Lenovo x121e netbook

I received my delivery and tracking notifications after I received the laptop :rolleyes:

which is why I ended up with two x121s as I was under the belief that I could cancel the i3 variant as notifications had not been sent out and ordered an e350 version.
 
Just thought I'd chip in with my experience of my x121e now I've received it, just in case it helps someone else looking for the same things. Mine is the one with the i3 2367 plus I've installed 8GB RAM and I'm still using the stock 320GB HDD.

It runs Capture One 6 perfectly (slightly faster than my older T7250 Core 2 Duo based laptop) and Photoshop isn't an issue for it either.

The screen isn't actually all that bad for photo editing, but it does take a lot of work to get it calibrated adequately. The back light seems to give an overall red cast when turned to 15, so best calibration results are achieved at lower brightness settings. round 12 or 13 seems to give the best compromise.

The only issue I've found so far is that the stock 320GB HDD seems noticeably slower than the one in m older laptop, which means files take a while to load up (especially when batch processing images). Hopefully I might upgrade to an SSD at some point, but I'm still happy enough with how the laptop works as it is.
 
I have ordered the i3, 6 cell battery, intel wireless but only got 2Gb of RAM. Thought it would make sense to buy my own and put it in myself. I heard crucial is a fairly decent brand so I will probably get it from them.
 
NeonAngel said:
I have ordered the i3, 6 cell battery, intel wireless but only got 2Gb of RAM. Thought it would make sense to buy my own and put it in myself. I heard crucial is a fairly decent brand so I will probably get it from them.
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I'm awaiting delivery of much the same as yourself from Lenovo and have just ordered 8GB of ram from crucial to go into it, it cost me £33 incl delivery (5% discount code) which ain't bad.

The laptop should arrive on Monday, memory on Tuesday then happy days :)
 
kaivalagi said:
I'm awaiting delivery of much the same as yourself from Lenovo and have just ordered 8GB of ram from crucial to go into it, it cost me £33 incl delivery (5% discount code) which ain't bad.

The laptop should arrive on Monday, memory on Tuesday then happy days :)
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Does this discount code apply to the RAM? If so where is it and what site can I use it on? The crucial site?
 
NeonAngel said:
Does this discount code apply to the RAM? If so where is it and what site can I use it on? The crucial site?
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Yeah works for RAM on the crucial site (it should work for anything!) and although the 5% code was down as expired it still worked...the code which I just tried again to be sure is AVCO5

Only ~ £1.50 discount, but still a discount :)
 
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kaivalagi said:
Yeah works for RAM on the crucial site (it should work for anything!) and although the 5% code was down as expired it still worked...the code which I just tried again to be sure is AVCO5

Only ~ £1.50 discount, but still a discount :)
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Not sure if I was using the same one but it does not work for me. Oh well.
 
Hi,

I just joined the site after finding this very useful thread about the x121e...

I have a few questions which I was hoping people could answer (I did read the thread over a couple of sessions, so if I missed the answers earlier on I apologise!)

1. Will the x121e take SATA-III drives, or only SATA-II? I couldn't see any specifics of the tech sheet

2. There are 3 options for wifi cards:
> Thinkpad b/g/b (stock) - 1 x 1 Realtek
> Centrino Wireless-N 1000 (+£4.80) 1 x 2 I think(!)
> Thinkpad a/b/g/n (+£12.00) 2 x 2 Broadcom
I'm thinking I'll take the Centrino option for (hopefully) better support in linux, but is the 2 x 2 Broadcom worth it over the 1 x 2 Centrino? To be honest, I'm quite wishy-washy on the whole dual stream thing anyway...

3. WWAN - when it refers to "Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable" that just means that the space is there, rather than actually having a card of some description already fitted? The Ericsson is an upgrade option, but the tech specs also show a Qualcomm Gobi 3000...

4. What is "Country Pack EU Generic (WWAN enabled) with Line cord & 65W AC adapter" all about?

Thanks in advance for any pointers :)
 
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cas said:
1. Will the x121e take SATA-III drives, or only SATA-II? I couldn't see any specifics of the tech sheet

2. There are 3 options for wifi cards:
> Thinkpad b/g/b (stock) - 1 x 1 Realtek
> Centrino Wireless-N 1000 (+£4.80) 1 x 2 I think(!)
> Thinkpad a/b/g/n (+£12.00) 2 x 2 Broadcom
I'm thinking I'll take the Centrino option for (hopefully) better support in linux, but is the 2 x 2 Broadcom worth it over the 1 x 2 Centrino? To be honest, I'm quite wishy-washy on the whole dual stream thing anyway...

3. WWAN - when it refers to "Integrated Mobile Broadband - Upgradable" that just means that the space is there, rather than actually having a card of some description already fitted? The Ericsson is an upgrade option, but the tech specs also show a Qualcomm Gobi 3000...

4. What is "Country Pack EU Generic (WWAN enabled) with Line cord & 65W AC adapter" all about?
Click to expand...

1. They'll take SATA III drives, they'll run at SATA II speeds. TBH I wouldn't worry about the difference between the two very much. If you're doing something so intensive as to notice the difference - then the ULV processor is going to be a far bigger problem. Buy an alienware laptop and a forklift truck to carry it!

2. The Centrino Option is probably the easiest for "consumer" distros. (If you don't want debian / "non free is evil" distros). None of the choices are really that fantastic. You can retrofit a lenovo branded half height mini pci-e card, so something like a 6xxx series will fit - just watch out as you only have 2 aerials.

3 - 4. There is a full height mini pci-e slot and two aerials fitted as standard. You can either get the Ericsson card put in for you, or do it yourself. (You need lenovo branded still, as the bios checks PCI Codes). If you do it yourself you can put a gobi in if that suits - or an older Ericsson card. Thinkwiki has some good details on what works and what's a pain in the rear end if you are a prospective linux user.
There is a fair selection of second hand cards of varying ages (Some only do 1.8mbit hsdpa, so check the specs), prices (Normally lots lower than direct) and linux compatibility.
 
Wishy said:
1. They'll take SATA III drives, they'll run at SATA II speeds. TBH I wouldn't worry about the difference between the two very much. If you're doing something so intensive as to notice the difference - then the ULV processor is going to be a far bigger problem. Buy an alienware laptop and a forklift truck to carry it!

2. The Centrino Option is probably the easiest for "consumer" distros. (If you don't want debian / "non free is evil" distros). None of the choices are really that fantastic. You can retrofit a lenovo branded half height mini pci-e card, so something like a 6xxx series will fit - just watch out as you only have 2 aerials.

3 - 4. There is a full height mini pci-e slot and two aerials fitted as standard. You can either get the Ericsson card put in for you, or do it yourself. (You need lenovo branded still, as the bios checks PCI Codes). If you do it yourself you can put a gobi in if that suits - or an older Ericsson card. Thinkwiki has some good details on what works and what's a pain in the rear end if you are a prospective linux user.
There is a fair selection of second hand cards of varying ages (Some only do 1.8mbit hsdpa, so check the specs), prices (Normally lots lower than direct) and linux compatibility.
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That's great, thank you very much!

The only thing I'm still not clear on is why there is a specific power adapter for EU which has "WWAN enabled" in the description, and another EU power adapter without that in the description...?

I was going to order today, but I see that November's code for the X-series has expired
 
cas said:
That's great, thank you very much!

The only thing I'm still not clear on is why there is a specific power adapter for EU which has "WWAN enabled" in the description, and another EU power adapter without that in the description...?

I was going to order today, but I see that November's code for the X-series has expired
Click to expand...

I thought that but when I phoned Lenovo they told me that it would run until 24th november. But the code was slightly different to the one I saw online. So I used the one he gave me.
NOV10PROMO. The first 0 is the number and in promo it is obviously the letter O. Its all in caps. Try that worked for when I ordered Friday morning.
 
cas said:
Thank you for the tip, but sadly NOV10PROMO doesn't work either. :(
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I might have a digit wrong, I was saying from memory because I discarded it after I purchsed mine. The man I spoke to at lenovo assured me the promotion ran till 24th November. So I would call up or e-mail and ask because although it was not on the website after I typed in the code he gave me it did work. And like I said this was only friday morning so fairly recently.
 
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