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I love the appearance of the ThinkPad range. It is both understated yet elegant and I think Lenovo have managed to bring the range bang into 2011/2012 while maintaining the primary design ethic that IBM originated all those years ago.
The front of the X220 is very sparsely decorated, with only a ‘Lenovo' and ‘ThinkPad' logo on either side of the case.
The X220 is very thin and light, yet feels as if it could withstand a reasonable amount of abuse. The drive can be replaced by removing a single screw on the side access panel. Memory can be accessed underneath the main plate at the bottom. There are two slots, one of which is populated with 4GB on our review sample. There is also a docking port connection underneath the laptop which will prove invaluable for busy executives who want to use the same machine in the office.
The left side of the X220 has a USB 3.0 port, VGA port, DisplayPort and USB 2.0 port. There is no HDMI port, which is an unusual decision. At the front is a wireless on/off switch, useful for easy access on a plane. The right side of the X220 features a card reader, powered USB port, Ethernet port and a headphone and microphone port. A Kensington lock is positioned close to the back of the chassis.
The rear of the X220 only has a port for the power adapter.
Due to the size of the 9 cell battery it sticks out the back of the machine, slightly ruining the appearance of the X220. The smaller 6 cell battery remains flush to the rear panel, but we weren't sent one as part of our review bundle.
good looking machine, very businesslike. shame about the lack of backlight keyboard. thats a bad move.
I have a X220 and it has been nothing but trouble. the battery lost a charge in a month and I had to return it. then they released a firmware update which hosed my bios and I had to return the laptop after that.
Its all working now, but im wondering what will happen next………… very bad experience for me. (it is a nice laptop however as reviewer said, but ive concerns about quality control).
I use it with Ubuntu 11.10 and it works like a charm, everything is smooth and worked out of the box. Also, seller was fast and delivered really quickly. I read a lot of complaints about they not replying emails, but my experience was the opposite, they replied me fast and were accurate. I recommend them too!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005AJYZE8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=emjay2d-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005AJYZE8
It’s all very well saying this laptop looks like the ultimate mobile business warrior’s tool. Sure it has the specs, and the dependable looks. I followed the advice of reviews like this one and shelled out $1,200 for a high-spec X220 but when the laptop’s casing developed a crack on the side by no accident or fault of mine, I was in for a ride from Lenovo Customer Service. The following thread on the Lenovo forum gives you a pretty good idea of what I’ve been through:
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/Crack-in-X220-casing-poor-support/m-p/693719#M36529
My opinion after owning an X220 for five months: not only is this laptop of low quality build, but you can forget customer service. My experience of customer service at Apple on similar issues was lightyears ahead of this. Also: “milspec tested”? Give me a break! And what does “milspec tested” mean without actually getting some kind of milspec certification anyway? You can “milspec test” a fisher price toy and it would come out better than the X220, I’d wager.
Hi wimute, im really sorry to hear that. It is a problem with most reviews to be honest. we only get a week or two tops with a product like this before it has to go back. Ill have a look at that thread. thanks for sharing.
@ Wimute, I’ve been using a Lenovo X220 as my main everyday machine for about eight months and had no problems at all. I can’t comment on Lenovo customer service as I’ve not had any issues with the laptop but in my opinion, the build quality is fantastic.
I want to buy it
Nice review. I’m looking to buy thinkpad this Summer
I’ve owned one for about six months, and I love it. I came from Macs, and so far, my x220 has been more reliable and just plain better.
I am looking to purchase the highest end quality laptop summer/fall 2012
Well I’m now experiencing another design flaw in my X220: I’m starting to see ghosting in the display. Seems I’m not alone: if you bought yours with the option of an IPS display, you’re likely to have ghosting crop up. The thread about this issue over at Lenovo has 47 pages of posts and counting. I’m so shell shocked by the Lenovo customer service experience regarding the crack though that I’m not sure I’ll even bother sending this machine in. They’ll probably tell me it’s my fault again and waste a month of my time with a maze of incompetence and denial.
Have you a link? What are you planning on doing?