Thinkpad X20 : Pro & cons ? ••• /!\ Pics inside /!\

[WarMachine]

Hello,

I will buy an X20 on saturday.

What are the pros and cons about this machine ?

For me :

- Pros :

Solid, light, good keyboard, good screen (mine will be an XGA unit),

- Cons :

Will only accept 320 MB RAM, hinges problems reported (any means to fix that if I have the problem ?).

What else ?

Here are pics of this beast :

http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5357.JPG (51.49 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5358.JPG (42.83 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5359.JPG (35.36 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5360.JPG (47.73 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5361.JPG (42.59 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5362.JPG (47.17 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5364.JPG (32.45 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5365.JPG (38.27 KB)
http://sidoine.org/~julien/x20/DSCN5366.JPG (61.29 KB)

Specs :

PIII 600 SS,
320 MB PC100 SDR-SDRAM,
HDD : 20 GB,
Ethernet + Modem,
W2K Licence and OS installed,
20 to 30 mn battery

Thx !

W.

[pianowizard]

- Pros :
Solid, light, good keyboard, good screen (mine will be an XGA unit)

Add one more: very beautiful!

- Cons :
Will only accept 320 MB RAM

I have been using a T23 with 1.13GHz PIII, 256MB PC133 RAM, 60GB 7200rpm HDD and Win 2K, and it feels quite fast. 256MB is not bad at all for Win 2K. If you plan on using Win 2K on your X20, 320MB will be plenty. If you upgrade the HDD to 7200rpm, the X20 will probably feel almost as fast as my T23.

[WarMachine]

Thanx for your answer, PianoWizard.

Yes, I forgot to mention that the X20 is [censored] sexy !

I plan to use a 5400 rpm HDD - I will probably buy a Spinpoint 40 GB Unit, or a 40 GB Seagate 5400.2), as I'll not have much money to afford a 7200 rpm one (50€ maxi).

And I will probably install Windows XP on it. Well I'll see. I love 2K, but the fact it's no longer supported by MS is bad, IMO...

I've used Windows XP during a long time with only 256 MB RAM, so, I will not be disappointed with 320 MB !

With my 1st 600 laptop, I have done a Windows 2000 installation which used 35 MB of RAM at the startup. My lightest installation ever, even as light as an NT4 installation !

Compared to the 600, what is the build quality ? I've heard that keyboard is very good too, and that the machine has no flex.

Is that true ?

Is it really silent ?
Does it run hot or not ?

Do you know how to fix the hinges if they're faulty ? (I suppose the system is the same than on the 600 ?).

What's the material of the cover ? Magnesium ? Titanium ? Plastic ?
Does it have rubber cover and bezel, like the 600 series ?

Yhe laptop can accept CF cards. Is there a capacity limitation (It would be weird, but who knows) ?

Is that possible to boot on a CF card ? If that's possible, has someone tried to install an OS on a CF card ?

Thx again.



W.

[Terrahawk]

I have an X20, but it is the celeron model with a SVGA display (I don't mind the celeron but I'd like XGA). I quite like it, apart from the fact I run into CPU speed limitations before I hit any other bottlenecks, including memory! I am running Windows XP and have 320 MB of RAM.

In response to your questions:
There is an extremely small amount of flex in the front-to-back direction but you have to actually try to bend it that way - under normal circumstances, carrying it with one hand on one side shows no problems and no flex. It feels solid.

It does run silently even when the fan is running. Beware though, that various versions of the embedded firmware run the CPU fan differently and some can cause your CPU fan to tick annoyingly. You may want to check this out by running something that loads up the CPU a bit until the fan comes on. I fixed it on mine by soldering some large capacitors across the power pins leading to the fan.

My celeron 500 model does not run hot, even under heavy load. MobileMeter claims the CPU gets up to 73 degrees C under heavy load but you don't tend to feel it. Remove the load and the CPU temperature will drop to the mid fifties in seconds and slowly cool to the low thirties when idle. Under typical use, the CPU temperature is in the mid forties. A SpeedStep processor (the P3/600) may behave differently.

I think the cover is the titanium impregnated stuff that the T series is made of. The palmrest appears to be coated with the rubbery stuff.

I have only ever used 256 MB or smaller cards with the CF slot but I hear that it can be used with MicroDrives, which are 1GB or larger. I've never tried booting off one but since it shows up as an IDE drive, I can't see why not.

[pianowizard]

I love 2K, but the fact it's no longer supported by MS is bad, IMO...

It's still supported by Microsoft, until 2010.

I had three X20's, one X21 and two X22's. All of their displays had a play of between 0.5 and 1 inch, which didn't bother me at all. Beyond this zone of low resistance, the hinges felt pretty tight.

[The Spirit of X21]

Congratulations on your purchase of an X20. I have a beatup X20 at the moment, but my first ThinkPad was an X21 (see my user name) and I had a wonderful time using it. As pianowizard said, a little play with the hinges is normal and nothing to worry about. If you ever find the funds, I would highly recommend a 7200rpm upgrade if you use it regularly. I have been very impressed with what the added drive speed can do for an older machine.

[WarMachine]

Mmmmmmmmh, that's why I love this forum !

Thank you very much, guys !!!

Speed and quality !

All of these answers tend to say me that I will not regret my purchase.

I would like to buy a 7200 rpm HDD, but they are a bit pricy, and I read that this type of HDD transmitted vibrations to the chassis (especially the 7k60, which I would probably buy, as it's the cheaper one available here - no, I will never buy a refurbished HDD ! ).

Vibrators are made for girls !

I will purchase The Beast on saturday. What must I look before paying the bill ? Are there signs of weakness well known on this machine ?

Thx again !!!

W.

[lightweight]

For what it's worth as an x22 owner, I cannot help but eye the x3., x4. and x6. series not because of performance upgrades (I mostly use my notebook as an ssh client, which is not processor intensive) but because I think the thinner bezels are sexier than mine. The bezel around the x2. series screen feels unnecessarily wide on an otherwise wonderful machine.

[The Spirit of X21]

The bezel around the x2. series screen feels unnecessarily wide on an otherwise wonderful machine.

Interesting. I always thought the x3 series machines lacked most in the style department because of their boxiness, but to each his own...

[lightweight]

For clarity, I have only seen x3. x4. and x6. in pictures, by the way. The bezel width is my only complaint in terms of looks and use. Grass is always greener...

[WarMachine]

Thick bezel ? Not a problem for me.

But you're not the first person to complaint about that, I admit.

I just purchase the X20 because I don't have one at the moment, it's for my growing collection.

My choice is not driven by the performances of the laptop.

I've an Office desktop to play games, the laptops do al the other things (ie surf, watch DVD, listen music, and even old games), and they're sufficient enough. A C2D CPU would not be interesting for what I plan to do with my machines.

What is very important, OTOH, is the fact that the X20 is light and small.

Hmmmm, what's the autonomy with standard battery ?

W.

[qviri]

The bezel around the x2. series screen feels unnecessarily wide on an otherwise wonderful machine.

Interesting. I always thought the x3 series machines lacked most in the style department because of their boxiness, but to each his own...

As an owner of both, if I could have the X31's innards in the X21 casing, I'd go for it, thicker bezel or not. The palmrest material is nicer on the X21, and it seems a lot thinner, even though it actually isn't.

To be fair, I like X31's clear plate on both sides of bottom of the lid and the exposed metal hinges. The browser keys are pretty handy too.

[pianowizard]

The bezel width is my only complaint in terms of looks and use.

I used a TP240 (which has a very wide display bezel) for over half a year before getting my first X2*, so perhaps that's why I didn't find the X2*'s bezel wide at all.

I would like to buy a 7200 rpm HDD, but they are a bit pricy, and I read that this type of HDD transmitted vibrations to the chassis...Vibrators are made for girls !

But don't you want lots of girls to beg you to loan the X20 to them? LOL!

[lightweight]

Hot.

[Quattro]

My first thinkpad was an X20. Great little machine, and still not bad for basic XP tasks, provided the RAM is maxed out.

I went from an X20 to a X22, T23, T30, X24, X30, and now finally, to the X31. Don't regret a single one.

[WarMachine]

Thanx for this information.

H-2, I'm in ebullition !!!



W.

[WarMachine]

I've got it !!!



Wouhaaaaaaah, it's small, light, and absolutely beautiful !!!

It appears to be in better shape than in the pics !!!

I cleaned it up before starting it, at 1 meter, it seems like new !!!

I'm so happy !!!

Pics to come soon, of course.

I'll try to install XP !

(Pffffft, why "try", I will install XP ! )

W.

[Terrahawk]

XP will work fine

I have it running on mine, even with the visual themes enabled. It does get a little sluggish every now and then, but one does expect that (mine is a celeron 500)

[WarMachine]

I'm the kind of guy who deactivate everything he doesn't need. So, I know I'll have a snappy installation.

I'll perhaps try to deactivate the pagefile.sys file. I've never done it on a PC without less than 512 MB, but I would like to see how it runs (When I have finished to optimize my system, it generally take ca. 80MB...).



W.

[WarMachine]

Well, I've done my XP installation...

It runs well. 60MB without nothing loaded, and 80MB with the antivirus (NOD32), and 2 or 3 other softwares (SuperCleaner, TaskSwitch XP, and RegProt).

But the HDD is noisy and sloooooooooooow.

I'll définately buy another... And reinstall XP !

[WarMachine]

I've got the pics !

(Click to enlarge)







W.

[The Spirit of X21]

That's a nice machine you have there, WM.

[WarMachine]

Yes, that's true !

The more I use it, the more I love it !

Thx !

W.