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Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

X200/X201/X220 (including equivalent tablet models) and X300/X301 Series
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farukhcasy2
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Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#1 Post by farukhcasy2 » Wed Apr 01, 2020 5:04 am

Hello, Everyone! I hope that's not too noobie question for this subreddit (I also must admit that my research was very small c: ), but here it goes: I am somewhat interested in buying a Thinkpad laptop, and x200 are the ones that would proably fulfill my need the best. They're not only small, but reasonably new in my eyes. I don't belive my eyes tho, so I'd like to get some opinions from people that actually know something about the subject. ¿Will these beauties be able to handle: -browsing web -watching HD videos in browser and locally -LibreOffice -some lightweightie gaming and emulation -basic movie editing -some virtual machining Proably asking for running useable VMs with GUI and stuff is too much at that tier, but I have found somewhere somebody saying that this machine would be able to do it ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I have also found opinions that x200 are unusable now, so that's another reason I decided to actually talk to people. Of course I'd like to put SSD and more RAM in it after I'd buy it, seems like it's a very good thing to do these days. (Also seems like C2D 2,26GHz version is the most popular there, therefore that probably could be the version I'd go with) Thank you for your time, Sincerely, argfddi

axur-delmeria
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#2 Post by axur-delmeria » Wed Apr 01, 2020 11:12 am

Personally, I'd suggest an X230 or newer as a daily driver, especially if your preferred operating system is Windows 10.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#3 Post by TPFanatic » Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:16 pm

The Core 2 Duo and limited screen space will impede multitasking. Going up to an X220/X230 will solve the CPU bottleneck however you're still stuck with a useless resolution screen. If you want 12" go for an X250 or newer with an FHD screen. If you accept 14" try T450 or newer, again with FHD screen. Make sure the unit has at least 8GB RAM and an SSD.

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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#4 Post by dr_st » Wed Apr 01, 2020 1:08 pm

Well, you can mod the X220/X230 to take an FHD screen, but it does require some tinkering, you give up one of the dock DisplayPort outputs, and may even cost more than getting an X250 or newer in the first place.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#5 Post by TPFanatic » Wed Apr 01, 2020 2:52 pm

It's possible, as are IPS mods for T420/T430/T420s/T430s and trackpad mods for **40 gen, I only don't recommend them because of the modding involved. Unless OP really wants a classic keyboard, socketed CPU, or some other decontented feature, the newer machines will be good enough if not better performing from the get go, and they offer better video decoding, newer batteries, more efficiency, and stronger graphics performance.

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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#6 Post by ilakast » Wed Apr 01, 2020 5:09 pm

Do you mean 2020? :D

I would suggest an X201 using an X200s screen 1440x900 res
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#7 Post by Grabber5.0 » Mon Apr 06, 2020 9:07 pm

My x230 works great still.

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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#8 Post by 31336 » Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:42 pm

X220 here, still going strong.

Screen resolution (1366×768) is fine for its dimensions (12.5"), considering Windows still doesn't handle DPI scaling well.

I'd only consider the 2560×1440 13.3" mod (for 200% scaling) but that one's more cumbersome.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#9 Post by wujstefan » Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:55 pm

My X200 runs great at W7. Note that it has 16:10 screen after all, and better build quality than any other newer thinkpad.

To answer your question: yes, it is suitable for everyday work, unless you like gaming or need great CPU power. Equipped with SSD and 8 gigs of RAM it could still work for itself.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#10 Post by TonyJZX » Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:01 am

I used to have a habit of using a particular laptop for a company i consulted for and I used it for the duration I was assigned to that company and then after I was moved on to another client I got a new laptop, a 'new' laptop might have been a t400s an x200 or a t420 etc. This was a while back when win7 was in full swing.

I used an x200 for almost 18 months. Battery didnt matter that much as I was wall bound. I didnt use an ext. LCD much, just a kbd and mouse.

My x200 was a typical 4gb machine, I think a P8700 dual 2.5 and a small 120gb ssd. Intel 5300 wireless.

This was more than enough for daily duties granted it was normal office email and some remote work, sometimes cisco thru the usb console cable, left the unit one and remoted into the laptop from home.

I found performance of win7 to have gotten worse thru the years, Back in 2015 it was fine but with the slew of updates it gotten a lot worse.

I didnt have an issue with the small kbd. The 1,280 x 800 screen was fine. I did like the 1,600 x 900 screens more on the t420 and of course FHD is way too much now.

I have sort of replaced the x200 with a HP 2570p which is miles ahead except for the 768p screen.

I feel that an x200 is a fine choice is you can stand the win7 performance, I hear Win10 should be better and its free choice with the SLIC inside!

Linux even better. I do love the x200. Any machine that is that reliable and just works in critical situations day in day out has my respect.

Also I think that machine was free. Ex lease banger I got as no working and just minor fixes and new ssd got it going.

btw. the reason I stopped using it is because it finally died due to fan error. The repair method to replace the fan is a doosy... you need to pull the motherboard out and I gave up.

In effect a machine this old is effectively disposble.

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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#11 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:26 am

Most of my laptops run W7/SP1, none of them have had any Micro$haft updates since 2016.
If I ever need to (re)install the OS, I just install it from the W7 Recovery, uninstall the bloatware and set Updates to never.
Works like a charm.
So as far as I'm concerned, X200 would still be viable, provided it has a 1440x900 screen.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#12 Post by cockroach » Sat Apr 25, 2020 7:47 am

I'm still using the X201 (which is only marginally faster) with the "bad" 1280x800 screen daily. If I need higher resolutions, I just connect an external screen (via DP on the dock).

So yes, it is still suitable, it all depends on what you want to do with it (producing videos might be a bit boring). Plus, a decent OS, an SSD and a bit of extra RAM certainly help.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#13 Post by ilakast » Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:11 am

It's a pity the OP joined and asked the question on April's fool and never turned up again - probably a spam account but why :?: :!:
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#14 Post by 2f1cafc » Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:48 am

For some odd reason it seems to have been copied from a Reddit post from 2019 (which makes more sense of the fact that the OP mentions subreddit in the post, and also the date of 2019):

https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comme ... ing_daily/

weird.

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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#15 Post by cadillacmike68 » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:13 pm

reddit - figures. I did miss the post date though.

Joke's on us I guess.
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Re: Are Thinkpads x200 suitable for being daily drivers in 2019?

#16 Post by dr_st » Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:26 pm

OK, whatever then. :)
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