my x100 review

[ekv]

i picked up an x100 with the turion x2 dual core proc, bluetooth, 4gb ram, the works. it came with win 7 32, and i rebuilt it with a faster hdd [stock was 5400 rpm, i went with a bigger 7200 rpm] and win 7 64. also installed ubuntu 10.04 on it.

i was mainly picking this up for windows testing [web developer, needed to test and validate in IE browsers] as i do most of my development via ubuntu or on a mac. after playing with the device for a couple of months, here's my thoughts:

cons: get these outta the way

when in windows, my wifi looses connection all too often. it's really a bother. i've not updated the windows drivers, only the lenovo specified ones. sometimes i can reconnect without rebooting, but more often than not, i have to reboot to get the connection back.

in conjunction with this, i've found the wifi antenna is pretty weak. i have a t510 with the 6300 antenna, and it's worlds apart.

screen viewing angles leave me wanting more, but i knew that before i bought the machine.

heat. yes, this has long been a noted downer of this machine. my temps range from low 50's to high 70's. Celsius.

these few cons aside... i'm still stoked.

pros:

keyboard. hands down my favorite keyboard. ever. even with it's smaller size, a day doesn't go by that i don't wish my t510 had this keyboard. i haven't handed this machine to a single friend who hasn't agreed with me about the keyboard, and many are longtime thinkpad diehards, mac fanboys and so forth.

performance. as i stated earlier, i do web development. front end, back end, as well as occasional android development [using eclipse]. eclipse does run a little slow, but once up and running, it's plenty fine. i do web development with aptana [similar to eclipse, but specifically for web development] and it's a well known resource hog. i can still have multiple browsers open, itunes/rhythmbox playing, skype, pidgin and thunderbird with nary an issue. that's quite an impressive feat in my eyes, considering the "weak" processing of these netbooks. i definitely push the machine around, and it does heat up at times, but i'm not surprised.

middleground:

battery life. considering the concerns of reviews abound that this processor cannot compete with an atom on battery life, i find this battery is not horrid, not supreme. sure, it's not going to compare to an atom, but does the atom have the ability to push graphics this well [not without ion/ion2]. i'm interested to see the dual core atoms with ion2 battery life comparisons. even then, i know the atom netbooks i've played with could not run as smooth as this little machine while dev'ing in aptana and running as many apps as i am running. windows or ubuntu.

my consensus? sold! i definitely have found this machine to be packing just enough punch, small enough to throw in my bag and not worry, and still allow me to get work done while with clients and not having to lug around my bigger t510.

hope this review helps anyone on the fence.

[underclocker]

...when in windows, my wifi looses connection all too often. it's really a bother. i've not updated the windows drivers, only the lenovo specified ones. sometimes i can reconnect without rebooting, but more often than not, i have to reboot to get the connection back.

in conjunction with this, i've found the wifi antenna is pretty weak.

This should fix any wifi isssues. In Power Manager, Advanced Settings, Wireless Adapter Settings, changed the default from Maximum Power Savings to Maximum Performance. That fixed it for me.