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Fast Recommendations . .

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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wjbmd48
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:19 am
Location: Portland, OR

Fast Recommendations . .

#1 Post by wjbmd48 » Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:43 pm

Hi:

I'm looking for a replacement for the X40s we travel with. We do a bit of foreign pleasure travel, and have been using X40s with a lightweight version of encrypted linux (Lubuntu).

We use X40s because they're light enough to carry around, and cheap enough that if they get stolen or broken, it's not a big deal.

Unfortunately, even with an SSD HDD, they're becoming painfully slow.

So we're looking for something under 3 pounds, no optical needed, that is as fast as the T420s and X1 Carbon we use at home, and can be bought sans HDD/OS on eBay for under $100.

Does the 200 series fill the bill?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#2 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:28 pm

X61s.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

wujstefan
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Location: Tarnow, Poland

Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#3 Post by wujstefan » Tue Oct 09, 2018 3:59 am

X200 / X200s

I am using couple of those, great machines; last 12" before 16:9 became the only choice. $100 might be a bit narrow though. I'd say closer to $150 mark. X61s will definietely fit in the budget, albeit with the cost of bigger heat, worse battery life, worse screen brightness and lower overall performance.
Too many thinkpads not enough time!
(stable under reduction)

wjbmd48
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu Nov 28, 2013 11:19 am
Location: Portland, OR

Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#4 Post by wjbmd48 » Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:59 am

Thanks all, greatly appreciated!

Bill

bloovis
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Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 8:30 pm
Location: Rochester, VT
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Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#5 Post by bloovis » Sat Oct 13, 2018 8:33 am

I second the recommendation for an X200s. I run Linux Mint 18 on mine, and it's plenty fast. I also like the 1440x900 display resolution.
X201s (Linux Mint 20), T60p Frankenpad (Linux Mint 18), T450s (Linux Mint 19)

skx
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Posts: 242
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2018 6:25 pm
Location: Colombia

Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#6 Post by skx » Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:48 am

x220, still faster than light, i work permanently abroad in volatile contexts and my x220 is my best companion. not heavy, very solid and bloody fast running Debian Linux with 8gb ram and SSD.
ThinkPad X220: i5-2520M CPU 2.5GHz - 8GB RAM 1333 MHz - SSD 860 EVO 250GB - Debian - ME_cleaned
ThinkPad X230: i5-3320M CPU 3.3GHz - 8GB RAM 1600 MHz - SSD 860 EVO 500GB - Debian - ME_cleaned

wujstefan
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Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#7 Post by wujstefan » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:30 am

wjbmd48 wrote:
Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:43 pm
for under $100
skx wrote:
Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:48 am
x220 is my best companion. not heavy, very solid and bloody fast running Debian Linux with 8gb ram and SSD.
I don't think his is possible :)
Too many thinkpads not enough time!
(stable under reduction)

Billaboard
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Location: Cheshire, UK

Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#8 Post by Billaboard » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:41 am

The X220T I recently got in the UK cost just over 100 UK Pounds. It came with 4GB ram and a 500GB disk. I'd have thought that a non-T X220 in the US without HD ought to be in the $100 price range.
Now I've fitted the mSATA boot disk, it is really fast and I'm delighted with it. The mSATA does mean giving up WWAN, though.

CrazyTPFan
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Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#9 Post by CrazyTPFan » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:14 pm

I would go for a X201/X200s for a cheap replacement for travel.
Last edited by CrazyTPFan on Tue Oct 23, 2018 11:50 am, edited 2 times in total.

madicetea
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Location: California

Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#10 Post by madicetea » Thu Oct 18, 2018 12:13 am

Zach123 wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:14 pm
I would go for a X201/X200s for a cheap replacement for travel.
I'd also add a vote for X201 because the core-i series architecture ISA is the minimum required for most modern versions of guest OS running on your VM (VMWare, or VirtualBox).

It's why I upgraded my x200 in the first place. If you can support adding some storage drives and memory though, it may also be worth considering the x200 (classic) for its support of coreboot, etc.
MadIceTea, Thinkpad Enthusiast

Daily: X250 FHD
Museum: PC110 20MB, X61 T9300 SXGA+ LED
Donated: x2001 AFFS i5-530 (to my alma matter)
Past: 701Cs German, 535/X, 760E/XL, i-series 12/14xx, piano s30, R60e, X60, X61, T60, T61, X200 P8700, X121e

That chicken sure looks funny.

CrazyTPFan
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Re: Fast Recommendations . .

#11 Post by CrazyTPFan » Mon Oct 22, 2018 6:49 pm

I would also like to add that if you would like a super cheap 14.1" ThinkPad you can get a R400 like I did. It's more upgradeable than the X200s/X201. I got mine for $45 and upgraded the CPU and used a SSD with Debian Mate and it flies. It can also run Windows 10 perfectly fine. It also supports up to 8GB of ram.

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