Thinkpads Forum

So I'm late to the 2-in-1 game, having looked down on such contraptions for the past few years, but after playing with a X220t that I got for cheap, I am now a believer. However, as far as I can determine, there isn't anything in the current ThinkPad lineup that fulfills the attributes that make the X220t (AFAIK X230t has the same chassis--just updated CPU and different keyboard) so attractive to me:

• Built-in Ethernet
• Built-in VGA
• SODIMM (ideally 2 of them)
• Replaceable storage
• Built-in digitizer
• <14" in size
• Tablet mode
• ThinkPad keyboard and TrackPoint

What do you guys think? Given that X220t/X230t are fairly desirable on the used market, I'm surprised that Lenovo discontinued the format.

Hmm... do you feel that you need a new laptop, or is a "just curious" post?

I've got the x230 (non-tablet), with an i7, 12gb ram and an SSD.
Using it for heavier office work (doc's, pdf's and ppt's with images up to 50'ish mb, sometimes multiple open at a time), I can't really see what the x240 and x250 could do better than the x230. Moreover, they only have 1 ram slot.
I think that this would go for the x220 as well, if you got the i7/USB3.0 combo.

As for the tablet versions, I don't have any experience with the Lenovo/Thinkpad Yoga series, or Helix, but before the Ipad, there were only a few reliable brands of tablet computers. Now that tablets are getting lighter and smarter fast, I think the market is moving away from the x-tablets. If people need more computing power than what the tablet offers, they'd need a secondary laptop.

Hurstbridge wrote:Hmm... do you feel that you need a new laptop, or is a "just curious" post?

Actually both, as I will explain.

I have a maxed out X230i, which, apart from the i3 processor and TN screen, is just about perfect for most workdays, so there isn't an immediate need for a new laptop. However, I've grown to really appreciate being able to turn a full functional laptop into a tablet that takes up much less physical space when I'm in an airplane seat, and using it strictly as a reading device (with occasional text input) when I'm in a meeting. For those purposes, I find the X220t wanting because of the poor battery life (at most 4 hours with a 52+ battery--I'm used to getting 8+ hours out of a laptop) and the incredible amount of heat (and fan noise) it puts out compared to post 2013 laptops.

When I look at the current ThinkPad lineup, the Yoga series is closest to what I want to have, but it doesn't have built-in Ethernet nor VGA, and the battery life is not particularly impressive relative to other Broadwell U laptops.

Saxphile wrote:and the incredible amount of heat (and fan noise) it puts out compared to post 2013 laptops.

IDK. Having owned several X220 tablets of various configurations I really don't recall the fan being noisy or the machine hot unless running under really heavy load. The cooling system of the ThinkPad in question might need to be looked at. With that being said, i7 units do run warmer than the i5 ones.

I bought the X220t refurbished but it looks very tidy to me (I've opened it to install a mSATA SSD). The air coming out of the vent is actually hot so the CPU is actually sucking a decent amount of juice. Reminds me of my Nehalem i7 MacBook Pro...

Saxphile wrote:Reminds me of my Nehalem i7 MacBook Pro...

Then you know there's a problem. It shouldn't. Not by a long stretch.

Okay. I was wondering about it because my X230 is absolutely quiet--didn't think it was that big a difference between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge. I'll keep an eye on CPU usage and see if something is lurking in the background.

Given that any *20 series machine is 4 years old - or thereabouts - now, re-pasting the CPU would probably not be a bad idea.

Well found my culprit: The Audible app for Windows 10. In addition to not working (no sound), it was also ramping up CPU in the background. For some reason it didn't show up in Task Manager (is it because it's a WinApp?), and I only discovered its CPU usage with App History in Task Manager.

Also, you can try to adjusting max CPU usage and fan speed, as I've described here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 63#p766116

Otherwise, I'd go for the x230t with the best specs I could find.

I actually bought the X220t because I'm not super happy about the keyboard on my X230i. It's perfectly usable but I type noticeably slower on it than the old style keyboard. X230t is also really hard to find through typical refurb channels, and the low screen resolution does put me off paying good money for one. Having said that, I will keep an eye out for a top-spec one, so thanks for the advice.

I switched back to ThinkPads (was a Mac power user for 10+ years) because I don't like the direction that Apple's hardware is going in. The increasing use of proprietary parts and removal of physical connectivity is very unfriendly to power users and will encourage short disposal cycles for laptops that we already have for phones since they won't be upgradeable. Having been an Apple fanboi for more than 10 years, I look at the Retina MacBook, and I see what future Apple laptops will look like--not a product line that I will be willing to fork over lots of money for. In a significant way, Apple's pursue of high margin has affected its product planning, and Apple knows it can get away with this because it no longer needs the power users that stuck with it through the early OS X releases (anything before 10.6 really was infuriating). It can now count on brand conscious customer to buy its products simply because it is the newest thing that carries an Apple logo (the same people who lease stripped down BMW 320 for $499 a month). The only power users that Apple acknowledges nowadays are the creative professionals (particularly those self-employed or in small studios) since they're essential a captive audience. The one thing Apple still does better than anyone else, and everyone needs to admit this, is their touchpads. Since I prefer TrackPoints anyway, it's not an issue for me, but I would still choose an Apple laptop over any non-ThinkPad laptop for that single reason.

It is disappointing to see that Lenovo is essentially taking the same direction with their more non-traditional product lines (i.e., Yoga and X1 Carbon). I understand that even Lenovo can't bend the laws of physics, but I also don't really care if my computer is 0.03" at its thinnest point. That gets old fast, and the inevitable sharp edge annoys the crap out of me. I hope that at the very least Lenovo will keep the T series the way it is now, although I wouldn't be surprised if the VGA port is replaced with HDMI in T460s.

At least I have the retro ThinkPad to look forward to. Here's hoping they don't make us pay $5000 like for the 701C.