Funnily enough, a few months ago I pulled out my X301 that I bought from here and re-installed my SSD into it.
I have since fallen totally in love with the machine. I did purchase a T430s from e-bay which I am somewhat looking forward to. (More on that later). But in terms of lightness, this machine is by far the lightest laptop I have ever used. I'm still amazed by how light it is. It's CPU handles everything I need from a machine today with a few workarounds. I am only using Linux on the machine (BunsenLabs) and the only thing that really gives me any kind of CPU stress so far is Youtube @ 720. I bought the T430s as an experiment. First off I wanted to try the new keyboard and secondly for a bit more CPU power which is the only issue I have with the X301.
I'm hoping the weight difference between the 2 machines isn't that noticeable. Thinkwiki puts it thusly:
X301 - 1.33 - 1.42kg (2.19 - 3.15lbs)
T430s - 1.79kg (3.94lbs)
So on paper it is heavier but I'm curious how it feels in the hand. If it's too heavy I might sell it and go for an X230s. Thinkwiki didn't have the weight info but according to Lenovo:
X230s - 2.96lbs or 1.34kg which puts it pretty much at the same weight as my X301.
I don't need much CPU grunt from a laptop. Just enough to handle the following (in no order)
1. E-mail using OWA or gmail.com
2. RDP sessions
3. Shell sessions (cmd or linux cli) for various network tests
4. Web browsing (I block ads and scripts which really speeds things up)
5. Streaming media @ 480 or 720p. I mostly listen to YouTube streams on Buddhist teachings (ex:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPk-pxhyYeg), background music or video's on old school big iron like SUN/SGI gear because it's fun to do so.
That's about it. Of course picture viewing using w/e pic viewer comes with the OS. In this case it's Mirage. In Windows I use the built in one. Works fine.
I still have a Precision M4800 with a quad core i7 and 16GB of RAM and an Optiplex 790 with 16GB of RAM, a 1GB 550ti and 250GB SSD at my shop w/dual LCD's. But those machines were free. I don't "need" the CPU power.
I've been making a lot of changes in my life. Key among them is evaluating need vs want. My inner geek wants the latest and greatest, tons of cores, son on a so forth. Just to say I have it. On the flip side it's also a ton of fun to squeeze the last bit of performance out of a machine. I guess what I'm getting at is a realization and acceptance of the fact that pursuing the whole gotta have the best mentality was costing me money and of course had gear piling up everywhere. Not good for me. I've purged almost everything. It feels great too.
Kind of went off topic there, but whatever. Thanks for reading it / letting me share it.