X31 user share your experiences

[ThinkPadX40]

technical features

efficiency reliabity so on sahare your machine[/b]

[Txiasaeia]

X31 1.6GHz Banias, 256x2 RAM, Intel 2200/b WLAN, 40GB 4200 RPM HD, gigabit internet, secure chip.<P>

Extremely reliable machine. Have been using almost every day for the last six months, both with battery and without, and have been loving it. Keyboard is absolutely fantastic, and I've got big hands. Screen size and resolution is good enough for me (papers). Light enough to take with me wherever I go. I love it!

[mpcook]

I have upgraded to a Hitachi 7200rpm 60Gb and 1Gb ram. Love my machine, love the keyboard, the screen is fine for me as well. I use this machine easily 8 - 10 hours a day or more, I travel among 3 offices plus out of town trips, size and weight are perfect, I was able to use my T21 docking stations and use the T21 CD and floppy drives in the ultrabase. With the upgraded ram and hard drive, I can do major database work and number crunching with statistical software just fine, plus all the usual MS Office software and etc. I prefer the smaller size and weight over the T series.

-Mike

[verktyg]

I bought an X31 2885RGU with a 1.6 Pentium M and 512MB of memory last month to replace a 240X and a T20. I added another 512MBs and a 2nd battery. It came with the X3 Base including a Combo DVD-CD-RW Ultrabay drive. I didn't need the Base or drive because I already have one of these drives and an IBM Portable Drivebay 2000 but this model was lower priced than lesser equipped X31s.

The X3 base is very poorly designed: docking and undocking the X31 is clumsy and requires 3 hands! With the X3 base attached, the X31 weighs over 5 Lbs. but I can install a 2nd standard X31 battery in it and have about 7 hours of use.

The X31 2885RGU model comes with the IBM a,b,g Wireless Card, Bluetooth, an Agere modem and an Intel PRO 10T/100/1000 NIC. It also has a 5,400 RPM 40G Hitachi HDD that's fast and quiet.

The 12.1" screen is the brightest and sharpest I've seen on a laptop. It's more than adequate for everything that I do. If you've ever tried to use a laptop on an airline tray table then you will appreciate the X series TPs.

It has the most solid keyboard I've tried on a ThinkPad in a long time. It's solid without any bounce or flex like on the T series TP. It's almost full size and has separate Home and End Keys that I use a lot.

My X31 came with WinXP SP1. I don't care for XP but I wanted the enhanced Wireless performance. The IBM a,b,c is awesome! It took me over 20 minutes to cleanse my machine of the clown like "jelly bean" look and get back to the Classic GUI without all of the resource sapping XP "features". If I wanted a MAC I'd have bought a MAC!

The IBM preload included some disappointing items including the spyware like Sonic Update Manager and a number of other programs to do constant automatic checks for updates. After I got rid of all of that junk, my 1.6MHz, 1G X31 started performing like it should. I called IBM and got a set of Product Recovery CDs. I don't trust the idea of restoring from a hidden partition on the HDD. What if there is a HDD failure?

I put in a spare Toshiba 40G MK4026GAX HDD and tried out the IBM Product Recovery CDs. They're marked for Type 2672 & 2673 X31s. It took me a while with IBM TP Support to convince them that I couldn't make Recovery CDs from the Hidden Partition. They finally sent me the CDs. When I received them I called back to say that I got the wrong disks, they said try them out.

They do work and install WinXP SP2. They're dated September, 2004. The system seems to run a little faster with WinXP SP2 on the Toshiba 5,400 RPM drive which has a 16MB cache vs. the Hitachi 5,400 RPM with an 8MB cache. The Toshiba is noisy compared to the ultra quiet Hitachi HDD.

I read some comparison tests that showed the Hitachi was much faster than the Toshiba HDD. If this is the case, then the Recovery Install maybe worth running. The only problem is that I spent 3 weeks of spare time installing all of my software on the original disk and I don't look forward to doing it again.

As a side note, I prefer Win98SE and I tried installing it on another HDD. I gave up after several hours trying to get all of the IBM drivers working. I'll try again when I have more time.

[mpcook]

Regarding the X3 Ultrabase, it is a bit clunky however I think it serves it's purpose. It is fine to use as a docking station. It does take two hands to install/uninstall. It adds quite a bit to the weight, however, I would not travel with it. The beauty of the X31 is that you can "strip it down" to it's "fighting weight" for travel. Since I generally don't need removable drives when traveling, the X31 is perfect for me. I only use the Ultrabase when I need a floppy or CD drive (rare).

-Mike

[verktyg]

I've only used the X3 for when I've needed a CD drive. I have both an Ultrabay 2000 FDD and an IBM USB FDD.

I changed jobs a few months ago after 15 years of extensive travel. Now I'm on the road everyday but it's all local travel. At 5 lbs. plus, I don't plan on carrying the X31-X3 around much but I am looking forward to using it with the extra battery for trade shows and other presentations.

As a manufacturing engineer and industrial designer I think that the X3 is a piss poor design and difficult to use. It's probably the worst design I've seen from IBM and I've done some work with IBM.

Whoever "engineered???" the X3 never tried using it or never looked at other methods of attachments. When you start from scratch, you have a blank sheet and come up with an effective, easy to use product... No Excuses!!!