Downgrade rights and m.2 SSDs

[kevinc]

I'm considering an X240, new or possibly from the Lenovo outlet, depending on condition and specs. I have a few questions that I hope some of you Thinkpad Whisperers can help with.
Some configurations have Win 7 "preinstalled through Downgrade rights in in Win 8.1" What OS is loaded on the machine? Is it loaded with Win 8.1 and then I need to provide my own licensed copy of Win 7 copy or is it loaded with Win 7 and I'll get media or a partition with 8.1 available so I can upgrade later? I assume the recovery partition is WIN 8. Correct? I have a legitimate copy of Win 7. What do downgrade rights give me that making an image of the Win 8 install, deleting Win 8 and then installing Win 7 doesn't?

I've seen some X240 configurations with a 500GB HDD and a 16 GB m.2 SSD. Is the OS and Lenovo software installed on the 16GB SSD? Where is the recovery partition? What is the best approach if I want to upgrade to a larger SSD later?

Any notes, warnings or cautions?

Thanks

[Brad]

Not sure if this will clear it up. This is the label I have seen on the outside of some ThinkPads possibly with downgrade rights...

This system in preinstalled with Windows 7 Pro software and also comes with a license and media for Windows 8 Pro software. You may only use one version of the Windows software at a time. Switching between versions will require you to uninstall one version and install the other version.

The M.2 SSD's I think are for system cache and all other files on the larger drive.

Brad

[ajkula66]

Do bear in mind that the 42mm M2 form factor that Lenovo uses currently offers a *very* limited scope of compatible SSDs. It will get better as the time goes on, but right now there are still not too many major players in that game...

[kevinc]

Do bear in mind that the 42mm M2 form factor that Lenovo uses currently offers a *very* limited scope of compatible SSDs. It will get better as the time goes on, but right now there are still not too many major players in that game...

Thanks. I didn't realize that. I was still thinking in terms of mSATA. Does Lenovo configure the 16GB M2 drive as the boot drive?

[ajkula66]

Does Lenovo configure the 16GB M2 drive as the boot drive?

No. It's a cache drive.

[kevinc]

Do bear in mind that the 42mm M2 form factor that Lenovo uses currently offers a *very* limited scope of compatible SSDs. It will get better as the time goes on, but right now there are still not too many major players in that game...

Thanks for the info on M.2 SSDs. I picked up an X240 at the outlet store. it's a NEW machine, I5-4300U, 4GB RAM, IPS screen and Win 7 Pro through downgrade rights. It has a 500GB HDD with the 16GB M2.2 SSD. AC wireless. Only a 3 cell battery though. All in for $816, plus tax and tip.
I had originally assumed I would swap out the HDD for an SSD and go to 8 GB RAM, but I'll wait and see how it performs with the M.2 cache. It will probably be fine for my purposes. There may be a less expensive solution than going to a full SSD. MyDigital has a 128GB M.2 SSD which is getting good reviews. The included software allows partitioning. That allows you to run the cache on part of the drive while running the OS and booting from the 2d partition. It got an excellent review from thessdreview.com when tested on a Lenovo Y510 laptop. Priced at $99 on Amazon. The 42mm form factor limits maximum capacity to 128GB.

[ajkula66]

I'm going to presume that the HDD is a 5400rpm unit...if that's the case, you'd be wise to look into getting something faster that would do the rest of machine justice...

Good luck.

[kevinc]

I'm going to presume that the HDD is a 5400rpm unit...if that's the case, you'd be wise to look into getting something faster that would do the rest of machine justice...

Good luck.

No. 7200 RPM. I'm curious how it will perform with the cache drive.

[ajkula66]

No. 7200 RPM. I'm curious how it will perform with the cache drive.

I'm not a big believer in cache drives, but the 7200rpm spinners of today are pretty darn fast on their own.