[Obi-Wan is lost...]

For what its worth I really like my Asus Zenbook UX21E

Why has that Macbook Air got a Asus logo on it?   I thought you hated all things Apple? 

[mloskot]

With regards to Trackpads, I don't believe the X200 (or certainly all of them) does have. I've found video reviews saying the same and 220 reviews referring to its omission on the 200. See here:
http://www.cnet.com/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x200/4505-3121_7-33184078.html

I have been speaking of X220, not about any other two-hundred variants.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X220

Every X220 has both, touchpad and trackpoint. If it does not have both, it is not a ThinkPad and it is not X220 either.

[slackline]

Why has that Macbook Air got a Asus logo on it?   I thought you hated all things Apple? 

Because it cost significantly less than a Macbook Air (and isn't made by Apple) 

[Jim]

i didn't think apple made hardwear

[AB]

PC Specialist (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/)  look really good value and you can get a 1tb hardrive for only 35 quid more than a 250gb if your worrying about space for RAW files. If you use them let me know how you get on because i'm thinking of upgrading my old laptop.

[Paul B]

PC Specialist (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/)  look really good value and you can get a 1tb hardrive for only 35 quid more than a 250gb if your worrying about space for RAW files. If you use them let me know how you get on because i'm thinking of upgrading my old laptop.

I'm not worried about space per se as I'll already be carrying a backup drive and using an online backup solution whenever possible for anything worth the effort. Storage space becomes an issue when there's a need to carry numerous portable hard drives and with a tablet or tiny SSD this was always going to be the case.

I have been speaking of X220, not about any other two-hundred variants.

sorry, your last post seemed very generalised and not all targeted at just the X220, hence the confusion.

I've a £12 branded mouse from Tesco's.. Takes up no space and is ace..

It'll cost me less than f*ck all as there's one in my desk drawer, however I don't want one to HAVE to use one, and hence the lack of a trackpad  (X200) is a problem for me.  Its just one more thing to have with you and take with you when you go places. Last time, I used this laptop sat on the kerb in Mallorca, picnic benches in rest-stops and most memorably sat in the gutter in Arco etc. all situations where a mouse, and/or something to put a mouse on would be a PITA. This may be irrational, so be it.

[Moo]

A portable editing machine would be great for you paul, we could gaffer tape it to your face and make you more affable.

[Paul B]

sorry, your last post seemed very generalised and not all targeted at just the X220, hence the confusion.

did you read that as me being sarcastic or something rather than "I'm sorry, I was confused by your last post", as it was intended (more than once on this thread), or did I do/say something else? possibly the mouse bit towards TomTom?

If that's the case then maybe just gaffer tape would suffice?

[Paul B]

A portable editing machine would be great for you paul, we could gaffer tape it to your face and make you more affable.

Tom you bastard...

[Moo]

Up yours paul prepare for broken thumbs

[Paul B]

Well, thanks to UKB I went for a refurbished X220.

I have to say, you lot were definitely correct (so thank you), this thing is a completely different level of sturdiness when compared to the consumer models Lenovo put out. Closed up the laptop looks fairly good (not really a concern but nice anyway), opened up there's a button for everything!

Keyboard is good and as pointed out (or linked), the touchpad/clickpad isn't wonderful so I may end up (eating humble pie) and using that little mouse after all. They've put large buttons above it and then the clickpad buttons in their usual place which makes the amount of room you have to manoeuvre your fingers fairly small.

I bought from the company Obi linked, Millraceit and I have to say that the condition is far better than I expected, it's immaculate. If you're not worried about size they have some larger 15.5" i5 laptops on there for what appears to be very cheap (Macs too, these are less cheap).

My main concern currently is that the screen has a yellowish colour cast and is deeply deeply saturated. I've tried windows calibration but that hasn't really done a great deal to sort this out.

[Johnny Brown]

I don't think laptops can be calibrated particularly effectively, even macbook 'pros'. Best use an external monitor for important stuff.

[Paul B]

I'd remembered you saying that. I'd still hoped to get rid of majority of the cast and at least dial down the saturation a little. I could make a preset in LR so that once finished, a one click operation will bring everything in line with how it should look on a calibrated screen (i.e. overly yellow and saturated like the worst of Instagram on this monitor) but that may be tricky to achieve.

Currently the plan is to edit everything as I go along and then export them all as DNG files so they can be neatly integrated into my other Lightroom catalogue (unless you've got another slicker idea?). I can't carry my whole catalogue around with me on this (or really, I don't want to).

[Johnny Brown]

I export a folder as a catalogue from LR on my laptop (without previews), then open it on the pc and 'merge' catalogues. Works fine even going form mac > pc. You can move the raw files too or I usually just download them on to the pc from the original memory card. Not sure what you gain converting to DNG.

[Paul B]

Nothing I suppose, that was just the easiest way I'd thought of for exporting a RAW version having never handled multiple catalogues.

The original memory cards will be long since wiped / reused.

[iain]

Paul, just in case you didn't know Thinkpad warranties travel with the machine. Put the details in here and as long as the machine hasn't been opened you might have some left with Lenovo (they're sometimes site visit or international too).

edit: for reference, not suggesting the screen's faulty btw

[Paul B]

The warranty reminder popped up when I first opened it up so I've filled it in. Thanks.

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

I'd remembered you saying that. I'd still hoped to get rid of majority of the cast and at least dial down the saturation a little. I
could make a preset in LR so that once finished, a one click operation will bring everything in line with how it should look on a
calibrated screen (i.e. overly yellow and saturated like the worst of Instagram on this monitor) but that may be tricky to achieve.
Currently the plan is to edit everything as I go along and then export them all as DNG files so they can be neatly integrated into my
other Lightroom catalogue (unless you've got another slicker idea?). I can't carry my whole catalogue around with me on this (or really, I don't want to).

From Googling , it sounds like X220 screens are commonly warm. Some people on this Lenovo forum have had some success using the netural  ICS profile posted by 'Iron Eagle'. Might be worth a play.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/645049-x220-ips-yellow-tint-2.html

Theres also some colour profile files on the Lenovo download page
http://support.lenovo.com/en_GB/

[Paul B]

from looking at the ReadMe on the Lenovo site I think its that profile that perhaps causes the issue!

I found reference (on the forum you linked, cheers) to using the Intel control panel to calibrate the screen. I 'think' I've managed to get rid of the yellow cast (altering the gamma of the blue channel as well as the saturation of the red+green) but if I do start posting up horribly yellow/blue images whilst away, give me a kick!