Lenovo ThinkPad X100e: When Build Quality Matters Most
by Dustin Sklavos on September 3, 2010 6:40 PM ESTSystem performance, with and without Upgrades
This part would probably be one of the less intriguing ones, so we've added a wrinkle. The ThinkPad X100e has been tested in both its factory-direct-to-you configuration—1GB of DDR2 and a 5400RPM Fujitsu hard disk drive—and with 4GB of DDR2 and an Intel X25-V 40GB SSD. It bears mentioning that these upgrades do add to the cost of the unit, making the already onerous pricetag even more difficult to swallow, but keep in mind that a decent solid state drive can go a long way towards improving the overall computing experience of any computer. If capacity isn't a major issue, good SSDs can be had for a hundred dollars or less these days and can make a dramatic difference in how enjoyable the computer is to use.
Since the Congo platform is old hat at this point, we've chosen two benchmarks to both get a sense of how the ThinkPad X100e falls in line with its contemporaries as well as determine just how much the upgrades have changed its performance. The two ThinkPad X100e results are highlighted, along with the MSI Wind U230 and Toshiba T235D. The latter represents AMD's Nile platform while the former is a Congo laptop "similar" to the X100e.
First things first: in its native configuration, the X100e beats the tar out of any Atom configuration, but it also beats each of the existing AMD configurations except for the newer Nile-based Toshiba T235D. Its closest competitor is the MSI Wind U230; Intel CULV-based units like the Acer 1810T and then the newer ULV Arrandales clean its clock, but that's to be expected.
Where it gets interesting is how the SSD in the X100e seems to throw both versions of PCMark completely out of whack: in each one, the score jumps nearly 30%. The system does feel much more responsive with the SSD installed, it's true, but what if we break down the PCMark Vantage scores?
| Lenovo ThinkPad X100e PCMark Vantage Subscores | ||
| Subscore | SSD + 4GB | HDD + 1GB |
| Suite | 3294 | 2497 |
| Memory | 1889 | 1437 |
| TV and Movies | 1858 | 1661 |
| Gaming | 2718 | 1441 |
| Music | 4492 | 2995 |
| Communications | 3176 | 2614 |
| Productivity | 5555 | 2137 |
| HDD Test | 16954 | 2875 |
Well, there's our culprit. Jarred had some choice words about how PCMark Vantage responds to SSDs, but suffice to say, the jump in the drive test score is jarring. There are two ways to interpret these scores, and both are correct to an extent: SSDs skew PCMark Vantage hopelessly, and upgrading the memory and drive of a notebook can substantially improve overall system performance. I will reiterate: the Intel X25-V SSD does make a major difference in how responsive the system feels.
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fire400 - Monday, September 6, 2010 - link
msi wind u230 is garbage compared to the lenovo x100eFishyFish - Monday, September 6, 2010 - link
I agree with allasm. The refurb X60s and X61s are basically identical to the X100e in size and weight, yet they are cheaper and faster. The X60s also lasts longer than the X61s: nearly 6 hours on a charge (8 cell). There's no webcam, but there's a fingerprint reader *and* a keyboard light...cosmotic - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
Eating your own dog food is a reference to using the products you make. I'm pretty sure that has nothing to do with this article or Anandtech's core business of reviewing tech products..GMan123 - Tuesday, September 7, 2010 - link
I've bought my L625 model about 6 weeks ago. They had a deal where you get 2GB of RAM (1 DIMM), 320 GB hard-drive, WIfi and BT for about $530 shipped. I re-installed Win 7 Pro 64bit (comes with 32bit) and added another 2GB of RAM.As for my impressions, I was upgrading from an ASUS 1000H and the difference is huge. First off (as noted in the review) is the keyboard. It is one of the best! The next difference is the screen resolution - moving from 1024x600 to 1366x768 is terrific. I did have issues with contrast and colors, but playing around with the ATI settings, it looks a lot better (and now I can distinguish the lighter grays from white). You really need to play with those settings - I can post my settings if there is any interest.
Overall speed is better than the Atom, but I occasionally get the Win 7 spinning wheel of delay (not sure if this is a generic Win7 problem or not). Once I get this, I can really do anything on the machine until it stops. Really annoying, but maybe its the hard drive (there is no drive activity light!) so moving to an SSD may help. Outside the spinning wheel, I can do most productivity related tasks without issue or concern. Have not played any games on it yet, but Hulu and Netflix streaming is much, much smoother.
One issue that I did come across is some weirdness with the "sleep on lid close" setting. I think this is generic to Windows 7 and not to this laptop, but occasionally once I wake the computer, the brightness cannot be changed! The shortcut keys or control panel cannot change the brightness. Outside of a reboot, the only solution was to change the setting from "sleep on lid close" to "do nothing on lid close". Then close the lid and reopen it. Now you can change your brightness.