X41T SATA vs PATA upgrades (HDD & SSD)

[Aphelion]

I was wondering if anyone had compared the benchmarks for doing the SATA conversion versus simply dropping in a KingSpec or Lenovo Ebay drive?

I really like the new (used) X41T and have been using it almost exclusively as a OneNote notebook for medical school but it's not quite fast enough for me for everyday use. The SATA conversion looks slightly difficult and something that I would have to attempt on break, but it seems like dropping in a SATA HDD will have similar performance effects as a Lenovo SSD. Am I right?

Also an idea is performing the SATA conversion and using a SATA SSD. I'm assuming that newer SSD's are better and faster than the Lenovo one, and might come with TRIM support.

Of course, I'm half tempted to buy a used X61T instead, but my wife would be much happier if I never bought another computer again.

[kge420]

I just installed a 60gb Lenovo SSD into my X41t. Big improvement. Downside is that I paid more fore the drive than I paid for the X41t. Overall though, very happy with the performance gains. Used almost exclusively for streaming iTunes to an AirPort Express and web browsing/email.

[Aphelion]

There are really three complaints I have with my X41t that make me want to upgrade to a newer tablet (instead of upgrading the HDD).

1. The digitizer will sometimes spaz out and click near the hinge, even after adding tinfoil to the screen. Gets worse when hot; considering re-doing the shield.
2. The digitizer driver for Windows 7 doesn't have pan/scroll penabled. It refuses to work and I haven't been able to find a Wacom driver that has this feature working (maybe I should try older drivers?).
3. For the price of a KingSpec or Lenovo SSD, I could almost buy a used X61t.

That said, I've always been a fan of upgrading what you have instead of buying new, and I'm not a fan of the widescreen tablets (I love the extra width afforded by the older screen ratios in portrait mode).

[slangeditorial]

Aphelion, do you think the problems that you have with the x41t (1 & 2) would still happen if you had an x6xt? I feel like these problems aren't endemic to the x41t, but please let me know what you think.

also, can you comment on the build quality a little bit? I feel like the feel and form of the x41t might be different from the x6xt and cause people to prefer one over the other

[Aphelion]

Well, I know a few people at school have them (X61T). I can't remember having any problems with the digitizer at the edges of the screen, but I didn't use the pen much either. I'm mostly guessing that Lenovo fixed the issue with the X61T, since it's their second-gen tablet. I remember reading about the aluminum foil fix for the X41T online and a quick google search doesn't pull anything up for the X61T.

I know a lot more people at school with X200's and I know their digitizers don't have any difficulties at all. I'm actually considering going full-out and buying an Asus EEE Slate (EP121?) this summer. The Intel GMA graphics are starting to bother me when I'm doing simple things, like scrolling OneNote pages with lots of ink on them. The idea of upgrading my X41T with an SSD is something that sounds fun, but ultimately not cost-effective. Maybe I can give it to my sister when she starts vet school this fall.

EDIT: As for #2, I'm basically hoping that Lenovo has a Win7 driver with the pan/scroll feature enabled since it's newer. I have looked at it's driver page though and am not convinced... Maybe I should try downgrading to Vista and see if those drivers work better! Vista + SSD maybe? (oh wait, does Vista have built in SSD support?)

Also, build quality on both seems very good. Off-hand, I would say they are both very close in terms of build quality, but I haven't had much experience with the X61T. I do recall a faculty member that owns one with several buttons missing though...