Hello and welcome to another AIC video.
So in previous videos I covered the x220, then the x250, and now… I am going to cover what I think is one of the best thinkpads you can buy. Period. I said it. Fight me. Not really, don’t do that, but let me talk about why I think the X270 is the best thinkpad you can buy.
Compared to an x250. It is exactly the same weight, exactly the same dimensions, exactly the same keyboard, exact same speakers, exact same docking station connection on the bottom. and nearly exactly the same case. If you don’t look at the ports or the label on it, telling you what it was, you would be hard pressed to find the difference between the two… Until you start to actually use it.
The first thing you’ll notice is a HUGE improvement in the screen. While 1366×768 screens are still available, the 1920×1080 IPS screens are far more common than on previous generations. And this one? It’s touch. And it’s not the nastly high gloss all glass touch, it’s still got a great mat/anti glare finish. So you’re not annoyed by the reflection of the fluorescent lights in the office or of your own face. It actually makes me want to use the touch screen vs just hating it. It’s also plenty bright to use in bright offices, and even outside.
Next big improvement is the touchpad. Previous generations have a click that just feel… cheap. It’s loud and plasticy feeling. Like a cheap child’s toy. This generation has a touchpad that has a much more solid click, far more satisfying and with a more muted sound and far more accurate.
But a slightly better screen and trackpad don’t a great computer make. So what is so great about this machine?
PORTS! Expandability!
Look, it has a 2242 ssd slot and a 2280 ssd slot, meaning you can run tiered storage, or dual boot into two OSs with dedicated storage each! How much ram do you want? 4, 8, 16, 32 gigs? I’ve had other laptops with 4! Ram slots that maxed out at 32 gigs, this can do it with just 1! (it doesn’t run in dual channel mind you…)
Then we get to the ports, We have a few standards, like gigabit ethernet, SD card reader, and two USB type a 3.1 gen 1 (formally known as USB 3.0) with one that is always on, so you can use it to charge a phone or other device when the laptop is not in use.
On the bottom we have the doc connector for the dock that you can pick up for like $20 on ebay.
We have HDMI 1.4b which supports 4k up to 30hz and FHD at 120hz.
Then we have a USB 3.1 type C with Power delivery and displayport.
What does all this mean? You can connect all the things! You want to charge your laptop with the square barrel plug? Go for it.
You want to charge off a USB-c? Do it!
You want to charge off a battery bank, it will be slow, but it can be done!
You want to use this cheap no name usb-c dock. All yours
You want to use this cheap dell dock? Here you go.
You want to use an expensive one? be my guest.
Need to pull pictures from a camera’s SD card? Have at it
Need to directly connect to your network to transfer a lot of files to or from your NAS, or connect to another piece of hardware that has a rj-45 port? Done and done
Plug in an external Zip drive or sync cable for your Palm pilot? Legacy your day away.
This laptop truly spans the decades. Short of a dedicated serial or parallel port, it really gives you all the options just about anybody with a large collection of random computer bits and bobs could want in a daily use computer.
And that to me defines what a thinkpad is. A tool. Is a thinkpad pretty? No. Is it the fastest device on the market? No. While they have a very specific design language and are competitive on specs, that is not really the point. They are meant to get a job done. And this x270 is one hell of a swiss army knife. Before anybody says anything I know the larger thinkpads exist, like the T14 gen2 that still has a network port, but it comes at a higher weight and cost. The X270 is nearly a perfect size and weight. It is small and light enough to carry in one hand for longer periods of time, without being so small as to be unusable.
I think the most important part of it for me is the fact that I don’t have to think about “if” I am able to do the work I need to do with this laptop. I’ve never not been able to connect to a what I needed to connect to, or stop to dig for the right adapter.
What about the performance! What about it? It’s a 7th gen core i5. It was released in 2017 just before ryzen desktop CPUs were out, and long before they were being put in laptops. Intel had 0 incentive to improve performance, as they had no competition. From first to second gen core processors, there was a BIG jump, and from 2nd to third there was also a pretty decent jump in performance, 2nd to third mostly got new instructions, but after that? Tiny incremental baby steps in performance 10% here 20% there, and it wasn’t till the 8th gen where intel at least considered getting serious, because they HAD to. These U labled processors are “ultra book” class, and only have dual cores with 4 threads. The difference between a core i5 and a core i7 is barely noticeable for most people in every day tasks. Is the 7th gen core i5 in this laptop faster than the i5 in the x250? Yes, is it really noticeable? Only when I am doing side by side comparisons. The biggest difference between this laptop’s performance and the 5th gen, is the all the bits around the CPU, faster memory, faster storage, faster connections, better connections etc. The CPU performance is hidden behind all the other components, or at least overshadowed by them. The CPU is not slow in any means, it just isn’t fast either. Mostly it’s sufficient for my needs. It gets the job done and doesn’t make me wait.
Graphics does step it up quite a bit from previous generations. But we’re still far from a gaming laptop. When I’m done with the individual showcase videos, I’ll be doing some gaming and performance comparisons, but this is… adequate, don’t expect to play triple a games on it.
What about price? Well, it seems like other people agree with me. The X270 is a better system than previous generations, and people show that in an appropriate manner. While an x250 goes for about $150-200, the x270 with a 7th gen processor (there are 6th gen ones out there a plenty, but i would skip those and go with a 7th gen) go for about $250-350. I’ll put a link in the description to a seller on ebay who, at the time of recording this, has ones spec’ed like mine, with a 7th gen and full HD touch screen for just under the $300 mark.
My last video I said that the x250 is still a laptop I would recommend, and for about $150, it is a no brainer, it is a great value at that price. But if you have a few more bucks to spend, I don’t think you would find a new laptop on the market that would be able to beat this for the price, and I personally think this is one of the great last generations of lenovo thinkpads, especially in the xseries.