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System validation for the X220 can be viewed over here.
This particular review sample uses the high end Core i7 2620M which is clocked at 2.7ghz, with a maximum turbo speed up to 3.4ghz. It is a dual core design with 4 threads. There is 4MB of Level 3 cache. Lenovo have a single stick of Samsung memory configured to run at 1333mhz with 9-9-9-24 1T timings. While a single 4GB stick is better for those who upgrade later to 8GB, two 2GB sticks out of the factory would mean the system would run in Dual Channel mode. As it ships, this will suffer a performance penalty, in single channel.
The X220 uses the Intel HD3000 (GT2+) graphics which offers hardware acceleration and good battery life, but not much in the way of gaming prowess.
Many of the Lenovo upgrades are reasonably priced as you can see here. Sadly, the Intel 160GB SSD drive that is installed in this machine isn't one of them, costing £403 more than the 320GB 5,400 rpm drive, which is offered in the default configuration. Lenovo do offer a 128GB SSD upgrade for £266, which still seems somewhat overpriced on today's market. We would configure the machine with the default option, buy an SSD drive online, then mirror the drive with Acronis software and a USB 2/3 enclosure. You could buy a faster, higher capacity 256GB Sandforce drive for less money than this 160GB Intel drive.
The default software install highlighted above looks worse than it is. Lenovo install many custom applications to support various aspects of the ThinkPad. I use many of these regularly myself and wish that other companies would adopt the same policy. The power management software for instance is brilliant, as is the software updating package.
We don't hold much value in the Windows Experience Index, although it does give a quick overview of the expected performance parameters. We can see that the overall score is limited by the onboard Intel HD graphics. The single channel memory scores 5.9. The processor and solid state performance is good however, as we would expect.
We will see how the ThinkPad X220 slots in against a variety of mobile systems as well as a few desktop systems featuring Intel Core i3 and i5 processors.
Software:
Windows 7 64 Bit
SiSoft Sandra
Cinebench R11.5 64 bit
Cyberlink Media Espresso
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra V11
PCMark 7
Left4Dead2
Resident Evil 5
Call Of Duty: Black Ops
Comparison Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):
Intel Core i5 2500k desktop processor.
Intel Core i3 2105 desktop processor.
AMD A8-3870K.
AlienWare M18X (featuring Core i7 2960XM Extreme Edition).
MSI GT780DXR (feature Core i7 2630QM).
Dell XPS 14z (featuring Core i7 2640M processor).
MSI CX640 (featuring Core i5 2410M).
Dell laptop (featuring Atom D525 processor).
Zotac ZBox Nano AD10 (featuring AMD Zacate E350 APU)
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Asus USB powered BluRay Drive.
Nikon D3X and 28-70mm lens with R1C1 kit.
Thermal Diodes.
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp.
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter.
All results are gained from multiple test runs to ensure any abnormalities are removed before publication.
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?