Thinkpads Forum

Hi all

This is my first post here so let me know if I do anything wrong

I've been an avid fan of Thinkpads for many years. I currently own a 240, X30 and presently use an X61. I must admit, the X61 has tested me a bit, the build quality isn't that of my older ones (it's cracked on the palm rest above the pcmcia slot) but the main issue I have with it is the fan noise and heat. I've tried that t-something fan control too but it just ended getting too hot and the fans louder than ever!

So i'm contemplating an x200/x300 type replacement but I have some questions for you lovely people:

- What is the build quality like compared to an x30 or x61?

- What's the fan noise like?

- What's the better one out of the x20x or x30x? The specs dont make it clear which was later/better


Any other relevant advice welcome


Regards


p.s. if this is in the wrong forum could someone kindly move it please

To make your x60 quiet: You can either change the bios and use a new intel wireless card in your x60. Or you can lower the intel wireless card activity in windows settings (search in this forum) to make the card colder and the notebook colder.

The x2xx series is the successor of the x6x series. The current x220 with premium display is by far the best choice, the price is also very low compared to the price of older generations (when they were new).

Agreed.

X220 is the best ThinkPad I've used in years (see my sig for other models I've used)

Thanks guys.

What about noise though? It's the main reason I want to get rid of my X61. I've read some threads on this forum just today about fan noise on the X220.

You can completely disable the fan of your x220 if you use the program tpfancontrol. My x220i is most of the time completely silent. The hotter the cpu gets, the more the fan rotates. The more the fan rotates, the louder the fan is. Try to keep the cpu cool. You can do this by disabling the i5 and i7 cpu boost. Some people disagree and say it is better to use this boost so the cpu accomplishes the tasks earlier and there is no difference in heat.

Running my X220 for 2 months now I never notice the fan. I have an SSD in the unit and it runs cool. Only when I really stop and concentrate REALLY hard can I hear the fan in my machine.

and yes, I've had an X61s, so I know about the relative fan noise

hope that helps

I see you are asking about X20x or X30x, not X220.

As a user of X200 I can recommend it. Can be bought from UK for 400 GBP with some basic config, the AFFS (IPS like) 16:10 screen upgrade is very simple and costs around 130 USD from eBay. Put in SSD and you're have nothing to complain.

I would consider X30x only if you need DVD drive integrated. With my X200 I learned I don't need any optical device anymore.. Anyway X30x is too expensive and too underpowerde, compared to X200.

i bought an x220 in the the 1st/2nd week that they came out and other than the battery slice option, which does give an extended runtime, i felt the x201 was a more productive machine. i wound up returning it and went back to using my x201.

x220 cons:
- temps when pushing the cpu (at 70-80% load) resulted in a 18C temp increase compared to my x201.
- IPS display had very nice color reproduction, but needed to be set to 12 to achieve an acceptable (mid-level) brightness, mine's also had some spot bleeding along the bottom and right edge
- very limited choices for 500GB HDs
- smaller screen (16:9)

the x220 does offer better battery life but i did not see the proportional increase in real world use that the specs suggested. they've released some bios patches since then which might tweak performance a bit more, obviously i never got to that point.

i'm happy with the x201 and don't miss the x220 at all. so much so that i don't even bother reading x220 threads anymore...just not interested.

[edit] to answer your questions:

- What is the build quality like compared to an x30 or x61? x201 build quality is comparable to x30/31. it's a tank

- What's the fan noise like? mostly dead quiet on low and med processor load, at high load the fan cycles up but it's still one of the more quieter fans, certainly more quiet than x220.

- What's the better one out of the x20x or x30x? would not recommend an x30x - slow cpu, mediocre display quality, still a highly priced machine.

I ordered an X201 but returned it prior to opening the box as the box had been crushed during transport. During the time it took for Lenovo to refund my money, before I could order another one, I saw a new X301 for sale with the 1.6Ghz processor - and bought it.

I have to say I'm very impressed with it. Previously I used a 12.1" display laptop (Samsung) and the 13.1" display really adds a lot of screen real estate, makes the 12" one look really small.

The X301 is very well built - can't fault it, it's a thing of beauty. It's very slim and light.

The Screen is not the best but to be honest I have just grown used to it.

My work is not computer based - I don't do CPU intensive tasks - so I have not found the clearly slower processor, compared to todays speeds, a problem.

Battery life for my average use which is light tasks with wifi always on is about 4 hours - I have both batteries installed.

Personally for my needs I don't see anything comparable to the X301 and given the choice would still buy it.

I have an X201 (see sig) and have owned a bunch of X30/31/32. I think the X201 is comparable to the earlier ones in terms of build quality, mine is very well made and I am very happy with it. I haven't touched either X220 or X300 so can't comment on them. If you can find an X201 at a good price, go for it. You can pick up an external DVD if you need it, and you would be all set. With an SSD, the machine flies. BTW, I never notice the fan noise. I pulled the keyboard recently and blew out a few dust bunnies, and everything runs smooth and quiet.

u751920's post reminded me about the other shortcoming with the x301. battery options are very limited - no extended cell option and the internal drive battery is expen$ive and only extends runtime for ~2 hrs.

Thanks for the replies folks.


The X201 seems interesting. From looking on the thinkpad wiki i've found there is an X201, X201i and an X201s. None of the last one are on eBay (UK). I don't really want a touchpad, so perhaps the X201 is the better one for me over an X201i?

the x201i used a slightly slower i3 (i3 has a smaller cache and lacks turbo mode). if you don't run any cpu intensive apps, you'll likely be fine. i would expect to see the 201i priced a bit lower (at least $100 less), otherwise i'd stick with the 201.

th_sjo wrote:I don't really want a touchpad, so perhaps the X201 is the better one for me over an X201i?

Thanks, but according to this page (http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X201i) the X201i was available in both i3 and i5 processors. Do you know if that's incorrect?

filmbuff wrote:the x201i used a slightly slower i3 (i3 has a smaller cache and lacks turbo mode). if you don't run any cpu intensive apps, you'll likely be fine. i would expect to see the 201i priced a bit lower (at least $100 less), otherwise i'd stick with the 201.

the link is correct.

th_sjo wrote:Thanks, but according to this page (http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X201i) the X201i was available in both i3 and i5 processors. Do you know if that's incorrect?