X201s Topseller 5143-28U now in stock

[dfumento]

While you can't order an X201s on the Lenovo website you can purchase the X201s 5143-28U from other resellers (e.g. J and R) for a reasonable price. They just came back into stock.

[JPH]

I am debating between this model and an x201 with i5-540, as the WXGA+ screen is a huge turn on for me. Can anyone tell me if there is a huge difference in performance between the low-voltage i7 and the normal i5-540? Also would the i7LM give me a better battery life?

[ZaZ]

I guess it would depend on your needs and how you define "huge". Most usage is not particularly CPU intensive. Unless you've got a need to run your CPU at high capacity frequently, I would say it's not worth paying extra for it.

[pianowizard]

I guess it would depend on your needs and how you define "huge". Most usage is not particularly CPU intensive. Unless you've got a need to run your CPU at high capacity frequently, I would say it's not worth paying extra for it.

I couldn't agree more. My Thinkpad 240Z with 500MHz Pentium III and Windows XP Pro SP3 still serves me well. Many (though not all) people who find their old computers too slow just don't know how to optimize their computers.

For me, the X201s is infinitely more appealing than the X201, due to its higher resolution and lighter weight. Performance-wise, either one should be good enough for at least a decade, just like my 240Z is still adequate after a decade.

[ZaZ]

While I'd agree a PIII is certainly offers enough oomph to type up a word document, listen to music or render webpages, though some stuff like flash will chug, other factors like memory or hard drives limitations may make them less appealing to use.

[dfumento]

Don't forget these new models have "turbo" mode so that the 2.13 GHz base can clock up to about 3 GHz for a single core or 2.8 GHz or so for dual core, thus a substantial improvement over X200(s).

It really depends on your applications but for most use I doubt you'll see that great of a difference in performance.

I like the higher res (1440x900) screen, the lighter weight, the somewhat longer battery life, but those are my needs.

Also, if one is concerned about performance, put in an Intel X25-M SSD (I use the larger 160 GB [150 usable] model). The SSD makes a substantial difference in performance as well.

Also, again, also, for increased performance in certain cases, you can buy one or two 4 GB SODIMM RAMs for about $150 each (or lower if you shop around). This extra memory (along with SSD) could be useful if you're running virtual machines, esp. if running several virtual machines at one time.

But I love this unit. It was actually a replacement for exactly the same model that had some problems and I was waiting for the new shipments for a replacement.

[pianowizard]

While I'd agree a PIII is certainly offers enough oomph to type up a word document, listen to music or render webpages, though some stuff like flash will chug...

Of course I wasn't saying that a PIII would be good enough for everyone. I was just agreeing with your previous post about different people having different CPU needs, and used my 10-year-old PIII laptop as an example. For the things that I do on that laptop, PIII is adequate and Pentium M or anything faster would be way overkill.

At work, I have a 6-year-old 2.8GHz P4 desktop with basic Intel graphics and a very new 2.66GHz Core i5 750 desktop with a fancy 512MB Nvidia card. For what I do, I don't notice any difference in performance.

[aau007]

While you can't order an X201s on the Lenovo website you can purchase the X201s 5143-28U from other resellers (e.g. J and R) for a reasonable price. They just came back into stock.

The entire x201s line is discontinued.

[dfumento]

What is your source? There are still plenty to purchase.

[aau007]

What is your source? There are still plenty to purchase.

1. Confirmed with Lenovo rep.
2. Check latest psref. There is no more x201s models.

After the cpu shortage in April, May period, they started making some x201s and then they discontinued it for other reasons. Whatever is left in the channel is all is left for purchase. I see the bulk of available x201s left is the 514328U model.

[sanjuro]

The entire x201s line is discontinued.

X201s is not currently being sold on Lenovo's US website; it is still being sold on Lenovo's Japan, UK, and Hong Kong sites.

X201s is still available among resellers.

[aau007]

X201s is not currently being sold on Lenovo's US website; it is still being sold on Lenovo's Japan, UK, and Hong Kong sites.

X201s is still available among resellers.

They are still available among resellers because there are remaining inventories in the resellers channel.

I guess I should have made my line more refined. The x201s has been discontinued in the US, at least. Not sure about other countries.

A few of you posted back that you can still buy it, seemingly to contest the discontinued claim. Just because you can still buy a discontinued product does not mean the product is not discontinued from manufacturing. There are inventories in the channel before the x201s is discontinued. Therefore, yes, you can still buy x201s from resellers, UNTIL those run out. There seems to be plenty of 5397ffu and 514328u floating around.

[sanjuro]

X300/X301 series is supposed to be discontinued. I'd hate to see X201s series also discontinued.

[Rockmaninoff]

I plan on purchasing an x201s for heavy school use for the next two semesters, so through next May, after which it will become my go-to laptop for portable development use (CS mostly).

I was planning on waiting towards the end of summer, but should I jump on this now? How soon can we expect to wait before Lenovo refreshes the line? I know the new refresh was earlier this year, around March (?), so I think that now is a good time to buy...

[ZaZ]

Lenovo, like other manufacturers, will refresh the line when Intel releases the next platform, which should be some time next year. The rumor has been Lenovo has had trouble sourcing the LV chips used in the X201s. You've not been able to buy one directly from Lenovo for quite some time. Your guess is as good as mine as when they'll be back. They'll probably continue to be available on ebay for a while, but I don't think you can say with any certainty for how long.

[aau007]

Here is what I see as still available:
514328U
5413fgu - extremely limited, won't be available for long
5397FFU
5397FEU - extremely limited, won't be available for long

Sine the x201s line has been discontinued, there won't be any replenishment, other than they "may" and that's a "may" in a more negative way that they will fill any back order.

Back in March April time, they were not available due to cpu shortage and it affected the x201t line also. I was told Lenovo discontinued the x201s due to other reason, not related to cpu. I was also told there is no current plan for a x201s replacement. Therefore, once the existing x201s runs out from the channel, the smallest TP you can get will be the x201, aside from the x100e.

[ZaZ]

1. Confirmed with Lenovo rep.
2. Check latest psref. There is no more x201s models.

Has there been any official confirmation of this? Either of those could be explained by any number of plausible answers. There's a lot of people between the rep and the person who is actually charged with making that decision. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the rep was wrong.

[aau007]

I cannot find any official announcement letter. However, due to various pointers and conversation with Lenovo inside sales rep, there is at least no more making of the x201s, short of an official withdrawal announcement letter. If they don't make it any more, how is that practically differ from discontinuation? I guess time will tell if they are just temporarily halting production or if it is a silent discontinuation.