11.6” Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Unboxing

Thanks for the update on the x100e.  I have been looking forward to replacing my 13” with something that travels a little lighter. It sounds like Lenovo has a winner for the business traveler. 

I have one question.  What about fan noise?  My HP dv3z sounds like a hair dryer (even when I am just browsing).  As a result, I am a little gun-shy with AMD devices.  When you stress the machine, what’s it like?

No doubt you’ll start getting tons of questions, but my biggest question is, “can you hear the fan at all in a silent room?”
Curious as I’ve had issues with Thinkpads and HPs in the past having their fans constantly running…drives me nuts! LOL

I want an affordable Thinkpad, but the heat and battery life of this machine concern me.

just a question, what do you do with all of these netbooks you own? Do you have a stack of like 20 of them sitting in your apt? Do you want to give some away lol, because I will be happy to help you clear some space

How’s the two finger scrolling on the touchpad?

I would like to now one thing. Will the keyboard bend while normal writing/using the keyboard? Or do you have to push really firmly to bend the keyboard?

A shame they used the AMD chip, considering it doesn’t perform that much better overall than the Atoms. I’ll not be buying another laptop that cannot comfortably be used on my lap. And netbooks are now hitting ten or more hours in battery life. Why go backwards, Lenovo?

The keyboard and design sure look awesome. But overall they dropped the ball. If they use the same case with the new Atom chip, I’ll probably buy one.

The Lenovo 13-inch Edge and perhaps even this 11-inch X100e should have had space for an expresscard-slot so it would have been possible to add Firewire, USB3 or e-SATA functionality.

Most (semi-)professional recording interfaces come with Firewire. Without Firewire or USB3 support, there’s no way to ever connect such devices or indeed any other future device. In my eyes, this restricts the usefulness and “future-proofness” of such laptops considerably; being so basic and portable, the possibility of plugging in any extra devices you might need, when you need them, into these machines would make them a lot more practical.

Hmm.  I picked up the Toshiba T115D on Friday.  I found it’s battery life to be quite good - 3.5 hours of watching a movie, installing things over wifi, and playing a bit of Mass Effect and I still had around 18% of battery left.

It has the single core like this one (though I’m exchanging it for the dual core) and the same chipset HD3200.  It gets warm, but I don’t hear the fan.  It’s interesting that you had such a different experience with the Lenovo.  I love the Toshiba - the only reason I’m returning it is because I want the dual core (the one I bought was listed as dual core, but in reality is single core).  I expect the dual core on Monday.

I’d urge anyone who is interested in this platform to take a look at the Toshiba.  I’m very happy with what I’ve seen with it so far.  Sad that the Lenovo x100e isn’t holding up well with the platform.  Maybe it needs better power management?

Here’s my mini-review at the Notebookreview.com forum for the Toshiba T115D:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=450834

Finally !!! I had been waited for someone to purchase this computer so i can ask him some questions:
1)How is the performence?
2)Do the netbook getting hot?
3)Would it be able to run some heavy apps such as photoshop,netbeans or small games?
4)Can you view HD videos? or the netbook is too weak for this?
thx

thx for the info,I would like to know,if I would be able to use the computer for web design and for PSD to XHTML work(I cut the psd file and make from the PSD with HTML and CSS working site)
and one more thing,the warm of the computer,does it annoying?
thx

thx man,I think I would purchase it,but I’ll wait to see more reviews before I decide.
and one last thing,which notebook do you think is better,the mini 311 or the x100e?
once again,thx

Since you seem to know a lot of Netbooks. Maybe you could compare the performance of the X100e to Netbooks with NVidia ION, such as Samsung N510, Lenovo S12 or HP Mini 311. A comparison of normal desktop usage and Gaming/HD Movie usage would be great.
I would like to buy the X100e instead of a N510, because I love the Thinkpads, but if the HD/graphic performance is too bad, I rather go for the N510 instead.

Lookin forward to your review. Are you using Thinkpad’s tools for the best possible battery? There is another review out that claims 6.5 hours of ‘light’ usage.

I think your usage may be heavier than you think, driving the image to an external monitor could be sucking up usage.

Its…just I can’t believe Lenovo could settle for such low battery life, there is little to justify it.

Do you think this netbook really has business-grade build quality? That’s probably it’s sole selling point now.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/laptops/354865/lenovo-thinkpad-x100e/2

Forgot to post the review I was referencing

Thanks for the continuous updates Peter!  Would like to see how the X100e compares to the U150.

you fell that the x100e has better performence than the mini 311? and what about playing games? do the x100e can play games with playable fps? and if so,which games you was able to play on it.
thx

Lenovo has 3 units that seem to compete: U150, X100e, and now the Edge 13.
Is it possible for u to help comparing specs and making a comment on the different intended uses. I am preplexed.

Seems in many ways the Ideapad U150 is best spec’d even over the thinkpad edge. Example: U150 has eSATA/USB combo port and Edge doesnt.Camera is better also on U150. Only negative for U150 is hard drive speed 5400 vs 7200 rpm, and maybe wireless chip Intel 5100 vs intel 100

But of course, one has Thinkpad warranty and the other doesnt.

Would appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks

Hi Peter, when I was talking about the difference, I meant the battery.  Agreed that overall we have similar opinions on the platform.

I would like to echo some of the questions concerning Congo vs. Ion.  So far, I’ve been really pleased with the Congo platform, and while the graphics are not as strong as that with Ion, the processor is much stronger (though the Atom 330 in the Asus 1201N is decent). 

I’d like to see some comparisons.  All I can do is offer my own data.  I installed the new Catalyst drivers, and while I only get around 1K in 3DMark06, this laptop will play some games.  I’m going to load Mass Effect on the new one with the dual core.  Hopefully, I’ll get a bit better performance.

Thanks for posting. That Matte screen looks much nicer than the glossy screen as seen on the s series and ideapad u series. I ordered one of these badboys with 3gb ram so I am hoping it is worth the buy.

Thanks, Peter.

With what you wrote:

“U150 and Edge 13 will both give you better performance. U150 has better battery life also.”

Why would anyone want this X100e over either of the other two Lenovo products? Because it is a Thinkpad instead of Ideapad?  If that’s the case, I imagine the Edge will beat the X100e hands down

When will u have your Edge review out?

Thanks for all the work

Hi Peter,

on some reviews you can read, that the x100e will get a follower with a dual-core cpu SOMEWHEN this year. Could you tell us, what this means exactly and which cpu is meant?

Thx a lot

I chose the x100e over the thinkpad edge for three reasons.

1.)X100e is a matte shell and a matte screen. Though it is a cheaper machine than the edge, the edge sure does look cheaper with that glossy display and casing, making it pick up fingerprints and appear very unprofessional.
2.) As mentioned above, the x100e is available at a lower price point. It is also slightly smaller and therefore appeals to those looking for a true ultraportable vs a macbook sized machine like the edge.

3.) The edge only ships with win7 64 bit. The x100e is available with win 7 32 bit. Since windows 7 is still relatively new, alot of hardware and software will run better in the 32 bit environment.

Of the 3 points listed above, I would say the matte screen was the most important item for me. Almost every other competing machine is covered with gloss which is a big turnoff for me.

Is there a lighted display?

sry, of course i mean whether it comes with a lightes keybord

The mentioned cpus seem to be furthermore slower than the intel-culvs, is that right?

Hi Peter,

I am tossing up between this machine and a Dell Inspiron 11z (with the dual-core SU4100 1.3Ghz intel CULV processor).

As far as Ram, HDD, ports & almost everything else goes, they are very similar. I know the ATI graphics on the ThinkPad are much much better than the Intel X4500MHD on the Dell.

What i’m trying to weight up is pure performance in relation to the AMD single core VS the Intel dual core CULV.

I actually have an Inspiron 11z as my work laptop and its a great machine - i just like the ThinkPad design better.

Any opinions you could give me would be much appreciated.

It seems to contain a display with a very bright dark while you booted it up the first time. Or did I just get the impression, coursed by the view from not directly degrees? If yes – can you say something about those angles of view?

What about this strange audio port? Which way do you use it? Is it possible to simply attach a headphone or do you need a special adapter for it? If yes – especially for the use of both (mic and headphone) with adapter would you need – where to get?

Thank you very much.

Am i right thinking there are missing important thinks of a real thinkpad:
-  The frame made of magnesium (?)
-  The cool ‘watercontrol’-system under the keyboard (?)
-  In the bigger Thinkpads you get access to the cpu so you perhaps can upgrade it (?)
I asked the question about the headphone/mic jack. Just read something about a combo jack in a few other reviews.
You have pair of headphones including mic. Those headsets normally need two jacks in the laptop, right? But with just one jack in the x100e…
Where is the in-built mic placed on the Thinkpad?
Maybe/surely I just misunderstood something due to my bad English. Sorry.

Is there any new info about the dualcore-x100e? In http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeLdCku7_TM&feature=related you can hear the Thinkpad very badly. With a TDP of 15 watts (just the cpu) the cooling system surely has to work very hard, but with the 18 watts for the AMD Athlon X2 L335 it could be even more annoying!!
I wish a i5-520UM or i7-620UM with a TDP of just 18 watts for the whole board for the x100e or for a x200. Imagining such a machine – apart from the better energy management and longer battery life – how would the whole performance change (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 + ATI HD3200 -> core I with IGP) for using rendering-, CAD-programs or maybe games.

Thank you very much for your answers.

Thanks for a huge information, enjoy and learn a lot on yours comments.
I would suggest some, you should find opp to try with acer 4010T-xxx with SU4100 CPU and compare with ThinkpadX100E. Frankly speak, I am waiting to get one between the mention acer and Thinkpad.
Thank you for your great information.

Enteran

Thank you for the review. I was looking at HP 311 or x100e. I really want the HDMI, so I will wait until a newer version comes out. I will add, that with the dual core AMD option you could not update the processor. With the MV-40, you can actually get processors to upgrade to dual core. I did this with my cheapy Acer 15.6”, and swapping the processor with a TL-60 (dual core 2.0Ghz) the battery life is much better in Windows 7, performance is better. (All at the cost of heat of course)

I have owned an x60, an x200 and I prefer the thinkpad over any other laptops out there. I will be buying the x100e for sure.