In my opinion this is a great little machine. It's not all things to all men (small screen, no dedicated graphics, over 4yr old technology etc) but I bought one a couple of years ago from this eBay seller, shoved in a cheap Samsung EVO SSD and for me, it's a little demon. It performs flawlessly for everyday tasks and weighs very little. The price includes APC courier delivery.
It's grade 2 which means "Refurbished Good - Showing minor signs of use, the odd mark, scratch, buff to be expected" however I bought mine as a grade 4 and the only issue with it was that the lid has a small crack - performs perfectly and it is on a join so not cosmetic. Oh and the AC adapter I received was a non-genuine.
More than 10 in stock at time of posting.
Blurb as follows:
Condition Refurbished - Grade 2
Make / Model Lenovo Thinkpad X220
Processor Intel Core i5 2520M
Processor Speed 2.5Ghz
Memory 4GB DDR3
Screen Size 12.5" Intel HD Graphics 3000 1366x768
Hard Drive 160GB
Operating System Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit with COA inclduing Service Pack 1
Battery Tested & Working
Ac Adapter Yes
Wireless Yes
USB Ports 3
Various e-SATA, VGA, SD Card Reader
As I say, this isn't for everyone but if someone is looking for a cheap, portable, upgradeable workhorse of a laptop, I hope this helps.
Top comments
Ashe to pablomalin
26 Jan 1632#5
That 5 year old tech (i5 2520M) benchmarks at 90% of the speed of today's i5-6200U...
Crammage to smelladeal
26 Jan 1613#12
I think so, still 10 years later than when someone last laughed at that joke.
Optimus_Toaster
27 Jan 165#25
I have one of these and cannot recommend it enough. It's a brilliant companion to my gaming PC as it is fast (with an ssd), light, very ergonomic and incredibly well built. I bought a new 92Wh battery that lasts all day with the screen on. The only thing it is bad at is 3D gaming - which is what the desktop is for!
One thing of note is the "default" TN panel sucks balls. It's awful. Terrible, bad, crud, rubbish, pants. There are replacement IPS panels available and they are superb.
much rather have an old thinkpad than a new hunk-o-junk from pcworld or whatever.
still running T400 and T500 here. great with ubuntu.
ram and batteries are all they've ever needed. and they're a joy to work on compared to almost anything else.
Latest comments (105)
eoa106
11 Feb 16#105
I received my X220 from this deal around 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately the frame had cracks in it - really not what you expect from the sellers description of a Grade 2 laptop. I contacted the seller and they asked for some photos of the laptop. Upon looking at the photos they suggested to replace the laptop without any further questions. They delivered the replacement laptop on Tuesday. They specifically promised me the same model but had sent me an X230 instead. Since that's a newer model I was happy with that; also it looked in better condition without any cracks to the frame etc. Unfortunately, however, the laptop does not want to boot. It's practically dead. I called the seller again and they've suggested I try removing and switching around the memory modules, which I will try tonight. Not too hopeful though.
Strangely the seller also told me that they no longer have any other X220 or X230 in stock, indicating that they cannot replace my current unit if switching memory does not help. This is strange since when I look at their Ebay website I can see a total of at least 55 X220/X230 units!
flylife
9 Feb 16#104
what did you expect?
bisoner
3 Feb 16#102
Has anyone received their laptop yet? If so, what's it like?
daveykinetic to bisoner
8 Feb 16#103
I have. the speakers are very poor or could this just be mine? also the battery life isn't much cop. appart from that everything is ok
Picard123
28 Jan 16#101
Not all batteries are affected though - only ones with certain serial numbers.
I don't disagree with you - my 10 year old+ desktop runs most applications fine. But if I had the choice between a Sandy Bridge i5 or a Skylake i5-U for a 12.5" portable laptop, I'd go for the latter even if its more expensive. The real issue isn't really the CPU anyway - some guy simply sparked a debate by questioning it being a '5 year old' CPU but it's largely a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. The real issue I'd say is the battery on this given that it's intended to be used a portable laptop. Being an ex-corporate machine, it's going to be pot luck as to whether it has much life left in it. Replacements are expensive and those cheap non-standard batteries are pretty questionable in terms of quality and safety (I used to own an IBM Thinkpad many years ago). Sort the battery out and it pushes the overall price closer to £200 which makes it less attractive.
Ashe
27 Jan 16#96
There is more to laptop performance, but in terms of this laptop and its purpose, nothing huge. The fact is, in general use, it's 90% as fast as a chip that Intel are happy to label and sell as one of their latest generation i5's in today's world. Or 63% as fast as a 'standard' latest-gen mobile i5 processor, if that sounds better to you.
It might not have as good battery life, or be able to decode H265 4K video, but we're not talking about an ultrabook with a full-HD screen here. We are talking about a good solid laptop that can handle just about any modern application just fine, in pretty much the same way today's laptops would.
Picard123
27 Jan 16#95
You're really not seeing the point. There's far more to laptop performance than simply comparing CPU benches for these two chips, not least because they're so different.
Ashe
27 Jan 16#94
I made that post comparing the chips - point was simply to demonstrate that it is powerful enough for anything you could reasonably want to do on one of these laptops today. If the 6200U chip wasn't fast enough for today's customers, Intel wouldn't be labelling it as an i5. Yes, I could have said the 2520M benchmarks at 63% of one of the new M CPU's, but the post was made to demonstrate that the chip has much more than an acceptable performance level for today.
Also, there is certainly some exaggeration in your points - the i5-6200U is a mid-tier chip, certainly not 'bottom of the range', and a top-of-the-range M CPU would have been an i7, not an i5.
Picard123
27 Jan 16#93
It's nothing to do with "elitism". It's about presenting people with correct, accurate information. Ashe comparing a top of the range 'M' CPU to a bottom of the range 'U' CPU specifically designed for low power consumption is just silly because you're not even comparing like for like. As well as the 6200U being more powerful, it also has faster power switching, better 'fine grain' CPU power gating (ie more efficient CPU management and battery life) and comes an integrated Skylake 520 GPU which offers absolutely lightyears more performance than the old HD3000 as well as HD/4K hardware decoding, multiple monitor 4K setups etc. Not that it really matters at the end of the day since you're unlikely to be buying one of these for performance (and the i5-2520M is fine for this laptop's intended purpose) but at least make accurate, like for like comparisons...
I have one of these, it's great. It has 2 x USB 3.0 ports on the left, and 1 x USB 2.0 on the right. There's an mSATA slot under the keyboard as well as a SATA slot in the base, so you can run an mSATA SSD as well as a normal HDD.
RustySpoons to wonkypops
27 Jan 16#91
On the X220, The i5 has no USB 3.0 Ports and the i7 has 1 USB port.
Very hot price, if the conditions of the laptop are good.
sach1636
27 Jan 16#88
Try Belarc security advisor
mxer450
27 Jan 16#20
How do you fresh install Windows 10..ive upgraded fresh install asks for a key so I aborted it, didn't want to have to pay for a key when it's already running an upgraded 10?..
Uridium to mxer450
27 Jan 161#26
If you've upgraded a 7 or 8.1 install to Win10 you can now fresh install using the same key, MS Licensing servers will have upgraded the key to a Win10 key
You can also now clean install Win10 with a 7 or 8.1 key that hasn't been upgraded and MS licensing servers will just upgrade it to a Win10 key
no_Sunshine to mxer450
27 Jan 16#86
Should have saved the old key and tried with that? There is a software that can find all keys (MS Office, Windows etc) on your system and you can save that as a text file and re-use it when needed?
uksnapper to mxer450
27 Jan 161#87
I believe that once you have installed the W10 upgrade you cab then do a clean install using the serial number assigned to the upgrade.
I use Belarc advisor to generate a report on my computers as it gives all installed softwrae serial numbers along with hardware of course :-)
Its free at http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
rgayabintboujdir
27 Jan 16#76
Op says grade 2, but I can't see where it gives "refurbished" grading. I know this has sold out but there is a same modal with a bigger hard drive, 360gb, for £134.99, hence my needing the grading. Cheers
northlondon01 to rgayabintboujdir
27 Jan 16#81
The condition is at the top of the product specs, then there's a description of each grade a bit further down...
Grade 1 - Refurbished Excellent - Little signs of use, exceptional condition
Grade 2 - Refurbished Good - Showing minor signs of use, the odd mark, scratch, buff to be expected
Grade 3 - Refurbished Fair - Showing signs of use, dents, marks, scratchs, buffs, screen blemishs, minor cracks to be expected
Grade 4 - Used - Showing heavy signs of use, dents, cracks, worn keyboard, palmrest and lid, marks, scratchs, buffs, screen blemishs
These are their own grading though, not eBay or some kind of standard. Where is the other laptop you've seen?
icavak to rgayabintboujdir
27 Jan 16#85
Link?
dealdex
27 Jan 16#83
Obviously the performance difference is significant, HQ processors are usually 4-cores and a newer generation with IPC improvements..
diamondnine
27 Jan 16#82
If you put in an ssd drive does this replace the mechanical one, if so how do you transfer data from one to the other?
mancitybowie
27 Jan 16#80
excellent laptop which is a pleasure to type on. IPS screen is superior however
shazab786
27 Jan 16#79
I have around 100 docks for these that we are going to get rid of at work. If anyone wants one for cheap then DM me. I work in central london
pablomalin
26 Jan 16#1
5 years old tech, I don't know...
haritori to pablomalin
26 Jan 162#4
Im using a i7 2630QM and it runs liek it did new.
Ashe to pablomalin
26 Jan 1632#5
That 5 year old tech (i5 2520M) benchmarks at 90% of the speed of today's i5-6200U...
fishmaster to pablomalin
27 Jan 161#44
The clue is in the "I don't know" part of your post.
lauren993 to pablomalin
27 Jan 16#78
My i5 2320 in my desktop knows... still kicks ass to this day (much to the envy of my boyfriend who is limping on his AMD - yes I'm a sad Intel fan-girl, and I make sure he knows it)
mikeyb83
27 Jan 16#77
And your post typifies the obvious elitism that we see on this website. I think the point of the post was to demonstrate that the "5 year old tech" in this machine actually more than stands up for use in today's world for a large proportion of uses. If you can provide a link to a laptop at this price (or even a little more expensive - accounting for replacement battery) that will perform as well (or better) as this machine and will last as long in terms of durability I'm sure we would all be very happy to hear about it - and vote it hot!
bob_regis
27 Jan 16#75
All gone now!
[email protected]/*
27 Jan 16#74
T430 here from eBay a couple of months ago. Paid £190 but it had an SSD. Rock solid machines.
croz123
27 Jan 16#73
currently using one as a work laptop (did get an SSD upgrade) couldn't beat it especially at that price.
A1RN
27 Jan 16#72
Exactly, the fact this got so many 'likes' typifies this website. Comparing a 15W CPU to a 35W CPU, clearly demonstrating a complete disregard for the trade off between node size, cpu performance and TDP. :confused:
foxyuk
27 Jan 16#71
Sold out !!!!
pablomalin
27 Jan 16#70
Don't be ignorant, if you add ssd you will easily reach a total of £200. And there were almost new Dell inspiration from the outlet for just over 300 with full hd screen so choice is not so obvious.
yimpster
27 Jan 161#69
i've bought multiple (+20) Dell laptops and an IBM from these guys and they've been flawless.The only time I had a problem with the life of a battery - they sent out a brand new (generic) within a few hours, no quibble. Very happy. For less than £150 these or the Dells are a no brainer and bulletproof laptop for most home and lite office uses.
After you put in an SSD this will piddle on anything you can buy sub £3-400 and will still be working in another 5 years. They are built to last :smiley:
AddictWeb
27 Jan 161#58
Any reason this wouldnt make a good always-on Plex server paired with NAS?
+ Gigabit
+ Passmark 3554
+ Lower power consumption than larger box
smala01 to AddictWeb
27 Jan 16#68
Consider an SSD to avoid latency - but im not sure these are low power. You could get an Intel NUC for around the same price which is the solution i use.
huzaif
27 Jan 16#52
really tempted to buy but how long is the battery life?
omneity1 to huzaif
27 Jan 16#57
Obviously being second-hand that's going to be an unknown, but I bought an X220 from these people 18 months ago and it came with an extended battery. I've upgraded my machine to an SSD so that will extend the battery life a bit over a mechanical drive and I get about seven hours basic use on battery. Obviously your mileage may vary, but the batteries used on these are far better quality then those used in cheap retail laptops so do give better performance from new. Genuine replacement batteries are readily available (don't buy compatible as they can be dangerous and probably won't last very long.)
I've also upgraded mine to an IPS screen which was £43 from eBay. For protection I bought one of these http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2937504.htm which even with the extended battery fits well and offers a great level of protection without being too bulky.
It's a great machine with a superb keyboard and a robust chassis that is leagues above retail laptops in terms of quality and usability.
smala01 to huzaif
27 Jan 16#67
About 3 hours of movie playing on mine. Note you can get a brand new battery free of charge as part of the lenovo battery recall posted earlier. (i have done this)
daveykinetic
27 Jan 16#49
I'm sold. don't know much about laptops but this sounds good. Does it have an aux out? I want to use it for recording music through and using movie maker
smala01 to daveykinetic
27 Jan 16#66
It has a headphone/microphone jack, you can use a relevent cable from ebay to fit whatever device you need.
midnightz
27 Jan 16#56
How much difference in battery life between a 6-cell and 9-cell battery from eBay (the £10-15 ones)?
omneity1 to midnightz
27 Jan 16#60
Probably about five minutes which is about enough time to evacuate your premises when it catches fire.
Don't buy cheap compatible batteries, they are typically made from vastly inferior components, won't be of the specification described and have been know to overheat and catch fire. BBC Fake Britain - Lithium batteries.
smala01 to midnightz
27 Jan 16#65
Never ever buy cheap batteries from ebay. You simply cannot tell which ones are fire risks and which are not. Do not believe the statements that they are CE tested. They are not. I learnt this to my cost with an exploding power supply and fire caused by a Chinese copy battery in a hotel room
You just need to open the battery up to see how utterly dangerous the fuse and circuitry is.
No matter how tight you are do NOT buy Chinese copy batteries
hugekebab
27 Jan 16#64
I'm waiting for the thinkpad 13...out in April apparently. cheap, best in class keyboard...just have to see if they screw us on the 1080p ips model
Jacob_Kreed
27 Jan 16#63
excellent laptop
jimborae
27 Jan 16#62
Currently using one to write this as it's my work laptop. As everyone says stick an SSD and as much ram as you can and this thing flies!. Much better and more reliable than my colleagues newer Lenovos, I love mine.
northlondon01
27 Jan 16#61
Sold out!
northlondon01
27 Jan 16#59
You get 14 days no quibbles refund on these too, so if condition, battery etc isn't up to scratch then send it back!
logohigh
27 Jan 16#55
dell e6220 I got , off same place ,looks more solid
joolt
27 Jan 16#54
Own one of these bought from the same seller 4 months ago - it's fab! Put an SSD in it and it flies.....the battery life in the one I was given was a 2 - 3 hours, bought an additional £10 battery on Ebay which lasts 4 - 5 hours. Great thing about it is its super light and easy to carry around, I take it everywhere instead of a tablet now
redflash
27 Jan 16#53
If you upgraded to Windows 10 from a genuine activated Windows 7 (or 8 ) then you can clean install Windows 10 skipping entering the product key both times it asks and it will activate itself via digital entitlement when it gets an internet connection.
Joehawkins609
27 Jan 16#51
with a 90% higher TDP no doubt :wink:
Picard123
27 Jan 161#50
But you're comparing it to a ULV processor. Try comparing it an HQ CPU and the performance difference is significant. Not that you'd need a powerful CPU for what this laptop is likely to used for but hey....
Also the batteries are likely to be shot on these so I wouldn't buy this to use on the road.
redbutcher
27 Jan 161#48
I've an X230 - bullet proof laptop - chucked in an SSD, upgraded the RAM and it flies - perfect for general day to day use.
FRZ
27 Jan 16#47
Tempted but it would be a downgrade from my Acer Aspire 5750...could do with the smaller laptop for business and school though oooh...decisions.
RustySpoons
27 Jan 161#45
I've got one of these, put a IPS screen in, a Samsung 840 EVO SSD and 6gb or ram, mine is the i5, possibly the 2520m, the thing is amazing for it's size and STILL faster than most laptops of this size available now.
nathkbishop
27 Jan 16#43
I've had one for work for the past 3 years. it's OK with a mouse. the trackpad is so bad it's unusable though
cigbunt
27 Jan 16#42
I think you can put 2 x hard disk in these
superquartet1guitar
27 Jan 16#38
Great machines of course, but the resolution? Seriously man, this should be bought to read websites only...forget about screen estate for productive work....@1366x768 is just plain ole nasty.
haritori to superquartet1guitar
27 Jan 16#39
its a 12.5" screen so it should be fine.
Rich44 to superquartet1guitar
27 Jan 161#41
Another resolution Nazi you realise this is a 13" screen? any higher res than that would make the thing unusable and seriously who is going to be doing a ton of PS work on an old 13" laptop? If it bothers you that much for that work you could use a dock/external monitor for bigger higher resolution estate but honestly I really don't know why people make such a big deal about resolutions that are perfectly acceptable it's not like it's stuck at 1024*768
Experiment
26 Jan 161#6
if you get one you should replace the screen to an IPS panel (around £50) plus some more RAM of course.
I recently upgraded from one of these to an X250. These still hold up today mainly because they don't use U processors
trojanh to Experiment
27 Jan 16#21
hi pal, thinking of buying one of these, could you link to how i would go about upgrading the screen?
either that or it would be good as a HTPC. Passmark score of 3.5k means it beats anything in its price range very easily haha, plex will be very smooth indeed! :smile:
Rich44 to Experiment
27 Jan 16#40
Why? 4GB RAM is plenty for most people VMs aside. The screen was perfectly acceptable on the X201, sure if you're fussy you could replace it but there's nothing wrong with it. Does make me laugh about people commenting on the looks, Lenovo gear has always looked like this and unlike Acer/Asus/HP/etc after 3 years the paint hasn't all rubbed off, worn the trackpad out and snapped the plastic off the hinges.
I only buy old Lenovo kit now. Luckily I got 2 brand new Lenovo chargers for £2.99 each from a charity shop, which will come in handy. My youngest uses an X201 with an SSD in it plays Minecraft, Win10 etc really well in fact the non Java Minecraft absolutely screams along.
As for installing Windows 10, a fresh install should accept Win 7+ licence keys or if you prefer do an upgrade to get the hardware licenced then wipe and do a fresh install
crgritchie
27 Jan 16#37
I have an X220 (core i7 version and with 12GB RAM), it's a cracking machine. Yes, was from 2012 but cost well over a grand then, this'd make a decent machine for someone and you can always add more RAM easily enough. Heat from me.
elne
27 Jan 161#36
I still say to this day that the x230 is the best Lenovo/IBM have ever made. We have x240's that are utter garbage (Lenovo quotes 8 hours to change a keyboard).
Get the 220 and as people have said an SSD and it'll be quicker than low end cheap PCW laptops from HP and much better built.
pablomalin
27 Jan 16#35
It's not about speed, it's about how they have been treated by previous users. I own i3 thinkpad x131e bought in 2011 and it has issues with motherboard. can switch off every couple of hours so I can't say thinkpads are bulletproof.
darthvader666uk
27 Jan 16#34
I recently got the x201 for £80, popped in an ssd (sandisk ultra 2 120gb) and Ubuntu. sooo fast and perfect for on the go. I also got world of Warcraft working on there and isn't too bad too :smiley:
Cantona007
27 Jan 161#23
Really tempted but refurb scares me. What's screen quality like?
smala01 to Cantona007
27 Jan 161#33
These are built like tanks, honestly if you have never seen one you will be amazed. I run ex corporate IBMs/lenovo`s for about 10 years. Look out for the condition on the website, but generally they wear very well.
Cantona007
27 Jan 16#27
What would this like for watching movies.
smala01 to Cantona007
27 Jan 16#32
I run 1080p on it without issue to a bluetooth headset. Picture to me is fantastic.
smala01
27 Jan 16#31
Its under the ram cover on mine :smiley: Take off the panel with a screwdriver!
Thanks but I don't have a key?..No sticker anywhere, checked battery too.
Oh well I'll leave as is cheers..
Optimus_Toaster
27 Jan 165#25
I have one of these and cannot recommend it enough. It's a brilliant companion to my gaming PC as it is fast (with an ssd), light, very ergonomic and incredibly well built. I bought a new 92Wh battery that lasts all day with the screen on. The only thing it is bad at is 3D gaming - which is what the desktop is for!
One thing of note is the "default" TN panel sucks balls. It's awful. Terrible, bad, crud, rubbish, pants. There are replacement IPS panels available and they are superb.
Thoroughly recommend this company got a grade 2 Toshiba Tecra r940 with i3 gen3 and its in superb shape! £144 can't beat that!
No scratches anywhere! Looks brand new almost
I'll probably want to stick an SSD in, but the small size really make this really appealing.
For a small laptop, it's a better option for me, other than battery and weight, than the atom and celeron deals we're seeing .
I guess it's hit and miss in terms of battery condition. They seem to be about £20 for a replacement.
swayndo
26 Jan 16#15
Mine has a Displayport but not sure if any of the USBs are USB3.
nickbooth to swayndo
26 Jan 16#16
Thanks - just read somewhere else that only the i7 versions had a USB 3.0 port.
no_Sunshine to swayndo
26 Jan 161#18
If there's a USB3 port, it might be highlighted with blue colour...
HDUK4me
26 Jan 16#17
I have to agree about these machines ...... I bought an X201 from this seller which I am still using , a good solid machine that stands up to the knocks and bumps a portable machine shoud( and so much physically stronger than most). BTW my X201 also has an i5 ..... not sure which generation. No disc drive but I also bought a base with a dvd drive , this makes it light and portable for everyday use.Good battery life. I couldn't recommend enough.
nickbooth
26 Jan 161#14
Read a review of an X220 that indicated it had 1x USB 3.0 and 1x DisplayPort. Did they all have these connections?
swayndo
26 Jan 16#13
Got one of these recently to replace a dead Yoga 2. £150 off eBay with 8gb and a 500gb drive which I replaced with an SSD I had spare. Did a clean install of Windows 10 and it's been great. Running everything i throw at it including Photoshop very comfortably. Battery life on the one I got is fine and the keyboard is wonderful. Might try the IPS upgrade if I can get a cheapish screen from a reliable seller.
smelladeal
26 Jan 16#11
Wasn`t this manufactured same time as the Ford Cortina ? :smirk:
Crammage to smelladeal
26 Jan 1613#12
I think so, still 10 years later than when someone last laughed at that joke.
Crammage
26 Jan 16#10
Still using one for work, rock solid. Hot.
229mel
26 Jan 161#9
that 5year old cpu is as powerful as they use them today in these laptops.. might not be as power efficient but thats about it. writing this from x230 . You can get now x240 on ebay for like £200
Smiff
26 Jan 164#8
much rather have an old thinkpad than a new hunk-o-junk from pcworld or whatever.
still running T400 and T500 here. great with ubuntu.
ram and batteries are all they've ever needed. and they're a joy to work on compared to almost anything else.
JusticeUK
26 Jan 161#7
I have one of these, runs windows 10 well and plays football manager at a decent speed. What more could you want?
Haines
26 Jan 16#3
normally pretty well made these, be just the ticket for the kids for homework etc! hot!
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
It's grade 2 which means "Refurbished Good - Showing minor signs of use, the odd mark, scratch, buff to be expected" however I bought mine as a grade 4 and the only issue with it was that the lid has a small crack - performs perfectly and it is on a join so not cosmetic. Oh and the AC adapter I received was a non-genuine.
More than 10 in stock at time of posting.
Blurb as follows:
Condition Refurbished - Grade 2
Make / Model Lenovo Thinkpad X220
Processor Intel Core i5 2520M
Processor Speed 2.5Ghz
Memory 4GB DDR3
Screen Size 12.5" Intel HD Graphics 3000 1366x768
Hard Drive 160GB
Operating System Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit with COA inclduing Service Pack 1
Battery Tested & Working
Ac Adapter Yes
Wireless Yes
USB Ports 3
Various e-SATA, VGA, SD Card Reader
As I say, this isn't for everyone but if someone is looking for a cheap, portable, upgradeable workhorse of a laptop, I hope this helps.
Top comments
One thing of note is the "default" TN panel sucks balls. It's awful. Terrible, bad, crud, rubbish, pants. There are replacement IPS panels available and they are superb.
Grab a screen from these guys: http://www.laptopscreen.com/English/model/IBM-Lenovo/THINKPAD%20X220%204291/
I bought 2 and both are perfect.
There are a couple of guides on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RwO6ZlyzGA & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcaMFkd_xSY
still running T400 and T500 here. great with ubuntu.
ram and batteries are all they've ever needed. and they're a joy to work on compared to almost anything else.
Latest comments (105)
Strangely the seller also told me that they no longer have any other X220 or X230 in stock, indicating that they cannot replace my current unit if switching memory does not help. This is strange since when I look at their Ebay website I can see a total of at least 55 X220/X230 units!
https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/documents/hf004122
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-Laptops/X220-fan-constantly-on-revving-up-and-down/ta-p/543577
It might not have as good battery life, or be able to decode H265 4K video, but we're not talking about an ultrabook with a full-HD screen here. We are talking about a good solid laptop that can handle just about any modern application just fine, in pretty much the same way today's laptops would.
Also, there is certainly some exaggeration in your points - the i5-6200U is a mid-tier chip, certainly not 'bottom of the range', and a top-of-the-range M CPU would have been an i7, not an i5.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-thinkpad-x220-laptop-fast-core-i5-2-5ghz-4gb-320gb-warranty-webcam-refurb-2383306
You can also now clean install Win10 with a 7 or 8.1 key that hasn't been upgraded and MS licensing servers will just upgrade it to a Win10 key
I use Belarc advisor to generate a report on my computers as it gives all installed softwrae serial numbers along with hardware of course :-)
Its free at
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
Grade 1 - Refurbished Excellent - Little signs of use, exceptional condition
Grade 2 - Refurbished Good - Showing minor signs of use, the odd mark, scratch, buff to be expected
Grade 3 - Refurbished Fair - Showing signs of use, dents, marks, scratchs, buffs, screen blemishs, minor cracks to be expected
Grade 4 - Used - Showing heavy signs of use, dents, cracks, worn keyboard, palmrest and lid, marks, scratchs, buffs, screen blemishs
These are their own grading though, not eBay or some kind of standard. Where is the other laptop you've seen?
After you put in an SSD this will piddle on anything you can buy sub £3-400 and will still be working in another 5 years. They are built to last :smiley:
+ Gigabit
+ Passmark 3554
+ Lower power consumption than larger box
I've also upgraded mine to an IPS screen which was £43 from eBay. For protection I bought one of these http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2937504.htm which even with the extended battery fits well and offers a great level of protection without being too bulky.
It's a great machine with a superb keyboard and a robust chassis that is leagues above retail laptops in terms of quality and usability.
Don't buy cheap compatible batteries, they are typically made from vastly inferior components, won't be of the specification described and have been know to overheat and catch fire. BBC Fake Britain - Lithium batteries.
You just need to open the battery up to see how utterly dangerous the fuse and circuitry is.
No matter how tight you are do NOT buy Chinese copy batteries
Also the batteries are likely to be shot on these so I wouldn't buy this to use on the road.
I recently upgraded from one of these to an X250. These still hold up today mainly because they don't use U processors
either that or it would be good as a HTPC. Passmark score of 3.5k means it beats anything in its price range very easily haha, plex will be very smooth indeed! :smile:
I only buy old Lenovo kit now. Luckily I got 2 brand new Lenovo chargers for £2.99 each from a charity shop, which will come in handy. My youngest uses an X201 with an SSD in it plays Minecraft, Win10 etc really well in fact the non Java Minecraft absolutely screams along.
As for installing Windows 10, a fresh install should accept Win 7+ licence keys or if you prefer do an upgrade to get the hardware licenced then wipe and do a fresh install
Get the 220 and as people have said an SSD and it'll be quicker than low end cheap PCW laptops from HP and much better built.
Oh well I'll leave as is cheers..
One thing of note is the "default" TN panel sucks balls. It's awful. Terrible, bad, crud, rubbish, pants. There are replacement IPS panels available and they are superb.
Grab a screen from these guys: http://www.laptopscreen.com/English/model/IBM-Lenovo/THINKPAD%20X220%204291/
I bought 2 and both are perfect.
There are a couple of guides on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RwO6ZlyzGA & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcaMFkd_xSY
No scratches anywhere! Looks brand new almost
https://support.lenovo.com/gb/en/documents/hf004122
For a small laptop, it's a better option for me, other than battery and weight, than the atom and celeron deals we're seeing .
I guess it's hit and miss in terms of battery condition. They seem to be about £20 for a replacement.
still running T400 and T500 here. great with ubuntu.
ram and batteries are all they've ever needed. and they're a joy to work on compared to almost anything else.