worth upgrading?

[j-dawg]

hi all,

i'm still rocking the X61 tablet i bought way back in early 2008. it has been an admirable performer. the fan is rattling and it's driving me nuts so i'm going to replace it today. but having paid like $25 for a new fan, it kind of begs the question if it's worth it anymore. it's quite solid, but the casing is getting pretty cracked up and the motherboard is starting to squeal a bit again.

i guess what i'm asking is, is there anything for $300 or so (incl. used) that will be a good upgrade to this old computer? DDR2 is too expensive now to justify adding RAM, and though i do have an SSD lying around i'm not sure it'll make much difference for most of what i do (ie use a browser).

since i'm back in graduate school and in the future may have to carry a computer around with me, i would put a premium on size, so the X1xx series seems pretty nice. an X201 or whatever is within my budget in the bigger-X range would also be an option. but with either of those i think that the performance benefit may not be that great.

of course, this machine is getting rough around the edges, but it is far from broken-down. sticking with it for a few more years is always an option.

any thoughts?

[emeraldgirl08]

Hi J-Dawg. Here are my thoughts on your stich.

As far as the x-series ThinkPads go I have owned/used the X200 non-tablet and the x200tablet (currently). I really liked the x200 form-factor. It had served me well for a couple of semesters in college and for the first-year of university. That x200 is now in use at my parents home. I now have an x200tablet which I was curious about and as my studies are in the sciences I figured it would be nice to write mathematical and chemical notation on. It works very well however IMO the 8-cell battery adds a little too much weight and girth to it. It just feels too clunky for me in combination with the items I take with me to campus every class day. I recently purchased a 4-cell battery and the reduction in weight and girth is noticeable and welcomed by me It still is not the lightest laptop but it is doable for now (the wide angle LED screen is also a decent bonus). The 4-cell is definitely contingent upon usage patterns of course as well. My pattern this semester has placed me near outlets a good deal of the time which makes the 4-cell workable for my current situation. I judge the performance of the x200tablet on how well it can run various programs and streaming while on battery since that is when power savings will run it at a slower clock speed (?). Most of the software I have had to use have been lightweight and ones that are specialized for lab equipment have their own computers for data retrieval and analysis. One factor for me was the ability to stream Netflix smoothly on battery power. IIRC apparently streaming Netflix seems to tax older ThinkPads- especially on battery power therefore if my x200tablet can stream it fine on battery then I feel it is not too shabby for older and cheaper tech. One thing that I also need to mention is that my x200 has a PVA (?) screen (upgraded by a forum member here) so I am not sure how the quality of the x200 TFT screens are in general. Another thing to consider is that the x200 non-tablets have the option of full-voltage laptop CPUs. My x200tablet has a low-voltage SL9400 core2duo (still works fine).

If you find you have the money, no objection to a non-tablet, and a 16:9 ratio screen the x220 might be a good candidate for what you are looking for. It does come with the option of a factory-installed IPS screen, option of a slice battery for extended battery usage, more efficient power management, and a more recent CPU and chipset architecture. I would also think that it is very light with the smaller battery and as such it should be more power efficient and could easily outlast our x61t and x200tablet battery. I plan on upgrading to the x220 non-tablet at some time in the future when prices come down. Good luck

[j-dawg]

yes - i find myself using the tablet features of this computer infrequently enough to make it not worth the extra weight and LV processor.

i may also end up running engineering software on this thing (or i may not, i dunno) so a not-crappy processor might be nice.

all that said, i do really like the x130/x131 and would consider one. is it going to be a performance upgrade from the x61 tablet?

[axur-delmeria]

all that said, i do really like the x130/x131 and would consider one. is it going to be a performance upgrade from the x61 tablet?

If it's a Core i3 1.4GHz (or faster), then yes, it's going to be a performance upgrade.
Can't say the same with the LCD panel though.

[rjwilmsi]

For your budget and based on used availability online, the X131e and X130e are not widely available, given that the underpowered AMD E or Celeron models aren't worth having in my opinion. The X200s is generally available, here in the UK at around £100 to £150 used, plus £10 or £15 for more RAM and £15 for a charger if not supplied. That is within your budget.

You already have an SSD you say, having an SSD is definitely worth it for all use, including improving battery life. In terms of performance, an SSD makes a big difference, and if you moved from the L7300 CPU in the X61 to the L9400 in the X200s then it's a ~40% bump per http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Even better if you can find an X201s within budget as the i5 CPU will be a further performance bump.

The X200s doesn't have the best screen (nor does the X130e/X131e), fine for internet, office & development use, not great for movie use due to poor viewing angles and muted colours. The X200 tablet has a much better screen but is 500 grammes heavier than the X200s (when X200s has the 4 cell battery), so I have the X200s for travel.

Depends on what you prioritize in terms of screen quality, weight, performance. You can't have all 3 for your budget (mine was similar so I went X200s for travel and X200 tablet at home, SSDs in both so performance fine, then weight versus screen).

[j-dawg]

oh well. much as i think it's very cute, i guess i'll have to consider the X13x out of my reach for now.

i will consider the X200s but to me it seems like buying a five-year-old model to replace my six-year-old computer doesn't make a lot of sense. i might be able to wangle an x201 for < $300 but i would then need to consider the possibility of needing a new battery, new carrying sleeve, more RAM, etc.....i think it's best if i just hold off for now. it's not that $300 is a lot of money or that it's not worth investing more so much as what's the point at which it'd be a better idea to just spend 2x the money and get a computer that will be useful for a correspondingly longer time.

also, i must admit i've become attached to this old beast, and there's a bit of a sporting aspect to seeing how long i can use this thing for. seven, eight years on one laptop? i'm already getting comments from time to time about how weird it is that it's not a widescreen.

[j-dawg]

bump with a question:

it looks like an x220 with the i5 can be had on ebay for about tree fiddy from one particular seller, which puts it back in contention, especially as i have been going nuts trying to run cad software on VMWare.

will i hate the non-IPS screen? i've heard bad things about them, and i am coming from the (in my opinion) fantastic IPS unit in the X61 tablet, but the ones on ebay do not have the IPS display. is the X220 non-IPS display a Thing To Be Avoided? i rarely watch movies or have the compute anywhere that isn't a desk, so i think the viewing angles are probably not a big deal. is there any other downside to the non-IPS screen?

[ajkula66]

will i hate the non-IPS screen? i've heard bad things about them, and i am coming from the (in my opinion) fantastic IPS unit in the X61 tablet,

You probably will.

but the ones on ebay do not have the IPS display. is the X220 non-IPS display a Thing To Be Avoided? i rarely watch movies or have the compute anywhere that isn't a desk, so i think the viewing angles are probably not a big deal. is there any other downside to the non-IPS screen?

Spend a few bucks more and get an unit with an IPS panel. Losing resolution is bad enough, no need to go with a TN panel IMO.