X121e video (Intel Core i3 CPU model!)

[underclocker]

Here's a quick, but interesting video about the X121e that's been released to Europe & Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqbgCWawzv0

Most importantly, listen/watch at 1:28 - the reviewer mentions the cover is matte and rubberized! This is typical ThinkPad and welcome, like on an X220. The X100e and X120e were black plastic.

The X121e is similar to the X100e and X120e, but uses the Intel Core i3 CPU. However, while the X100e/X120e share many parts and their design, the X121e seems to have body changes and a new battery style.

*** Update: The body is different, it's thinner, slightly wider and deeper - now a 6-cell battery is completely flush when installed (the entire X121e is the same depth as an X100e/X120e with a six cell installed.) The upside is a flush look with a six cell battery, the downside is that with the 3 cell battery installed, you get a lighter, but not smaller laptop. ***

[JaimitoBond]

it also has a metallic bottom.

9hr of battery life on intel chip.

looks like a nice improvement overall.

too bad no usb 3.0

[umern]

Found a review of this here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-X12 ... 880.0.html
Quite positive comments overall about the video performance.

I ordered mine a few days back and awaiting delivery will try and post feedback sometime next week.

[underclocker]

That is a comprehensive review. Everything looks great, except for the heat. It runs hotter than the X100e! That may be tough to get over. Please post back impressions for those that get a hold of one. For now, they aren't available in the U.S.

[umern]

Please post back impressions for those that get a hold of one.

Certainly - will do. Replacing a 2.5yr old T400 so should be interesting.

[ssd_thinkpad]

1.55 kg is rather heavy.

[underclocker]

1.55 kg is rather heavy.

Good point, it is up a little over the X100e/X120e, which was listed are 1.33kg w/3 cell and 1.50 with the 6 cell. However, in general an ounce or two isn't much for more power and battery life. Or perhaps your suggesting that it should weigh more like 1 kg?

Also, I'd say with the somewhat large size of the bezel on all of the X100 series machines, a 12" LCD would just about fit. Now that would be a great upgrade (which might cannibalize X220 sales).

[azX32]

Good point, it is up a little over the X100e/X120e, which was listed are 1.33kg w/3 cell and 1.50 with the 6 cell.

I recently had my 6-cell X100e next to a 9-cell X220. Though I didn't weigh them, I was surprised that the X220 actually felt lighter than the X100e.

[umern]

Ok - had my X121e with i3-2375m for 2 days now and here is the initial feedback.
Just to put things in context and give an idea of my point of reference: I have been a longtime Thinkpad fan after first using a T20 many years ago at work. I have owned a T40, Z60 and more recently a T400.

My current T400 is used mainly as a desktop device - via a Advanced mini dock and external keyboard, mouse and monitor.
I was recently looking to buy a Tablet PC so that I could view my collection of 720p and 1080 mkv movies etc around the house without hogging the TV screen. However, I found that none of the current crop of Tablets can play a High profile mkv files reliably and so decided that a reasonably powerful netbook would fit the bill.

This is where the X121e comes in...
I purchased mine from the UK Lenovo website for £349 with a 6 cell battery and 2GB RAM. I then upgraded to 8GB using Crucial RAM - which was an absolute doddle - no palmrest removal nonsense. Just pop 3 screws on the back and you are in.
Opinion so far:
Build quality seems excellent for the price. Lid is solid with rubberised covering, applying pressure on lid does not appear to affect the LCD display. LCD Display is much brighter than my T400. I miss the locking clasp on the lid - it was good to know the screen was locked in place when transporting the T400.
Never used a Scrabble tile keyboard before but this one the X121e seems perfectly fine. For me it provides as good a typing experience as the standard T400 in terms of tactile feedback etc. Obviously the smaller keys and subtle layout changes will have an negative impact - but they have done good job given the reduced surface area.
I miss the volume keys and the Fn+F12 for Hibernate of the T400. The X121e requires you to use the FN for volume, mic, brightness etc. and their is no Hibernate function key.
I miss the fact there is no docking station option - my T400 was docked and so all the cables were tucked away at the back. Now they stick out of the sides and make the desk look ugly and untidy. Even the power connector is on the side - yuck. Also, I find the 3 USB ports limiting - have had to replace my individual wireless keyboard + mouse with a single desktop set to leave 2 ports free.
One positive is the X121e has a powered USB port - so even if the laptop is switched off I can continue to charge a phone etc.
I used the DVD drive on the T400 so rarely that I dont imagine I will miss it. I have purchased a cheap USB Samsung DVD writer to create the Recover disks and any other occasional use.
I was concerned about replacing a 2.2Ghz Core2Duo with a 1.3ghz i3 - but my limited experience so far seems to suggest that the i3 is faster than the Core2Duo. e.g. had a quick bash on Lightroom 3 and it seems slightly more responsive on the X121e. Also, playing a 1080p 24fps mkv file whilst transferring a several GB of files from a USB drive in the background worked well.
The T400 card reader was spring loaded allowed you to push the card right in and further push to release. On the X121e the card sticks out and makes it feel a bit cheap.
One big positive of the X121e is the HDMI port - hurrah - at last. I could never understand why the T400 did not have a DVI port as standard and you had to buy a dock to get a digital output!
The X121e fan is definitely noisier than the T400 - typing this reply I can hear the fan in the background. Not loud even to annoy but definitely there. With the T400 the fan would be silent for low CPU tasks such as surfing. When I ramp up the CPU load the fan definitely gets louder. Thanks to the hardware HD decoder, though, playing a 1080p 24fps file only uses 10% CPU and so the fan does not get any louder and so does not disturb the viewing experience. The built in speakers are okay to for a bit of movie watching.
Another negative of the X121e is the 7mm Hard drive. This means I wont be able to upgrade the HD until 7mm drives come down in price a bit.
One final minor negative of the X121e - the combined single headphone/mic socket means I will need to buy a new mic/headphone set.
Apologies for the rambling post - been fasting all day and brain is not up to normal state of operation - not that it would have helped much
Will hopefully post back later on once I have used it more....

[Dead1nside]

Thanks for the mini review of the X121e. Just purchased an i3 model, waiting for delivery now. I'm also a T400 user, so I'm going to appreciate the similarity in speed, and the HDMI port. How have you found the battery life? I heard conflicting things over whether the AMD or Intel specced one was better.

[umern]

I am not the best person to comment on the battery life as with my T400 I rarely used it away from a mains power supply. When I sold it after 2.5 years it only had a battery cycle count of 22!!

I am using the X121e on battery power more often and I have managed to get 6 hours out of it - with 2-3 hours of that watching 720p h264 mkv movies with MPC HC (the significance of this player being that it takes advantage of the GPU for decoding the h264 - so the cpu load was minimal during the movie watching).

I too have read somewhere that the AMD one gives slightly better battery life - but I am more than happy with my i3 model. I definitely prioritise the I3 performance boost over the AMD chipset for my pattern of usage.

[Dead1nside]

That's really quite impressive battery life, while maintaining similar if not better performance than the T400, all in a smaller form factor. I only manage to get about 2 hours out of my T400, but that's with the 4-cell battery. Will let you know my impressions when I get back from holiday.

Oh, do you know which wireless adapter you got, and what's the performance like, range and speed, too please?

[umern]

Hi,
I got the 'ThinkPad b/g/n' wifi adaptor.
Can't really comment objectively on range etc as I generally have a good signal all over my house and so can't really test it.
Recently I did install XBMC on the laptop and tested some 720p and 1080p HD mkv h264 movies streaming from my NAS via uPNP to the laptop upstairs in the bedroom (no it was not that kind of movie ) and it was fine.