x120e is "tweaky"...

[tbessie]

Anyone noticing that, at least when it comes to "things that usually work", especially when you want to do things at boot time, there are a lot of little 'tweaky' things about the x120e?

I don't know if it's actually got issues in the hardware, or if the Fusion processor is just too newish, but I'm finding a lot of things just a SLIGHT bit off about it. Hard to put my finger on a lot of specifics... just a feeling after having so many computers over the years.

The keyboard seems persnickety - many keys you have to push just a little harder than others to get them to register.

I've had some inconsistencies at boot time - *sometimes* it sees the USB stick I'm booting from, *sometimes* it doesn't (usually does, but it's a weird inconsistency to have it at all).

The AMD drivers for AHCI and processor definitely make some system level things I'm used to using (RealTemp, Intel SSD TRIM, etc.) not work/not compatible... just used to a fully Intel world (except for ATI graphics) on most of my machines.

- Tim

[Colonel O'Neill]

I'd recommend slapping the latest 11.5 Catalyst drivers on for the GPU anyway; they're significantly faster than previous releases. Same with the AHCI drivers. Lenovo likes to certify their drivers and make a few tweaks along the way, so it delays the available drivers from Lenovo.

The BIOS usually doesn't pick up on a USB drive during cold boot if it initializes slowly (pertains most to platter drives which need a warm restart to be recognized as bootable).

[tbessie]

I'd recommend slapping the latest 11.5 Catalyst drivers on for the GPU anyway; they're significantly faster than previous releases. Same with the AHCI drivers. Lenovo likes to certify their drivers and make a few tweaks along the way, so it delays the available drivers from Lenovo.

The BIOS usually doesn't pick up on a USB drive during cold boot if it initializes slowly (pertains most to platter drives which need a warm restart to be recognized as bootable).

There *was* a time where one couldn't use the raw Catalyst drivers on a mobile platform. So you're saying I don't need to use Lenovo's variant anymore, but can download the latest directly from AMD?

I'll check out the AHCI driver directly from AMD as well - perhaps this one will work with Intel's TRIM function?

Thanks for the info on the USB boot - I hadn't seen that on other laptops and desktops, but perhaps I hadn't recreated the same situation, or perhaps this BIOS is less tolerant of a slow initialization.

- Tim

[force]

I've noticed that if I have a USB stick plugged in during a cold boot, the boot splash (Thinkpad) screen will take ages to appear, if ever. There's still enough time to hit enter and plug in a USB device before hitting F12 and for it to recognize the boot device.

Like many other Thinkpads, there are at least two different manufacturers for the keyboards. One of them feels a bit mushy, and the one I prefer is a bit springier but more clicky/louder.

I've definitely tweaked the software load a bunch. It feels like a fresh Windows 7 Pro install is much faster than Lenovo's EE 2.0 preload.

[Colonel O'Neill]

I think running XP on compatibility mode may be why the SSD tools don't work. Not entirely sure though. That or the AHCI driver that Lenovo provides doesn't support it; I vaguely recall seeing something to that effect somewhere.

I've taken to running Server 2008 R2 on my X100e beside Windows 7. Now that's fast. It doesn't boot as fast, but it runs a lot lighter. The Catalyst drivers need a bit of patching to install though (stupid AMD ). Everything else works fine. No SuperFetch or ReadyBoot though.