"Ultimate" X220 obtained :) Looking for advice (*SMALL PIC*)

[dr_st]

After a long search, my "dream" X220 is finally in my possession.

At some point I will probably do a photo tour, with some history, musings, anecdotes, etc. But for now I'm still trying to decide about some modifications/upgrades, and have a few questions as well.

I had some very specific requirements for the "ultimate X220", which narrowed my selection and made the hunt longer:

* Core i7 (half for the CPU, half for the USB3 board)
* IPS screen
* All the goodies (camera, bluetooth, fingerprint)
* Must be a stock Tabook model, originally offered and sold in Israel, with an original Hebrew keyboard, and hopefully some remaining warranty

There were only two such model types ever offered for sale in Israel, the 4291-4BG, and the 4291-4CG. The only difference between them - the former is shipped with a 160G SSD, the latter with a 320GB HDD + ultrabase. But since these differences are simple extras / easily replaceable CRUs, I didn't care which one I end up with.

So, ironically, what I ended up with was a 4291-4BG, for which the previous owner replaced the stock SSD with a 320GB HDD and bought an ultrabase. Really making it a 4291-4CG.

And it still has warranty till next December, which is a nice bonus.

Here is a first pic of this newest Thinkpad in my collection, on its Ultrabase, after a fresh Win8 installation (just for fun to see how it goes; it will be replaced with the actual Win7 version licensed for this unit soon).



The long (and I mean, l-o-n-g!) search is finally over.

But now I'm thinking about upgrades.

Storage

An SSD in a modern PC is a must, so I'll definitely go down that route. Originally I was planning to remove the WWAN (which I am not likely to use), and replace it with mSATA SSD, keeping the main HDD as well. This will give me all the benefits of a fast SSD, while maximizing storage, and keeping the price low (because I can get a small 120-160GB SSD, instead of a 256GB+ which I have to get if it is to be used as an only drive.

However, replacing the stock disk with an SSD does have other advantages. I will get to keep the WWAN, just in case it ever becomes useful to me. The laptop will be lighter (don't know by how much, but I do imagine that SSD + WWAN weigh less than HDD + mSATA). Finally, I will get to reuse the 320GB 7200RPM drive in my old T60, which may really benefit from this upgrade, being still stuck with its embarassingly slow stock 120GB/5400RPM drive.

The question here is - do I need anything special to use the 7mm HDD from the X220 in the 9.5mm bay of the T60? The width and length should be the same, so it should fit, but will the gap make it unstable? I do see people mentioning 7mm to 9.5mm adapters here and there, so there must be some need in them, or is there?

And if indeed an adapter is needed and available - are they standard? Should I buy a 7mm SSD with a 9.5mm adapter included - will the same adapter be usable to put the X220 HDD in the T60, or can there be potential compatibility issues?

Battery

I would like to get a 4/6-cell battery to use in place of the 9-cell for situations where I don't need to work unplugged for long (which will be most of the time).

I understand that the original batteries of the X220 are the 29/29+/29++ which were replaced with 44/44+/44++ for the X230. IIRC the former will not charge in an X230 due to some missing circuitry, but the newer 44 series should work well in both systems, correct? Is there any downside to using the 44 series instead of the 29 series in an X220?

Among both the 29 series and 44 series I know some FRUs are made by Sanyo, some by LGC. Has anyone seen a Panasonic battery among them, and if so, what's the FRU?

[ajkula66]

After a long search, my "dream" X220 is finally in my possession.

Congrats on a very nice machine!

The question here is - do I need anything special to use the 7mm HDD from the X220 in the 9.5mm bay of the T60? The width and length should be the same, so it should fit, but will the gap make it unstable? I do see people mentioning 7mm to 9.5mm adapters here and there, so there must be some need in them, or is there?

You can get a thinner set of rubber rails, and that will do just fine. No adapter needed IMO. I've even used 7mm drives with 9.5mm rails and all was good.

Is there any downside to using the 44 series instead of the 29 series in an X220?

Not that I'm aware of.

Enjoy the newcomer!

[ZaZ]

Has anyone seen a Panasonic battery among them, and if so, what's the FRU?

I didn't see it myself, but I believe Erik had a Panasonic four-cell for his X220. Of course he had an ULV CPU too. I don't think they're handing out separate FRUs for each battery these days like they used to, but if I ever get another battery, that's what I'm going to look to get.

I vote for getting the mSATA SSD if you think it's unlikely you'd get WWAN. I've got the 80GB Intel and a 1TB WD hard drive. It's quite slick. You can always sell the mSATA if you decide you want WWAN.

The X220 is a terrific machine. I know this from experience.

[RealBlackStuff]

The question here is - do I need anything special to use the 7mm HDD from the X220 in the 9.5mm bay of the T60? The width and length should be the same, so it should fit, but will the gap make it unstable? I do see people mentioning 7mm to 9.5mm adapters here and there, so there must be some need in them, or is there?

Don't know this machine, but I guess it must be a nice one!
As to 7mm HDD in 9.5mm bay:
on one side the SATA connectors hold the SSD in place.
On the opposite short side, along the top of the SSD, just put a small strip of whatever you can find, as long as it is ca. 2.5mm thick and fits between the (mounted) rails.
Probably a piece of band-aid (or 2 on top) would do it, or a piece of self-adhesive foam weather stripping.
Reuse the original 9mm rails, the band-aid/strip will stop the other end from 'wobbling'.

[AJN]

The question here is - do I need anything special to use the 7mm HDD from the X220 in the 9.5mm bay of the T60? The width and length should be the same, so it should fit, but will the gap make it unstable? I do see people mentioning 7mm to 9.5mm adapters here and there, so there must be some need in them, or is there?

And if indeed an adapter is needed and available - are they standard?[/b] Should I buy a 7mm SSD with a 9.5mm adapter included - will the same adapter be usable to put the X220 HDD in the T60, or can there be potential compatibility issues?

I used small strips of foam tape to fill that gap, I don't think it's good if HDD is loose.

I have very similar X220 as yours (i7, IPS, Samsung 830 256gb, wwan and all other goodies), otherwise very good but batteries should last longer. Please let us know if you find them as Panasonic.

[dr_st]

I haven't seen / heard of a single Panasonic battery on latest Thinkpads, X220 included. The MSDS finder shows only Sanyo/LG/Sony batteries:
http://www.lenovo.com/social_responsibi ... Finder.pdf

With that said, I have a hunch it has something to do with the recent Panasonic/Sanyo merger. It is quite possible that all Panasonic/Sanyo batteries are now manufactured under the Sanyo brand, and it remains to be seen whether their longevity properties are more akin to those of old Panasonics or old Sanyos. Or (worse), it may be the luck of the draw / depend on FRU.

I would not assume that whatever we know of Panasonic vs Sanyo in the past (X6x/200/201 era) still holds. I plan to start tracking the performance of modern batteries, and hopefully some conclusions can eventually be reached.

[jcvjcvjcvjcv]

Congratulations on your new machine.

Yes, the newer batteries work in the older Thinkpads

The newer batteries are compatible with that fast charging they introduced with the newer models; the older batteries aren't. The new batteries are still fine with slow charging though.

That's why they now only supply the newer batteries: there is no drawback to use them in older systems.

As for SSD choice: an mSata SSD will be lighter than a 2.5" SSD. Also consider security: with one screwdriver you can pull the X220 main drive bay empty within 10 seconds; it's a bit harder to steal a mSata SSD since you need to take out the keyboard for that.

I don't know they they distributed the SATA-600 ports differently on the X220 vs the W520, but on the W520 the mSata slot is "only" SATA-300. If you like to get the most out of synthetic benchmarks....

Also: if you go for the mSata choice, you get to add a HDD very easily later on if you need more storage.

I don't know about data plans in Israel, but overhere it doesn't make any sense to have a 2nd dataplan (given you already have one for your phone) since that will be more expensive. Using dual SIM and putting one in the ThinkPad will make you unreachable for phone calls (unless your WWAN card can handle those?). Personally I use my smart phone as modem.
Since new laws on net neutrality overhere ISP's are no longer allowed to forbid tethering on data plans.

[dr_st]

These are all good points, jcvjcvjcvjcv. Thank you for your inputs.

Synthetic benchmarks is the one thing I could not care less about.

[Jason404]

Now that I have seen the atrocious future of ThinkPad with the new X1 Carbon, I am desperately looking out for another X220, as my previous one has been stolen.

It had IPS, fingerprint reader, webcam, SSD, 3 year guarantee, everything. The only thing not making it absolutely top-spec was the top speed i5 instead of i7 and 6-cell battery instead of 9-cell.