x220 questions!

[pelov]

After trying out an x220 I've decided that it's officially the best laptop ever made. I do have certain questions for those of you who own the laptop.

I've been looking perusing sites, and whatever hellhole Google decides to drag me to, but haven't seen a clear answer as to whether there is a usable mSATA slot for some sweet SSDiskage. The chipset, HM65, doesn't say much. Is the optional wireless/3G/WiMax card plugged in via the same port?

I'm also wondering just what kind of battery life to expect. From the reviews I've read, it looks as if the x230 has worse battery life than the x220. Considering the bump in price and essentially equal hardware (I don't care for HD4000. It sucks anyway), I'd rather have the x220. Do any of you have a 6-cell or a 9-cell and can tell me just what kind of portability away-from-socket I'll be getting?

Thanks

 

[Hellotalkie]

I have one. It's a tank.

Well right now it's in for service but with the way I use it (outdoors), i'm surprised it's not in service all the time.

Yes there is a msata slot available. I think the 3/4g option does take up that slot if chosen. When ordering, make sure you get the IPS screen. I have the 9 cell and battery slice. I get usually 16 -20 hours when used together. Extended warranty is cheap.

The x230 probably gets a little worse battery life due to the illuminated keyboard. Also the x230 has a different keyboard. Meh.

Cons:
Speakers are terrible. I recommend to get the bluetooth option for wireless headphones.

I actually gave my x220 to my brother for college and picked up a Vaio Z2. It's nice but the keyboard is nowhere near the performance of the x220.

 

[kevinsbane]

After trying out an x220 I've decided that it's officially the best laptop ever made. I do have certain questions for those of you who own the laptop.

I've been looking perusing sites, and whatever hellhole Google decides to drag me to, but haven't seen a clear answer as to whether there is a usable mSATA slot for some sweet SSDiskage. The chipset, HM65, doesn't say much. Is the optional wireless/3G/WiMax card plugged in via the same port?

I'm also wondering just what kind of battery life to expect. From the reviews I've read, it looks as if the x230 has worse battery life than the x220. Considering the bump in price and essentially equal hardware (I don't care for HD4000. It sucks anyway), I'd rather have the x220. Do any of you have a 6-cell or a 9-cell and can tell me just what kind of portability away-from-socket I'll be getting?

Thanks

It depends on what you are doing . If you will be doing anything that requires computing power such as AutoCAD, photoshop, photo or video editing, the x230 will get better battery life while you are doing it. If you are just doing web browsing or office work, battery life should be a wash. I've seen reviews that show longer battery life for one, and other reviews that say the other has longer battery life.

Battery life on a six cell battery, with average brightness levels (11-12) will get you about seven hours of juice. You may get longer if you use an ssd and/or use a lower brightness level. If you do a minimalist power use, you could probably squeeze 8.5 hours out of it. I haven't managed to get more than eight out of my six cell. My nine cell gives me about ten hours of life. Again you could probably squeeze 12 hours out of it if you really need to.

I'be used autocad on it, and in those conditions the six cell is good for about four hours, and the nine cell six hours.

Probably a good rule of thumb is that you'll get about as many hours of life as you have number of battery cells.

Personally, I'd get the x230, but that's up to you. If you stick with the thinkpad brand in the future, you won't have to adjust to the new keyboard layout.

 

[weovpac]

Yes it has a, 1 Full (WWAN or m-SATA) [0]

[0] http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/product-and-parts/detail.page?DocID=PD015812

 

[slugg]

I had an X200. It would get 8-9 hours on power saving usage with a 9 cell. My T520 gets 7 hours with normal usage (high screen brightness, wifi and Bluetooth on, web browsing, compiling, and listening to music at the same time) with the 9 cell. So your future X220 is bound to be better. I've been impressed with my T520 since day one and the X220 is its little brother. I do believe you'll love it.

Oh and yes, the WWAN takes up the msata slot. You can have one or the other.