3 ms·

X201 owner here. Still use it, but not as a daily driver, and I'm in the market for one. Lenovo screwed the pooch on this one. 1) Limited production run (5,00

X201 owner here. Still use it, but not as a daily driver, and I'm in the market for one. Lenovo screwed the pooch on this one. 1) Limited production run (5,000 units) and limited target audience (the multi-color logo and anniversary badging? Really?) drastically increased the price beyond what was reasonable (base entry cost being double the non-anniversary base cost, forced spec decision due to a sole SKU aside). 2) No status LEDs 3) No ThinkLight 4) No 4:3 or 3:2 display 5) Given that the display is 16:9, only 1080p is offered 6) No physical kill switches e.g. for WiFi let alone more modern ones like for the webcam and microphone 7) 940MX is aging, with poorer driver support in Linux compared to Intel offerings, not to mention the battery hit from a dGPU 8) What is up with the letter alignment on the B key? On a machine where the keyboard is THE selling point? It's really sad to watch the unboxing video they "made for the community" where they claim that it's unfeasible to throw in a Thinklight into a modern Thinkpad because the bezel is too thin. Well - pray tell, why is the bezel that thin?? The entire Thinkpad brand was based on making, first and foremost, highly functional machines. Like I've said before in my comments, Thinkpads were the blue jeans and pickup trucks of laptops. I don't want my blue jeans to be thin, and I don't want my trucks to ride close to the ground. Maybe I don't want such thin bezels either, if they're going to force a compromise on functionality. A T470 with a retro keyboard is not a modern successor to classic Thinkpads. They used to be so much more. Maybe $1900 would be worth it if they developed a true successor, but not this.

intrasight 9y ago
Agree on all points. Let's hope they get the message and do better next time. And I do in fact hope there is a next time.
Stratoscope 9y ago
> What is up with the letter alignment on the B key? On a machine where the keyboard is THE selling point? The people who care the most about keyboards are touch typists who don't look at the key labels. Moving the B label is because of the low profile TrackPoint which requires a larger notch in the B key. Every recent ThinkPad has this; it's something you'd never notice in actual use, only in photos of keyboards. I had no idea my ThinkPad Yoga 460 and my friend's X1 Carbon had misaligned B labels until people started talking about it WRT the T25, and I certainly don't care about it now. Definitely agree about the screen resolution; it would be a huge downgrade from the Yoga 460.
- stephenboyd 9y ago
  I've been using a Thinkpad for years and never noticed the placement of the B key until reading this.
  - kevhito 9y ago
    I had multiple Thinkpads over the years and never noticed. I'm on an HP elitebook now, and just looked down for the first time. Yup - misaligned B key label.
fencepost 9y ago
Regarding physical kill switches for the microphone, even on older models with a mute button and visible indicator that no longer functions after Windows 10. Good indicator that some of those buttons may not be as much of a physical kill as you think.
- diggernet 9y ago
  Yeah, mute buttons are really nothing more than just another key on the keyboard... They depend on software implement the function, and can just as easily be ignored or overridden by software. Nothing wrong with having mute buttons, as they very handy in conference calls and such, but they are NOT kill switches. Thinkpads (including my current W510) used to have a slide switch to physically disable WiFi. I really wish the Retro had that, as well as switches to physically disconnect the webcam and microphones. The webcam can be fixed with a bit of black electrical tape, but the mic is not so easy. I've seriously considered going in with a soldering iron to add a switch there.
naikrovek 9y ago
the 4:3 and 3:2 comment grabs me. Why aren't there more non-tablet form factors with one of these screen ratios? Even 1:1 might be useful to some. I hate how we're stuck to 16:9 or 16:10 nearly everywhere. Those are not super useful ratios to me unless you're watching a lot of video.

intrasight 9y ago

Agree on all points. Let's hope they get the message and do better next time. And I do in fact hope there is a next time.

Stratoscope 9y ago

> What is up with the letter alignment on the B key? On a machine where the keyboard is THE selling point? The people who care the most about keyboards are touch typists who don't look at the key labels. Moving the B label is because of the low profile TrackPoint which requires a larger notch in the B key. Every recent ThinkPad has this; it's something you'd never notice in actual use, only in photos of keyboards. I had no idea my ThinkPad Yoga 460 and my friend's X1 Carbon had misaligned B labels until people started talking about it WRT the T25, and I certainly don't care about it now. Definitely agree about the screen resolution; it would be a huge downgrade from the Yoga 460.

stephenboyd 9y ago
I've been using a Thinkpad for years and never noticed the placement of the B key until reading this.
- kevhito 9y ago
  I had multiple Thinkpads over the years and never noticed. I'm on an HP elitebook now, and just looked down for the first time. Yup - misaligned B key label.

fencepost 9y ago

Regarding physical kill switches for the microphone, even on older models with a mute button and visible indicator that no longer functions after Windows 10. Good indicator that some of those buttons may not be as much of a physical kill as you think.

diggernet 9y ago
Yeah, mute buttons are really nothing more than just another key on the keyboard... They depend on software implement the function, and can just as easily be ignored or overridden by software. Nothing wrong with having mute buttons, as they very handy in conference calls and such, but they are NOT kill switches. Thinkpads (including my current W510) used to have a slide switch to physically disable WiFi. I really wish the Retro had that, as well as switches to physically disconnect the webcam and microphones. The webcam can be fixed with a bit of black electrical tape, but the mic is not so easy. I've seriously considered going in with a soldering iron to add a switch there.

naikrovek 9y ago

the 4:3 and 3:2 comment grabs me. Why aren't there more non-tablet form factors with one of these screen ratios? Even 1:1 might be useful to some. I hate how we're stuck to 16:9 or 16:10 nearly everywhere. Those are not super useful ratios to me unless you're watching a lot of video.