Thinkpads Forum

This may be a bit like comparing apples and oranges but here goes.

I was going to put and SSD and maybe upgrade the display on my x61, then I saw some x120e's on eBay and was wondering how it compares.
Has anyone here jumped from an x61 to a x120e or something similar?

Thanks

I don't think the AMD CPUs are any better than the Core 2 Duo CPUs in the X61. A SSD will make either seem faster. You can replace the screen on the X61, but none of the screens offered on it are all that great. I don't know what you're looking to spend, but I've seen the X220 with i3 and IPS screen in the Lenovo Outlet for $500ish, though some patience is probably required to get that deal.

You might want to look at the X200 too. You can get one for a lower price and it's got a much better AFFS LCD upgrade option if you're willing to swap the screen, which it seems you are.

I think the X120e has better build quality than any of the X60/X61s I've had. The keyboard is far more solid as well, although you will have to sacrifice the traditional layout and Thinklight. The X120e has a brighter screen, but it is only about 3/4ths the height and much wider. The E-240 processor I had was too slow, so I got an E-350 dual core which is able to run 1080p full screen without stuttering. My use case involves surfing the web, using Office, and writing papers/taking notes for graduate school. I put heavy use on the keyboard; it is the best I've ever had in a laptop, and has not started to shine yet.

For the price of an X120e, you can get an X200 from ebay which has a faster processor, retains the Thinklight, and will be more usable if it is your only machine. That would have been my first choice, had I not lucked into a great price for the X120e.

I have both the X120e with a SSD and the X61s with a regular 5400 rpm drive. I prefer the 4:3 screen of the X61s over the X120e, especially when browsing and viewing documents. The X61s with the 4-cell enhanced battery is also noticeably lighter than the X120e. For my use with browsing, email and Office documents, both have the same speed and performance.

The X120e has much better graphics performance and I'm able to view HD videos with ease. The X61s chokes on anything above 720p. Battery life on the X61s has been a big disappointment. The X120e consistently gets nearly twice the battery life.

Fixed_Rider wrote:This may be a bit like comparing apples and oranges but here goes.

I was going to put and SSD and maybe upgrade the display on my x61, then I saw some x120e's on eBay and was wondering how it compares.
Has anyone here jumped from an x61 to a x120e or something similar?

Thanks