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The IBM Thinkpad is an iconic machine well known for the ‘boxy' design, class leading keyboards and chassis rigidity to deal with the toughest of working environments. Lenovo took over the IBM personal computer division in 2005 and have released a wide range of impressive systems since then. We reviewed the X1 in September last year and I was so impressed with the review sample that I actually purchased one for work duties, on the move. Today we are looking at the 12.5 inch ThinkPad X220 with IPS display.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is a superslim 12.5 inch business notebook which supports the latest Intel Sandybridge processors and ships with a high quality IPS display. This machine is said to offer remarkable battery life … up to 23 hours according to Lenovo literature. It only weighs 1.36 kg so will be easy enough to carry around in a briefcase with other materials.
The X220 is normally priced at £973.20 in the default configuration, but Lenovo are offering a deal right now for £746.99 inc vat which features a Core i3 2350 processor and 2GB of memory. We received a much higher specification model with Core i7, 4GB of memory and Solid State Drive.
Lenovo ThinkPad X220, 4290 – Kitguru Review Sample:
- 12.5″ HD Premium LED B/L (1366×768) AntiGlare w/o Camera
- i7-2620M 2.70GHz Processor w/ HD3000
- Intel QM67
- Intel AMT
- Gigabit Ethernet
- No Modem
- Bluetooth
- Ultranav (Touchpad and Trackpoint) w/ FPR
- Express Card Slot
- 4-in-1 Media Card Reader
- 3 Year Carry-In
- Power Supply 65W
- Win7 Pro 64 Sticker
- 160 GB Solid State Drive No HW Encryption
- 4GB PC3-10600 1333MHz DDR3 SODIMM SDRAM
- ThinkPad Battery 29++ (9 Cell) for X220
- Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 – 802.11 a/b/g/n
- WLAN activate
- Keyboard – UK-English
The price of this higher specification X220 is £1,514.05 inc vat.
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?