TR Forums

Placed an order for Thinkpad X100e with dual-core L335.
Just posting because I am happy
I dont like the fact that I am getting a 65nm K8-based part in 2010, but everything else looked good. Reviews so far say good keyboard, matte screen and good build quality overall. Once it arrives, I will see if I can undervolt it.

I played with one briefly at Fry's and thought it had a particularly good keyboard for that form factor and price (that's been a Thinkpad signature feature, of course, but you always worry it will be a casualty to cost-cutting or other considerations). Will be interested to read your impressions, particularly real-world battery life.

UberGerbil wrote:

Will be interested to read your impressions, particularly real-world battery life.

Yeah will post the impressions as soon as I get mine

The machine arrived. It is toting a dual-core AMD Neo X2 L335 (1.6GHz) and the first impressions are as follows:

1. Fantastic build quality. No flex in body and feels very solid. I have played with some Acer Timelines as well as Toshiba T110 in stores and X100e is way ahead in build quality. Finish is also matte and looks good. I have the red color (sacrilege, I know).
2. Keyboard: Keyboard is really good, probably the best for laptops in this size class. Its not a classic thinkpad design but its good. On the other hand, you will still feel slightly more comfortable on lets say larger thinkpads.
3. Trackpad is also good. Trackpoint is also pretty responsive.
4. Machine runs hot under Windows 7 Pro when under load. However performance is fair for everyday tasks.
5. Installing Ubuntu 10.04 was bit of a pain but performance-wise Ubuntu is running really well on this machine. I installed 64-bit version as i needed some specific 64-bit extensions. The laptop is running cooler too compared to Windows.
6. Screen is decent. Matte is a big plus.

I will post some shots later comparing its size to an older netbook (Eee 1000H) as well its keyboard compared to a USB Thinkpad keyboard (which is pretty similar to larger thinkpad laptops).
Questions are welcome. Have not tested battery life yet.

I want to know a comparison between this new chiclet keyboard vs the ThinkPad keyboard of old, especially in the typing experience and the "feel" of things?

Flying Fox wrote:

I want to know a comparison between this new chiclet keyboard vs the ThinkPad keyboard of old, especially in the typing experience and the "feel" of things?

The feel is different. The keys feel a little softer but not mushy. The "click" is a lot softer but acceptable and not noticeable after a little while. It feels more similar to Vaios than thinkpads. But while I always had difficulty adjusting to the Vaio keyboards, I was able to adapt to X100e almost instantly.

edit: I also just completed a report and the typing experience was pretty good. I would rate it a 90% assuming a 100% rating for full-sized Thinkpads. I did not make any mistakes while typing and typing speed was pretty good.

Flying Fox wrote:

I want to know a comparison between this new chiclet keyboard vs the ThinkPad keyboard of old, especially in the typing experience and the "feel" of things?

Me too, the Thinkpad keyboards (of old) IMO are the very best for laptops.

This ThinkPad is the only netbook-class machine I can potentially get since I definitely prefer the nub. Is it ok as well?

Softer may be a problem since I'm more used to the higher resistance of regular ThinkPad keyboards. May have use one to be sure. Uber, which store did you try? I imagine not a lot of stores carry this (I see lots of MSI/Asus/Acer around).

Flying Fox wrote:

This ThinkPad is the only netbook-class machine I can potentially get since I definitely prefer the nub. Is it ok as well?

Softer may be a problem since I'm more used to the higher resistance of regular ThinkPad keyboards. May have use one to be sure. Uber, which store did you try? I imagine not a lot of stores carry this (I see lots of MSI/Asus/Acer around).

Well in case you dont get a chance to check it out yourself, I would say just imagine the teenage lovechild of a Vaio keyboard and a Thinkpad keyboard and you will get a X100e
Nub is working well.

edit: And while its softer, its not mushy. It was a non-issue after a while but I did notice it at first.

Another update on keyboard: After typing for about 8 hours on this keyboard today, my hands are definitely tired. Its not a fault of the keyboard itself but rather that there is only so much you can do with a keyboard on a 11.6'' machine. So keep your expectations reasonable please.

UPDATE: After another day of intensive usage, my final verdict is that its a great keyboard.

More testing notes:

1. Battery life is about 3+ hours on both Ubuntu and Win7 Pro under a combination of web browsing over wifi, writing a report and some compilation activity under the power saver mode. One peculiar thing is that estimates of battery life left vary wildly with the CPU load. The CPU appears to guzzle a LOT of power (comparitively) if running at peak frequency so you want to always limit CPU frequency if battery life is important. So battery life figures from different sources will also vary quite a bit depending on the CPU load they put in the test.

2. Performance under Win7 is a little slow under power saver mode but feels way faster than a netbook (comparing to Eee 1000H). Runs very hot when under stress to the point where I will recommend using a notebook cooler when running CPU intensive activity. Keyboard and palm-rest do not get hot but the underside will cook your lap if you attempt something like gaming. I had a small single-fan Targus "netbook-cooler" laying around and it proved to be really effective.

3. Performance under Ubuntu 10.04 is really good even in power save mode. However, Ubuntu installation is a bit of a pain. You must absolutely install fglrx or the machine may have random lockups. Wifi out-of-the-box does not work, networks are detected and connect but no internet. After installing drivers from realtek site, I still had trouble with WPA2 enterprise while WPA2 personal works fine. Wifi works fine under Windows. I had also blacklisted thinkpad_acpi as it seems to not have support for X100e (I believe a patch is required). One peculiar thing is that powertop freezes the machine.

4. Undervolting using RMClock has not been successful till now and I havent been able to find any stable voltages till now.
I am giving up further undervolting testing for now.

5. Webcam and mic works well. Webcam is 0.3MP but works fine even in somewhat low light. An older 1.3MP webcam displayed very dark images under same conditions but this one was pretty clear.

6. Keyboard is good. There is no doubt about it.

7. If you are concerned about size, note that it easily slipped into a Eee 1000H sleeve that came free with the eee. Eee 1000H was one of the bulkier netbooks but still the X100e is only slightly larger than a netbook. Its slightly wider but not by much and will fit easily into almost any bag that can fit a netbook unless its a very specific 10'' sleeve.

Overall, its good for people who want an easy-to-carry machine that will still be used mostly plugged in at various locations throughout the day. Ergonomics and build quality are fantastic for size and weight and performance is way better than a netbook so in day-to-day use it will feel adequate. If you want a machine that can browse the web and run youtube only, look at cheaper, cooler running longer lasting Intel CULV machines like the Acer timelines perhaps.

edit: But if you want a machine that will be used for writing reports etc you will find X100e to a better machine due to better ergonomics. Specification-wise the X100e pales due to the power hungry processor. But once you use the machine it grows on you quite a bit and I am very happy with my purchase even given the issues above.

You have helped me even more than you can believe. Thank you

StuG wrote:

You have helped me even more than you can believe. Thank you

You are welcome. I will be happy to answer more questions or run any free benchmarks if you want.
Uhh, btw does anyone know if/how I can attach photos to posts?
I wanted to upload some comparision shots of X100e vs 1000H and also a USB Thinkpad keyboard.

edit: And do keep in mind that I am using a dual-core variant of X100e so the comments about performance will probably not apply to single-core variant.

These are taken with a cheapo-phone camera



Above are the shots comparing to a Eee 1000H, an older bulky 10'' netbook. Its wider by the Eee by about 1cm. If you ignore the battery jutting out from the back then the Eee and the X100e have the same length but if you take into account the back-jutting-battery of the X100e, it is longer by about 1.5cm or so.
In the above-image, I have placed the back of the Eee on top of the battery jutting out of the X100e so thats why you see X100e appears longer than the Eee. Ignoring the battery, lengths are almost same.



You can also see the comparison to a USB Thinkpad keyboard and notice that the USB keyboard is larger and has a different design.

Another update. I was able to find stable voltages for undervolting using RMClock. My chip is L335 but of course YMMV as with all things related to chip voltages.
At 4x FID (800MHz) stable voltage is 0.735 (stock at 0.8v) and at 8x FID (1.6GHz) stable voltage is 0.9V (stock at 0.95).
It might be possible to go lower but I have not tested it and I am happy with it as it is.

After undervolting, I did a little web browsing on battery for about 30 minutes using power saver OS settings, about 50% brightness and frequency at 800MHz. After 30 minutes OS was showing about 87% battery left and about 3:50 minutes of runtime remaining estimated so I think 4+ hours of web browsing is possible if you undervolt and live at lowest frequency while on battery.

edit: Flashblock was running and I did not see any flash videos during this time, if thats important.
edit 2: Aero was turned off as well.

This will be my last update unless someone has a question. Today I was working in Ubuntu 10.04 with wifi disabled. I edited a report and did intermittent compilation activity, with screen brightness 50% and mode set to powersave and i got a 4.5 hour battery life! That is pretty good I think.