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Start search for a Lenovo x220 replacement

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Deal Addict
Oct 12, 2006
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Alberta

Start search for a Lenovo x220 replacement

Hey guys,
I'm starting to look for a replacement for my faithful Lenovo x220 from 2011 (i5-2520).
Still runs ok, but the screen is starting to go (fairly significant ghosting / lingering images, and the colors are starting to be off).
System drive is off a mSATA that starting to be squeezed for space.
I could buy a replacement screen and a new SSD, but I'd be approaching the point where it would cost almost as much as the system itself.

Looking for something similar sized (12"). Don't need an ultrabook, no issues with the x220 thickness, but not much more than that. Main use is the standard office/video/internet. I do travel for work though so it'll move often and get packed.

I am partial to the Thinkpad line (understated style...), but open to suggestions. What's out there these days??
16 replies
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
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Anything newer will either be significantly slower or significantly more expensive. Hold on to that x220 for dear life.
Deal Addict
Nov 25, 2002
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get a refurb x220. they were $250 for the x220 with i5-2540 + IPS screen + 9 cell battery last week on boxxaroo but I don't see it online anymore. =(

I just bought an x220t on kijiji for $250 with an i5-2520 + 9 cell battery. I spent an extra $100 on 16GB of ram and I repurposed an SSD i was using in my file server. Upgraded to windows 10 too. So far I'm pretty happy though the x220t is a little top heavy. I should've stuck to my guns and got the non-tablet x220, but I was lured by the fancy touchscreen and the guaranteed IPS screen.

Even if I bought a new 128-256GB ssd, my total cost would be ~$500. not bad considering 16GB of ram, a real SSD (not eMMC), IPS screen, full sandy bridge i5, trackpoint, durability, pen and touchscreen support, etc..

Cons are no USB 3.0 (limits external storage options), battery life (not amazing, but not bad either), weight (tablet is 3.8 lbs), and screen resolution (though you don't have to deal with any scaling issues =))
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Dec 1, 2010
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I have an x220 as well, I love the thing for travel :) .
Deal Fanatic
Oct 25, 2003
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Even the T460s is an ultra book these days. If you're buying new and want the small form factor, ID take a close look at the Dell XPS 13
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Dec 29, 2005
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Asus Zenbook UX303UA or UX303UB if you can swing it.

These are some of the few ultrabooks that have an unsoldered memory slot. You can also upgrade the wifi card, or the 2.5" ssd with up to 2TB storage!
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Deal Addict
Oct 12, 2006
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B0000rt wrote: Even the T460s is an ultra book these days. If you're buying new and want the small form factor, ID take a close look at the Dell XPS 13
Kinda interesting you say that. This x220 was what replace the first gen xps 13 (serious heat issues).
The new ones do look pretty nice though.

I really like the lenovo still though. Maybe if a nice SSD deal comes through I'll jump on that. (7 out of 40 gb left on my mSATA).
Deal Expert
Feb 29, 2008
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mystery wrote: Asus Zenbook UX303UA or UX303UB if you can swing it.

These are some of the few ultrabooks that have an unsoldered memory slot. You can also upgrade the wifi card, or the 2.5" ssd with up to 2TB storage!
The core M will get spanked by the i5 2520.
Deal Fanatic
Mar 6, 2005
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In general you're not really CPU bound these days, however the newer laptops will get you much better battery life, improved IGP performance/Hardware Decoding and a higher resolution screen.

CPU raw power wise, you're not gaining much upgrading in that department.
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Feb 15, 2005
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YEG
It looks like the X260 with i5-6300u, 4GB, 12.5" IPS, 500GB HD, $10 media reader, 3 & 6-cell 72wh batteries goes for $1,116. Seeing how my old but dead X41 cost nearly $3,000, I'd say this is a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, my last laptop purchase was a similarly expensive T41 so my Lenovo laptop buying experience is incredibly outdated.
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Oct 12, 2006
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Alberta
x260 looks interesting. Looks like they're moving away from the chicklet keys.

/edit: Shoot, bad picture. Still chiclet keys.
Deal Fanatic
Dec 29, 2005
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mr_raider wrote: The core M will get spanked by the i5 2520.
You are thinking of ux305.

The ux303 comes either i5 or i7.
___________________________________________
Lucky Mobile $29 / 25GB

Acanac Internet 50/10 FTTN $36 24 months; $61 afterwards
Deal Addict
Nov 25, 2002
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Chingyul wrote: x260 looks interesting. Looks like they're moving away from the chicklet keys.

/edit: Shoot, bad picture. Still chiclet keys.
If you're lookinig for current gen thin and light thinkpads, there's lots of choice... maybe too much choice...

x260 gives you the basic 12" laptop form factor and tradtional thinkpad expansion (m.2/miniPCI/mSATA)
yoga 260 has the flip around 12" screen, but less expansion
X1 tablet gives you a 12" screen, thinkpad keyboard + removable tablet and no expansion
X1 Yoga gives you a 13-14" fliparound screen with less expansion with a thin and light body
X1 Carbon Give you 13-14" traditional laptop formfactor with a thin and light body with less expansion

They're all chiclet, all with long battery life, some have removable batteries, all have some sort of IPS/high resolution display option, all have touchscreen and pen options... All can be configured with full core i5/i7 chips except for the x1 tablet which is core m3/m5/m7... All have been redesigned this year.

But honestly though, if you want thin and light and you're not hung up on having a trackpoint, the Dell XPS 13 is the defacto thin and light windows laptop.
Deal Fanatic
Feb 16, 2006
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Lenovo's X220 thru X250 had backlights that offered only about 50 to 65% of the sRGB gamut even with the premium IPS panel. I would not expect the X260 to be any different. OK for most people but not for anyone that needs at least full sRGB colours for image work and it looks like the OP should not be concerned with this.
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Dec 1, 2010
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Chingyul wrote: Kinda interesting you say that. This x220 was what replace the first gen xps 13 (serious heat issues).
The new ones do look pretty nice though.

I really like the lenovo still though. Maybe if a nice SSD deal comes through I'll jump on that. (7 out of 40 gb left on my mSATA).
I use the 2.5" bay with a 256GB SSD as the main/boot drive because that port is SATA3 6Gbps and I get real world speeds of over 500MB/s for read/write. That mSATA I use for storage or files because its only SATA2 3Gbps, I think its only 120GB or something along those lines and never benches above 250MB/s for read/writes. Sometimes even slower.

Too bad the monitor and stuff is going on yours, mine is still reliable for real world applications even though its considered 'old'

Are you planning on buying new or used? Maybe x230 or x240?

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