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Lenovo ThinkPad X220 review- top notch Lenovo mini laptop in a light weight package

Mark — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:04:31 +0000

The ThinkPad X220 is a 12.5 inch business oriented mini laptop that Lenovo introduced earlier this year and started shipping around April. Like other ThinkPads, this is a no nonsense laptop, aimed at professionals, and is in between the 13.3 inch category (which apparently became too big to handle by ultra portable fashionistas) and the 11.6 inch niche, which is too small and doesn’t sustain worthwhile productivity.

There’s no question that the X220 is an accomplished little PA, as Lenovo rarely misses the target with their laptops; still, let’s see if the X220 has new tricks up its sleeve or if it’s something we’ve seen before in terms of performance, design, battery life and other essential aspects. Stay tuned.

Specs

The X220 runs on a second generation Core i7-2620M processor and can have up to 8 GB of RAM. Also, you can choose between a standard LED display or an IPS one. Full spec list below.

Processor: Intel Core i7-2620M, 2.7 GHZ, 3.4 GHZ with Turbo Boost
System memory: up to 8 GB DDR3 RAM
Video: Integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics
Display: 12.5 inch, 1366 x 768 px resolution, LED backlit display/IPS
Storage: 320 GB HDD, optional SSD
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)
Ports: USB 2.0, USB 3.0 (only with the Core i7-2620M version), card reader, audio jack
Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth
Battery: 3/6/9 cell battery
Features: HD web cam, fingerprint reader
Dimensions: 12 x 8.1 x 1.25 inches
Weight: 3.4 pounds

Build and design

I’m almost tempted to jump this section, as the X220 looks exactly like any other ThinkPad released since IBM’s stunt so many years ago. If it wouldn’t have been for the ultra contemporary features- USB 3.0 port, IPS display, slimmer profile, you could honestly say this is a vintage laptop running on a 933 MHZ Pentium II processor.

You have the same, simple black finish, made out of plastic. It’s a great finish, nonetheless, as it’s both tough, very well assembled, being also quite classy and sombre, in that way that goes hand in hand with corporate entourages. The only downturn is that the palm rest bends a little if you press really hard, but under normal working circumstances, you wouldn’t have to do that kind of thing.

The bezel around the display has a rubbery finish and won’t catch fingerprints. A good aspect of Lenovo’s slightly out fashioned approach to design is that there’s no glossy surface that might turn your laptop into a dirty mirror. The 9 cell battery version weighs around 1.7 kg, which is very decent for a pimped up machine. It’s a very light package considering the big battery, and considering the fact that it delivers performance equal to large laptops, it’s a great trade off.

The X220 has a black, rubbery chassis

The 12.5 incher hosts enough ports. On the left, you get a USB 3.0 port, D-sub, Display Port, a USB 2.0 port, Express Card and wireless switch, while on the right there’s the SDXC card reader, another USB 2.0 port (with sleep and charge functionality), Ethernet, audio jack and Kensington lock.

Keyboard and touch pad

As expected, you get a classic keyboard layout, with large keys. And when I say large, I mean large, as Lenovo’s designers found a way to put in a full size keyboard. Keys are indeed great, don’t flex and have the same quality we’ve come to expect from any Lenovo ThinkPad. There’s also a little treat, rarely seen on such a small laptop, a row of media control keys, namely volume up and down and mute mic.

The touch pad is larger than the ones on older ThinkPads and has a slightly textured finish, which helps you to have fairly accurate touch input. The left and right mouse buttons are now positioned on the bottom of the surface, without being separated from the rest of the surface. But maybe you won’t have to use them too often, as the red dot is there and feels snappier and more precise than ever.

Display

The screen is one of the highlights on the X220. You can go for a stock LED display or, for an extra $50, you can opt for an IPS display, the same type used on the iPad 2. This solves all the problems related to poor viewing angles and as you know, this is a problem on so many laptops. If you tilt the screen a little, objects lose detail and the corners get covered in some sort of plague like black hue.

It’s not the case with X220′s IPS option, as even tilting the display back 180 degrees gets you great viewing angles. Also, the screen is matte, which means there won’t be any glare being reflected on the screen, so you can use the machine in broad daylight or in a very well lit room. The only downturn is the rather limited resolution of 1366 x 768, which although is good enough to run HD videos, might prove insufficient to run full screen apps with a high level of detail at an acceptable level.

Even tilted back a lot, the IPS display offers great viewing angles

Hardware and performance

The base X220 model comes with a second generation Core i3 processor, while the top version has a Core i7-2620M CPU. Although a 12.5 incher, the X220 hosts full voltage Sandy Bridge CPUs, which offer much better performance than ULV solutions like Atom processors, for example. These processors can deal with any kind of apps, so a mix of browsing, working, media playback (even HD) and some light gaming is easily handled by the laptop.

There’s no dedicated video card, mind, but the integrated solution can deal with older games pretty good and newer titles might run on lower details. You can add as much as 8 GB of RAM and there’s an optional SSD drive to install, together or instead of a classic HDD. An SSD is much faster than a HDD and also requires less power to run.

The Windows Experience Index is 5.8, determined by the on board graphics. The CPU ranked 7.1 and storage 7.6, but this was with the SSD inside. Overall, the X220 offers a very solid experience, being very fast and not choking on apps, even if you’re a hardcore multi tasker. This is also caused by the decent software configuration.

Besides the OS, there aren’t many pre installed apps, namely bloatware, that just consume system resources without giving anything in return. There’s Lenovo’s Thinkvantage Toolbox, that gives you access to a bunch of apps dealing with power management, security, storage and more, which is actually very useful if you want to fine tune the performance of your machine.

Noise, heat, speakers and other features

The speakers on the X220 are modest and will take you through a conference call, but that’s about it. Don’t count on them for FLAC playback or gaming. You’re better off with a bunch of decent headphones or a nice little travel audio system. The X220 is a pretty quiet and cool laptop. Considering it has a full voltage CPU that needs proper venting, it gets rarely noticeably hot and the fan is not very noisy, as it can be easily covered with light chatter or some music.

The X220 packs a 720p web cam, which should prove sufficient for decent video calls. Also, it packs a couple of interesting security features, like a fingerprint reader that can also boot the laptop without pressing the power button, hardware encryption and a tracking service for stolen/lost gadgets.

Yep, that's a perfect keyboard.

Battery life

The X220, packed with the 9 cell battery, can go on a single charge for more than 7 hours. This was achieved with a balanced Windows profile, which takes in more power when needed, but spares the battery when dealing with less demanding apps.

Basically, if you’re going to use the X220 for browsing, working with documents, some music and clips and other productivity apps, you should be good to go for about 7 hours. However, if you want to keep the price and weight down, there are also 3 and 6 cell versions available, which will offer significantly less autonomy.

Prices and availability

The base X220 model, packing a Core i5, second generation CPU, normal display, 3 cell battery costs around 940 bucks, while the top version, including a beastly Core i7 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, 9 cell battery and IPS displayticks at around $1200. It’s pricy, but Lenovo’s machines are usually like that.

Final thoughts

The ThinkPad X220 is yet another great entry in Lenovo’s line of professional computers. But, unlike other business oriented machines, it’s smaller, 12.5 inch, and lighter than most business laptops out there. Under the hood, you get a full power dual core processor and enough RAM and storage to go on with your work without feeling the hardware limiting your work. Of course, for this you’ll have to pay good money, more than you would pay for some 13.3 inch laptops, like the U36SD. But if you’re already in love with Lenovo’s top notch build quality, great performance and, at least regarding the X220, great portability, then the decision is already made. And that is buy, buy, buy.

Photos and video: www.gadgetroad.com

3G Added on Lenovo S10-2

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:28:26 +0000

Lenovo S10-2 with 3G

The Lenovo IdeaPad S10 2 is a 10.2 inches netbook. And while it has the specs like any other netbooks today, it also has a built-in 3G that surely adds another option to get connected to the internet anywhere you want. Don’t get me wrong, there are 2 versions of Lenovo S10-2. One with 3G module and the other one without.

3G connection are common in countries today, and mostly utilized by mobile users but in some countries, netbooks are offered bundled with 3G plans as well.

In the Philippines, the version that was released was the no-3G version. I heard there’s a bit of an issue about releasing the 3G version because telcos in the Philippines has their own 3G modules they sell. Sounds selfish for the telcos but it’s their business so I don’t want to talk much about it.

Even though, Ranns of Netbooks Philippines got a way around to utilize the capability of his Lenovo S10-2. He availed an UNLOCKED Lenovo Ericsson F3507g 3G BROADBAND HSDPA WWAN R1D06 from eBay, a Universal Wireless Notebook Antennae, and a little bit of guts to dissect the netbook to get the 3G working. According to Ranns, the task was very easy, anyone can do it too.

Head on to the forum for more details and pictures.

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Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 Unboxing Photos makes me drool

Andrew — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:33:24 +0000

Ranns of Netbook Philippines just got his Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 unboxed (well, this post is so late), and the said netbook in the picture is just awesome. I like how it looks except the too much sticking out battery. But that’s not much for 10+ hours of battery life in single charge.

I don’t wanna talk about other details on this post, just go ahead and click the image to see for yourselves.

Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Specs, Price

Tue, 26 May 2009 02:51:14 +0000

Lenovo has just announced recently their newest netbook called the Lenovo IdeaPad S12. It packs a 12″ display @ 1280 * 800 screen resolution, Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB RAM, and 160GB SATA HDD. It also features the Nvidia ION graphics which supports 1080p video decoding.

The new graphic feature also sets the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 apart from its class. Aside from hi-def videos/movies, it will allow the netbook to probably run most of the latest PC games like the Call Of Duty. It can also serve as a media player in your living room when connected to hi-def TV sets via HDMI port.

The netbook is announced to cost $449 USD, which is fair enough compare to other netbook prices.

Full Lenovo IdeaPad S12 Full Specs after the break. [Lenovo]

via Gizmodo

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Lenovo Energizes Mini-Computing with its First 12-Inch Netbook
Debuts World’s First Netbook with NVIDIA’s ION Graphics Processor

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC

Lenovo Pocket Yoga was a Concept, still a concept

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:52:21 +0000

Internet today shows leaked photos of a rather nicer pocket-sized netbook than Sony Vaio P, called the Pocket Yoga designed by Lenovo. It has a leather case all over to lool a lot more like a wallet than hi-tech device. But however it looks, still a pleasant thing for pick-pocketers.

The Lenovo Pocket Yoga was designed by Lenovo two years ago, before the first netbook ever was born.

Last week some buzz was created by a photograph that someone snuck out of our Beijing design studio. The picture was of a pocket-sized PC we developed about two years ago, well before the current netbook craze and the introduction of a similar form factor by one of our competitors. Since the design has been shown in public in the past and received some attention, I thought it might be of some interest to discuss the design inspiration and share some photos and drawings of the device.
Source: Design Matters – Lenovo

The Pocket Yoga is certainly very nice, but it’s still a concept and no words yet thing ~~wallet~~ netbook is really gonna come real.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10 Design Contest

Andrew — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:11:08 +0000

Lenovo is running a contest for their IdeaPad S10 netbook, and it was pretty easy to join. You just simply have to create your own skin design of Lenovo IdeaPad S10. To create your design is even simplier. Just logon to http://designs10.com/, choose the country you’re joining in, and start creating your design.

There are 2 categories for the contest, one for Professionals where you have to create your design locally and submit it in JPEG format. And the other one is for Amateurs where you can design the skin online. Templates are available, you just have to be creative.

Top 10 designs with the highest number of votes will be chosen, and from there, the winner will be judged. I just joined and if you want to check my design out, just head on to the site, click on “Vote Now”, and search for serial no. 1226968595. View my design and if you like it, please vote.

Speaking of Lenovo IdeaPad S10, the contest I was talking about on my recent post has just ended, and guess what, it was won easily by beat-boxing to Rihanna’s Disturbia. Easy, isn’t it?

Free Lenovo IdeaPad S9, S10 coming its way to Philippines

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:43:21 +0000

If you dream of owning a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook for FREE, then you might probably be lucky one of these days if you tune in to Magic 89.9 every morning at 6:00 AM HKT. The crew of Good Times with Mo is announcing that they are giving away Lenovo IdeaPad S9 and S10 in the coming weeks, though no exact date has been mentioned yet.

Good Times with Mo is a famous morning radio show in the Philippines hosted by DJ Mo Twister, Mojo Jojo, and Grace Lee. The said show is very credible, as it’s not the first time they give away huge prices like this. Some of the prizes callers have won already is a Canon DSLR, couple of laptops, thousands of concert tickets, including certain amount in cash up to a Php 100,000. The largest prize given away so far is a brand new Chery QQ car courtesy of Chery. Another car is possibly be on their queue coming up.

If you’re good at guessing games or category games, then you might get the prizes. Beware though that getting though the line during the show is the most challengin part.

Lenovo IdeaPad S10 $429.99 at CompUSA

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:19:04 +0000

Lenovo’s first installment for the Netbook category is now available for purchase and shipping. CompUSA has listed the IdeaPad S10 for 429.99 in white and pink. Both models come in 10.2″ screen @ 1024×600 with Windows XP Home Edition and up to 3 hours battery life. Still not close to one day computing.

Some more specs.

Intel Atom Processor N270 running at 1.6GHz
512MB RAM
80GB 5400 RPM HDD
Intel GMA 950
10.2 inch WSVGA anti-glare
Weighs 2.76 lbs
802.11 b/g
Integrated webcam
3 cell Lithium Ion battery
4 in 1 media card reader
ExpressCard/34 slot
Windows XP Home