Thinkpads Forum

My x301 is starting to give me problems so it might be time to upgrade. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the x1 v. x220? Is the x220 noticeably heavier? Does the screen seem much smaller? Thanks

First, the X1 is located in the Non-ThinkPad Lenovo Notebook section.

1.) X1 is quite heavy for it's size at 3.73lbs vs. < 3lbs for the X220.

2.) The screen may seem slightly smaller, especially if you are not used to ultra-portable displays. Note that the X220 can be configured with an IPS display, the rolls-royce of LCDs. (Great viewing angles and colour reproduction)

Also, the X1 comes in lower resolution and has an integrated battery (4 cell, short life) and is missing some widely known and loved ThinkPad features like the ThinkLight. I would check out this topic.

You're also not stuck with a single DIMM slot with the X220, which makes getting 8GB of RAM cheaper.

Here's a summary:

X220 has IPS screen option, X1 does not.
Both X220 and X1 have a screen resolution of 1366 x 768.
X220 has a matte screen, X1 is reflective due to Gorilla Glass.

X220 and X1 are about the same size, and have the same physical screen size.
X220 is thicker than the X1.

X220 has a standard ThinkPad keyboard, X1 has an island-style one that's found on the X1x0 and ThinkPad Edge lines.
X220 has a ThinkLight while the X1 doesn't- but the X1 has a backlit keyboard instead.

X220 has a removable battery, X1 does not.
X220 has a longer battery life than the X1.
Both X220 and X1 have battery slices available.

Both X220 and X1 have no optical drives, but no dock is available for the X1 to add a bay for one.

X220 has more options for processors than the X1 does.
USB 3.0 is an option only on the X220 (with the Core i7).



To be honest, I'd pick either an X220 or a T420s.
X220 for mobility, battery life (with the slice attached, all-day computing is possible), and better IPS screen, T420s for more functionality and power (optical drive, discrete graphics option).

This is a repeat of complaints about X220 and X1 but 16:9 LCDs make both less appealing. Glossy LCD in X1 is even worse.

Give us more vertical pixels preferably in matte and IPS.

Display have real contrast ratio 118:1 only. The same story as X300/X301.
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Lenov ... 705.0.html

Worst display, heavy, no ssd, glossier display, average battery life. How should the x1 compete with a macbook air?

ssd_thinkpad wrote:Worst display, heavy, no ssd, glossier display, average battery life. How should the x1 compete with a macbook air?

Keyboard ?

mhschill wrote:My x301 is starting to give me problems so it might be time to upgrade. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the x1 v. x220? Is the x220 noticeably heavier? Does the screen seem much smaller? Thanks

If you do a lot of typing, the x220 looks like a better choice. My experience has been that laptops with (comparatively) flat, uncontoured keys (like the x1), especially with an uncontoured Caps Lock greatly increases my chance of error when typing. The x220 has a more traditional ThinkPad keyboard with properly contoured keys (I have been informed that it--like all x-series keyboards--is slightly smaller, though, which can also lead to greater chance of error).

Keyboard ?

At least one reviewer doesn't see it as an issue:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/t ... in;content

Keyboard may be better than expected but the rest of the hardware spec aren't good or attractive.

dsvochak wrote:At least one reviewer doesn't see it as an issue:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/t ... in;content

With all due respect to the reviewer, touching is believing. And I don't have one to test out.

What I do have is my experience on keyboards that look like that one, and one of the most common errors comes from the uncontured cPS lOCK WHICH LEADS MY TYPING TO LOOK LIKE THIS if I'm not paying attention.

I like Thinkpad keyboards. So Thinkpads are my primary machine for typing and editing, even if the displays are bad. For other kind of work, I use different machines.

It's too bad they couldn't keep X30x line going. Not sure X1 keyboard is improvement. Why change a good thing? Just figure out a way to sell it cheap and make money on the volume and put in some nice displays for a change.

And X220 review on the same site - contrast ratio 842:1.
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Lenov ... 703.0.html

Still don't understand why we had to wait several years to get notebook with useable display again

LG expanded their IPS fab line due to increase demand from Apple for iPad. Also came out with e-IPS which was cheaper and less power hungry than previous S-IPS or H-IPS. Finally slowing demand and price drop of LCD TVs meant that it made economic sense to produce notebook panels on the side.

So IPS panels were finally cheap enough for Lenovo accountants to sign off on a 1366x768 panel for X220. Incidentally iPads also have 1024x768 resolution. Same number of vertical pixels but in a 4:3 format. Have you noticed that there is no IPS option for T420, T420s, T520, and even X1? Larger panel means more pixels and price goes up quickly. (X1's gorilla glass requires different engineering for LCD panels. Also Lenovo probably figures that typical X1 users don't know better.)

As a comparison HP charges $550 for 10-bit 17" 1920x1200 IPS panel for HP 8740w. 1366x768 has 45% pixel count of the 1920x1200 panel and Lenovo is charging $50 extra. The price of 1366x768 IPS panels must be pretty darn close to the same sized TN panels. I think that we can thank Apple for choosing IPS for iPads.

sanjuro wrote:I think that we can thank Apple for choosing IPS for iPads.

They're not exactly revolutionary or outliers in this regard: scores of other small form factor devices use non-TN panels...

ThinkRob wrote:scores of other small form factor devices use non-TN panels...

That doesn't matter. The iPad was the first device to popularize IPS. I am not an Apple fanboy and don't even own a single Apple product, but I do thank Apple for their indirect role in getting Lenovo, Dell, HP etc. to bring back IPS.

dsvochak wrote:At least one reviewer doesn't see it as an issue:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-news/t ... in;content

Nigellus wrote: With all due respect to the reviewer, touching is believing. And I don't have one to test out.

What I do have is my experience on keyboards that look like that one, and one of the most common errors comes from the uncontured cPS lOCK WHICH LEADS MY TYPING TO LOOK LIKE THIS if I'm not paying attention.

My local Best Buy doesn't carry ThinkPads. But, they do have some Lenovos, and the G series laptops have a similar keyboard to the x-1 (at least by sight).

I tried it out.

I have to be honest, I don't know what they did differently--maybe it's the spacing--but I did not make any unusual errors when typing. And that is a big deal because, as I said, traditionally, that style of keyboard has made my typing more error-prone.

pianowizard wrote: That doesn't matter. The iPad was the first device to popularize IPS. I am not an Apple fanboy and don't even own a single Apple product, but I do thank Apple for their indirect role in getting Lenovo, Dell, HP etc. to bring back IPS.

Popularizing IPS was a positive benefit. We will see if thin and light AKA Macbook Air killers like X1 can deliver this time. Lenovo should be kicking itself for not finding the right formula. The X-series has been successful and X2xx have been decent sellers but not been perceived as a game changer.