I purchased the X220 from the Lenovo website in May 2011 when it first became available. There were some 20% 30% deals back then but I think the price is always hovering around $1000 no matter what website you buy it from.The model I got is very close to the model on this page i7 processor, IPS display, bluetooth, 4GB DDR3 RAM and slightly smaller hard drive. I'm not sure if it's mentioned here, but I also upgraded the wifi card from the basic Lenovo one to one of the Intel cards.
My previous laptop was the 5 year old IBM x41, so maybe this review is a little biased for Lenovo Thinkpads. I enjoyed using the x41, but it was becoming too slow loading up web pages, the hard drive was too small (30GB) and it ran out of batteries too fast. I was actually looking to upgrade in 2009 but I didn't find a laptop meeting my requirements. I knew I wanted a dual-core processor and SSD drive. Eventually the list grew to USB 3.0 and DDR3. When Intel announced the next gen of dual-core processor (i3, etc.) and I saw what everyone was saying about it, I decided to wait for that to come out.
It was well worth the wait. I use the x220 as my primary computer. I don't need a desktop. It might be nice once in a while to have a larger display to watch movies or pictures, but that's a nice to have. I mainly surf the web, email, download stuff, pay bills, etc. probably your average computer user. So for your average computer user, this laptop is perfect. $1000 might be a lot for a laptop nowadays, so maybe what I mean is that this laptop is perfect for your average power computer user.
Here's what I like:
Lightweight didn't weigh it but shouldn't be heavier than 3.5 lbs with the 9 cell battery
Battery life Haven't tested this one either but 6 hours on a full charge doing normal web stuff seems correct
IPS display I'm writing this review right now outside of a Starbucks. The sun is shining on the screen and I have my sunglasses on. I can still see everything on the screen very clearly. I haven't seen another laptop able to do this.
Performance Web pages load up fast. I can run Quicken, MS Office and Firefox w/o any issues. 4GB of DDR3 is nice.
Webcam I guess these are pretty standard nowadays but I didn't have one on my x41. From my side, the resolution and lighting look pretty good. I can't tell what it looks like from the other side during Skype.
Keyboard I like Thinkpad keyboards and this is no different. I like the Trackpoint and use it almost exclusively over the mousepad. Like I mentioned above, I'm used to typing on Thinkpads, and the x220 feels as good or even better than the x41. The keyboard is very responsive and not cramped at all.
Here's what I still need to check on:
Intel Widi I got the Intel Wifi card because it got better reviews. I also got it because I want to see how the Widi works. Still haven't bothered yet, but one of these days.
USB 3.0 I don't have any USB 3.0 capable devices. I'd like to see how fast I can transfer a 1GB file.
What I don't like:
On the x41 I didn't bother using the IBM software. But for the x220, I wanted to give it a try. Some of it works OK but others really wasted my time because it didn't play nice with my other software. The big one was CSS (Client Security Solutions) and my anti-virus software. I still haven't figured it out yet.
USB 3.0 is only available w/ the i7 processor. I don't think I needed i7 but I wanted USB 3.0. This seems like a waste of money to me, but I only buy a laptop every 5 years. Other people were saying to buy an i5 and then come up w/ other solutions for USB 3.0, but I hate having anything stick out of the laptop.
Lack of HDMI. It has Displayport but I'll need to get a converter. I know other laptops have HDMI built in, so this would have been pretty convenient.
Summary:
As I was writing this review, I realized that this laptop is not for everyone. You can probably go out and drop $400 for a decent laptop. I did that for my sister last November. The laptop she got was decent. But if you are a power user or your laptop is your primary computer and can afford to splurge $1000 for it, then seriously consider the x220. I'm really happy with it. It has everything I need and I can see myself using it for another 5 years. I think with an upgrade to an SSD drive and a new battery in a few years, it should keep this laptop running very nicely.
PERFORMANCE:
Some programs I use on the x220 include Reason 5.0 for producing music, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, and Illustrator has enough processing power to run many of these programs simultaneously. With the latest Sandy Bridge mobile processors, the x220 runs extremely fast, efficient, and quiet. Although the x220 isn't designed to be a gaming computer, I can play Starcraft 2 on lowest settings at a stable 40+ fps framerate on 1v1. Team Fortress 2 also runs perfectly smooth on lowest settings. This may seem weak, but for gamers who ar less about maxing out settings and more about framerate, the x220 does surprisingly well. There is also an expresscard slot for gamers who want to use an external graphics card configuration via a "ViDock". Finally, I don't know of a laptop with better battery performance than the x220. And replacing the battery is a breeze, unlike the macbook pro.
DESIGN:
From a design standpoint, the x220 hasn't changed much from its predecessors. One notable change is the widened aspect ratio. While some may disagree, I think this is a great change, and makes watching movies more enjoyable. I also like how the screen can fold down completely flat. The hinge doesn't seem flimsy at all. In fact, the screen folds down *MORE* than completely flat. If you want to show a friend something on your screen like an ipad, you can easily do it with the x220. No other laptop is currently capable of this. The magnesium casing makes the system feel sturdy, but the rubberized plastic is slowly starting to wear off. Not really a big deal, but definitely notable. The SDHC reader is positioned on the right side, near the front. A super convenient and easy to access card reader. There are 4 usb ports, providing plenty of interfacing options. One downside for me is Lenovo's preference of a DisplayPort over HDMI. I use a converter, which works decently, but not quite as cisp as a normal HDMI to HDMI. Finally, i can no longer use a laptop trackpad anymore. I find the thinkpad pointing stick ("nipple") to give me far superior control. I had to increase the sensitivity, but once you get used to it, it's hard to go back.
SOFTWARE:
The x220 comes pretty un-bloated with not too many extraneous programs. The ThinkVantage software is useful as it easily download and install updates for drivers. Overall, the software is nice, but not the greatest. The x220 ships with outdated Wi-Fi drivers, resulting in unacceptable performance. The volume buttons are sometimes glitchy, as with the brightness control. These setbacks, however, are not the dealbreaker for me. One positive is that the x220 ships with Windows on a harddrive partition, allowing you to easily reformat the harddrive in the future.
OTHER STUFF
A huge advantage over the MacBook Pro is the upgradeability of the x220. I easily went from 4gigs to 8 gigs of ram and I plan on installing a solid state drive in the future. The x220 comes with a rare eSata port, allowing you to install a Micro Solid State harddrive in addition to a standard 2.5" harddrive. If you keep your important programs / OS files on the micro solid state (such as an Intel 310 series), you will have SSD performance with HDD sized storage.
Another advantage is the x220's amazing screen. The premium IPS disay is IMO the most killer feature of the system. The viewing angles are ridiculous, and the color reproduction is as accurate as print media. This is a crucial feature for anyone doing film, graphic design, or photography, as it allows for the most reliable monitor. The IPS screen is also great for gaming The blacks come out super black and everything just looks like the way it's supposed to be. Some people may be concerned about the seemingly low amount of resolution, but I assure you that the x220 has the perfect amount of pixels for the 12.5" screen size. Anything else would be unnecessary and would hamper image quality. If you need more pixels, you can use an external monitor, which the x220 handles nicely. Finally, I use the x220 Ultrabase as a docking station, which is currently the best docking option for any laptop. The thinkpad docking port is actually an ultra-high bandwidth connection between all your peripherals and the x220, allowing for ultrafast and seamless docking. Until Thunderbolt optimizes its own docking options, the x220 has the edge here over any other laptop.
CONCLUSION
The x220 is not a perfect system. The price is lower than a macbook pro, but still in the premium range. Windows 7 combined with Lenovo's thinkvantage software is not on par with MacOS in terms of smoothness and bugs, but is far more tweakable, allowing the user to configure the best settings themselves (The range of options for customizing the pointing stick and touchpad are amazing). Any issues I initially had with the software, Thinkvantage was able to resolve. Overall, I believe the x220 is currently the best laptop for creative work and is more "futureproof" than the MBP. In many ways, the x220 is the anti-macbook pro. The design is less flashy and everything is more catered to the businessman yet, the x220 turns out to be an amazing computer for any consumer who requires a fast, reliable, and customizable system.I am happy to write about my experience with this Lenovo Thinkpad X220 laptop. I purchased this from Amazon about three weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I was debating between this and the 13" Macbook Air with it's aluminum body carvd from one solid piece. The specs are similar but in the end the Lenovo won out because it is user customizable, while the Apple is a closed system (you get what you buy, you can't add memory, replace hard drive, nothing). And I have no regrets. I really live this version of the system, with the faster processor (Intel i7-2nd generation quad-core running 2.8 GHz). I like the Bluetooth which is the latest spec, the USB 3 always-charging port (plus 2 USB 2.x ports), the 7200 RPM hard drive (most laptop HDs are 5400 rpm), the 9-call battery (most are 6 cell), 4GB high-speed DDR3 RAM (the best), and a lot of really great additional features, including a most wonderful keyboard (you really can't do better for a laptop keyboard, and since this is the part you interact with, it makes a big difference IMHO), a little LED keyboard light built into the top of the screen, the best pointing device short of a mouse (the red track point "eraser"), solid long-living hinges, high quality design and construction, and a host of small but delightful touches. These include a little light built into the CapsLk key to show it's status (in addition to a screen icon which displays when you change the setting), directional arrows right where you expect them, large Esc and Delete keys, and this great little fingerprint reader which is very, very convenient. I didn't think much about the fingerprint reader when I first got this machine, but what's great is you can swipe your finger while it's off, and it will start up and go into windows without a hitch no passwords, no waiting, no multiple steps to trudge through. The software for this reader is very refined every single finger is detected as a different "signature", and since you can't even use a non-scanned finger from your own hand, there's no chance anyone else's finger will work. I feel like a rich man just scanning my finger and letting the computer do all the work. The way it all adds up for me is I like this computer so much, it just makes me feel good having it around with me. I frequently take it to work (although I have a desktop there I use) and will hardly touch it, but I just like it with me. It's like a great little lap dog or something!
This computer is really fast (excellent performer) as delivered, the screen is bright and clear, I have had absolutely no problems with it to speak of, both in terms of design as well as defects. There is a review that mentions the high pitched fan, but the X220 I received has no fan noise at all. I did decide to buy the Square Trade 3-year accident-included extended warranty SquareTrade 3-Year Accident Protection + Warranty (Computer $1000-1250)with this laptop but I am not anticipating every having to use it. A few other things I've bought to enhance my ThinkPad experience: Logitech B100 optical mouse (under $10 and a real solid workhorse Logitech B100 Optical Usb Mouse Comfortable Quality Optical Precision Ower Profile Shape), LiteOn ETAU208-96 top load DVD/CD writer (a very reliable and trouble-free optical device so far, and small/portable; only requires one USB connection, most require two Liteon ETAU208-96 Top Load DVD/CD Writer Black), and the Kensington 64068F Microsaver Notebook Lock & Security Cable (simple, well made, light Kensington 64068F MicroSaver Notebook Lock and Security Cable (PC/Mac)) so I don't have to be filled with anxiety at work when I bring the X220 with me. And one more nice-to-have item, the STM Bag DP 4001-01 Vertical Small Laptop Shoulder Bag "fits most 13" screens (it's not the Alley bag, the size is SMALL for 13" laptops, I can't find the link on Amazon right now). This is a great looking carrying bag, with this wonderful padded compartment for the laptop, other pockets to fit all of the above along with the Lenovo power supply. I can even throw in my iPad in a dedicated pocket for that device. It's pricey though! Finally, I've upgraded this baby with a 160GB solid state drive (which really makes it a speed demon, no lag time for anything), and I added 4Gb memory. I know this is all overkill, and not necessary (unless you are using Photoshop, Autocad, or doing gaming the extra RAM is probably never going to be used, but it's so cheap these days, why not?) If you're thinking of gettin a SSD for this or another Lenovo laptop, keep in mind it requires a 7mm height drive, most of them are 9.5 mm. the Intel drives are 7mm (I think this is what Lenovo themselves use), but I used a Kingston SSDNow V200 (not V100 which is an older generation) which was fairly inexpensive, had the 7mm size height, and has pretty good read/write access times, like 60X faster than a mechanical drive. But you can also buy an mSATA version of a SSD which will actually install inside the Lenova X220 and you can keep the 320GB just where it is. The Kingston SSD came with cloning software so you can move the contents of the original drive right over to the SSD in about 15 minutes. You can make the mSATA drive as a boot drive as well, install the OS and use the slower mechanical drive for lots of cheap storage space. I think this machine as configured has an internal WWAN mini PCI-E device (which you can use to have built in 3G (or 4G?) mobile broadband access if you set up a contract with a carrier (it's kind of like a little cell phone in the laptop). So that would have to be removed to make room for the mSATA SSD drive.
So, as you can see, I'm having a lot of fun and draining my bank account in the process. Here is a quick run down on pros/cons to sum up:
Pros: excellent build quality, speed, performance; abolutely the best keyboard you can have in any laptop (although I do kind of like the Apple keyboards); great future-proof features like Blootooth spec, USB 3.0, and 2nd generation Intel processor; great memory capacity (16GB, I think, comes with 4GB, upgrade to 8GB for about $20); great screen (there are two versions from Lenovo, this laptop has the top of the line premium screen; viewing angle is amazing, no problems at all); 3 USB ports, advanced Display Port (easily gives you HDMI with an inexpensive converter cable); 54mm Express Card slot (replaces the old laptop card slots); SD card slot (add more memory quickly & cheaply); 720p HD camera bult into the screen bezel; dual microphones and dual speakers (speakers aren't fabulous but they're clear and just fine); and 9-cell battery pack for up to 13-hour battery life (probably more like 10 hours or so in real life I used the X220 for about a week before I had to charge it up again); the overall price is high, but it's really a great price (and is mostly discounted, like this Amazon item) if you compare it to like-configured competing laptops. The Macbook Air with similar features is about $250-300 more, for example. The Sony Vaio is also quite a bit more money; Lenovo has a "hardware maintenance" manual that shows you with many well drawn illustrations how to remove, upgrade and replace everything; Lenovo sells bases, docks, and similar hardware to add to ports and connectivity; with the bluetooth, I can have a BT mouse, BT speakers, BT headphones, etc., having the built in BT is really great (you can always buy a dongle, but then you have it sticking out a bit and using up a USB port, so it's worth a few $$ for the built in BT I feel.
Cons: the 12.5" screen is a little small (a 13" would have been better for my 58 year old eyes); when I'm using the Ctrl key, I often hit the Fn key instead and then I'm mystified why Ctrl-C doesn't copy anymore! (other than that, the keyboard design is flawless, and that's just a matter of practice); I would have preferred Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate for the price, but Home Premium is just fine; it's very light and smal but the 9-cell battery adds a little heft to it; it does NOT run hot, but can get a little bit warm on the bottom, so I suggest lifting it with some small corks or something (the battery case has rubber feet to keep it propped up at a shallow angle); that's about all I can think of.
Final note: what brought me to the Lenovo X220 was spending many hours reading reviews online, especially from the big magazines like PC Magazine. I would get really excited about a certain laptop and then there would inevitably be some fatal flaw that would take it out of consideration. This happened about 5 or 6 times until I began reading about the X-series Lenova machines, and there wasn't one significant drawback now that I have one, I can vouch for this fact, it is just a well designed, well executed, elegant, simple and joyous product. By the way, there are some really great looking laptops out there, like the Apple MacBook Airs, and the Sonys, the Lenovo is a bit of a plain-Jane, business like machine. But these laptops have a military grade rating, meaning they can take a lot of abuse without any consequence (I wouldn't put this to the test though). And the black laptop is a statement by itself. Besides, I don't want people getting too attracted to it and making silent plans for its theft.
In short, this is a wondrous and nearly perfect laptop. If you have the money, stop shopping and get one for yourself. You won't regret it!I loved this computer. Processor is ultrafast and it has fingerprint reader and HD camera. A really nice purchase! Only downside to me is that HD is only 5400rpm, and not that large (320GB), but for that price, it's super easy to buy another one and replace it. :) I use it with Ubuntu 11.10 and it works like a charm, everything is smooth and worked out of the box. Also, seller was fast and delivered really quickly. I read a lot of complaints about they not replying emails, but my experience was the opposite, they replied me fast and were accurate. I recommend them too!In short, after being literally confused on what laptop to buy next (after having a Vaio for years), a friend of mine recommended this for me. I've been thanking him for that since I got the laptop. The X220 is a great laptop for those who got annoyed by carrying the charger around, it is a "Mobile", with a 9 cells battery, you really don't need to worry much about power, and this is exactly why I bought this laptop.
Loving the performance, "bang" boot and shutdown, you don't really to waiiiiiiit for the desktop to show up and start working, that is, few seconds and the laptop is ready to work on!
I, for a minute, thought that the 12.5" could be a disadvantage as I never worked on less that 14" ones, but no, actually with the IPS display it's a big deal really.
Oh, that wasn't "in short", but on a serious note, and in short, a great little beast, get it.
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