Thinkpad x130e?

nterror

nterror

Well-Known Member
Hey, guys. I need a new laptop, preferably one that can play some decent modern games.

I'm looking at the Thinkpad x130e, specifically, this:

AMD E-300 APU Dual-core Processor (1.30 GHz, 1MB L2)
AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics, AMD Fusion Processor E-300
4 GB DDR3 - 1333MHz (1 DIMM)
320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm

$500

Is this the best bang for my buck? Is the x120e better?

Thanks!
 
At $500, you're starting to get to the "might as well spend $700 and get something really great" area. What are your needs? Will it be used as a laptop or will it keep one desk warm its entire life? Small screen, big screen? Battery life?

Alienware M11x is similar to that Thinkpad, worth looking into as another option. *cough*And I have one for sale*cough*
 
It's definitely going to be used as a laptop. I need a laptop over a desktop because I need to move between the houses of both of my parents. I do prefer small screens over larger ones, and battery life is very nice, but unnecessary in a pinch. Performance-wise, I'd like something that could run a game along the lines of Half Life 2 or TF2, with maybe a little wiggle room for more intensive games. Also, $500 is most definitely my limit, which significantly lowers the amount of choices I have (including your pretty Alienware at the moment).
 
I've had an x100e for quite a while now and the form factor is pretty great. :awesome: It looks like Lenovo changed the case a bit, but it's still a really nice size and it looks like they kept the same keyboard.

Check their outlet site for x120s. Most of the time they're customer returns or canceled special orders that never left the warehouse, and they're all sitting on shelves waiting to be ordered. Looks like they have a bunch of decent x120s for around $400. If the E-350 APU is adequate for what you want to do, you can put the extra money into a RAM upgrade or towards an SSD. (You could put it back in your pocket, but that's not as much fun.) Just remember that the outlet only has what they have and once it's sold it's gone, so if you see something you like, jump on it. If you don't see one you like, check back in a couple days and there will be more.
 
I might be willing to sell my X120e if you're interested, I've pretty much replaced it with a different Thinkpad.
It's got an E-350 in it, basically what you have but clocked at 1.6GHz stock.
Also, it doesn't look like as much of a child's toy, more of a real Thinkpad look to it. Only downside is that the screen is cracked and needs a replacement, which costs about $60 on Ebay. 250 gig HDD, 2 gigs of memory that I can upgrade for you if you want for a small price. Even comes preloaded with any linux distro of your choice, or Windows! Only problem is that it's got a rubber piece or two missing, not a big deal. If you're interested(You should be, cheaper, faster and nicer looking), you can make an offer. :p
 
NTerror7 said:
Also, $500 is most definitely my limit, which significantly lowers the amount of choices I have (including your pretty Alienware at the moment).
Click to expand...
I'll let her go for that if you want it. I have no idea how they compare performance wise, however, the Thinkpads should get a bit more battery life.
 
Last question: I know that Thinkpad Xs are revered. Is there any significant reason why the x120e should be purchased over the x130e?
 
It looks like you can outfit the x130e with an Intel i3, which will give you better battery life but mediocre graphics performance.

On the AMD side, you're looking at an E300 APU (x130) vs an E350 (x120). The E350 is really common so it's easy to find videos of it running every game ever on YouTube, but I'm not sure how the E300 stacks up to it performance-wise. You can also get an x130e with an E450, but again I don't know how much faster it is than the E350, or if it's worth the price increase over and outlet x120e.

The x100e/x120e chassis is really great though. :awesome: When it's fully assembled it has that nice solid ThinkPad build quality, unlike a lot of the creaky plastic laptops out there. One big plate comes off the bottom and gives you access to the hard drive, RAM, and Mini PCIe slots. Two more screws hold the keyboard in, and once that's out you have full access to both sides of the CPU cooler and fan assembly. The extended battery sticks out the back which gives you something to grip for carrying the laptop around while using it. (Sit it on your hand and forearm and grip the battery with your fingers like a guitar neck.) The SD card slot was my only annoyance (half the card sticks out when it's fully seated), but only because I was using one as a ReadyBoost volume while I waited for a RAM upgrade to come in. (I ordered it with 1 gig and bought a 4 gig kit separately because it cost less than 4 gigs straight from the factory. :dah:)
 
bic said:
The x100e/x120e chassis is really great though. :awesome: When it's fully assembled it has that nice solid ThinkPad build quality, unlike a lot of the creaky plastic laptops out there. One big plate comes off the bottom and gives you access to the hard drive, RAM, and Mini PCIe slots. Two more screws hold the keyboard in, and once that's out you have full access to both sides of the CPU cooler and fan assembly. The extended battery sticks out the back which gives you something to grip for carrying the laptop around while using it. (Sit it on your hand and forearm and grip the battery with your fingers like a guitar neck.) The SD card slot was my only annoyance (half the card sticks out when it's fully seated), but only because I was using one as a ReadyBoost volume while I waited for a RAM upgrade to come in. (I ordered it with 1 gig and bought a 4 gig kit separately because it cost less than 4 gigs straight from the factory. :dah:)
Click to expand...
Ehh, not as good as the magnesium rollcage in my T60p. :p
 
bic said:
The x100e/x120e chassis is really great though. :awesome: When it's fully assembled it has that nice solid ThinkPad build quality, unlike a lot of the creaky plastic laptops out there. One big plate comes off the bottom and gives you access to the hard drive, RAM, and Mini PCIe slots. Two more screws hold the keyboard in, and once that's out you have full access to both sides of the CPU cooler and fan assembly.
Click to expand...
Think that's easy? Let me tell you about my Dell Latitude E6400. One screw removes the whole bottom plate, giving you access to everything you can remove. Two screws and the hard drive comes out (don't even have to remove the bottom plate). It isn't as tough as the best of the Thinkpads, but it could hold its own with the current ones. :awesome: Probably the only line of Dells worth owning, though.
 
Aight. I've made a decision. Sorry to vskid, but I'm buying a new Alienware M11x. My parents decided to put forth the other half at the last minute.

Sorry to get your hopes up, dude
 
vskid3 said:
Think that's easy? Let me tell you about my Dell Latitude E6400. One screw removes the whole bottom plate, giving you access to everything you can remove. Two screws and the hard drive comes out (don't even have to remove the bottom plate). It isn't as tough as the best of the Thinkpads, but it could hold its own with the current ones. :awesome: Probably the only line of Dells worth owning, though.
Click to expand...

Dell's corporate grade stuff is FANTASTIC to work on. :awesome: (Well except maybe the clamshell cases on the Optiplex 150-280 series...) At work all our laptops are ThinkPads, but all the desktops and servers we buy are Dells. I just wish they hadn't brought the Optiplex 790 back to the stone age by replacing the eSATA port with PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports. It was faster to pop the desktops open and steal the DVD drive's SATA cable to image the things.

I can't think of many small laptops that are as accessible as the x100 line though. Half the videos on YouTube demonstrating how to replace the hard drives in netbooks are 10 minutes long and walk you through a complete disassembly, because that's the only way to get to them. There's no reason cleaning the heatsink in any laptop should be this complicated. :wtf: If I ever win the lottery I'm starting a business making replacement bottom halves for laptops so they can actually be serviceable.
 
bic said:
I can't think of many small laptops that are as accessible as the x100 line though. Half the videos on YouTube demonstrating how to replace the hard drives in netbooks are 10 minutes long and walk you through a complete disassembly, because that's the only way to get to them. There's no reason cleaning the heatsink in any laptop should be this complicated. :wtf: If I ever win the lottery I'm starting a business making replacement bottom halves for laptops so they can actually be serviceable.
Click to expand...
M11x probably comes in a close second behind the x100s. 8 captive screws and the bottom plate comes off, giving you access to almost everything, including the internal battery. However, the heatsink and fan are not included in that, and require a complete disassembly if you really want to clean it.
Took my mom's Acer apart to clean the fan when I was home for Christmas. Pretty much exactly as that video described, but I didn't have to remove the heatsink from the motherboard. I managed to put it together without any left-over screws, too! :tophat:
 
bic said:
vskid3 said:
Think that's easy? Let me tell you about my Dell Latitude E6400. One screw removes the whole bottom plate, giving you access to everything you can remove. Two screws and the hard drive comes out (don't even have to remove the bottom plate). It isn't as tough as the best of the Thinkpads, but it could hold its own with the current ones. :awesome: Probably the only line of Dells worth owning, though.
Click to expand...

Dell's corporate grade stuff is FANTASTIC to work on. :awesome: (Well except maybe the clamshell cases on the Optiplex 150-280 series...) At work all our laptops are ThinkPads, but all the desktops and servers we buy are Dells. I just wish they hadn't brought the Optiplex 790 back to the stone age by replacing the eSATA port with PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports. It was faster to pop the desktops open and steal the DVD drive's SATA cable to image the things.

I can't think of many small laptops that are as accessible as the x100 line though. Half the videos on YouTube demonstrating how to replace the hard drives in netbooks are 10 minutes long and walk you through a complete disassembly, because that's the only way to get to them. There's no reason cleaning the heatsink in any laptop should be this complicated. :wtf: If I ever win the lottery I'm starting a business making replacement bottom halves for laptops so they can actually be serviceable.
Click to expand...

I'm extremely glad they brought back PS/2 ports. If you have a choice between PS/2 and USB for a keyboard and/or mouse PS/2 is always the better choice...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top