X201s with ULV processors?

[penartur]

It seems that lenovo discontinued their X201s line. BTW, what was the reason of that?
I'm currently trying to find one on ebay, there is a choice between configurations with LV CPU (25W TDP), but it seems that no configuration with ULV CPU (18W TDP) exists... isn't it?

[erik]

12.1" WXGA+ panels became scarce.

if you need a low TDP processor then the X200s had 17W options available.

[penartur]

if you need a low TDP processor then the X200s had 17W options available.

I know about X200s; i do have one, actually.
18W Core 2 CPUs are low-voltage; 18W Core i7 are ultra-low-voltage, more like 10W Core 2 because of northbridge and GPU integrated on-die (that is, total power consumption of 18W Core i7-based system would be close to that of 10W Core 2-based system). I was just interesting if there is an option to get ultra-low power consumption X200s (it seems that there is a big difference between battery life of X200s with SU- or SL-line CPUs).

[sanjuro]

It seems that lenovo discontinued their X201s line. BTW, what was the reason of that?
I'm currently trying to find one on ebay, there is a choice between configurations with LV CPU (25W TDP), but it seems that no configuration with ULV CPU (18W TDP) exists... isn't it?

X201s is still offered in Japan where size and portability are considered important. In USA X201s can be purchased through resellers but not through Lenovo directly.

As far as I know, ULV CPU option is not currently available for X201s. Intel has released i7 680um, a ULV cpu, recently (or supposed to) which may find their way to some X-series models eventually.

There were speculations that X301 will be updated with i7 680um but X301 was discontinued. No word on potential replacement. At one point some Lenovo executive pushed T410s as a replacement for X301 but some have considered that notion insulting.

Apparently OEMs are cutting back on Intel CPU orders because of Apple iPad onslaught. So Lenovo is likely preoccupied with the tablet (excluding X201t) war, which will likely leave diehard thinkpadders high and dry...

[penartur]

In USA X201s can be purchased through resellers but not through Lenovo directly.

That's because Lenovo discontinued X201s, and some resellers just have some stock remainders.

Intel has released i7 680um, a ULV cpu, recently (or supposed to) which may find their way to some X-series models eventually.

I was asking about ULV options because i7-620UM, i7-620UE and i7-640UM are available since January 7, just like all other mobile i7 CPUs. i7-680UM released recently is just the top of the line CPU, with its frequency slightly higher than of i7-620UM and i7-640UM. If there is no i7-620UM and i7-640UM options for X201s, then i highly doubt there will be i7-680UM option, even if lenovo haven't stopped X201s production.

[sanjuro]

That's because Lenovo discontinued X201s, and some resellers just have some stock remainders.

Possible that you are right. But some resellers like Provantage have had a stock of X201s for a long time with numbers sometimes going up. So go figure.

I was asking about ULV options because i7-620UM, i7-620UE and i7-640UM are available since January 7, just like all other mobile i7 CPUs. i7-680UM released recently is just the top of the line CPU, with its frequency slightly higher than of i7-620UM and i7-640UM. If there is no i7-620UM and i7-640UM options for X201s, then i highly doubt there will be i7-680UM option, even if lenovo haven't stopped X201s production.

i7 680UM is rated at 1.46GHz with turbo. Other ULVs are much slower. So it was doubtful slower ULVs will be used by Lenovo. There was a hope for 680UM but not much hope now.

[penartur]

i7 680UM is rated at 1.46GHz with turbo. Other ULVs are much slower. So it was doubtful slower ULVs will be used by Lenovo. There was a hope for 680UM but not much hope now.

640UM is 1.2GHz (2.26GHz with turbo); 680UM is 1.46GHz (2.53GHz with turbo). There also is 660UM, released on May, 1.33GHz (2.4GHz with turbo). It is not too much difference, really - not to such degree that lenovo would skip 640UM/660UM because of their sluggishness but would use 680UM a year after that because of its speed.
Also, there were cheap X200s configurations with single-core 1.2GHz Celeron, so it seems that CPU performance is not that important to lenovo.

[ZaZ]

it seems that CPU performance is not that important to lenovo.

Lenovo offers a broad range of CPU choices, allowing one pick whatever fits their needs. As a Office/Email machine, which probably a lot of X20x machines are, the Celeron probably offers plently of performance.

[penartur]

Lenovo offers a broad range of CPU choices, allowing one pick whatever fits their needs. As a Office/Email machine, which probably a lot of X20x machines are, the Celeron probably offers plently of performance.

That's my point: why would lenovo skip 620UM/640UM just to offer 680UM a year later?