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Comment by scrlk | Hacker News Reader

Won't fit, the X200/201 use a different chassis design to the X220/230.

I never understood why laptops brands have so many SKUs and change chassis design on every generation. When I compare both internally and externally my personal thinkpad from 2019 to the one my company is providing me since last june, I don't see any outstanding difference that justify having incompatible mainboard, keyboard, trackpad, screen, hinges or even fans. It looks like they change the layout and parts dimensions for the sake of changing it.

It are only minor changes.

Recent ThinkPads are close to be identical: X280 - X13 Gen3 (minor change: 16:10 with X13 Gen1).

X13 Gen 4 - Gen 6 are sadly nearly identical, especially the ugly camera bump which is not required. No camera needs that space and video conference systems cannot used the full resolution.

Luckily sometimes the batteries are compatible.

Dissapointing. The X220 is built well and has a great keyboard. Any idea why the focus on the X200/201 instead of the X220/230?

I have no idea why they did, but some pros: X200 is less expensive, (I think) it has a little more room, and it doesn't have the X220's crazy design flaw with the lid shell.

I also had better luck getting genuine replacement keyboards for the X200. Half of the X220 keyboards I stockpiled arrived as substandard garbage, even though I was trying to avoid that.

What's the lid shell design flaw (did a little googling couldn't find it)?

According to https://old.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/1d13sb6/should_i_...:

> - Display lid is very fragile at the top where the wifi antennas are and can easily crack there

Yes, if you look at a photo of the X220 lid, what looks like a cosmetic accent across the lid near screen-top is actually a seam, between the nice alloy traditional lid, and some plastic that's barely held on, painted to look the same. Even minor impact can break the little plastic screw hole tabs that hold the screen-top edge of the lid. Absolutely not what you want from a ThinkPad, which has a legacy of being durable.

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd....

A disappointing thing about this is that someone changed the design, to this, to be more fragile and non-ThinkPad. In this way, it's similar to the series of regression changes to the keyboard, and now the TrackPoint.

Speculation on my part, but the X220/230 had a simplified design (e.g. clickpad, no lid latch, fewer blinkenlights) compared to the X200/201. These FrankenPad mods are typically for die hard classic ThinkPad fans.

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