Lenovo ThinkPad X200

Full review of Lenovo ThinkPad X200

Thin and light is in. The new Lenovo ThinkPad X200 is the newest ultraportable designed to replace the ThinkPad X61 ultra-portable. A little brother to the 13.3-inch ThinkPad X300, the X200 encompasses elements of both machines in a lightweight package. Incorporating Intels newest Montevina platform, the Thinkpad X200 features Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 clocked at a speedy 2.4GHz with 3MB L2 cache and a low 25 TDP power consumption.

With respect to design, the ThinkPad X200 maintains the conservative black rubber finish built in a rugged chassis. Weighing in at only 2.95 pounds with the 4-cell battery, the ThinkPad X200 is designed for mobility. Our unit came with 9-cell battery which offered over twice the battery life but protrudes from the rear and adds additional weight. The 12.1-inch widescreen display features 1280x800 resolution with 16:10 aspect ratio. Overall, the display is nice to the eyes. Viewing angles are adequate and display-brightness is sufficiently lit. With a thin and light machine, the Thinkpad X200 omits an optical drive. Instead, you're welcome to order an external USB 2.0 DVD drive (like the MacBook Air). In terms of the ports, this thin and light machine offers: 3 USB ports, monitor-out, Gigabit Ethernet, ExpressCard 54mm slot, Bluetooth and WLAN. There is an option for 1 media reader, or an SD card slot. Lenovo allows you to upgrade its hard drive up to 320GB capacity or 64GB Solid State Disk (SSD).

Some new stand-out features we should mention: spill flow keyboard, biometric finger print reader, LED light for dark environments, Webcam, ability to connect to GPS WWAN services from Verizon, Vodafone, or Telus. Battery Performance With our 9-cell battery, we were ecstatic to operate the machine for approximately 8 hours and 47 minutes. You read right. Normal usage of web surfing, word processing, and listening to music.

Conclusion

The Thinkpad X200 will serve a specific audience: mobile professionals who demand power and portability. The X200 fills this void without a doubt, offering excellent battery life and power under the hood that matches most mid-size entertainment laptops twice its size. Although the X200 isnt like the X300, its more affordable The ThinkPad X200 is a welcome improvement over the popular X61 series.

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Technical Specifications

• Processor Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4 GHz
• Memory 2GB
• Harddrive 160GB
• OS Windows Vista
• Weight 3
• Screen 12.1-inch
• Screen resolution 1280x800
• Graphic Card Intel
• Battery Life 8 hours

Pros

• Business Professional's black design
• Powerful Intel components
• Awesome Battery life with 9-cell
• Decent display resolution for it's size
• Sufficient connection options

Cons

• Huge Battery really increases weight
• No optical drive option
• Minimal Graphics Options
• Ackward upgrade options