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I've been shopping for a decent replacement for my Lenovo x220. Best I've found so far is the System76 Galago. It looks pretty nice with an i7-4750HQ, Intel Iri

I've been shopping for a decent replacement for my Lenovo x220. Best I've found so far is the System76 Galago. It looks pretty nice with an i7-4750HQ, Intel Iris Pro 5200 GPU, 16G RAM, etc. https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1 https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1

dangrossman 13y ago
The 5200 GPU and 90W AC adapter were good hints for what a search turned up -- a 4 hour or less battery life despite a big, heavy 52WH battery (compared to 8 hours for a 5100 and smaller battery). This is one of those "gaming monstrosities" I mentioned. For a couple percent speed bump over a 3-year-old 2nd-gen computer, and relatively unappealing styling, I agree with the reviews which seem to be "avoid". I can only imagine how hot it gets that it needs venting around both sides and the entire rear of the case.
- eikenberry 13y ago
  Well that's a drag. Guess I'll hold my breath that Lenovo doesn't completely gut their line and comes out with something decent. Though reading a few reviews, that Asus doesn't look to bad.
- galaktor 13y ago
  I have one. Doesn't get hot. CPU clocks down a lot when on battery, so "gaming monstrosity" only more or less valid when on AC. Battery perf in general not great, 3-4 hours in my experience. As a mobile workstation pretty good, only real bummer is that the keyboard is crap - not a good option if you plan to type tons on it (but you might get used to it; I for one just use an external ergonomic keyboard).
epsylon 13y ago
Lenovo just released the Ideapad Yoga 2 Pro, for the $1,149 model you get a 13" 3200 x 1800 touch screen display, core i5 haswell, 256Gb SSD and 8Gb of RAM. They will also release a Thinkpad Yoga in november, with less attractive specs unfortunately - it'll be a 12.5" 1920 x 1080 display. (Which is unfortunate for me since I can't live without a Trackpoint on a laptop and only the Thinkpad model offers it)
- hengheng 13y ago
  Thing is their IdeaPad Yoga isn't an X220 replacement. X220 offers two full-speed cores (2x3.2 GHz) with higher TDP, 16GByte RAM, ExpressCard 54 slot, optional WWAN, matte display, TrackPoint, ThinkVantage system update, replaceable batteries up to 95Wh, yada yada yada. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the X240 to not become an Ultrabook. So far it looks like a downgrade, or at most like Lenovo managed to put in FullHD over a course of two years.
- dangrossman 13y ago
  I don't understand systems like this -- much like most of what's been in stores since 2011. It's got a nice, high resolution screen, and the absolute slowest integrated graphics they can match with it. An HD 4400 can barely keep up with its own panel and a small external monitor let alone run a 5-year-old game on it. For just a little more money they could've put at least an HD 5100 part in it. While the TDP would be higher, the higher-TDP Haswell parts still idle at very low wattages, so when you're not using the extra power they get similar battery life, but it's there when you want it. The performance difference between the 4400 and 5100 is huge. It's on par with an older discrete Radeon/GeForce chip.

dangrossman 13y ago

The 5200 GPU and 90W AC adapter were good hints for what a search turned up -- a 4 hour or less battery life despite a big, heavy 52WH battery (compared to 8 hours for a 5100 and smaller battery). This is one of those "gaming monstrosities" I mentioned. For a couple percent speed bump over a 3-year-old 2nd-gen computer, and relatively unappealing styling, I agree with the reviews which seem to be "avoid". I can only imagine how hot it gets that it needs venting around both sides and the entire rear of the case.

eikenberry 13y ago
Well that's a drag. Guess I'll hold my breath that Lenovo doesn't completely gut their line and comes out with something decent. Though reading a few reviews, that Asus doesn't look to bad.
galaktor 13y ago
I have one. Doesn't get hot. CPU clocks down a lot when on battery, so "gaming monstrosity" only more or less valid when on AC. Battery perf in general not great, 3-4 hours in my experience. As a mobile workstation pretty good, only real bummer is that the keyboard is crap - not a good option if you plan to type tons on it (but you might get used to it; I for one just use an external ergonomic keyboard).

epsylon 13y ago

Lenovo just released the Ideapad Yoga 2 Pro, for the $1,149 model you get a 13" 3200 x 1800 touch screen display, core i5 haswell, 256Gb SSD and 8Gb of RAM. They will also release a Thinkpad Yoga in november, with less attractive specs unfortunately - it'll be a 12.5" 1920 x 1080 display. (Which is unfortunate for me since I can't live without a Trackpoint on a laptop and only the Thinkpad model offers it)

hengheng 13y ago
Thing is their IdeaPad Yoga isn't an X220 replacement. X220 offers two full-speed cores (2x3.2 GHz) with higher TDP, 16GByte RAM, ExpressCard 54 slot, optional WWAN, matte display, TrackPoint, ThinkVantage system update, replaceable batteries up to 95Wh, yada yada yada. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the X240 to not become an Ultrabook. So far it looks like a downgrade, or at most like Lenovo managed to put in FullHD over a course of two years.
dangrossman 13y ago
I don't understand systems like this -- much like most of what's been in stores since 2011. It's got a nice, high resolution screen, and the absolute slowest integrated graphics they can match with it. An HD 4400 can barely keep up with its own panel and a small external monitor let alone run a 5-year-old game on it. For just a little more money they could've put at least an HD 5100 part in it. While the TDP would be higher, the higher-TDP Haswell parts still idle at very low wattages, so when you're not using the extra power they get similar battery life, but it's there when you want it. The performance difference between the 4400 and 5100 is huge. It's on par with an older discrete Radeon/GeForce chip.