Now that I'm Set, How Do I Safeguard My Data

Well, I've got all of my software in, loaded my working data as well as my pictures, music..etc.  I work on this machine daily and no matter how reliable I've come to experience Lenovo's hardware, a hard drive will crash sooner or later and it is not easy to predict when.

Anyway, as you know, a good backup habit is very important if you rely on a computer for many things.  So here it goes.

First I have an off the shelf file backup software which I have automated to mirror my the files/folders to be backed up onto an external drive.

I used to have an Windows Home Server but the HP Server finally crashed and it was too much hassle to restore it as well as it did not support Windows 7 very well.  There apparently is a new version of Windows Home Server (version 2011), however I hear that Microsoft is sunseting it.  Besides, the 2011 version will require a 64 bit hardware, meaning I have to go out and spend a few hundred $$s to get it up and running,   Which also required regular maintenance and some experience with networking.  Instead I opted with "cloud" based backup.

My requirement for a cloud based backup was to have a service which supported "zero knowledge" type of cloud backup.  Just in case you are not familiar with "zero knowledge" backup it is simple a backup solution whereas the vendor or it employees cannot access your information even if they have access to your account.  The reason for that is that the files being backed up to the cloud are first encrypted on your PC prior to being sent over the internet to their vendor's servers for safekeeping.

After researching most of the major cloud based services, I settled with two vendors.  the first one is Spideroak.  They are a bit pricey but I sleep better knowing that my confidential files are both backed up as well as encrypted before they leave my PC.  However, they have a defined space you can use for storage, and I have many pictures and family videos that take up more that 100 GB of space.  On the flip side I like their backup application as it offers several features (I will try and write a separate post dedicated to Spideroak soon).

The second service I signed up with is Carbonite, which offers you unlimited  storage and is about half the cost of Spideroak.  Though, Carbonite does offer the "Zero Knowledge" feature it is a bit more complicated than Spideroak's (I will also dedicate a separate post later).

That is it on Backup for now.  I think next I will cover my experience with the actual performance of the Lenovo X220T from various perspectives (hard drive read/writes, boot-up, screen display under different environments..etc).  If not, I'll see what my brain has to offer :-)

Stay Tuned, your comments about your experience with the Lenovo X220T is always welcome.

First Impressions

This is my first Blogging experience.  So hopefully I can get some folks reading it and sharing their comments and thoughts on their experience with their Lenovo X220T Laptop/Tablet combo.  Before I go further, I love it so far.


I was in the market for a new laptop and my old Dell Lattitude D630 was begging for retirement. So after several considerations, including Mac OS alternative I decided on the Lenovo X220T model.

I've had great experience with the indestructible T60 Lenovo so I figured the X220T will most probably be just as good. And GOOD it was.

I went with the 64 bit Windows 7 Professional set up with an 8GB Ran and a 320GB Hard Drive. I also got the one with the outdoor screen as I like to work hanging out at coffee shops.

I've had the laptop for a few months now. I was going to do the review earlier or as soon as I had it up and running, but I thought I'd wait until I had it all set up and had all my needed software installed; I can then give a true performance review.

When I first got the unit, it booted pretty quickly, and I thought to myself, "yeah, wait until you load your software and it'll slow down". So far even after loading all of my software with several "startup" type ones I am still happy with the bootup speed on this machine. My old Dell D630 with XP sometimes took 10 minutes before the drive light slowed down. Now we are talking about 30 seconds. NICE!!!

Compared to the Dell the unit is a little lighter, and the feel is your typical Lenovo solid and sturdy one when you carry it around. However for some reason Lenovo decided to have the battery extend out a little in the back, giving it an odd form. I learned later that this was necessary in order to give us a decent battery live. The keyboard is very comfortable even after extended use, and I say exented use because I've been very happy with its battery life. Which so far have gotten me about 5+ hours of heavy duty use.

The unit is very quiet and does not seem to overheat, though when I'm home and working at my desk, I do use a Tragus Chill Pad just as a good habit to keep the unit cool whenever possible.

The screen display is crisp and even in mildly sunny outdoor condition it is still pretty good and the glare is barely noticeable. I'm glad I got the one with the outdoor screen.

I hope other folks will see this review and start commenting with their thought on the X220T. I'd love to hear what others are saying about it.