Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I own a Lenovo X201 which I am very happy with. So I purchased the smaller X120e (at less than half the price) to tote everywhere with me.
My configuration is the base dual core e-350 model (don't even consider downgrading to the single core model to save $30), with bluetooth and abgn wifi as the only factory upgrades. I added extra memory to bring the total to 4 GB, and replaced the 5400 rpm hdd with an Intel SSD. Memory slots (2) and the HDD can be easily accessed from the bottom of the laptop by removing 4 screws. I'm getting around 3.5 hours battery life on a 3 cell battery - if you want longer battery life, get the 6 cell battery.
I've had it for 10 days now. Based on this brief ownership period:
PROS:
- They fixed my two main complaints about the X201 -- the X120e has HDMI out as well as a nice, snug battery (the x201 has a "loose" fitting battery).
- Feels very well made. Athough the keyboard is chiclet style and not the traditional thinkpad style, it is joy to type on. The lid is a bit hard to lift but I think it will loosen over time, and I'm glad they got rid of the lid latch.
- Webcam is better than the X201
- Performance is snappy with my SSD, although it was fairly slow with the factory HDD. I highly recommend an SSD upgrade.
- All apps (MS office, acrobat, vlc, angry birds) run smoothly. However, there are issues with media playback under the default settings (see below).
- Cool. No heat issues at all even when playing long videos.
CONS:
- Buggy multitouch scrolling. Of course, this is a moot issue to most thinkpad users because you have the option of using the touchpoint. But I want two-finger scrolling.
- Audio stutters when playing both mp3s and videos. The workaround noted on notebookreview and the lenovo forum is to disable the Thinkpad Power Manager.
- Washed out display. Thinkpads are not known for high contrast, gorgeous displays, but the X120e's display is weak even when compared to X201. I realize that the X120 is half the price, but still.... I've seen much cheaper Acer netbooks with better screens. I played around with the AMD Catalyst display driver settings, but it didn't help much. Contrast and color is a bit better when the screen is tilted further back than normal (say 120 degrees).
- Noisy fan with particularly annoying high pitch. The laptop itself is completely cool but the fan sounds like it's always on, and i've found no way to adjust. I don't know if mine has a bad temperature sensor, or if they are all like this.
- Speakers are really tinny and ridiculously bad.
In spite of the CONS above, I generally like the laptop (although I don't love it). In terms of price point and feature set, it occupies the middle ground between netbooks and full featured notebooks. I like the size, I like the price (especially if you do the SSD upgrade yourself), and I like the build quality. So I'm giving this 3.5 stars.
Lenovo has a reputation for rolling out driver and software updates that fix many initial bugs. The X120e was just released, so I will update this review in a few months. I suspect Lenovo will fix the scrolling issues and audio issues fairly quickly, and there are workarounds for both of those problems. I hope they can fix the noisy fan as well but i'm skeptical. They can't do much about the display, so this may not be the right ultraportable if you watch a lot of videos.
UPDATE: Downgraded to 3 stars. In addition to my X201, I also use a Dell XPS, and the screen quality of the X120e pales in comparison.
UPDATE: Using Windows power management to change CPU cooling to "passive" instead of "active" when plugged in took care of the over-active fan issue. This setting cools by reducing processor power first before revving up the fan.
UPDATE 4/3: Updating BIOS from 1.08 to 1.11 took care of the audio stuttering even with Thinkpad Power Manager running. Also, changing the Ultranav Smart Check setting to disable Gesture Filtering made the touchpad more responsive to two finger scrolling -- it's still not great, but at least I no longer have to take an external mouse everywhere with me. I am therefore upgrading this back to 3.5 stars.
Click Here to see more reviews about: ThinkPad X120e 05962PU 11.6" LED Notebook E-350 1.6GHz - Matte Black
No comments:
Post a Comment