Tablet PCs
Lenovo ThinkPad X61
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 comes as a replacement for the hugely popular X60 laptop from the same manufacturer, the only major differences is that the former is now powered by Intel’s Santa Rosa mobile processor and has an improved battery life. Otherwise, it’s the same light, ultra portable and sophisticated laptop as its predecessor. Interestingly, the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 also lacks an integrated optical drive as Lenovo ThinkPad X60.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is driven by a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, which gives it the power to simultaneously operate many programs, and browser windows. The boot up process is also reasonably fast, with the X61 taking 52 seconds to display the Vista screen and few seconds over a minute to show the desktop. In tests, to log in from sleep mode, it took 10.5 seconds. Again, this is fast enough for similar PCs.
The keypad is easy to use, even though sometimes the keys may feel a bit sturdy. In addition, there are also few convenient buttons such as this key for alt+ctrl+del. The Walcom pen enables the user to deal directly with the screen even though sometimes it may be annoying trying to get it to click in. The eraser is easy to use. But one may have to press the eraser spring down on the screen before it actually registers.
Regarding ports, the X61 has an assortment of them. On the front side, there is a switch to turn on/off the wireless communication utility. To the right side, there is a four-pin Firewire port, headphone and microphone jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, a modem port, and power jack. On the left side, there is another USB port, Ethernet port, a VGA 15-pin, a tether point for the digitizer pen, PC Card slot, SD card slot and silo for the pen. The UltraBase docking station adds four more USB ports alongside parallel and serial ports.
The battery life is excellent, and in tests, in the maximum battery life setting, it lasted for a whooping 6 hrs and 14 minutes, even though the screen ran in a dim mode. This should be read in the backdrop that no other comparable tablet PCs have a similar battery life.
Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad X61’s pros and cons can be listed as below.
Pros
1. Excellent screen and easy to use keyboard.
2. Superb battery life.
3. Fast operation and quick booting.
4. Good protection plan from the makers.
Cons
1. Lack of optical drive (assuming no UltraBase).
2. Presence of bloatware.
3. Low visibility of screen in bright outdoor conditions.
4. Difficulty sometimes in disconnecting UltraBase from the laptop.
5. Lack of a high-end dedicated video card and poor speakers.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X61, with the UltraBase docking station and dual-layer DVD burner, costs $1724 at present. But this is quite reasonable a price tag given its excellent performance/features. Definitely a good buy for executives and students alike.
