Nipple is the way forward!!
It's the reason the only laptop I'll consider is a ThinkPad.Lenovo x121e netbook
- Thread starter nero120
- Start date
Nipple is the way forward!!
It's the reason the only laptop I'll consider is a ThinkPad.
Nipple is the way forward!!
I totally agree with you on this! - Who else other than IBM (Lenovo) gives you this wicked nipple! I think they make the whole thing look so much more professional
Guys/Girl, I still need some serious advice on where I can buy the compatible RAM and SSD for the X121e? - Are you saving that much money by doing it this way instead of selecting these components at the checkout?
And Finally; Are there any tutorials on how to install these components in a laptop? Or do you get by with the instructions provided with both component and laptop?
And Finally; Are there any tutorials on how to install these components in a laptop? Or do you get by with the instructions provided with both component and laptop?
1) Yes, its a bit saving. Not sure I can recommend a supplier other than say OCUK sell suitable ram
You want DDR3, SODIMM (Laptop form factor), 1333
It'll be cheaper to buy your own components later, be that RAM or SSD. I've yet to find a supplier where that isn't the case - but lenovo don't want a huuggeely unreasonable premium (Certainly not as bad as apple!)
2)
Its a thinkpad, full service manuals are available. Which is frankly what you should get from every other supplier too IMHO.
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/0a96013.pdf
RAM is one hatch on the bottom, but if you've got no experience at all then perhaps you might be more comfortable getting lenovo to custom build.
Re other questions, the i3 is generally a lot quicker than the AMD. And nipples are great.
You want DDR3, SODIMM (Laptop form factor), 1333
It'll be cheaper to buy your own components later, be that RAM or SSD. I've yet to find a supplier where that isn't the case - but lenovo don't want a huuggeely unreasonable premium (Certainly not as bad as apple!)
2)
Its a thinkpad, full service manuals are available. Which is frankly what you should get from every other supplier too IMHO.
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/0a96013.pdf
RAM is one hatch on the bottom, but if you've got no experience at all then perhaps you might be more comfortable getting lenovo to custom build.
Re other questions, the i3 is generally a lot quicker than the AMD. And nipples are great.
Brilliant, thanks Wishy that's great!! - Just wondering though if the Warranty is voided by a self install?
Well I have built PC's before, no problems there. Laptops I have no experience with so I suppose I do lack confidence (as much as I do experience) but if you don't try then how are you supposed to build confidence and experience?
And you're right, Lenovo's prices certainly aren't awful *cough* Apple *cough*
Thanks Wishy
Theres been a lot of talk about problems putting in different HDD's / SSD's due to the 7mm limit.
At work recently, a guy offered me an SSD for £65 - I'm not really that clued up on them, but it seemed like a good deal so I thought i'd take the chance and try it in the x121e.
It's a Kingston 128GB SSDNow drive.
Of course, being 9mm tall there is no way it would fit normally, so here comes a little lateral thinking...
Some screws on the back
Open it up to remove the "bare" drive
The chip on it's own is much MUCH thinner (4mm?) and fits right in fine - I decided to make a simple housing for it to stop it shorting on anything - it's not pretty, but it does the job...
(yes - that is newspaper and tape...)
Did void the warranty on the SSD - but I can always put it back together if I get another laptop and use it in that still.
With an SSD & 8GB of RAM it's pretty quick... just wish I could use my Intel WiFi card (I normally use an Intel 5300 card in my laptops - but the Lenovo won't boot with it in
)
At work recently, a guy offered me an SSD for £65 - I'm not really that clued up on them, but it seemed like a good deal so I thought i'd take the chance and try it in the x121e.
It's a Kingston 128GB SSDNow drive.
Of course, being 9mm tall there is no way it would fit normally, so here comes a little lateral thinking...
Some screws on the back
Open it up to remove the "bare" drive
The chip on it's own is much MUCH thinner (4mm?) and fits right in fine - I decided to make a simple housing for it to stop it shorting on anything - it's not pretty, but it does the job...
(yes - that is newspaper and tape...)
Did void the warranty on the SSD - but I can always put it back together if I get another laptop and use it in that still.
With an SSD & 8GB of RAM it's pretty quick... just wish I could use my Intel WiFi card (I normally use an Intel 5300 card in my laptops - but the Lenovo won't boot with it in
)Just wish I could use my Intel WiFi card (I normally use an Intel 5300 card in my laptops - but the Lenovo won't boot with it in
Ah, the lovely 1802... Various ways around this (Check thinkwiki)
Bios hack - haven't seen anything for the X1xx series specifically
Card PCI-ID Hack - should work with this model
Your easiest option will probably be just to buy another card which has been stripped from another lenovo. As long as the PCI ID is correct then its not too model specific.
I only keep laptops for ~6 months so I'm not buying another card when I have a perfectly good one sitting on my desk...
Plus I'm not giving Lenovo any extra money for gimping my laptop in the first place!
Soldato
- Joined
- 4 Apr 2003
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- 8,113
Theres been a lot of talk about problems putting in different HDD's / SSD's due to the 7mm limit.
At work recently, a guy offered me an SSD for £65 - I'm not really that clued up on them, but it seemed like a good deal so I thought i'd take the chance and try it in the x121e.
Did void the warranty on the SSD - but I can always put it back together if I get another laptop and use it in that still.
With an SSD & 8GB of RAM it's pretty quick... just wish I could use my Intel WiFi card (I normally use an Intel 5300 card in my laptops - but the Lenovo won't boot with it in
so er newspaper which is quite flammable in a confined laptop whilst removing any sort of cooling the SSD housing offers to those memory chips.....i know i know they don't run that hot but still
you sir are a braver man than most.
and also a cheap skate, you could have got some heat resistant material or pad to use
The SSD's "case" doesn't act as a heatsink - the SSD sits on a foam pad, there is no sort of thermal conduction between the chips and the case
So mine arrived today.
They've got the keyboard right, which to me is pretty high up the list of important things. Its comparable to my old X61
The windows install is remarkably good, the amount of "rubbish"ware is pretty minimal, it gives you the option to install, but doesn't force norton, etc on you.
The screen - hmm, the size is suitable. The only thing that bugs me is that there is big spaces of bezel above and below. I wish they'd put a 16:10 screen in there with the extra space, although (of course), its a budget laptop and a 16:10 screen is more expensive.
In any case, there is enough space to work with and the resolution is fine.
Seems nippy enough, but I ordered the "stock" unit with the 6 cell (Looking at the way it fits, there is no space advantage of the 3 cell) and upgraded network. Will stick in another 2gb of ram and that should be more than sufficient for linux.
They've got the keyboard right, which to me is pretty high up the list of important things. Its comparable to my old X61
The windows install is remarkably good, the amount of "rubbish"ware is pretty minimal, it gives you the option to install, but doesn't force norton, etc on you.
The screen - hmm, the size is suitable. The only thing that bugs me is that there is big spaces of bezel above and below. I wish they'd put a 16:10 screen in there with the extra space, although (of course), its a budget laptop and a 16:10 screen is more expensive.
In any case, there is enough space to work with and the resolution is fine.
Seems nippy enough, but I ordered the "stock" unit with the 6 cell (Looking at the way it fits, there is no space advantage of the 3 cell) and upgraded network. Will stick in another 2gb of ram and that should be more than sufficient for linux.
Bad news
I have some bad news... The x121e is sitting on my table closed. It happened that I still carry my old notebook to work, and for home I use a little netbook to carry around.
I really do not like the continous noise of the fan (it runs always, whatever I do). I do not like the screen resolution (too much for this small size), I do not like that its always too hot. And it weights a half kilo more then I like to carry in my messenger bag.
I will see If I can get used to this machine or not.
I have some bad news... The x121e is sitting on my table closed. It happened that I still carry my old notebook to work, and for home I use a little netbook to carry around.
I really do not like the continous noise of the fan (it runs always, whatever I do). I do not like the screen resolution (too much for this small size), I do not like that its always too hot. And it weights a half kilo more then I like to carry in my messenger bag.
I will see If I can get used to this machine or not.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 9,378
Azail, is your X121e the Intel or AMD version?
Read a couple of reviews and people have generally said that the Intel based version does run warmer than AMD.
I've ordered an AMD version myself, which should be with me early next week. Currently in Kazakhstan.
Read a couple of reviews and people have generally said that the Intel based version does run warmer than AMD.
I've ordered an AMD version myself, which should be with me early next week. Currently in Kazakhstan.
You can knock up the font size to allow for the relatively high res screen.
Noise - The 7200 RPM hard drive seems to add some noise as well, but to me its not offensive. A netbook IS going to be quieter (Atom processor) and lighter (Smaller Screen).
I maintain the X121e is a very good choice for people that want something which is compact, but with a screen slightly bigger than a netbook, is zippy (Atom a very slow processor) and has some ability to play games (Thus far I've played Portal2, CS:S and Zombie Atom Smasher. They were all playable. You're not going to write home about how great the graphics are, but playable. If I went to a single day lan party, I could make do)
News from my travels
- The Intel 320 has a plastic bezel. You don't even need to open the SSD to get it off, although it allows you to get in. In any case, providing you keep the bezel and don't maul the screws, I can't see how intel could spot that I've removed it should I need to RMA in the next 5 years. (The 320 is a bit of a conservative SSD, but I like the ECC on the flash chips, the long warrenty and that intel are big enough for problems to be common - if that makes any sense). Went in easy peasy
- Ram upgrade - Again, easy peasy
- Mobile Data Card
I bought a Ericsson e3507 for £32 (Auction site).
Fitting it was easy, if a little fiddly with the tiny Ariel connectors. Popped in my mobile broadband sim, and it installed correctly. Currently have that running - all working rather nicely. (Under KUbuntu in this case)
Note - Make very sure that you're buying a lenovo part. If you insert a 3G (Lenovo call it WWAN) card which is not lenovo supplied, the PCI-ID will be incorrect and you'll get the dreaded 1802 message. (Obviously this doesn't apply to USB 3g cards).
Also note - there are a number of quite old WWAN modules. Specifically watch out for the Sierra ones, the more common of these do only 1.8mbit down, and they don't cost substantially less than the newer cards. Thinkwiki is an invaluable source here. It was also good in terms of helping me decide which card to go for (The Globi modules seem to be a bit of a pair in the rear end for linux support)
My travels in linux
Debian - Squeeze don't support the inbuilt wired network interface. It will support the Centrino 1000, but they're too puritanical to include these for you, so faf++
Ubuntu (All varients) - If you get a black screen on boot, disable the UEFI in the BIOS. Once you've done that, everything should pretty much work. That said, I miss gnome 2.x
Fedora - Works straight out of the box, no tweaks required. But Gnome 3 isn't mature
Noise - The 7200 RPM hard drive seems to add some noise as well, but to me its not offensive. A netbook IS going to be quieter (Atom processor) and lighter (Smaller Screen).
I maintain the X121e is a very good choice for people that want something which is compact, but with a screen slightly bigger than a netbook, is zippy (Atom a very slow processor) and has some ability to play games (Thus far I've played Portal2, CS:S and Zombie Atom Smasher. They were all playable. You're not going to write home about how great the graphics are, but playable. If I went to a single day lan party, I could make do)
News from my travels
- The Intel 320 has a plastic bezel. You don't even need to open the SSD to get it off, although it allows you to get in. In any case, providing you keep the bezel and don't maul the screws, I can't see how intel could spot that I've removed it should I need to RMA in the next 5 years. (The 320 is a bit of a conservative SSD, but I like the ECC on the flash chips, the long warrenty and that intel are big enough for problems to be common - if that makes any sense). Went in easy peasy
- Ram upgrade - Again, easy peasy
- Mobile Data Card
I bought a Ericsson e3507 for £32 (Auction site).
Fitting it was easy, if a little fiddly with the tiny Ariel connectors. Popped in my mobile broadband sim, and it installed correctly. Currently have that running - all working rather nicely. (Under KUbuntu in this case)
Note - Make very sure that you're buying a lenovo part. If you insert a 3G (Lenovo call it WWAN) card which is not lenovo supplied, the PCI-ID will be incorrect and you'll get the dreaded 1802 message. (Obviously this doesn't apply to USB 3g cards).
Also note - there are a number of quite old WWAN modules. Specifically watch out for the Sierra ones, the more common of these do only 1.8mbit down, and they don't cost substantially less than the newer cards. Thinkwiki is an invaluable source here. It was also good in terms of helping me decide which card to go for (The Globi modules seem to be a bit of a pair in the rear end for linux support)
My travels in linux
Debian - Squeeze don't support the inbuilt wired network interface. It will support the Centrino 1000, but they're too puritanical to include these for you, so faf++
Ubuntu (All varients) - If you get a black screen on boot, disable the UEFI in the BIOS. Once you've done that, everything should pretty much work. That said, I miss gnome 2.x
Fedora - Works straight out of the box, no tweaks required. But Gnome 3 isn't mature
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 9,378
Ordered mine on last week on Sunday night and arrived yesterday morning.