Lenovo ThinkPad X200s Review

Well, it is finally 2013, and here I sit writing this post on my new, at least to me, laptop. I got this a little while ago, but I think it deserved a post. I picked up a used Lenovo ThinkPad X200s from a friend, for 300 bucks, which is a great deal, especially for the one I got. I paid 100 bucks and got 2 batteries. They are not official Lenovo batteries, but from a company called Laptop Battery One, and they appear to be very well made and supposedly contain Sanyo cells. I opted for 9 cell batteries, which are 6600 MAH, which are actually 1200MAH less than Lenovo's own battery, but I only paid 50 each instead of 180 a piece, so I can let it slide.

Overall, this is a very nice laptop and I decided that it needs a review! If I bought one used, maybe someone else might, so I say it shouldn't be left in the dust, review wise. Just remember when looking at the pictures that it is used, and thus it does show some wear, but it isn't anything too major. Let's get started with the walk around first.

Closed, it looks like a nice little ultraportable laptop. You have some LED indicators in the top between the two hinges, which are for battery, power, and sleep. There are also the two logos, Lenovo, and ThinkPad at the bottom. You can see my 9 cell battery sticking out, as well as the size compared to my Asus 1005PE netbook. You might also notice that the finish is a rubberized coating as well.

 Flipping the X200s over, we have some different things. The battery takes up the most space, but there is also the door for the RAM, as well as the mono speaker, yes, even though it was made in 2008, it only has a mono speaker, a docking connector, as well as a bunch of vent holes to let in air to keep it cool. Also, if you look closely, you can see the screw for accessing the hard drive, but more on this later.

The front is pretty basic. There is the latch to open the laptop, and a SD card slot. There is a small LED near the card slot as well to let you know when it the card is being read or written to.

On the right side, we have a USB 2.0 port, which has my Logitech Anywhere MX receiver in it, but I since took that out as I find a mouse is not needed with a ThinkPad so I rather keep it open. Next, we have a headphone jack, and a microphone jack, as well as the door for accessing the hard drive. One screw allows the cage to be taken out, which has 2 pressed on rubber rails. Take out 4 more screws, and you can now put a different drive in the cage. Lastly, there is Kensington lock slot. Between the microphone and hard drive, we have a special thing we rarely see anymore, a 56K modem. Remember those days? TORTURE!

On the back, all we have is the gigantic battery!

Moving to the left, there is a lot more going on. We start out with the power adapter, the fan output vent, a USB port, a monitor port (VGA), a LAN port, another USB port, a wireless switch, and a Express Card 54 slot.

Opening the ThinkPad, we can see it is truly a work of art inside. Ok, maybe I am embellishing a little bit, but I always found a ThinkPad to be a LOT nicer looking than anything else, especially a Mac. At least ThinkPads have kept the same design since the beginning, instead of being changed every year for stuff that wasn't needed, but I am starting to veer off and ramble. MUST FOCUS ON THINKPAD! In the center, we have the amazing keyboard that the ThinkPad line is famous for. The best part is what is missing as well. There is no touchpad!  Instead, we have a TrackPoint, and it's 3 buttons. What is the thing next to the buttons? A fingerprint reader! I love being able to login with that!

On the screen half, we have a 12.1" matte finished 1440x900 LED backlit screen. That is a mouthful, but the best word to describe it is simply epic. I am in love, I don't care if Macs have that silly retina display, this one isn't pixel doubled!  On the bottom, we have the indicator LEDs for WiFi, Bluetooth, Num Lock, Caps Lock, HDD, Powered on,  Battery, Charger, and sleep. On the top of the screen, It looks boring, but this is where the antennas are located, as well as a little LED that comes on with FN + PgUp. The purpose to shine a light on the keyboard so you can see the keys in the dark. VERY USEFUL! Maybe it isn't a fancy backlit keyboard, but the way these keys are, you can forgive that. Typing this all on the X200s is a pleasure.

Now, specification wise, it is pretty good for its age. It features a Core 2 Duo SL9400 running at 1.86GHZ. It features the Intel GMA4500 graphics card, which isn't going to play much games, but it is a ThinkPad after all. Mine came with 4GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive which I upgraded to 500GB. All of the specs can be found on ThinkWiki, and there will be a link placed at the end if you wish to see what configurations are available.

Now, one thing to talk about is the wireless options. Mine contains WiFi and Bluetooth, but there is a 3G model available as there is a SIM slot under the battery. My friend has upgraded the WiFi card on this so I won't go into too much detail as I never had the original model card.

Something else that mine doesn't have is a web cam, something I can care less about honestly. I do have a neat little thing on this one that not all models have. There is a finger print reader on the palm rest, so I use that to log into Windows, and I must say I really do love that little feature. That is one thing I am surely spoiled with having now should I need to replace it.

Links:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X200s
https://picasaweb.google.com/106288499795676572485/ThinkPadX200s

Two Vintage ThinkPads

I picked up two old model ThinkPads over the last two weeks: a ThinkPad 600 and a 600X. I actually got the 600X first (pictured on the left) from my sister two years after I had given it to her. Despite having rebuilt the computer with a new keyboard, screen and palmrest when I gave it to her in 2010, it came back to me with loose hinges, keyboard missing a key and most of the keys didn't work. Screen started up pink as well. About a week later, I picked up a ThinkPad 600 for $10 and swapped the keyboard, hinges and screen from it to make the 600X much nicer to use and look at. With that in mind, the 600 (pictured on the right, powered off) shows almost exactly what the 600X looked like until a few days ago. With that in mind, the 600X is a fun little machine and it feels solid but this is at least the third time I've torn it apart for a major rebuild. I also wound up installing Windows Server 2003 on the 600X and made a few tweaks to the OS to make it more like a streamlined version of Windows XP with newer kernel. It's specs include a 500mhz Pentium III, 448mb PC100 SDRAM, 20gb hard drive, DVD-ROM drive, 13" XGA screen and 4mb NeoMagic 256ZX video chip. The machine gets regular use at the time being. Manufactured in July of 2000. The ThinkPad 600 is currently sitting around as a parts donor though I plan to eventually get around to restoring it to decent condition again. It has a 300mhz Pentiu II, 128mb PC66 SDRAM, 5gb hard drive, 13" XGA screen, 2mb NeoMagic 128XD video chip and a 1.4mb floppy drive. Currently has no operating system. Manufactured in February of 1999.

Old Post: ThinkPad T20 Review

Found this one on my computer too!

IBM ThinkPad T20 Review

In this review, I will review an older laptop, made by IBM. It's the ThinkPad T20. What makes me love this enough to want to review it? Well you will just have to read on and see!

The model I will be reviewing is slightly upgraded. It's the 750MHZ model and contains 384MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, a DVD drive, and a 14 inch XGA screen. This model originally ran on Windows 98 Second Edition. I use XP Professional with no problems.

First Impressions

You can't really appreciate how small this is until you see it next to a bigger laptop. After using this for the past 3 days, my Acer feels huge now. The laptop is fast for a Pentium III. The graphics card is also good for how low end it is compared to today's standards. The TrackPoint and ThinkLight are also a joy to use.

The case and ports

The top

The first thing you will notice is that the thing is covered in a rubberized sparkling black paint. There is an IBM ThinkPad logo on the lower right corner of the screen.

The bottom

Lets flip it over now... The bottom of the unit is a very busy place. At the top in the center, we have the docking station adapter. Next to that on the right side is a cover for the Mini PCI card. On the right of this we have the helpful IBM label. This ThinkPad was made in Mexico. On the left is the Windows sticker. Windows 98 Second Edition on this model. The bottom left corner contains the oh so helpful battery pack. Next to this on the right is the RAM cover. On the right of this, we have the hard drive coin screw, and part of the hard drive caddy.

The front

Lets move on to the front side. On the top on the hinge, we have a rubber plug covering the Ultraport. This is pretty much a USB interface with a different connecter. On the sides of this we have the screen latches. Both are slid over at the same time, but in opposite directions. Under this is the stereo speaker grill.

On the left side, starting with the lower corner... We have the 3 audio jacks. There's one for headphones, line in, and microphone. Next to this is the infrared data transmitter. This is primarily used for PDA syncing. This piece of plastic is also part of the hard drive caddy. Next to this, we have the PCMCIA/Cardbus slot. This can take either 1 type III or 2 type II cards. This will probably see its most use for a WiFi card. Under this is the in vent for the cooling system. Next to these is the out vent of the cooling system.

The back

On the back from the right side over... We have the PS/2 mouse port. This is used for older mice and those with USB to PS/2 adapters. Next to this we have the solo USB port. This is only USB 1.1 so it is a bit slow. Next to this, we have the all familiar power adapter input. Moving on, we have the LAN and modem connecters. This is used for Internet usage. Moving more to the right, we have the VGA out. This is for hooking up a second monitor or projector. Next to this, we have the parallel port. This is also known as the printer port. Then we have the serial port. This is great for those legacy PDA users. There is an S-Video TV out port. This will let you hook the IBM to a S-Video TV. Last but not the very least is the lock port. I have never had a use for these.

The Left

On the left and final side. we have the barest side of them all, yet most important. This is where the DVD drive is. On the corner there is a switch to eject the drive. That's all we have over here... The drive bay can take a few different drives, including a battery.

Wow, we still didn't even open the hinge yet! Inside we have the screen. The top holds a secret too... That would be a small LED known as a ThinkLight. This is activated by holding FN and hitting PgUp. The bottom on the screen contains the suspend switch. On the hinge is one of the LED panels, It displays battery, sleep, and UltraBay status.

What's this? Rows of keys? That must be the keyboard! Above the keyboard we have the second LED panel and surrounding buttons. There is also the ThinkPad button which when everything is installed, launches a manual of sorts. Next we have the volume down, volume up, and volume mute buttons. Moving on what we see here is that row of LEDs. From left to right, we have hard drive access, number lock, caps lock, scroll lock, and power. Then we have the power button. Your mouse is the little dot between the G, H, and B keys. This is the TrackPoint. You apply pressure to it in the direction you want the cursor to move. The mouse buttons are under the space bar. It's like a 3 button mouse, with the blue bottom one acting as clicking the scroll wheel. There is a small microphone under the right arrow key.

Key Features

ThinkLight

The ThinkLight I mentioned is a small LED on the top of the screen assembly. This is used for typing in the dark. While this light is not blindingly bright, it serves its purpose of helping you see the keys. This is very useful for when working at night in a car.

TrackPoint

The TrackPoint is your mouse. It works as a small joy stick. It doesn't move much, but your mouse cursor will! It will move the mouse cursor in what ever direction you push the stick. This includes circles.

They are extremely useful for in the car. Unlike a touch pad, these do not require much movement on your part. Since the mouse is in the same row as the home keys, they are preferred by touch typists. Personally I do not touch type, but I enjoy that I don't have to move my hand for the mouse.

The mouse buttons are located at the bottom on the space bar. This makes them very easy to press with your thumb. There are 3 buttons, 2 red and 1 blue. The red are left and right click, and the blue is the center button. This can also be used as a scroll wheel with the TrackPoint.

The keyboard

This is a joy to type on. There is enough travel to make typing comfortable. The keys have a little stiffness to them and are quite solid. This is also where the mouse is located.

The UltraBay

This is where your optical drive is located. The UltraBay how ever has the option of more then just a DVD drive. You can get ZIP and floppy drives for it. Need more power? There is the extended battery option too!

The Battery

I can not comment on this section as my battery is old. The quoted run times I have seen are about 3 hours.

The screen

I can not comment on this as it's an old unit. The screen is fine though. Still bright enough and color still looks OK.

The processor

This model contains the 750MHZ Pentium III. It has a power save mode speed of 600MHZ. For its age, it is still capable of running Windows XP Professional with only a few minor slow downs.

Memory

There are 384MB of RAM in my model. This is one 128MB and one 256MB stick. The hard drive is 40GB and is your standard laptop hard drive.

Communications

There is a modem and networking card built in to the laptop. This is the Mini PCI slot. It would be possible to add WiFi but there is no software to turn it on, nor is there an antenna. WiFi is provided through use of the PCMCIA slots. There is also an infrared port under the hard drive caddy. There is a window on the caddy to allow use of the infrared.

Pros

+ Small size with good screen
+ TrackPoint
+ ThinkLight
+ Great Keyboard
+ UltraBay allows for 2 batteries or to upgrade drives

Cons

- No built in WiFi, but that not a big deal
- ThinkLight could be brighter
- Would prefer 2 USB ports
- USB port is in a bad spot to me