Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X220 – Improved Keyboard Larger Screen HD WebCam
Business has produced great strides with its X-Series laptops based on this thought, and it continues to perform so with its latest Lenovo ThinkPad X220 ($1,299 direct, 4 stars). An improved keyboard, created up of bigger keys, is made probable by widening what is now a 12.5-inch widescreen, nevertheless the X220 is even lighter than its predecessor, the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 ($1,625 direct, 4 stars). Factor within the new Intel Core i5 i5-2520M CPU, basedon Intel’s Sandy Bridge platform (now called second-generation Core processors) and fantastic battery existence and the ThinkPad X220 effortlessly earns an Editor’s Option within the enterprise ultraportable category.
Lenovo is fortunate in the bulk of its laptops are purchased by IT managers who care much more in regards to the specs than the appear from the laptop computer. The all-black frame does not appeal to the senses as significantly because the aluminum-clad HP EliteBook 2540p ($1,629 direct, 4 stars) or silvery Dell Vostro V130 ($900 immediate, 3 stars). If you’re looking at it from a consumer standpoint, the X220 is also uniform and missing in colour. What is not visible towards the naked eye, nonetheless, is its brawn. The X220 is subjected to a series of military torture checks before it goes out to the buyer, involving moisture, vibrations, drops, and excessive temperature resistance, to name a couple of. Its outer frame and internal skeleton, additionally, are crafted from strong magnesium, not low-cost plastic. Regardless of its ruggedized exterior, the X220 nonetheless only weights 3.3 kilos. It is lighter than the HP 2540p (3.nine lbs), Dell V130 (three.6 lbs), and Lenovo X201 (3.8 lbs).
The 12.5-inch widescreen is wider and bigger than that of the 12.1-inch screen of the Lenovo X201, resulting in a shift to a 16-by-9 facet ratio (from 16-by-10) and towards the far more frequent one,366-by-768 resolution. It is a somewhat smaller display than the 13-inch 1 found within the Dell V130 and Sony VAIO VPC-Z1390X ($3,800 direct, four stars), but a really able and productive dimensions nevertheless. If past X-series keyboards were regarded as excellent inside the previous, this one will surpass them. The X220′s new keyboard is essentially the one you will find in its 14-inch and 15-inch siblings. The Escape and Delete keys are twice their first size. It’s a wonderful typing encounter, to say the least.
Features
The X220 is outfitted with dual pointing devices-a pointing stick and touchpad-like the Lenovo X201 and HP 2540p. What you will recognize immediately is that the 2nd pair of mouse buttons is now integrated in to the touchpad, like with the Clickpad model Apple made renowned (only a whole lot more compact). The surface location of your touchpad, as a result, has increased significantly so there is a lot more dragging area from leading down and left to appropriate. Even so, you much better get use to navigating with a single finger (for dragging AND clicking). The mouse cursor is unresponsive if you have two fingers about the touchpad in the exact same time., but that’s if you make use of the touchpad. Most consumers will choose the signature pointing stick, which arrives with its own soft, dedicated mouse buttons located above the touchpad.
Two very notable features are now component with the X220 loved ones. The DisplayPort, a cousin of HDMI, is a lot more “about-time” than revolutionary, but it will give presenters a method to concurrently stream audio and video in digital kind. There’s also VGA aboard as another video output choice. The Webcam now has an High definition sensor, which allows you to video conference in a one,280-by-720 resolution (720p). That is 3 occasions the resolution of the earlier iteration’s Webcam. The EliteBooks have just transitioned to Hd Webcams also. An optical drive is only accessible as exterior attachment marketed separately by Lenovo (price nevertheless pending), in contrast to the integrated ones discovered in the HP 2540p and Sony Z1390X. An ExpressCard slot is really a rare uncover these days, but Lenovo by some means found room for it in the X220.
The X220 includes the gamut of wireless connections, such as the latest, longer-range Intel WiFi chips, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G (via Gobi), and 4G technologies. It’s equipped having a 320GB, 7200rpm difficult drive, the fastest spinning hard drives obtainable on ultraportables, with upgrade paths to higher capacities or reliable state drives. Or else, the three USB ports, Ethernet, and an SD card slot are typical finds in most laptops.
Efficiency
Lenovo Thinkpad x220It’s a big offer when Intel switches to a brand new architecture, which not only encompasses the processor, but every thing about it. The X220 is among the very first business ultraportables to receive a second-generation two.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M processor. Given that it is the very first to arrive on my bench, each and every ultraportable about it’ll be that significantly slower (they all use previous-generation processors). It scored two:25 on Handbrake and 2.82 on CineBench R11.five tests-both processor-intensive tests-beating out the Sony Z1390X (Handbrake: two:49, R11.5: 2.19) and completely dominating the Dell V130 (Handbrake: four:37, R11.51.29). In an overall test like PCMArk Vantage, the X220 (7,719) beat the Lenovo X201 (7,083) by a 9% margin.
Greater but, the X220 can now deal with 3D games without having a discrete graphics chip, as the integrated Intel Hd Graphics 3000 is much more than four occasions as effective because the earlier iteration, as indicated by 3DMark06 checks (4,083). With more-advanced titles, like Crysis and Lost Planet 2, even so, you will have to crank down the eye-candy.
To become a dependable journey companion, the X220, over all, has to create battery lifestyle its leading priority. Having a 63WH battery (6-cell) battery, it scored an amazing eight hrs 40 minutes. Despite the fact that the Lenovo X201 lasted nine:36, it did so having a significantly larger battery (94WH). The X220 sells a separate 6-cell battery slice ($179) that spans the entire base from the laptop computer and ought to provide you with an additional 6 to 8 hrs, on top from the 8 hrs you’re already finding. With the standard battery alone, it outlasted the Dell V130 (3:02), Sony Z1390X (five:19), and HP 2540p (eight:02).
The Thinkpad X220 comes having a standard 1 year elements and labor guarantee. Repairs might be done on-site and sent back the next company for an additional $39. You are able to also extend guarantee providers from 2 to four years.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is an wonderful piece of engineering once you aspect in all the functions it squeezed right into a 12-inch frame. It enlarged the keyboard and display, while shedding some fat within the method. Being a road-bound ultraportable, it needed to be probably the most battery efficient in its class-and it was. Till the other laptops in this evaluation transition to new Intel architecture, the X220 could be the quickest organization ultraportable and in a league of its own.
Specifications
- Type Ultraportable, Business, Small Business
- Processor Name Intel Core i5-2520M
- Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
- Processor Speed 2.5 GHz
- RAM 4 GB
- Weight 3.3 lb
- Screen Size 12.5 inches
- Screen Size Type widescreen
- Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000
- Storage Capacity (as Tested) 320 GB
- Networking Options 802.11n
- Primary Optical Drive External
Business has produced great strides with its X-Series laptops based on this thought, and it continues to perform so with its latest Lenovo ThinkPad X220 ($1,299 direct, 4 stars). An improved keyboard, created up of bigger keys, is made probable by widening what is now a 12.5-inch widescreen, nevertheless the X220 is even lighter than its predecessor, the Lenovo ThinkPad X201 ($1,625 direct, 4 stars). Factor within the new Intel Core i5 i5-2520M CPU, basedon Intel’s Sandy Bridge platform (now called second-generation Core processors) and fantastic battery existence and the ThinkPad X220 effortlessly earns an Editor’s Option within the enterprise ultraportable category.
Lenovo is fortunate in the bulk of its laptops are purchased by IT managers who care much more in regards to the specs than the appear from the laptop computer. The all-black frame does not appeal to the senses as significantly because the aluminum-clad HP EliteBook 2540p ($1,629 direct, 4 stars) or silvery Dell Vostro V130 ($900 immediate, 3 stars). If you’re looking at it from a consumer standpoint, the X220 is also uniform and missing in colour. What is not visible towards the naked eye, nonetheless, is its brawn. The X220 is subjected to a series of military torture checks before it goes out to the buyer, involving moisture, vibrations, drops, and excessive temperature resistance, to name a couple of. Its outer frame and internal skeleton, additionally, are crafted from strong magnesium, not low-cost plastic. Regardless of its ruggedized exterior, the X220 nonetheless only weights 3.3 kilos. It is lighter than the HP 2540p (3.nine lbs), Dell V130 (three.6 lbs), and Lenovo X201 (3.8 lbs).
The 12.5-inch widescreen is wider and bigger than that of the 12.1-inch screen of the Lenovo X201, resulting in a shift to a 16-by-9 facet ratio (from 16-by-10) and towards the far more frequent one,366-by-768 resolution. It is a somewhat smaller display than the 13-inch 1 found within the Dell V130 and Sony VAIO VPC-Z1390X ($3,800 direct, four stars), but a really able and productive dimensions nevertheless. If past X-series keyboards were regarded as excellent inside the previous, this one will surpass them. The X220′s new keyboard is essentially the one you will find in its 14-inch and 15-inch siblings. The Escape and Delete keys are twice their first size. It’s a wonderful typing encounter, to say the least.
Features
The X220 is outfitted with dual pointing devices-a pointing stick and touchpad-like the Lenovo X201 and HP 2540p. What you will recognize immediately is that the 2nd pair of mouse buttons is now integrated in to the touchpad, like with the Clickpad model Apple made renowned (only a whole lot more compact). The surface location of your touchpad, as a result, has increased significantly so there is a lot more dragging area from leading down and left to appropriate. Even so, you much better get use to navigating with a single finger (for dragging AND clicking). The mouse cursor is unresponsive if you have two fingers about the touchpad in the exact same time., but that’s if you make use of the touchpad. Most consumers will choose the signature pointing stick, which arrives with its own soft, dedicated mouse buttons located above the touchpad.
Two very notable features are now component with the X220 loved ones. The DisplayPort, a cousin of HDMI, is a lot more “about-time” than revolutionary, but it will give presenters a method to concurrently stream audio and video in digital kind. There’s also VGA aboard as another video output choice. The Webcam now has an High definition sensor, which allows you to video conference in a one,280-by-720 resolution (720p). That is 3 occasions the resolution of the earlier iteration’s Webcam. The EliteBooks have just transitioned to Hd Webcams also. An optical drive is only accessible as exterior attachment marketed separately by Lenovo (price nevertheless pending), in contrast to the integrated ones discovered in the HP 2540p and Sony Z1390X. An ExpressCard slot is really a rare uncover these days, but Lenovo by some means found room for it in the X220.
The X220 includes the gamut of wireless connections, such as the latest, longer-range Intel WiFi chips, Bluetooth, GPS, 3G (via Gobi), and 4G technologies. It’s equipped having a 320GB, 7200rpm difficult drive, the fastest spinning hard drives obtainable on ultraportables, with upgrade paths to higher capacities or reliable state drives. Or else, the three USB ports, Ethernet, and an SD card slot are typical finds in most laptops.
Efficiency
Lenovo Thinkpad x220It’s a big offer when Intel switches to a brand new architecture, which not only encompasses the processor, but every thing about it. The X220 is among the very first business ultraportables to receive a second-generation two.5GHz Intel Core i5-2520M processor. Given that it is the very first to arrive on my bench, each and every ultraportable about it’ll be that significantly slower (they all use previous-generation processors). It scored two:25 on Handbrake and 2.82 on CineBench R11.five tests-both processor-intensive tests-beating out the Sony Z1390X (Handbrake: two:49, R11.5: 2.19) and completely dominating the Dell V130 (Handbrake: four:37, R11.51.29). In an overall test like PCMArk Vantage, the X220 (7,719) beat the Lenovo X201 (7,083) by a 9% margin.
Greater but, the X220 can now deal with 3D games without having a discrete graphics chip, as the integrated Intel Hd Graphics 3000 is much more than four occasions as effective because the earlier iteration, as indicated by 3DMark06 checks (4,083). With more-advanced titles, like Crysis and Lost Planet 2, even so, you will have to crank down the eye-candy.
To become a dependable journey companion, the X220, over all, has to create battery lifestyle its leading priority. Having a 63WH battery (6-cell) battery, it scored an amazing eight hrs 40 minutes. Despite the fact that the Lenovo X201 lasted nine:36, it did so having a significantly larger battery (94WH). The X220 sells a separate 6-cell battery slice ($179) that spans the entire base from the laptop computer and ought to provide you with an additional 6 to 8 hrs, on top from the 8 hrs you’re already finding. With the standard battery alone, it outlasted the Dell V130 (3:02), Sony Z1390X (five:19), and HP 2540p (eight:02).
The Thinkpad X220 comes having a standard 1 year elements and labor guarantee. Repairs might be done on-site and sent back the next company for an additional $39. You are able to also extend guarantee providers from 2 to four years.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is an wonderful piece of engineering once you aspect in all the functions it squeezed right into a 12-inch frame. It enlarged the keyboard and display, while shedding some fat within the method. Being a road-bound ultraportable, it needed to be probably the most battery efficient in its class-and it was. Till the other laptops in this evaluation transition to new Intel architecture, the X220 could be the quickest organization ultraportable and in a league of its own.
Specifications
- Type Ultraportable, Business, Small Business
- Processor Name Intel Core i5-2520M
- Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
- Processor Speed 2.5 GHz
- RAM 4 GB
- Weight 3.3 lb
- Screen Size 12.5 inches
- Screen Size Type widescreen
- Graphics Card Intel HD Graphics 3000
- Storage Capacity (as Tested) 320 GB
- Networking Options 802.11n
- Primary Optical Drive External
