt the X60s brought a little bit of speed over the X31 specially when converting AV formats while in most other aspects it was hard to tell a difference. I only went for the X60s after my X31's MB broke.

I feel that the X201s is so much superior to the other two that the above mentioned aspects easily become neglible. The highlights for my use are:
- Screen brightness and 1440 resolution (I too was afraid of reading smaller fonts, till I saw it in front of me). While not IPS, it's years ahead of those in the X31 and X60s.
- ExpressCard, which allows me to hook Firewire 800 or USB 3.0 hardware.
- Coolness at hand rest areas.
- More power, more battery time
- A system that isn't owing much to nowadays needs (Win 7).

So my vote goes to the X201s.
I have a feeling that jumping to an X220 would be similar to going from the X31 to the X60s, so my future upgrade will certainly be something other than the X220.

All the best.

x61t!

Beautiful 1400x1050 IPS display on a 12" screen. No other x-series laptop can beat it in that category.

X200s and X201s are my favorites. I've been using 1440x900 for a while now and think I would have a hard time going to anything else, its the only thing that turns me off about the X220.

I had a chance to get either a X200s or X201, and my signature tells the tale of what I decided on