Ideal laptop for photographers!

I've finally found my ideal "on the road" laptop to run my business on! The Lenovo Thinkpad X220t !!

Anyhow, at the request of my workshop students and others that I mentor, I've slapped together a review of the features of this little laptop that are of interest to photography pros. Thought it might also help a person or two here who are researching a portable machine for their business so I thought I'd post it here too.

Hahaha, I thought you guys might get a good laugh at the email I chose to put up on the screen during the demo. (though you'll likely have to go fullscreen and HD to read it)

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=BOgl2jHdvCs

It will be great on those out of town multi-day commercial assignments where I need to edit photos before I can get home. Before, I used to bring a suitcase full of computer gear with an external monitor, but now I can do it all on this laptop alone. It has also made same-day wedding reception photo slideshow editing so awesome.

A couple things I forgot to mention in the video...

There are three battery options. One is the standard battery, then there is an extended battery, and also a battery slice (that can be installed in addition to you other battery) that gives you up to 18 hours of active computing battery power.

It also meets 8 MILSPEC ruggedness tests for extremes in high and low temps, humidity, vibration, altitude, g-force, can operate in fine silica blowing sand, and repeated ballistic shock (they drop it on concrete 18 times or so and it still runs). The crazy thing is, this isn't even a laptop that's designed to be super rugged... it's just the standard Thinkpad build quality.

The keyboard is unparalleled. You will not use a better laptop keyboard than a Thinkpad keyboard. They are also spill resistant and can handle a cup of coffee spilled into the keyboard.

It is EXTREMELY friendly to user-upgrades. In fact, they LABEL each screw on the bottom with icons. Remove the screws with the RAM icon to upgrade RAM. Remove screws with the keyboard icon to remove the keyboard... etc...

There are couple things that I don't like though.

No option for discrete graphics, only the on-board Intel HD graphics chip. It's surprisingly good, though. I've heard people run external graphics cards through the expresscard port though if you want to run a serious setup.

No USB 3.0! Though again, people have also installed a USB 3.0 expresscard that sits flush in the slot, so it's practically like it comes with it... but not.

I wish I could get more than 8GB of RAM into it, but for such a compact laptop, 8GB is pretty good.

The 2.5" HD drive bay only accepts the new 7mm height drives. I had to deshell my Corsair SSD to run it in here. There are numerous SSDs that will fit without being deshelled though. Or you can just install an SSD into the mSATA slot.

Though overall, I think Lenovo hit a home run with this one. I've been waiting for a laptop that was worth upgrading my 4 year old T61 for, and this definitely doesn't disappoint.

Nice review.

Just went to Lenovo's website to play with builds to see prices. Found that the W-series laptops are their top-tier. Can be set up with a built-in color detector that would then be used in conjunction with the Pantone's color calibrator. That would be a huge plus for photographers. Has discrete graphics and has 4-DIMM slots for 16gb of RAM. It also has USB 3.0.

Of course the X220t has a touchscreen so it's got the huge advantage of having the tablet surface. But for pure power and color calibration, the W520 would be awesome for someone on the go who doesn't need a touchscreen.

The W series is nice, but it's still a TN based LCD panel. I've had TN based laptops for years, and it was never good for photo editing. I know it comes with a built-in calibrator and wide gamut, but when it comes down to it, I could never get my photos edited perfectly on any TN based screen. I always had to re-adjust everything when I got home.

That and many photographers canno fathom retouching photos without a digitizer pen!

I'm currently deciding between a Thinkpad, Vaio S, and Macbook Pro. Every day I decide I want something different.

This X220 has some awesome features, but it's too chunky for my liking :/

I'm in the market as well and was looking at Levono's website last night. I want to use mine for tethered shooting and would like a laptop with high color gamut. I am also interested in the Sony Vaio S with a bluray burner which would be nice for handing a client a disc after the shoot.

the non-tablet x220 has a usb 3.0 port

40dbaby wrote in post #13359733
the non-tablet x220 has a usb 3.0 port

Unless things have changed, the USB 3.0 port is available only on the i7 model. I've had my X220 i7 since April and absolutely love it. Seriously considered the "t" model, but it wasn't readily available when I ordered. I used mine extensively with Lightroom 3 and PS CS5 during the summer while traveling ... works great with 8GB of RAM (altho more would be nice )

Another comment is to make sure you do a thorough search for deals on the Lenovo notebooks ... prices seem to change quite quickly on their website.

Dell XPS for me....

shazza wrote in post #13363912
Unless things have changed, the USB 3.0 port is available only on the i7 model. I've had my X220 i7 since April and absolutely love it. Seriously considered the "t" model, but it wasn't readily available when I ordered. I used mine extensively with Lightroom 3 and PS CS5 during the summer while traveling ... works great with 8GB of RAM (altho more would be nice )

Another comment is to make sure you do a thorough search for deals on the Lenovo notebooks ... prices seem to change quite quickly on their website.

Does your tablet have 3.0 usb? I decided to get the x220t and the salesman said it is not available with 3.0. Levono has special student pricing too. I check everyday and am ready to pounce as soon as I see a sale in combination with student pricing. The only thing I wish it had is an optical drive but seems like a usb bluray drive can be added for just over $100.

Cool review but you'd have to shoot me before I would ever considering returning to a computer than runs windows.

JordanMayPhoto wrote in post #13365574
Cool review but you'd have to shoot me before I would ever considering returning to a computer than runs windows.

I would consider purchasing an apple but over 5K just to replace my programs and the sky high computer price isn't an option.

shazza wrote in post #13363912
Unless things have changed, the USB 3.0 port is available only on the i7 model. I've had my X220 i7 since April and absolutely love it. Seriously considered the "t" model, but it wasn't readily available when I ordered. I used mine extensively with Lightroom 3 and PS CS5 during the summer while traveling ... works great with 8GB of RAM (altho more would be nice )

Another comment is to make sure you do a thorough search for deals on the Lenovo notebooks ... prices seem to change quite quickly on their website.

correct, it has to be the i7.

Anyone familiar with the Del XPS 15Z? I like the reviews, and I'll live with a 15" screen for the size, weight benefit.
Also, would the core i5 (instead of i7) do fine for lightroom/ photoshop work in a laptop?
I need one soon, but would love expereinced advice.

Thanks

40dbaby wrote in post #13369504
correct, it has to be the i7.

According to the Levono rep this is incorrect

the X220 is great for what It brings to the table. I recently got mine and i absolutely love it. The build quality is amazing, the look and feel is very impressive. I was looking for a laptop for a long time and this laptop was the only thing that met most of my criteria that I wanted. The IPS screen is so bright and clear. I already upgraded the ram to 16GB (yeah it will cost you but it helps.) Coupled with a SSD drive (I have the Cruicial M4 256GB) this thing flies in photoshop. Almost as quick as my workstation, Almost.... haha. The reason I got this laptop over others is because the weight to power ratio. I can actually travel with this laptop without it weighing me down.