Thinkpads Forum

I have a still-functioning X40 - I had to replace the hard drive with a jury-rigged newer drive (sold by someone on here, I think, because of the weird ol' ZIF adapter it needs).

It's still happily plugging along and I use it as a spare, cafe and otherwise very portable laptop.

But, thinking to modernize and use the specials they're currently having on it, I'm looking into an x120e.

Would YOU make that trade? Or keep the X40 running as long as possible?

- Tim

I was tempted with the X120, but I have been burned by AMD's notebook cpu offerings too many times (quite literally). I had an HP tablet with the turion x2 processor that got so hot I returned the computer. My DV2 gets hot, but I found an SSD really helped.

I won't make the mistake again, even if the reviews say it's fine. I personally will keep my X40. It's old enough that if it gets damaged or ripped off, it won't hurt too much.

It would be nice to have one, they look sharp, and Windows 7 would be nice, but I like XP

A lot of reviews for the new AMD based machines are saying they do run cooler, but there's lots of fan noise. Personally, I'd get the X201i or even a used X200. Sure they're more money, but offer better usability and if you plan to keep it along time, that would make for a better experience in my opinion.

tbessie wrote:I have a still-functioning X40 - I had to replace the hard drive with a jury-rigged newer drive (sold by someone on here, I think, because of the weird ol' ZIF adapter it needs).

It's still happily plugging along and I use it as a spare, cafe and otherwise very portable laptop.

But, thinking to modernize and use the specials they're currently having on it, I'm looking into an x120e.

Would YOU make that trade? Or keep the X40 running as long as possible?

- Tim

Altough I think that the classic Thinkpads are (obviously) great machines, and although I haven't tried directly the X120e, after one year of X100e usage I'm pretty sure that the x120 is almost a perfect notebook: the keyboard is (IMHO) the best keyboard you can get, even better of the classic thinkpad ones, the housing is solid, the size is simply... well right, the VGA power has (at least) double the power of any other integrated video card, and the feeling that an AMD processor can give is not reproducible by any other Intel CPU.

I'm just jealous of you American people, because I can't get my hand on one of these wonderful notebook.

That said, keep in mind that any non tablet notebook will come with an LCD which is largely inferior to any IPS display mounted on the tablets, probably with the notable exception of some Vaios.

I would keep the x40 for 2 reasons:
- think light
- 4:3 screens ratio, with less physical space ( but the vertical resolution is the same)

other than that the x120 is likely more performant.

ThinkLight and 4:3 are both nice.

And transitioning from the classic keycaps to the chiclet is massively difficult, at least for me.
I type on a T400 at home, and use the X100e at school for taking notes. (long story.)
Being accustomed to the T400, I keep expecting the same tactile feedback on the X100e for judging whether or not a key has depressed. Hence, I keep having to look and check to see if I actually typed a letter or not, which slows down typing speed considerably and increases annoyance. The Shift and Ctrl keys also like to stick on the X100e compared to the T400, which causes lots of WEirdly CApitalized WOrds.

Colonel O'Neill wrote:ThinkLight and 4:3 are both nice.

I agree.

And transitioning from the classic keycaps to the chiclet is massively difficult, at least for me.
I type on a T400 at home, and use the X100e at school for taking notes. (long story.)
Being accustomed to the T400, I keep expecting the same tactile feedback on the X100e for judging whether or not a key has depressed. Hence, I keep having to look and check to see if I actually typed a letter or not, which slows down typing speed considerably and increases annoyance. The Shift and Ctrl keys also like to stick on the X100e compared to the T400, which causes lots of WEirdly CApitalized WOrds.

I have exactly the opposite problem. I think that the feeling of the X100's keyboard is the best of any one I've touched in the last 10 years.

I'm using an X200T right now, and although its keyboard is good, if compared with the one present on other notebooks, I consider it a great downgrade the switch due to the keyboard feeling (and noise)