Reviewing Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet, Laptop Magazine gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars rating and writes, “The original IBM/Lenovo X41 convertible has been our favorite ultralight Tablet-notebook combo since it premiered nearly two years ago, but its poky CPU has long since been outpaced by the competition. We are happy to see that everything we loved about the X41 is still here in the new X60 Tablet. Lenovo introduces some impressive and unique Tablet features here that put even more distance between it and the competition. And while it’s not perfect, the X60 Tablet overcomes some shortfalls to make sure Lenovo remains king of the convertible hill.

With its signature matte black finish, bulletproof build quality, and superb keyboard, the 3.7-pound X60 Tablet (with stock four-cell battery) is more compact, usable, and sturdy than any ultralight convertible we have used. Unlike some lightweights, this one is well balanced, so it doesn’t teeter on your lap, and it feels firm under a good key pounding. The keyboard itself has oversized Enter and Shift keys on both sides, an offset directional pad, and that great Lenovo/IBM feedback. Nothing beats it. On the other hand, we wish Lenovo had included a touchpad, since there is room for one, even in this small form factor.

In Tablet mode, this machine is superb. The pen-sized stylus and bright display are very responsive and produce a reasonable hover zone for easy gesture commands. The 12.1-inch display is as good as any slate we’ve tested, and it remained viewable at extreme angles. Lenovo bests the competition in two ways, however. The MultiTouch screen uses both stylus and touch to activate keys and move windows, so you don’t need to pop out the pen for quick interactions. And the Active Rotate feature has an embedded sensor that automatically rotates the screen orientation to match the way you are holding the Tablet. Both features worked exceptionally well and are conveniences you won’t find elsewhere.

ThinkPads have never been speed demons, but the Core Duo T2500 here worked with the 5,400-rpm 80GB hard drive and 1GB of memory to deliver snappy performance without burning our thighs. (There is a small and barely perceptible fan in the X60.) We were disappointed in the battery life; the X60 Tablet’s standard four-cell battery lasted less than two hours on our DVD rundown test. A $50 upgrade to an eight-cell battery is available and should give you at least double that runtime.”

PROS & CONS of the Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet

• Superb multimode Tablet display
• Excellent keyboard and superior build quality
• Light and powerful
• Extensive management software bundle and upgrade options
• Cumbersome Tablet nav pad
• No optical drive

Read more reviews of the Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet

This entry was posted on February 9, 2007 and is filed under ThinkPad X-Series Tablet.