Lenovo x121e netbook
- Thread starter nero120
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Just updated via Lenovo ThinkVantage tools fine from within Win 7, no issues, are you attempting the same or via other means?
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Has anyone managed to get recovery media sorted out? I want to get this setup before I go any further (i.e. wipe/win7/linux dual boot)
I am hitting issues with space when attempting setup of the data media when using a 8GB SDHC card...looks like DVD is out too as this is even smaller....
Looking at the amount of data on the "Q" drive around 10GB is required....is this correct? How on earth can people use a DVD for this if that's the case....crazy IMHO!
Any advice? Anything I can do to get recovery data onto an 8GB card, potentially bypassing some bloatware? Contact Lenovo for a recovery DVD maybe? What do you guys think?
BTW: love the laptop, working zippy enough even in energy saving mode and am liking most of the tools installed too, I am just not liking the way Lenovo go about partitioning and recovery media!
edit: Should I be bothered about building recovery media? I had a look at the downloads section for the laptop and it seems that all the drivers and thinkvantage software is there for the taking so in theory if I have a licensed copy of windows 7 then I have all I need to setup from scratch right?
I am hitting issues with space when attempting setup of the data media when using a 8GB SDHC card...looks like DVD is out too as this is even smaller....
Looking at the amount of data on the "Q" drive around 10GB is required....is this correct? How on earth can people use a DVD for this if that's the case....crazy IMHO!
Any advice? Anything I can do to get recovery data onto an 8GB card, potentially bypassing some bloatware? Contact Lenovo for a recovery DVD maybe? What do you guys think?
BTW: love the laptop, working zippy enough even in energy saving mode and am liking most of the tools installed too, I am just not liking the way Lenovo go about partitioning and recovery media!
edit: Should I be bothered about building recovery media? I had a look at the downloads section for the laptop and it seems that all the drivers and thinkvantage software is there for the taking so in theory if I have a licensed copy of windows 7 then I have all I need to setup from scratch right?
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No idea on this one, just pick the default and it should be fine
Thank you - it was more curiosity rather than anything else!
For anyone who is interested:
2 x 4GB Crucial Ram is £33.05 delivered with AVCO5 on the Crucial site direct.
Works out at £31.12 delivered after Quidco cashback.
Unless I can get a fantastic deal on the M4, I think I'll try the 7mm Samsung 830.
OK well that makes sense as I don't have the Thinkvantage software installed on mine, I was just trying to run the exe from the site.
In the end I ran it from a bootable CD, easy enough but you have to change from UEFI to Legacy to boot from the CD drive and then back again to boot into Windows.
Thinking of buying this as an early christmas present for my wife, who'll mainly be using it to write. What are your impressions of the keyboard and is the lenovo store the best place to buy? I was thinking of getting the i3 version with 2gb RAM and upgrading if necessary.
Looked far and wide online and their own store is the best but make sure you use the discount code it is valid until the 24th November. I got i3 with 2Gb RAM and will be upgrading. From what I can gather the trackpad is not good. But the keyboard is so for writing it should be fine.
Very good keyboard in my humble opinion but a bit noisy. I have large hands but it still very comfortable. Trackpad is too small usable after you change the settings I guess.
Very business like look when brought with the black lid cover instead of the flashy red. Does your wife care for the looks or is it substance ??
I have the I3 2357m and if I am not wrong if you order now you will get the new 2367m processor. Very capable even with 2gb ram in it but I dropped in 4gb of crucial ram myself. Very easy to upgrade memory or the HDD. Just 3 screws to remove before you can access them.
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can someone recommend me a WWAN card which will work without modding the BIOS?
I went with the 2gb i3 version in red since it still looks quite nice, but at least it has some colour. She tends to favour red gadgets anyway. It seems that it ships with one dimm, so it should be easy to add another when required.
You're right, the processor on the site is now the 2367m. Is there any discernible difference?
I'm very snobby about keyboards, but the X121 is very good. Some of the keys are moved around a bit - but they're fairly logical and its quick to get used to the changes.
I'd rate is (nearly) as well as a "proper" thinkpad - which has the best keyboard on a laptop bar none. With the moved keys being my only complaint.
If its lenovo branded, then it will work without bios mods. There is a fair selection - unless you've got any specific requirements such as linux support then any of them should be fine (As long as its Mini PCIE, which they pretty much all are) - just check they're not old 1.8mbit hsdpa cards.
The clock rate goes up from 1.3 to 1.4 GHz
The turbo boost feature of the Intel HD 3000 graphics goes up from 950 to 1000 MHz.
CPU mark figures:
i3-2357m = 1650 (average of 20 samples)
i3-2367m = 1911 (average of 3 samples, ~15% better)
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Just a heads-up for those still interested in buying... 15% off this weekend!
eCoupon Code: CYBERWEEKEND15
I have never used any of these cashback sites before so can't guarantee that it'll work, but Quidco offer 4% cashback too
http://www.quidco.com/lenovo/
I'm still unsure about whether to go for this or the AMD Fusion based HP Pavillion DM1-4027EA (both £320). I know the Core i3 processor is much more powerful than the AMD-450, but I'm not even sure I would notice the difference in everyday usage (browsing, watching videos, some photo processing). I'm thinking DM1 would be better as a general multimedia system - more RAM, better graphics, better speakers, longer battery life. I'm not sure if the general build quality is comparable.
eCoupon Code: CYBERWEEKEND15
I have never used any of these cashback sites before so can't guarantee that it'll work, but Quidco offer 4% cashback too
http://www.quidco.com/lenovo/
I'm still unsure about whether to go for this or the AMD Fusion based HP Pavillion DM1-4027EA (both £320). I know the Core i3 processor is much more powerful than the AMD-450, but I'm not even sure I would notice the difference in everyday usage (browsing, watching videos, some photo processing). I'm thinking DM1 would be better as a general multimedia system - more RAM, better graphics, better speakers, longer battery life. I'm not sure if the general build quality is comparable.
One thing which I know I would find incredibly annoying is the reversal of the Fn and Ctrl keys... I have never been able to understand this! I think I read somewhere that these can be swapped back in the BIOS... can anyone confirm this?
I'm not sure I would get on with the positioning of the trackpad buttons just below the keyboard. Has anyone had a problem with this?
Ah, this is standard for Lenovo / IBM. All my laptops are lenovo so it's just something I've become used to.
There is an option to swap in the bios - Config -> Keyboard and mouse
Trackpad under the keyboard don't bother me at all
Thanks for confirming this for me. I know that it's something I just won't get used to as I will also be using a standard keyboard, so it's good to know I can avoid this annoyance.
I have almost managed to convince myself to go for it, but I still a few concerns that I want to investigate before I do.
(1) Whilst it has impressive specs, I am probably more concerned about the general usability. How is the build quality? Is it chunky and awkwardly shaped (e.g. battery bulge)? Is the quoted 1.5kg too heavy for the kind of portability I would expect from 11.6-incher? Is it reasonable to expect to use this as a standalone unit with no mouse?
(2) Lenovo quote something ridiculous like 9 hours for estimated battery life. How long will this really last under normal circumstances (wireless browsing kind of thing)? How long for intensive usage (watching videos, gaming, etc)?
(3) Does the pre-installed software do a good job of controlling the laptop hardware (e.g. underclock CPU/GPU to save power)? Any other "features" that owners find particularly useful or annoying?
(4) As the CPU is fairly powerful for such a small laptop, I imagine it can get pretty hot... does this mean it's very noisy?
(5) Does the 2GB RAM act as a bottleneck... is it work going for the 4GB? I know this can be added later, but I would probably get it pre-installed so I don't void the warranty, and I doubt it be significantly cheaper than £32.
(6) What further customisations should I make? Does the Centrino wireless module perform better than the standard? Is the branded carry pouch better quality/fit to warrant buying it over a generic one?
Well those are the questions I am going to try and answer today. If any owners care to comment on any of things I'm thinking about I would be very !
grateful.
If I'm still unsure I'll probably just put off the decision and accept that I might well be paying an extra 15%!
(1) Whilst it has impressive specs, I am probably more concerned about the general usability. How is the build quality? Is it chunky and awkwardly shaped (e.g. battery bulge)? Is the quoted 1.5kg too heavy for the kind of portability I would expect from 11.6-incher? Is it reasonable to expect to use this as a standalone unit with no mouse?
(2) Lenovo quote something ridiculous like 9 hours for estimated battery life. How long will this really last under normal circumstances (wireless browsing kind of thing)? How long for intensive usage (watching videos, gaming, etc)?
(3) Does the pre-installed software do a good job of controlling the laptop hardware (e.g. underclock CPU/GPU to save power)? Any other "features" that owners find particularly useful or annoying?
(4) As the CPU is fairly powerful for such a small laptop, I imagine it can get pretty hot... does this mean it's very noisy?
(5) Does the 2GB RAM act as a bottleneck... is it work going for the 4GB? I know this can be added later, but I would probably get it pre-installed so I don't void the warranty, and I doubt it be significantly cheaper than £32.
(6) What further customisations should I make? Does the Centrino wireless module perform better than the standard? Is the branded carry pouch better quality/fit to warrant buying it over a generic one?
Well those are the questions I am going to try and answer today. If any owners care to comment on any of things I'm thinking about I would be very !
grateful.
If I'm still unsure I'll probably just put off the decision and accept that I might well be paying an extra 15%!
I am getting on fine with mine, good build, light, not bulky...I am not so keen on the lid having no catch to get a hold of but that's it really
I would say based on current use I will get 4-5 hours of battery from this thing no worries
The ThinkVantage software is good, the power management is quite impressive and very tweakable, you can setup quite a lot in a custom profile etc
Nope, only gets warm if doing a lot of hard disk work e.g. moving partitions around...in normal use it's nice and cool. I have not heard the fan going at all yet...
£33 for 8GB posted with Crucial...and I don't think you void any warranty installing memory...no stickers to remove etc just 3 screws which already have signs of wear (just)
If you want Linux to work with wifi then go with the intel version, if not the more expensive thinkpad version supports higher band wifi too
Just buy one with 2GB ram and the intel wifi and get that 15% reduction!
The only real big gripe I have is around the recovery media, I thought I got it backed up to use at a later date onto a USB drive but I have since it wont boot off it and I can't restore the original media! Atleast the thinkvantage software is available for download! I hate UEFI already...
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Thanks for sharing kaivalagi.
I don't plant to install linux, so I guess the Centrino one isn't necessary... unless it's actually a better adaptor (better signal or lower power)? I'm not too sure about the different wireless standards, but I see the most expensive option is the a/b/g/n adaptor. With this are you just paying for the ability to connect to a networks?
I don't plant to install linux, so I guess the Centrino one isn't necessary... unless it's actually a better adaptor (better signal or lower power)? I'm not too sure about the different wireless standards, but I see the most expensive option is the a/b/g/n adaptor. With this are you just paying for the ability to connect to a networks?
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