New X220 IPS, Part 2

[asiafish]

So I spent most of yesterday playing with my new X220 (obviously) and here are a few more observations, mostly in comparison to my last ThinkPads (T400 and X41) and to my current Macbook Air 11".

First, I just can't get over this screen. The X220i I first ordered wasn't bad, better than my old 2006 MacBook or my very old ThinkPad X32 and X21, but it was visibly dingy when used next to my MacBook Air or Macbook Pro. The IPS display on this X220 is truly gorgeous, better than any I've ever used. Its not the brightest, a distinction goes to my old 1999 Toshiba Portege 3490CT which had the backlight from hell, but viewing angles, color quality and contrast are better than my desktop LCDs wiht the singular exception of the 2011 iMac my secretary uses (also IPS), which is equal, not better. The Windows calibration tools don't go into as fine of an adjustment range and are harder to use than Apple's, but the end result is still a beautifully calibrated display that is visibly superior to either of my Apple laptops.

Ahhhh, the joys of a proper ThinkPad keyboard and TrackPoint. I actually like the chicklet keys on Apple's current machines, and have come very close to impulse buying an X1x0 a number of times at Office Depot thanks to its even better interpretatin of the chiclet board (with Trackpoint). Call me old-fashioned, but I'd forgotten how good a traditional ThinkPad keyboard feels, and while I am making more errors on this than on my Air, those errors are made at a higher typing speed. The TrackPoint, as always, is my favorite laptop pointing device. Mine is set to a very light touch, the way I've done since moving from cat tongue to rubber dome caps with my first T42p. The TrackPoint on the X220 is exactly what I expected it to be, no difference that I can tell even back to my old T20 (once fitted with rubber dome).

As many of the reviews correctly point out, the palmrest is really shalow on the X220. My much smaller MacBook Air's palmrest resembles a soccer field by comparison, but it is comfortable, wiht a gentle curve at the front that feels good to the touch. The touchpad, well, it sucks. Compared to other Windows laptops I've owned it is perhaps average, but Apple is just so vastly superior in its touchpad implementation that anything else is just annoying to use. Right now I turned the sensitivity down so I get few accidental inputs and use the touchpad for navigating in a browser, which I like better on a touchpad than with the TrackPoint. The click feature works fine, but the two finger scrolling is VEYR jerky, to the point of being unusable. I may try one of the 3rd party two-finger-scroll utilities, or more likely will keep the install pure and just use the TrackPoint. The touchpad may end up getting disabled in the driver, I'm still undecided.

Battery life is currently showing at 7 hours in the task bar, with the display at 6. I expected more out of the 9 cell, but this is a brand new system and I do have the fastest i5. I have also not yet fiddled with the battery stretch utility and have confgured regular power management not to turn off the display. I am sure that with some optimization I can hit 12 hours.

My original plan was to swap the 128 GB SSD out for a 320 GB HDD (should arrive today) and use a 40 GB Intel 310 mSATA (also should arrive today) as the boot drive. I still may do that, but I am VERY happy with the performance and the silence of the SSD and may set it up as a dual SSD system (mSATA for music and video, SSD to remain in stock configuration with OS and recovery. I'll try it both ways.

I will likely completely kill the swap file and see how it runs without one. With 8GB of RAM, I just can't imagine Windows needing any more than that. This should also help avoid constant writes to the SSD and make the drive last longer.

I bought this for military use and cannot use it at all for my primary business management software, which is Mac-only. Since I can use that software on my iPhone and iPad when I travel, I just might start using the X220 as my primary machine on the road. The Air is smaller and lighter and will remain my office machine and will continue to go with me to court every day, but for any travel out of town the battery life, keyboard and display of the X220 are extremely tempting.

Its nice to be back on a ThinkPad.

[illini71]

How is your wifi signal past 35ft?

[dr_st]

Thank you for your thought out overview. Glad you enjoy the laptop.

[asiafish]

How is your wifi signal past 35ft?

Don't know. Farthest I've been from my router (Apple Airport Extreme) is about 30 feet, though with a few walls. Reception is fine, but I haven't done any speed tests. I have the Intel N1000.

[illini71]

I get a pretty good drop off. I have two laptops where i sit, my samsung has five bars, my x220 has 3. Hm,

[hyde]

1 month x220 user here:
My x220 performs visibly worse than my 3,5 year old toshiba when it comes to picking up signals. I am considering upgrading to a better card.

About your comment on palmrest, I have never had any issue on mine, yes, if you focus on it may bother some but it never bothered me, at work I use external keyboard but at home it really almost never bothered me.

I disabled my trackpad and I use either a mouse or trackpoint. It is disappointing how bad the trackpad is. Set the sensitivity high for better response, you get a lot of unintentional taps/clicks, unless you disable tap to click. Set sensitivity low, you barely get any response. Forget about scrolling. What I do is, if I must use trackpad, I use the buttons above it, not the built in clickers. If you find a fix, let us know.

You did not comment on ghosting, which I noticed today for the first time. I was seeing the impression of my Outlook and the lines that run around when I logged off (of when I ran the blank screen saver)..

I am running on 6 cell, and with performance high, I barely ever need to plug it in during on-off usage throughout the whole day. So not only the screen brightness, check the detailed settings, You may be running on balanced and not power saver. I am getting more than enough on 6 cell, and I would think it should run through the day with at least 10 hours with light usage on 9 cell. Exceptional battery life!

last thing, the power brick runs scorching hot when it is charging. Once your battery is %100 it cools down. If you keep it plugged the next time you turn on your thinkpad, it never heats up that much, and stays cool to touch, But if you drain your battery and come home to charge, you better keep the brick away from you..

[Puppy]

You did not comment on ghosting, which I noticed today for the first time. I was seeing the impression of my Outlook and the lines that run around when I logged off (of when I ran the blank screen saver)..

Mark Hopkins from Lenovo has stated in this thread http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... 363#M30686 (09-08-2011 11:01 PM) that there is a new revision of the X220 IPS panel:

" ... Since our last update, Lenovo has continued to work with our LCD supplier to address the concerns expressed by those in this thread and and version of the panel with revised spec / characteristics has been introduced. Customers who are experiencing these persistence / ghosting symptoms will be able to contact service for replacement of the LCD once updated parts are in stock - this looks like mid to late September at this time. These revised panels were introduced in the production of new X220 systems during the first half of August.

I'll post a further update once the parts are confirmed in service stock later this month. Calling service in advance won't be particularly helpful, so I appreciate your bearing with us another week or two.

Thank you all for your patience over these past months. ..."

[ssd_thinkpad]

The ghosting is not nice. The ghosing IPS display is far better than all other lenovo displays anyway.

[asiafish]

Is this ghosting something that develops over time, or would it be there from the start? My X220 IPS is gorgeous, no ghosting that I can see. Does that mean it will stay that way, or should I keep a close eye on it?

[hyde]

Thank you Puppy, since it was not something bothersome (yet) I did not consider searching a solution for it, but it is nice to know that there is a solution available.
I did buy the extended Lenovo thinkpad warranty, which I believe comes with next day on site service. I might get my keyboard & trackpad replaced while we are on it, too.

asiafish, I have not noticed ghosting until yesterday, so I am not sure if it was there, but I did leave my computer running for about 4 hours at same screen (text changes, but the ribbon and bottom status bar remains there) and the ghosting occurred at those static areas of the screen (like temporary burn-in) when the screen turned black.
You may be able to test this by running a high contrast image with defined few thick lines, then logging off or running blank screensaver to see if there is any ghosting.

[ssd_thinkpad]

Is this ghosting something that develops over time, or would it be there from the start? My X220 IPS is gorgeous, no ghosting that I can see. Does that mean it will stay that way, or should I keep a close eye on it?

Ghosting should be there from the start. When I turned my x220 on, did nothing, and then turned it off, I could - slightly - see some of the display content greyed out on the display. For a minute or so. It could be better if there would be no ghosting, but I prefer the ghosting x220 display even to the T60 UXGA IPS display - the best display lenovo ever used so far. It is really nothing.

[asiafish]

Ghosting should be there from the start. When I turned my x220 on, did nothing, and then turned it off, I could - slightly - see some of the display content greyed out on the display. For a minute or so. It could be better if there would be no ghosting, but I prefer the ghosting x220 display even to the T60 UXGA IPS display - the best display lenovo ever used so far. It is really nothing.

Thanks. I think I will forget about the issue completely and just enjoy my computer. I concur, best display I've ever used on a laptop. Only better one I've used is my secretary's new iMac (27" IPS) and the 27" IPS Apple ThunderBolt display, but those (same panel) are desktop monitors.

[hyde]

Oh, don't forget about the getting rid of reflection. I don't have to keep the blinds behind me shut anymore when I sit in my couch. I was watching the street and can actually wave to our mailman when he passes by using my old 15" display.
I actually like (love) my thinkpad so much I just gently stroked it's closed lid that's sitting to my right as I use my 22" display in the office. Texture..

[asiafish]

Oh, don't forget about the getting rid of reflection. I don't have to keep the blinds behind me shut anymore when I sit in my couch. I was watching the street and can actually wave to our mailman when he passes by using my old 15" display.
I actually like (love) my thinkpad so much I just gently stroked it's closed lid that's sitting to my right as I use my 22" display in the office. Texture..

Yeah. I have a MASSIVE window right behind where I sit. In the morning the blinds angle up to block the sun, in the afternoon no issues. Of course, whether I use the semi-glossy Air or the matte X220 the glare is still overpowering. I suppose the Air is worse, but neither is usable in direct sunlight.

[hyde]

I am surprised, but then again I don't really get direct sunlight on my laptop, I face south (my back to south), so I don't get direct sunshine behind me.

[ZaZ]

Is this ghosting something that develops over time, or would it be there from the start? My X220 IPS is gorgeous, no ghosting that I can see. Does that mean it will stay that way, or should I keep a close eye on it?

I think it's one of things if you go looking for it, you can find it, but you wouldn't seen it during normal usage, at least for most users. I've had my X220i for three plus months and I've never seen it.

[hyde]

FredGarvin, I would respectfully disagree. I did not look for it, in fact at first I did not believe it was a ghosting, rather I thought Win 7 Lock screen was actually transparent! If your brightness happens to be high, and you have been working on same screen for few hours, and suddenly you lock or screen saver kicks in (any one blank/mistify/logo) you will definitely see it. It's just that your circumstances probably did not result in one.

It is really not a major issue, unless it gets worse over time. Most people don't look at same picture for hours, and the static areas of the running applications are usually too small to be noticed in case of ghosting. But if you kept an image of thick black and white columns and rows for a few hours, you will definitely see it. It's just that nobody looks at an excel chart with 1 inch thick borders for that long to notice the ghosting that easily.

[ZaZ]

There's nothing wrong with disagreeing. I was giving my experience. Yours may differ.

[Puppy]

BTW the image ghosting issue affects Apple displays as well http://www.extremetech.com/computing/13 ... appy-users