I have an X240 as a daily driver for school etc, rocking the i7, 8GB RAM, the HD screen with touch functionality and a 512GB 850 Evo SSD. It's actually very speedy and even does some simple gaming too :D
Bought a refurb one of these 2 years ago to use as a Linux machine, swapped the hard drive for an SSD and still going strong today. Hands down the best computer I've ever owned. Real shame the new models don't have removable batteries.
The X220 and X230 with keyboard swap are much better. The X220 has a better keyboard, touchpad, and easier access to RAM and the hard drive (though the X240 is not bad in this regard). The X230 with a keyboard swap has all of the advantages of the X220, but has a more powerful processor than the X240. The X240 is only better for battery life.
@@LaptopRetrospective Good point. In my use cases, I want better performance because the batteries in old Thinkpads were never great to begin with. I can definitely understand why people need better battery life, but it sucks that you have to live with the some of Lenovo's other poor design choices like the keyboard to get that.
Bought one of these just a month ago: mint conditions, i5, 8gb, ssd, 2 batteries, ips display, wwan...LOVE IT. Probably the best laptop I've ever had, maybe not the most powerful, but the best. Sturdy, nice old fashioned looking and very very portable with the 3cell battery. Keyboard is AWESOME, you would type on it 24h. I got also a 40A2 docking station, the icing on the cake. The only one thing which I'm not comfortable with, is the touchpad (but you can switch it for a x250's one). Thank you ever so much, you helped me doing the right decision.
my son has knocked this laptop off of my desk a few times, and it's still working like new. These things are very well made, mines has taken lots of abuse, but cometically still looks pristine.
Laptop Retrospective na unfortunately my battery is completely dead. Both batteries hold up to an hour (max / just for Word). Replacement batteries are quite expensive for this laptop and I think that it is not worth it (since I got this laptop for free) Otherwise I love this laptop. Unfortunately I broke one little cable (at the hinge) which is attached to the webcam, Lid sensor and that glowing dot. But a replacement cable is on its way
Laptop Retrospective exactly. That was my idea too. I have thrown in an SSD and now I‘m getting this new cable. But spending 40€ for a battery is too much. I will keep an eye on the battery price though incase I can get a good deal
@@CL-it3zy you power on the machine, go into the bios (f1) and one of the bios settings is "disable internal battery" - select it, say yes, and the computer will power off with the onboard battery disabled.
I went for a 2nd hand X250, because it's chipset has support for a single 16GB memory module and they reintroduced the dedicated track pad buttons. What I like about both the X240 and X250 is you can fit up to three physical drives into the chassis. You have the 2.5 inch drive bay that will take either a SATA III HDD or SSD, your i.e. 1st drive. You can then fit a 2nd M.2 2242 SSD in the mobile WAN card position (viz. 2nd NGFF socket. 1st NGFF socket accommodates the Wi-Fi card), and you can also fit a 3rd NGFF socket / bracket under the battery in place of the smart card reader, and install a third M.2 SSD (provide single sided board) into this position. I noticed the X240 being reviewed in your video had this bracket fitted and probably has the original 16GB SSD fitted that was an optional cache drive for the HDD to improve read write access performance. My X250 has two SSDs fitted. A 128 GB drive in the 2.5 inch bay with Windows 10 loaded and a 128 GB M.2 2242 in the 3rd NGFF socket adaptor with Ubuntu 18.04 loaded. I have a mobile WAN card fitted in the 2nd NGFF slot, hence no third drive in my machine. My X250 has an i7 5600U processor with 1366 x 768 IPS display, so great performing machine. I really love the device, especially it's portability and build quality.
ThinkPads are awesome! I have a T520 and an X220i hooked up to a monitor and they're running very well and still going strong. I don't buy into the trash mentality of doing yearly upgrades. ThinkPads are probably the only laptops (the older ones, anyway) that are worth the cost and are very durable. Don't think I'm going to need to upgrade for several long years to come. They don't make laptops like these, anymore. Great video.
@@LaptopRetrospective I retired my old T430 due to thermal issues and loud fans and replaced it with a Q3 W530. I really like the W530 as it ran quieter and the K2000m was a much nicer GPU than the T430's NVS5400m furnace of a GPU. The W530 started giving me graphics issues and has issues with its touch pad and fingerprint reader. Whilst I don't game on my laptop usually, there are times when I want to play a quick game of something, only basic 2D games would run reliably. Simple e sports titles like rocket league would instantly crash the computer with or without a blue screen only seconds after launch, minecraft would run for about an hour and then crash, and to top it all off the fingerprint reader didn't work at all and the touch pad was iffy. I replaced the W530 with a Dell Precision M6700 which has been serving me well without a hitch, and I plan to put a 3940XM and Quadro K5000m in there, which should run nicely.
Interesting that the hard drive bracket was held in by a torx screw. On both of my X250's (which are almost identical internally) it's held in with a standard phillips head screw.
Managed to snag a X240 with the i7-4600U for a good price recently. It will be my newest ThinkPad. Can't wait for it to get here. Another one for the collection! Looking forward to the battery life. Not lugging the charger home on the weekend to my hometown will be nice! Thanks for the video, I will miss being able to swap the keyboards and ultranavs out easily, but like you said, all the core guts are right there under the panel, so it's no big deal.
I know, old comment, but: It was more for budget, anyways AFAIK the i3 models were almost never offered to corporate customers, instead offered to end consumers (in some models under the "i" suffix, like the X230i or X220i). Lenovo would rather you go for an L-series ThinkPad if you wanted a better leasing deal. (The E-series is consumer-oriented as well).
I can say that I grabbed used one, for nearly 300 bucks, it's nicely built. It has one draw-back: single channel RAM (max: 8GiGs not 16). For pros: 'bridge-battery' (two li-poly, no sticking back) near 6h use with 45% wear level (this means 10h with new batteries). Second pros: ULV cpu - less heat, more stability. I think that considering current ULV: like 8650U - then this would be a beast! But still this is for my work that is 'grab-&-go' and don't worry about it. I can carelessly travel with it :), and take notes - another pros: keyboard.
I'm watching this on an X240, i5 vPro, 8gb ram, SSD. In 2022 and it works just fine for a general purpose laptop. My desktop is an i5 and with a SSD boots in no time and does everything just fine. AND this is going on well over 6 years old now.
There's also the option for a card reader FRU on this model - most people wouldn't use this in their personal life, but you can replace it with an NGFF adaptor so you can have yet another hard drive or network card in here.
Okay before watching I just wanna say that I've bought a used x240 6 months ago and I'm loving it with 8 gigs of ram, ssd, ips screen and backlit keyboard. I use it for coding and regular pc work (downloading stuff, transfering files etc.). The only thing I would like is somehow having a bit lower idle temps (it sits at about 40 with arctic mx-4), but otherwise an epic laptop for the money.
Also, I did the keyboard and touchpad replacement alone with a youtube tutorial and it took some time but isn't that hard as long as you keep organised and tidy. All in all a nice laptop but it sometimes does get its fans spun up when I do something more demanding in python or watch videos.
Laptop Retrospective it could be my linux distro though, I didn't really mess with the fan curve, and also, some people have reported that my thermal paste (the mx-4) isn't really all that good for laptops because they get hotter than pcs which can dry out the paste. Still, a great laptop, but I'm on a lookout for the x250 if I manage to find as good a deal as I grabbed my x240 for. Thanks for the vid I completely agree with everything you said 😉👍🏿
Just got one of the I5-4300u version for a very reasonable price… I've discovered with a surprise the second battery, and also replace the removable one (44€) which was "only" let me 3h... which is more of battery than the laptop I'm usually using at work (brand-new ones also !!). Installed linuxmint in parallel with win10 pro that was already re-installed by is previous owner. Currently writing the comment on the machine with Linux Mint. This is a great machine, the battery life with the new one is quite long (more than 16 hours!), using this as my "daily driver" while not @home and when I do need to use a laptop. As this is a small machine, always got it in my bag pack. I've just ordered a 8gb memory module to replace the 4gb that are now inside, and, thanks to your video, I do know now how to remove the cover properly (and also disconnect the internal battery as I've also read in the comment, prior to any intervention inside the machine !!).
The drive bracket does not need to be removed. The plastic tabs just pop into the screw holes on the side of the drive. That is also a M.2 slot by the WIFI. And the WAN card that was optional for these that can go there is the Sierra EM7345. Just in case some one needed....
Sorry. I wasn't trying to fact check. Just providing some info people might want with. I'm with you. These things are awesome. Some where I have a gaming laptop that is collecting dust while I use this daily. You still taught me stuff I didn't know.
I have this very laptop in front of me after 'upgrading' from my old x230. I have to say, both battery life and the ability to install 16 GB of RAM in dual channel config were better on the x230. The old, separate buttons for the Trackpoint are also infinitely better on the x230. The screen is much better on the x240, though (I had the 1366x768 version of the x230, my x240 has FullHD). All in all, I consider the x240 a downgrade, especially because of the 8GB RAM limit. I don't understand their decision to put in a single RAM slot. Not at all. Successor models should never provide less features than their predecessors, see iPhone headphone jack disaster.
The x240 tried some different things and is clear from the models that came after that they learned some lessons. When is coated, it isn't so great. Treated on its own merits, it's a good machine.
the "downgrade" parts its not just about the ram, using U processor, missing drainage hole for antispill keyboard, missing thinklight, in my opinion - im using X240 only for a few weeks, cant stand with it and decide to go back to my lovely X230 after - avoid this X240, if you wanna upgrade from X230, straight go to X250 is much better option.
My netbook is falling appart (literally: it losses pieces of plastic every time I open it!) I might get this one as replacement, thanks for the review.
Hey, it might be too late but is it real deal for me to buy this X240 with i7-4300U and 500 GB HDD in 2019? I just an econ stud who use stats apps like Stata & R, Office apps plus doing some designing in Corel X8. Thanks in advance.
I'd honestly go for a x250 in 2019. It's absolutely the same considering looks and features, while having a newer Intel Processor generation (Broadwell) and also returned the Buttons for the Trackpoint.
As I mentioned in your other comment, while this is true, cost and availability are two key factors for older laptops. Thankfully the buttons for the TrackPoint can be installed into the X240 at low cost.
@@LaptopRetrospective I just noticed while looking for a X series laptop on ebay (My friend has got the x240 and he recommended it to me) that x240s and x250s are similarily priced there. I bought a x250 for myself with an 120GB SSD WWAN the Fingerprint scanner and a smart card reader for just 230€ and I saw x240 with same features but worse specs for the same price
x250 is a killer deal right now. I bought i5-5300U, 8GB RAM 128GB SSD option for 150$! I got it with a single large battery which I'm going to sell and managed to score small external battery and internal battery with 98% capacity for 25$ total! I'm thinking of replacing screen for FHD IPS but it's not something I need that badly. I guess I'll replace it with X270 in 2 years :)
This laptop is great! I have the i7-4600U, 8GB DDR3 and chucked in a 240GB SSD and this machine flys! 10/10. Video was great for deciding weather to purchase, came to £200 in the end ($260 ish)
If I get the chance to handle one, of course I will. I am limited to what I can lend, borrow or buy for a cheap price. The newer ones are still fairly expensive and the channel doesn't have the income to flat out buy every machine features.
I ordered a T 440 P - (yes "P") - Its a huge step forward, to have an more amazing computer. Specially, because its the P Version. Its converted to a 256 GB SSD, and whole used laptop in A condition for totally $ 260 with 12 month warranty from a professional dealer here in germany. I want to advance it, from 4 GB to 8 GB RAM - no big deal. Its bigger and heavier as the other 440ies, but overall more, and a bigger working maschine.
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks. I kept all my wishes for my next laptop, and made NO compromises. And crossed my price limit only 10 % more. So I found and decide for the T 440 P. I don´t want to think too long, and want to choose. No choice = no computer. But if you made a choice pro computer, you get it really.
Not owning either I’m uncertain other than I hear that they fixed a few things wrong with the X240 and the processor power was supposedly much better, but that might just be people talking-up their particular Lenovo model. I have two X220’s and really like them. My daily driver has the infamous broken seam in the lid, so I bought a new lid from China and I’m going to swap it out. That’s my only complaint about the X220, well, that and a soldered in processor, but they all do anymore.
Yes, one had to be careful of the mythical qualities given to since ThinkPads. I love my X220. I've documented the mods I've done on this channel. One day I hope to swap the panel to IPS.
Laptop Retrospective The IPS panel is wonderful and a worthwhile mod to any X220 in daily use. I swear by them. Those IPS panels make so much of a positive difference.
@@LaptopRetrospective Im using it for school. I bought it with the 72WH battery and it lasts about 10 hours!!! So light office work and web browsing, but i installed a few games too. And i even run a windows10 vm, with 4gb ram total, and it was able to handle it :)
Is there such a thing as a right click menu key (other than using the touch pad)? Some laptops have this but the IMP EC key next to AltGr on mine does a screen shot instead (French keyboard using Linux Mint) It's just that I find it tricky to right click for menus with the touchpad except in the extreme right corners of the pad.
@@LaptopRetrospective I just got an Ultra Dock for a friend's X240, and one thing about it has me worried..., the fact that it'll completely block all of the ventilation ports on the bottom of the laptop... I saw that you used a Mini Dock on another Lenovo unit... Do you feel that these docks noticeably increase internal temperatures, especially when running CPU/GPU intensive applications?
Hmmm. It would restrict the airflow somewhat but I wouldn't think it would block it entirely. I haven't personally experienced significant performance loss from using a docking station that I recall.
my X240 is making fan noises , it isn’t whirring noises but stutters , any fix? it sounded really strained and it’s fairly new so I don’t really understand why it’s happening , help will be appreciated
The fan is new I presume since the laptop wouldn't be. It sounds like a drop of sewing machine oil on the bearings might help or it might need to be swapped.
Even X240 shows us as Thinkpad fan, here is no reason to buy consumer-class laptop at same price, despite I'm not considering X240 as my ThinkPad wish...rather look at T440 instead.
The X240 might not be the most loved ThinkPad, but as you say, it is still a lot more impressive than most consumer-grade units. Spoiled by high standards. :-)
Fun fact. In windows 11, you have a built in fingerprint reader software to work with that fingerprint scanner. It works great! I had a l440 that works fine with it.
I just bought a nice like new x260 from ebay a couple of weeks ago. Really liking it. THinking about buying another one like it for my wife. My x260 came with 512 ssd and 8 gigs of memory and I5 cpu. Will going to the x240 be a big step backwards?
Laptop Retrospective Just so there is no ‘gap” in answers to questions, here’s said X260 specifications: www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/ThinkPad-X260/p/22TP2TX2600
Yes. I do like the drainage holes! It's little details like that which make up a good thinkpad. Also this has a bad trackpad (no dedicated trackpoint buttons)
X240 have BIOS whitelist unlike X250 and onwards. This will be a problem if you are trying to use non-original parts (i.e lcd panel). I have confirmed this myself. I have X240 and X250 (both with latest BIOS) running W10. I tried installing both of them with a same non-original FHD panel (NV125FH), the brightness function only works with the X250. Also X240 have fn-key not working problem when updated to latest BIOS. My X240 got it, some people in Lenovo forum also confirmed it. I recommend getting a X250 instead of X240.
I'm about to get one for work, I have to do some basic photoshop, go into meetings in Zoom and sharing my screen. It is refurbished, it has 4GB RAM and 360 HDD i5 4300u with 2.90 Ghz. Is it a good idea?
The RAM is pretty low, so I'd be prepared to upgrade that. The HDD should be replaced with an SSD in my opinion for the massive jump on performance. Lastly, if colour accuracy is critical for your work, I'd suggest an external display if it isn't the top tier panel. Keep an eye out for X250's as well.
Im planning to buy a 2nd hand x240 . Can the processor, ram and Operating system make a difference (upgradeable) from the stock specification? Just to ensure if the unit is legit . It tells that year 2016model (drivers up to date). Thanks .asap Also Can it run autocad in 3D model??
Hello, great video on X240. May I ask you questions, can the Wi-Fi card on the ThinkPad X240 be replaced by Wi-Fi 6 card i.e. Intel AX200? And if money doesn't consider, which one will you prefer, X250 or X240? I'm going to buy it refurbished and the 2 laptops has similar price but different aspect on trackpad. Thank you for your answer.
Go with the X250 of the price is similar. Newer CPU, better Trackpad. Regarding WiFi cards, you'll need to see what is on the manufacturer whitelist or be prepared to learn about BIOS hardware flashing.
I just purchased an X240 thinkpad no Touch and I am wondering how hard would it be to put in a touch screen in place of one of these that does not have touch screen?
I'm not sure it's possible. The maintenance manual states completely different display assemblies so you'd be looking at a top case replacement to start.
i changed the keyboard on this unit. it is one those things that if you do it once, your concerns will be lesser and lesser, but still a nightmare in comparison to my P14s.
@@maximmus7080 After using it for a few hours I can say this . 1 the battery life is great. 2 the weight and size is perfect. 3 its fast with an ssd. 4 it feels solid 5 Its a thinkpad 6 Its good for light games
These U series really took a hit in performance. I bought a T440 a while back with the i7-4600U and running UserBenchMark it yielded the same, if not worse, scores and FPS compared to an X230 with the i5-3320M. But using it was pleasant, I liked the keyboard, the two batteries, the form factor, and glowing I in Thinkpad were little things that I liked. I had the "better" 900p display but without touch which was a bummer, the touch variants are rare on eBay I guess. Still good machines and I shouldn't bash them because of their minor-ish decrease in performance. Though, the real bad machine in the 40 series thinkpad was the W540/W541. The build quality wasn't as good, notebookcheck notes "audible contact with the internal components by resting your hands on the palmrest." The only thing changed with the W541 was I think some new processor, and trackpad buttons on the top.
Yeah the U series took on average a 10-12% hit in exchange for better battery performance as that was becoming a more popular feature at the time. Overall I'm not the biggest fan of the 40 era, mainly due to the trackpad style.
@@LaptopRetrospective Same with that trackpad. During the very brief *3 days* (I returned it on ebay because the usb ports didn't work properly) I owned a T440, I couldn't drag and move something, I could do it but it wasn't easy and it felt like a clunkpad, I liked the distance it moved when you clicked but not the clunk or the rattling every time you even touched it. At least it had gestures.
@@LaptopRetrospective I've been considering selling my T440p to get an x240. I put in a 1920x1080 IPS screen and the T540 trackpad. It's quite nice but I wanted something a bit smaller. Any interest?
Interesting. I'd have to check my budget for the channel as I probably wouldn't end up with it in constant use. Let me know what you were hoping to get.
Thanks for the comprehensive overview. Thinking about picking one of these off eBay for a portable Linux machine. Do you think this would still be a good purchase for that purpose at this point in time?
@@LaptopRetrospective Thanks for your prompt reply. Found what appears to have been a "fleet vehicle" (aka business issue unit) for a little over $100 shipped. It's a bit ugly, but if everything is in working order as described I should be able to upgrade the ram and go to town. :)
Well, I did end up getting the machine I was looking at on eBay. It was in much better cosmetic condition than the pictures had indicated. I immediately bumped it up to 8gb of RAM and stuck an SSD in it. Installed Xubuntu and it absolutely flies despite the U series CPU. Should be getting a new internal battery next week and as it stands I see no reason why I shouldn’t get at least another 3-4 years out of it. Very pleased.
@@krazykat64 so excited for you. A lot of people didn't like the U processor bit the 10% loss of processing power from the previous generation was well worth the trade we got in battery life. Now just swap out the trackpad for the three button version. Very cheap and is an awesome mod.
@@LaptopRetrospective Strangely enough, as much as folks complain about that trackpad, I haven't had an issue with it. I suspect most who dislike it probably have previously developed muscle memory from the three button that made using the "slab" unpleasant. I had no such muscle memory and therefore came at it without without preconception, thus making it less frustrating for me. Just a theory. 🤷♂️
I'm considering getting one of these 12" laptops. What's you guys take on screen resolution vs the small size of the screen? I see colleagues with insane 4k on miniature displays which just does not make sense. I run Linux and scaling UIs is something I don't want to spend my time on. The choices seem to be between 1366x vs 1920x.
I am a student currently and live at home where I have a gaming desktop, but I need something portable and light for taking to class for notes, writing essays, watching some videos in between classes, etc. I am currently using my dad’s surface pro 3 he is lending me until I can afford my own laptop. Would you say the x240 would be a good choice, or is there something else you would recommend? Thought I’d also mention I am on a pretty tight budget, probably 450-500 USD at the absolute most. I am absolutely fine with buying on eBay and servicing the machine myself too.
X240 is great with its dual battery system. Many prefer the x230 because it is slightly more powerful but it sounds like you want battery over power in your situation. Unit is easy to service minus the keyboard.
Hi! I'm a software engineering student and want a light/good battery machine to run Linux at school. Don't have a lot of money. You guys recommend a x240 for me?
It would run, the question would be how well and if I had to guess, not very, at least for complex projects. It is a U series cpu and there is only integrated graphics. So keep those things in mind. Hope that helps.
I got a x240 from ebay for $60. At that price, I like it a lot. No buttons on the touchpad, just like my newer chromebook. Not fast, but fast enough for me. Stays cool compared to my x220 or T430. Far from perfect but it suits me.
It would be able to handle some small to moderate sized 1080p projects more or less depending on the CPU. More complex projects will give you longer render times.
Thinking about upgrading from a 2016 Acer Cloudbook 14 to one of these. It sort of similar to take apart, but the face-plate *isn't plastic welded to the aluminum frame.*
Hi! I'm planning on buying a refurbished x240 i7 and upgrade it to 480 ssd. Just wondering if i can still use it to play games like League of Legends among other things of course. Cheers!
Does a FHD IPS display work for my x240 i5 4300u by just straight swapping it with my 1366x768 lcd display? I was planning on upgrading my display due to having white spots on some part
I really hope i get your reply I want to get this unit for some daily usage, watching RU-vid and movies, as well as doing some essays on it Also some light casual gaming Am i making the right choice?
So yep, looks like a nice machine, but not sure I'd get it for myself since I like to use a trackpoint, and I heard this one without dedicated buttons is nooooot the best one. By the way I don't think this internal layout is a bad thing. Yes, you need a full disassemble to replace a keyboard, but access to a heatsink for cleaning is very easy. On the other hand on older machines it needs to remove a motherboard to do it. And I much often clean the heatsink than change a keyboard (never changed it, lol) on my T430. Now thinking to get something smaller and lighter, maybe x250... But anyway watched this video, nice one, thanks!
However it all depends on the decent deal. Actually my L 440 is i7 4480mq. I Love this machine as it's really thunder fast. I bought it few months back for 300 USD with 8 GB RAM. After using this machine I am in love with thinkpads and looking for a nicer deal under 400 . I think a 6th gen i5 will be fair enough , perform equal of 4th gen i7 , as my primary work is php and Python programming, don't use games or video. What do u suggest, i5 5th gen better over i7 4th gen.
I've got an opportunity to buy one of these that will come with Windows 7 Pro installed. What might I expect in terms of functionality and impact on battery life if I upgrade it to Windows 10? Should I do the upgrade, or would I be better served leaving it as is? I really want the machine to be a long battery life typer and web browser. Really enjoying your videos on these ThinkPads, thanks for your work and effort!
I am not good at all at computer tech, but if i buy a thinkpad x240 with 128gb SSD can i give it more gb because 128gb isn't enough for me and i found a limited offer that i can buy a thinkpad x240 very very cheap! Please respond with very clear and easy understandable because of my little knowledge?
Yes, this is possible. The maintenance manual in the description of the x240 video walks through the process with clear instructions and pictures. They were meant to be taken apart and serviced. 😁
To be honest i am not going to deal with that i will just send to a professional and let him deal with that. Just wanted to be sure that i can not be limited with just 128gb. Thank you!
@@LaptopRetrospective hi there, did you mean the 4gb soldered ram is already soldered on the machine when we buy it or we have to purchase the 4gb ram again? Thank you and anyway, you did a great review video!
If that's what's you're looking for I wholeheartedly agree. The issues I've ran into with that kind of content is there are always people that seem to argue the results anyway.
@@LaptopRetrospective alright ,i ordered one after getting ''convinced'' :D after watching your video, paid 200 euros and it was advertised as A- 8gb of ram and 128ssd but it didn't specify if it was configured with the second battery,do you think that was a fair price?
So im pretty happy with myself. Managed to get a x230 for 77 bucks. Only downside is that its missing the ram cover and the included hdd was doa( but both r easy fixes)
I got an x240 on Ebay with a non-backlit keyboard. I ended up fitting a backlit keyboard myself and it was a nightmare. It's a great laptop. Though, my battery clips broke. Twice. I had to replace the back panel twice because the battery kept falling out.
The little clips that are on the bottom that slide over to release the battery? Yeah those falling off are very, very common. Like its probably one of the few certainties in life like taxes and death. We are in the process of phasing the x230s to x250s out this year out of large medical company. They are great devices though. I have one myself. They just hit our end of life policy.
It competed against the ThinkPad S440 at the time it was released. To me, they are in two separate classes. If the X240 meets your needs, then I think you will find it better built and considerably more durable. Reviewers at the time pointed out a few too many flex points. Haven't had one on the teardown table to directly compare, but I'm happy with the X240.
I would go for something like Dell Latitude E7240, which has 12 inch form factor but has 2 ram slots (16GB max), 2xmSATA slots and the laptop is still very compact and easily servicable.
@@LaptopRetrospective Microsoft® Windows® 7/8/10 (32- or 64-bit) 3 GB RAM minimum, 8 GB RAM recommended; plus 1 GB for the Android Emulator 2 GB of available disk space minimum, 4 GB Recommended (500 MB for IDE + 1.5 GB for Android SDK and emulator system image) 1280 x 800 minimum screen resolution In terms of processor none is really listed.