x220 with an i7 or x230 with an i5?

[andwk]

I am currently looking into purchasing my first Thinkpad to replace my Dell laptop . I have pretty much narrowed it down to two laptops: the x220 or the x230.

The machines are about the same price from the seller I am looking at. The x220 has an i7, but the x230 has an i5. I am going to be doing a lot of photo editing and developing on the laptop. I was wondering which one would be better for me. I plan on putting 16gb of ram in the machine along with an SSD and a HDD.

All help is appreciated!

Thanks.

[brchan]

i7 models get you usb 3.0, if that is important. You will also see a slight improvement over the i5, but both are capable for what you intend to run.

Lastly, make sure to get one with the IPS screen (1366x768). There are mods to upgrade to a 1080p ips screen and even 13.3" 1080p ips one.

[dr_st]

The mods to upgrade to a FHD (1080p) screen on this model are far from simple, IIRC.

brchan is right - get the one that has an IPS screen. If you are not sure, post the machine model/type, and often you can figure out from it.

If both have the IPS screen, then the major difference between them will be the keyboard. The keyboard has been changed significantly between X220 and X230 - different style (island type keys) and different layout. If this is not something you care about, then either will do. Also, thanks to some very clever and persistent hackers, there now exists a mod (reflashing the embedded controller) that allows the classic keyboard to be installed in an X230, negating this potential downside.

Performance-wise, the 2nd generation i7 and the 3rd generation i5 should be very close, and they will both handle 16GB of RAM just fine.

One possible advantage of the X230 is that it allows up to 3 active screens simultaneously (2 external + laptop LCD) or 3 external via the appropriate dock. The X220 is limited to 2 screens only.

[andwk]

The mods to upgrade to a FHD (1080p) screen on this model are far from simple, IIRC.

brchan is right - get the one that has an IPS screen. If you are not sure, post the machine model/type, and often you can figure out from it.

If both have the IPS screen, then the major difference between them will be the keyboard. The keyboard has been changed significantly between X220 and X230 - different style (island type keys) and different layout. If this is not something you care about, then either will do. Also, thanks to some very clever and persistent hackers, there now exists a mod (reflashing the embedded controller) that allows the classic keyboard to be installed in an X230, negating this potential downside.

Performance-wise, the 2nd generation i7 and the 3rd generation i5 should be very close, and they will both handle 16GB of RAM just fine.

One possible advantage of the X230 is that it allows up to 3 active screens simultaneously (2 external + laptop LCD) or 3 external via the appropriate dock. The X220 is limited to 2 screens only.

Neither of them have a IPS display. I was looking in to purchasing an IPS display to put in the laptop. Wouldn't it just be a matter of taking the display out and putting the new one in? I'm pretty sure that the cables are the same.

[dr_st]

I believe so. It's a fairly easy swap.

[Puppy]

X220 has keyboard but there is no Windows 10 drivers support by Intel (nor Lenovo) for X220 CPU/HD3000 generation, the support begins for X230 and newer.

[hhhd1]

Both should have USB 3 and the similar CPU performance,
I'd go with the x230 for the improved iGPU, which could be beneficial for some graphics software.