I don’t know where to begin. I guess I should preface a few things. For one thing, I’m a little more forgiving of faults specific to software implementation. This probably stems from the fact that I supported and still support the UMPC market. (OQO to be specific) As a result I just had to deal with the technical limitations. The X220t does not have any of these problems, but with it’s size should be a no brainer.
Because I championed some many UMPCs, I find it hard to believe the industry really wants to call a 12.5” laptop ultra portable. This is by far the largest laptop I’ve ever owned. It completely dwarfs my old Fujitsu P1510d. That said it’s not too large. It feels good in the hands, especially in tablet mode.
With those little things out of the way, I’ll start with build quality. This was probably the main reason I was so interested in Lenovo. At work I had been using a couple R500 models (European models only). They were 14” business laptops. They were excellent to work on. For all the same reasons that the X220t is a dream to work on. Let me just be clear. Lenovo’s build quality is as close to perfect as I’ve come. The plastics are solid. Really solid. There isn’t any flex in the keyboard, and the keyboard is bar none the best keyboard in the laptop world. (Bare in mind that I spent an inordinate amount of money on a desktop keyboard (HHKB Pro 2) and so much idea of a nice keyboard probably isn’t in line with normal consumer) All that said, there is no way anyone can say this keyboard isn’t nice. The keyboard is so nice, I WANT to work on this laptop. Continuing on with the quality however, I’ve found that the matte finish on the lip and screen really provides nice grip. The screen itself is a nice glass that does not bend when pressed. This allows you to simply work and not worry about whether you are damaging the screen or not. The IPS display is gorgeous and the viewing angles are great. Really all you could ask for in a tablet PC. Let me re-iterate one more time: The build quality is impeccable. The only way you’re going to get better is to drop 4k+ on a Panasonic Toughbook C19/30. I esteem Fujitsu’s laptop build quality to be really high as well, but in general Lenovo is just a cut above.
My X220t is rocking the i7 processor with 8 gigs of RAM. I have the fingerprint scanner, webcam, wimax, and Bluetooth. A word on the fingerprint scanner. The Fujitsu P1510d has a fingerprint scanner as well, and while it always worked it was slow and buggy. I attribute this to the software needing a lot of overhead and the amount of system memory and overall processor speed on the lifebook to really not be up to the max. On the X220t processing power is not an excuse as the i7 blows it out of the water. Here on the X220t the fingerprint scanner works well and quickly. Lenovo even allows you to swipe (with fingerprint recognition) to power on the laptop. This is useful if you left it in tablet mode. By swiping you not only power on the laptop but also authenticate at the login prompt. A really good idea that works well.
The webcam works well also in tandem with the dual microphones, which provide excellent noise cancellation, and great reception. The camera is bundled with some auto locking software as well. The camera detects when you face isn’t present and after a set period locks the computer automatically. This works really well. I’ve turned it off because security isn’t a real high concern at home. Also I don’t want it wasting battery. All the radios work as expected. I get better signal reception than in my other smaller laptops. This is to be expect as I have a much larger surface area for antennas. Battery life has average around 5 and a half hours. There is a slice option which will double that figure. I might get it. We’ll see.
All in all I’m just blown away with the usability of this laptop. I really feel like it was designed for an individual to use. To really use. To really get some work accomplished on. It’s great.
I really can’t recommend this laptop enough. Yes it’s expensive, but in this case, as with a lot of technical related things, you truly get what you pay for.
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