X220 early review and pricing

[pianowizard]

they also had some quirks & limitations - unusual keyboard layout (tiny space bar,etc)

As much as I LOVE my Panasonic CF-Y4, I have to agree that its keyboard layout is frustrating, especially when typing in the dark like what I am doing now. Several important keys are so differently located than the Thinkpad and Dell Business keyboards I am used to.

[bill bolton]

or is there no predictable pattern?

That's the one... it all depends on the strength of demand, which varies based on a whole host of market factors/settings.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[TreyRust]

I have exactly 3 crisisims:

1: where are all the indicator lights?! the thinkpads are the ultimate geeky computer because it has all the little flashy lights that tell you whats going on, with bluetooth, wifi, caps, charging, two that I have abasutly no idea what they do, etc.

2: why the heck did they move the charging port to the back? come on, I thought they learned that having it on the side is WAY easier to deal with, especially in bed, with that plug jaming into my thighs and knees. and its hard to find with, closing the lid, and lifting the laptop up, which is incredibly annoying.

3: this is more of an early complaint, more out of worry, but why would they think its a good idea to only have ultra-nav? now, we don't know as of now if its an option to just have the trackpoint or not, but its looking that way. in fact, this is my number 1 concern, I HATE trackpads, especially the ones without buttons they are even less usefull. because, from the reviews, it looks like you have to lift your finger up and then tap to click, which is horribly innacurate.

I've had my X200 for over a week now, and I haven't used the mouse in the past few days, and I haven't missed it! the trackpoint IS perfect, its right in the typing positing, so you type and seamlessly start moving the mouse without even thinking about it. and its going to have that, but the trackpad will have a rough surface, which I imagine will be annoying after extended use, not to mention its an eyesore.


other than that, I will probably get used to the latchless design, I would have prefered they left it, but I probably won't miss it to teribly.

these complaints may seem petty, and they are somewhat, in the long run this is an amazing subnotebook, but sense its so great, I only have these things to complain about. but I still feel pretty strongly about whats wrong with it, but the worse thing might not even be a problem. I'm just worried it is.

so all in all, great job lenovo.


Trey.

[zborbas]

Don't panic! This thing HAS a trackpoint, too.

[yak]

2: why the heck did they move the charging port to the back? come on, I thought they learned that having it on the side is WAY easier to deal with, especially in bed, with that plug jaming into my thighs and knees. and its hard to find with, closing the lid, and lifting the laptop up, which is incredibly annoying.

It's a matter of preference really, some like to have it on the back. Part of the reason might be the fact that the side of X220 is slightly shorter than in X200. A perfect solution would be to have a kind of rotating port on the corner

By the way, having the port on the side made a lot of sense in X200 because it didn't have vents on the back, so you could carelessly cover the whole back and there was no power jack stopping you from doing it.

[TreyRust]

By the way, having the port on the side made a lot of sense in X200 because it didn't have vents on the back, so you could carelessly cover the whole back and there was no power jack stopping you from doing it.

that is a very good point! I do prefer the vent on the side, but I guess it needed to be extended for the new CPU

[GomJabbar]

A nice review and video of the X220 that I found at notebooks.com.

http://notebooks.com/2011/03/07/lenovo-thinkpad-x220/

One item of note:

We typed most of this X220 review and overview using the keyboard without experiencing the fatigue or mis-typing that normally occurs on small notebooks. The mousepad also performed well with good responsiveness. The touchpad is noticeably larger than the other ultraportable business notebooks we have tested and we appreciate the effort that Lenovo put into delivering a stellar mousing experience.

[Summilux]

Right, there's no stellar mousing experience without mentioning the trackpoint, especially when we're talking about a Thinkpad

[Shinrai]

I don't know why so many people jump on the 'no latch' thing. My X61 and X201 hinges are stiff enough that they would stay closed easily even if they had no latches. I'm sure with a hinge actually designed for no latch that it will be fine. No latch should make it easier to open when you want to since you don't need to grab the lid at a specific place.

This is true. Also, I think at least as far as the tablets go, something like 25% of the support calls Lenovo gets are about broken latches! No wonder they want to get rid of them.

[Cunha]

I think a loss of latches could be really nice. It will simplify the lid which will be nice. Side Vs. Back charging port is a top up. Sometimes I -really- wish it was on the opposite side.

[IvanAndreevich]

So what's the rundown on the machine's idle power consumption? X200 bottoms out around 5.25W, what about this?

I'd like to know, it should be significantly less!