The # vikings X200 – FSF RYF edition

is a refurbished, ultra-portable and durable business-grade laptop that respects your freedom and your privacy. It comes with coreboot boot firmware & Intel ME completely removed.

Product condition

Please note that, given its age, this laptop is likely to have dents, scratches and blemishes. If you are looking for a laptop in exceptional condition, as you would expect from a more recent model, this may not be the right one for you. However, technically, it is generally considered to be in working order, as evidenced by the test protocol below:

Ready to rock! This FSF RYF-certified # vikings X200 laptop includes and has been tested according to the following

• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU P8600 @ 2.40GHz
• RAM: 8GB (2x4GB, max. 8GB)
• Display: AUO B121EW03 V6
• Display condition
  • Damages to panel (scratches etc.): none
  • Dead pixels: none
  • Brightness: acceptable low
• Keyboard: US-ANSI (QWERTY, small enter key)
• ThinkLight (keyboard illumination): works
• Webcam: works
• USB (3x USB A): works
• Ethernet (1 gbit/s): works
• WLAN: optional
• Bluetooth: works
• ExpressCard: works
• Fingerprint reader: works
• CPU fan: works
• WLAN switch: works
• SD Card reader: works
• Built-in-speaker: works
• Built-in microphone: works
• Headset out: works
• Microphone in: works
• Battery: optional
• Power supply (with a plug that is appropriate for the shipping destination)
• Not tested: Modem and VGA are not part of our testing protocol, so their condition is unknown
• Known defects: One of the two bezel latching mechanisms broke off and is not latching when the bezel is closed, other side works

Please note that, given its age and years of use, this laptop’s condition is consistent with its “birthday”. If you are looking for a laptop that is exceptionally well preserved, as you would expect from a more recent model, this may not be the right one for you.

The # vikings X200 – FSF Respects Your Freedom edition

The # vikings X200 a refurbished, ultra-portable, durable, business-grade, slightly vintage laptop that respects your freedom and your privacy. It comes preinstalled with a fully libre software BIOS replacement based on coreboot. Enjoy the freedom of having control of your computing, improve your privacy and security by using this great laptop.
It features a magnesium alloy casing on both the top and bottom of the body. To go along with the external magnesium alloy casing is an internal magnesium roll-cage skeleton that reinforces the overall feel of the notebook, there’s little flex to be found anywhere.

For upgrades and repairs that might come up down the road, the # vikings X200 keeps the user in mind with easy to remove access panels and covers. The most frequent upgrade items being the hard disk and RAM, are accessed through panels on the bottom and side. Other items such as the keyboard and wireless cards can be reached by removing a handful of labeled screws on the bottom and easily pop out.

Keyboard and touchpoint

The keyboard on the # vikings X200 is a standout in the field of ultraportables. It’s entirely comfortable for typing with no adjustments necessary for smaller keys you often find on ultraportables. Each key is individual, there’s no sink to the keyboard no matter how hard you push, and the feedback you get from each key is so perfect it’s just plain satisfying for a laptop. It’s also quiet and won’t click or rattle to annoy others.

To save space the laptop omits the touchpad system in favor of a touchpoint. The touchpoint is easy to use and allows you to move a cursor around the screen more efficiently as you can keep your fingers placed on the keys and use it without lifting a hand down to a touchpad.

The mouse buttons just below the space bar are easy to use with a nice travel distance, good smooth feedback, and no stiffness or annoying click noisiness.

Display

The laptop is equipped with a widescreen LCD with a resolution of 1280×800. This means there is more horizontal desktop space available at no cost to vertical desktop space. The 200nit screen is also brighter than it’s predecessor’s (X61) 150nit screen and offers a good number of levels of brightness adjustment. The screen also has very good contrast levels and produces decent blacks. Its viewing angle capability and the usable vertical viewing angle is standard among laptops. Overall, we think the screen pleasant to look at indoors in both high and low light conditions. It isn’t quite bright enough for use outdoors in direct sunlight.

As the # vikings X200 is a refurbished laptop, its built-in display has also been refurbished. Due to the CCFL display technology, the backlight may have become darker over time. Rest assured, however, that we will use the best display available when processing your order.

Speaker

The # vikings X200 has a single mono speaker located at the bottom of the laptop. System sounds are mostly audible and clear, but you will need to use headphones to enjoy music properly. Depending on availability, you can also use a docking station, which provides stereo sound and improved sound quality.

Battery

The # vikings X200 laptop can be used with one battery at a time.  Adding a battery is optional.

Performance

The original Thinkpad X200 has shown an impressive performance when it’s been sold as new between 2008 and 2010. Today, the performance is still good enough for the most common use-cases and even occasional graphics design. Especially together with the maximum spec of 8 GB of RAM (included) and a solid-state drive (SSD), the system is fit for some more years of work. You get between 2.26 and 2.66 GHz of dual core power and a 3MB L2 cache, Intel Turbo Memory and RAM running at 1066 MHz. We deem an SSD drive necessary for best performance and don’t offer HDDs.

Heat and noise

The fan is quiet when it runs and does its job well. You’ll appreciate the fact there’s simply no areas of noticeable heat on the # vikings X200 for normal use-cases. Even if you put your hand up to the heat vent area it’s hard to feel anything more than a bit of warm air coming out.

Libre-friendly wireless

A wireless card based on the Atheros 802.11n standard is available as an option, ensuring full compatibility with libre driver software in GNU/Linux. It provides a net data rate of 450 Mbps in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wireless networks.

Expansion capabilities/docking station

Partner the # vikings X200 with the included ‘UltraBase’ docking station and it can be your desktop replacement. It allows you to use the following ports: UltraBay Slim (SATA), 4x USB 2.0 ports, VGA, DisplayPort (maximum resolution: 2560×1600 or 4,096,000 pixels, whatever comes first), microphone in, headphone out, stereo speakers, RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet, cable lock slot and a battery charger. A key is not necessary to operate (lock/unlock) the docking station and may not be included.

No malicious software or back doors

The # vikings X200 does not contain any known back doors. It comes with the Intel Management Engine and Intel Active Management Technology fully removed. The boot firmware is fully free software and as such the source code is fully auditable. The option to order the X200 with a pre-installed operating system (OS) allows you to select a distro supported by the FSF or you can choose to install the OS yourself. The selection of available OSs may vary.