Lenovo x121e netbook

On another note, I know this thing isn't going to be a great machine for games before anyone shouts at me!

But my last machine was the Acer 8371 which had a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU and a dedicated Ati 4330 GPU along with the integrated Intel GPU.

It was pretty decent for my mobile gaming needs including older titles like Civilization 4, Galactic Civilizations 2, Half Life 2, Company of Heroes, Mass Effect and Dragon Age, would there be an danger that the Lenovo x121e with the i3 and Intel HD 3000 would run the same games?

Just wondering what if any games folk are playing?
 
Hmmm Mass Effect was a bit slowish on the Acer but Dragon Age worked fine at low settings, might need to look for something with a dedicated GPU then, is there anything in a smalish size that has such a thing?
Everything seems to be integrated GPU's now, are there better integrated options?
 
Wakinglimb said:
It's tied to the machine. You'll need to call Lenovo.
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No worries, fixed it with a free partition recovery program.

It was a good opportunity to clean up some of the bloatware that I found in it.

I recon I'm waiting for a couple of months and will then go for an SSD.

I'm curious how fast this thing can get.


Re Gaming, I can comfortably play TF2, Neverwinter 2, Il-2 (plane simulator).

Can't see a problem with it to be honest. If you do need gaming performance, I'm afraid at this budget there will be nothing for you.
 
scylos said:
No worries, fixed it with a free partition recovery program.

It was a good opportunity to clean up some of the bloatware that I found in it.

I recon I'm waiting for a couple of months and will then go for an SSD.

I'm curious how fast this thing can get.


Re Gaming, I can comfortably play TF2, Neverwinter 2, Il-2 (plane simulator).

Can't see a problem with it to be honest. If you do need gaming performance, I'm afraid at this budget there will be nothing for you.
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If TF2 runs fine then I don't think I'll have any problems with what I want to play, only thing I can see possibly not working in Minecraft but I can't have everything!

Think I'm going to order the Intel one today, was quite tempted by the AMD e-350 as it seems the graphics are better but think I'd prefer the beefier Intel CPU and battery life
 
chrismscotland said:
If TF2 runs fine then I don't think I'll have any problems with what I want to play, only thing I can see possibly not working in Minecraft but I can't have everything!

Think I'm going to order the Intel one today, was quite tempted by the AMD e-350 as it seems the graphics are better but think I'd prefer the beefier Intel CPU and battery life
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If you want my sincere opinion, its better to have the i3 even if it plays games at 2-3 fps less (which apparently it does not) and be able to savage everything else. Compared this with my colleague's AMD one (which carries single channel memory @ 6GB) and it is night and day. Also, there is no difference in heat and noise, which was a surprise to me considering how less powerful the AMD is.

Also, it seems that the Intel HD graphics work better with certain games. Perhaps it is better to look for the ones that are of interest to you before deciding.

EDIT.: TF2, NWN2, SC2 and IL2 worked fine for me. Mind you, I've installed 8GB memory and it is a dual channel matched pair, that does help the GPU (supposedly) a lot.
 
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The AMD GPU is probably better but it is severely bottlenecked by the CPU.

I'm playing it in native resolution, Textures on Medium (everything else set to low) and the High Frames config from here: http://www.fakkelbrigade.eu/chris/configs

Perfectly playable and spends majority of time above 30fps. Doesn't look too bad either. Mind you, I think I'd struggle to see any major differences with settings jacked up due to the same screen size.

For a netbook I purchased for web browsing/general use, I'm amazed I can even play anything to be honest.

I do look forward to future AMD and Intel Integrated CPU/GPU solutions in the netbook/sub notebook area.
 
Shame that the special offers are gone. I could get the AMD one for £270 from Lenovo at some point.

Looking in ebay seems that they are way too expensive. Just one private sale for the i3 one and none for the AMD.
 
GuruJockStrap said:
For a netbook I purchased for web browsing/general use, I'm amazed I can even play anything to be honest.
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To be honest I think you've hit the nail on the proverbial head there, buying the Lenovo is going to be head and shoulders performance wise over the Tegra 2 tablet I was considering, its going to do a helluva lot more and any gaming I get to work is going to be better than what I'd be playing on a tablet.

Most of the stuff I play, especially older stuff is more reliant on CPU than Graphics anyway, so my minds made up!
 
Wakinglimb said:
Amd one is more very netbook. The Intel is a sub notebook. Battery life isnt as good as Intel, but still decent. Depends on your needs though.
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Wrong tested by notebook check, both with 6 cell, AMD is better for life.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-X121e-204562U-Laptop-Review.58880.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-ThinkPad-X121e-NWS5QGE-Subnotebook.61149.0.html

Intel

Battery runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness) 7h 41min
Surfing with WLAN 5h 9min
Load (maximum brightness) 3h 23min

AMD

Battery runtime
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness) 11h 17min
Surfing with WLAN 7h 12min
DVD 5h 16min
Load (maximum brightness) 3h 31min

Quite a few people are undervolting the AMD CPU too

GuruJockStrap said:
For a netbook I purchased for web browsing/general use, I'm amazed I can even play anything to be honest.
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Indeed, the AMD one acquits itself well enough though

The only game that notebook check tested on both was starcraft 2

At low settings the intel bettered the AMD system due to CPU, at med settings the AMD was faster than the Intel 121 due to GPU.

Starcraft 2 is very CPU intensive, most games require GPU, its really going to be hit and miss as to what is best as mention above it very much down to what you want to do but one thing is certain AMD drivers will always be better than Intel.
 
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I was going off of the Lenovo quoted times. Mine arrived today, even pre-SSD and 8gb upgrade it's snappy enough. Looking forward to getting it spec'd up, my WWAN card arrived today too :D
 
It is very unfortunate that Lenovo's sales are handled by digital river. Their service and the tracking facilities are frankly, abysmall.

However, this time only, I am willing to overlook all this, this machine is ace.
 
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Just a quickie, Lenovo's online ordering seems to suggest that the x121e Intel comes with a 3G capability,is that right or is it only if I select the expensive Ericsson upgrade?
 
Just thought I'd pitch in with something helpful. I'm still umming and ahhing over the x121e. I'm due a fair wodge of freelance monies soon, so I might see if there's anything left for this after buying Christmas pressies.

I'm reassured that scylos has been using it for presentations, as that's another use I'll have for it. It would be great if any of you could share your experiences running Adobe Lightroom or Capture One photo editing programs on it though. If you fancy trying it out of interest, I could supply some RAW camera files to bash through it. Just let me know on here... I keep checking back.

Anyway, back to the helpful. Although the discount codes seem to have expired (unless anyone can inform me otherwise) one thing I noticed is that Quidco offer a 6% cashback rate if you shop on the Lenovo website through them http://www.quidco.com/lenovo/

6% is only going to be £20-£30, but it's still better than a smack in the mouth eh?
 
chrismscotland said:
Just a quickie, Lenovo's online ordering seems to suggest that the x121e Intel comes with a 3G capability,is that right or is it only if I select the expensive Ericsson upgrade?
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You can buy a WWAN card off of eBay for it. Check out earlier posts on this.

I love this laptop, on low settings at native res, I'm getting 32fps average in Dirt 3! To put this in context, same settings on my ITX desktop with E-350 gets about 15 - 16 FPS.
 
Alas I cannot advise on specific programs, It can sure run photoscape and edit images in RAW although I suspect that you are a bit more advanced than that.

However, if it can run 3ds Max as fast as my iMac I can't see how on earth it will fail on RAW images even if Lightroom is demanding. 3ds is the resource hog as far as I know. Not only that but the presentation is flawless, tested on a 32" Samsung TV in the office and our Dell Projector.

To be more specific, compared to my Mac desktop (and it is really well built as far as all-in-ones go), I get higher scores in everything but the processor speed in the Windows Experience Index, where my 3.06 Core 2 duo scores 5.1. This scores 4.9. As far as I know, memory is the main driver for these programs that's why I upgraded to 8GB.

It is really impressive - guys, I'm comparing a late 2009 high end desktop with a mid 2011 low-end superportable! I suppose that's technology for you and me.

Having said all that, I would never work on this without an external monitor. The screen is really basic and imo is the true disadvantage of this machine. Noise is so & so but fortunately has a rather sympathetic tone and is not really annoying. Trackpad I can live without, I'd rather use the nipple anytime.

Quidco is showing my cashback as being tracked. So in all likelyhood its gonna be a slow process. But hey, thats my memory upgrade, why not!

PS.: I originally got this as a PPT presentation machine for work, wanted three things really: Good battery, lots of conections and that it looked professional. I got a lot more than I bargained for.
 
Wakinglimb said:
You can buy a WWAN card off of eBay for it. Check out earlier posts on this.

I love this laptop, on low settings at native res, I'm getting 32fps average in Dirt 3! To put this in context, same settings on my ITX desktop with E-350 gets about 15 - 16 FPS.
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Ah right so I take it it means that the antenna and SIM slot is there but not the 3G card?

What's cards work?
 
scylos said:
Having said all that, I would never work on this without an external monitor. The screen is really basic and imo is the true disadvantage of this machine.
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The screen is basic because its a budget subnotebook. Its really really good value for the spec you get, its relatively well built. I'd love it if the TN 16:9 panel were replaced with a 16:10 IPS screen (There is room in the bezel), but that would cost a lot more. If you want the display choices - then the lenovo professional line (Eg x220) has the options - but you'll pay a lot more
The only way you'll get a screen significantly better on this budget is buying second hand.
Most people with an 11.6" screen aren't going to be doing colour critical work.

chrismscotland said:
Ah right so I take it it means that the antenna and SIM slot is there but not the 3G card?

What's cards work?
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Like he said, check earlier in the post. I'm not posting it for the fourth time!
 
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