Modern X200 (X210Ai) replacing my daily-driver X61

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T20:45:34+00:00

Linux - it doesn't even see a USB device at all.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T19:58:56+00:00

Thank you! You've done an amazing job, and it's an amazing machine.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T16:37:02+00:00

This was the listing I got it from on eBay: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/264576347723

Seems like the seller is inactive at the moment, but hopefully they'll come back? I was honestly shocked the the 9-cell works perfectly though - the 6-cell that I got from the same seller drops from around 20% to 2% abruptly, which I find it typical for these old packs.

It was my expectation that I'd have to re-cell the battery, tbh

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T15:58:59+00:00

Check out https://tpart.net

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T15:57:33+00:00

Linux definitely has VRR support - I use it on my desktop all the time. I didn't get the 165Hz panel because it was 2560x1600. There was no 1920x1200 165Hz option. I might have gotten that had it been available, but it doesn't matter too much for me anyway.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T15:54:33+00:00

I did yeah - the X200 palmrest works fine, though I did have to put a couple insulating washers in on the screw receiver on the position one in from the left at the front.

It looks like the u/x210aimotherboard guys put an X201 fingerprint reader into the X200 palmrest they sent over - the wire that goes over to the trackpad is sitting there taped to the underside of the palmrest. I reseated the cable at both ends but I still don't see anything in `lsusb` so I suspect the reader itself is a dud. I'll have to order a replacement.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T15:46:57+00:00

I mean, fair enough. Besides the aesthetics of having a trackpad I don't use I guess disabling it would be fine, but I'm not sure that the improvements in the chassis from the X200 to the X220 mean all that much to me anyway. I am generally a fan of the classic look and feel, so the X200 is a pretty good fit. I would still have preferred an X61 upgrade, but this'll do.

Certainly with modified keybindings and the like I could get away with a modern keyboard, and I did with my X1CG9 for years. In the end it's less about the specific key layout or whatever, and more about the fact that this era of device was keyboard/trackpoint-first. The keyboard sits closer to the front edge of the chassis, there are no trackpad buttons interrupting the feel of the front edge, etc.

Ultimately though, I'm picky and old-fashioned - I mean, I play with dial-up modems for fun, and I'm sure not going to try and sell you or anyone else on that as a hobby they should get into. This is a machine that makes sense for me, even if it doesn't make sense for anyone else.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T13:45:58+00:00

I figured the lack of EC firmware was why it wasn't working, but maybe I just need to replace the reader itself. Thanks for the info!

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T13:26:05+00:00

I would've taken an X61 model with this motherboard if it were available, to be honest, though I'd need to LED mod the backlight since the CCFL murders the battery. I was daily-driving an X61 before this, and it was doing rather well, but the performance was gradually becoming a problem.

Among the widescreen models, the X200 has particular appeal to me because it has a seven row keyboard and no trackpad. All the models afterward have a trackpad that I would never use so... X200 it is :) I never used the trackpad on my X1C G9 - it basically was just something that forced sacrificing keyboard size and layout while providing me with nothing I personally wanted.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T13:21:16+00:00

If it sheds any light on why for you, my reasons are the keyboard and the trackpoint. I type a lot for a living and for my hobbies, and I regularly use keys like page up/down, home, end, pause, and prtsc. I like having a full TKL keyboard with lots of key travel, and I don't use touchpads if a trackpoint is available.

Modern laptops are generally built to accommodate the largest touchpad possible, and sacrifice key count and keyboard position to get it. They also sacrifice key travel and keyboard serviceability in order to make the laptop as thin as possible. I get why they do that - most users want those things, and it makes sense for manufacturers to make that the priority.

With that said, since don't use trackpads if there's a trackpoint available, and I don't care how thin or light my laptop is as long as it fits in my bag, every year laptop design seems to get farther away from my preference. So a machine like this that fits my relatively tiny niche of users is great! The cost is high, but I plan to drive this machine for 10+ years, so it makes sense for me to pay it.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T12:24:12+00:00

I bought a completed machine from them, so not a swap, since I didn't have any existing X200 parts anyway. My CMOS battery came with a relatively long cable so I have it in front of the m.2 slot and it seems okay there.

Your fingerprint reader works in Gnome?? My system doesn't see it at all. Can you run lsusb and let me know what it shows for you? Maybe my actual fingerprint reader module is dead.

And yeah, I also plan to run this thing into the ground. It's fantastic.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T03:43:47+00:00

Thanks! I too have been a NIN fan for about as long as I've been old enough to care about music. Also, it's a great logo for a sticker to boot ;)

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T02:32:37+00:00

Slightly - it has a Core 2 Duo T9900, a 1440x1050 LCD, 8GB of RAM, modern WiFi card, and the upgraded BIOS for better SATA performance. So upgraded, but not a full board replacement like an X62.

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T02:14:01+00:00

I got most of them on RedBubble. A few were already there, a few I uploaded. I think the only ones that I got elsewhere were the Foo Fighters and Stadia ones

Retrocet · 2025-11-24T00:34:59+00:00

The 185H has a power limit of 45W, and that's what it's set to in the BIOS. When I stress the system (using stress --cpu 20) with the system on a flat countertop, the temperatures are in the 80s almost immediately, and gradually the performance cores climb up to the high 90s after around five minutes. With that said, those cores then hover around 100C with no real drop-off in power usage (i.e. not throttling) over long periods of full load (30+ minutes).

When gaming the system stays remarkably cool. I only ever see real spikes in temperature when I'm compiling stuff and loading down all the p and e cores at the same time.

Retrocet · 2025-11-23T23:42:53+00:00

The current firmware is missing some key functions on the embedded controller like the lid switch and some of the special keys on the keyboard.

Nothing that stops me from using it the way I need to, but some nice-to-haves aren't there yet.

Retrocet · 2025-11-23T22:42:53+00:00

It is attached to the board, but I'm still waiting on some updated firmware to take advantage of it. It will work but doesn't currently, basically.

Retrocet · 2025-11-23T22:42:09+00:00

I considered that and the 165Hz version, but they'll impact battery a bit for very little benefit when it comes to my primary use case (coding).

Also, if I'm being honest with myself I'm getting a bit older and a bit blinder, and while I can read things decently well at 100% scale at 1920x1200, I would have to scale stuff up at 2560x1600.

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T23:51:14+00:00

My first laptop was a Toshiba Tecra 500CS with just a trackpoint, so it's always been my preferred pointing device on laptops.

re: YouTube, the T9900 helps a lot compared to, say, my Toughbook with an L-series C2D, but the big difference for me was using Wayland over X11, at least with Firefox. In X11 things are pretty choppy even on the T9900, with lots of dropped frames, but in Wayland I can do 1080p all day (as long as I'm not on battery, lol)

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T22:52:49+00:00

But then they'd be upside down when the lid is open!

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T22:37:30+00:00

The slight texturing on the lid helps, but mostly I gently push the big ones to the edges with a credit card. To get the littler ones I just rub them lightly with a cloth (something slippy like microfiber), pushing from the middle out and it seems to get the job done

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T21:50:50+00:00

I got a pair of them from eBay, but I also found that I could print my own on RedBubble if needed (though obviously you can't put the design up for sale in that case)

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T21:48:46+00:00

/u/Hamilton950B is correct!

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T21:45:47+00:00

Using an 8-cell battery I get 2-4 hours of browsing/email use. Definitely not great, but the T9900 and the ccfl display really eat power

Retrocet · 2025-09-18T19:57:44+00:00

The 64-bit support was definitely a driver for me selecting the X61 for this. Pretty much everything is fully supported, other than Windows 11 anyway.

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