LENOVO ANNOUNCES THINKPAD X100E THIN AND LIGHT NOTEBOOK

Lenovo has finally announced its business minded budget notebook called ThinkPad X100e. The device is powered by an AMD Neo processor.

The ThinkPad X100e has an 11.6 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels. The notebook is available with all the three processors in the AMD Neo line. Lenovo, however, has no intention to offer the laptop with an Intel processor.

The X100e supports a variety of connectivity options including Wi-Fi, 3G and WiMAX wireless. Bluetooth is also offered as an optional feature. There are 3 USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader and VGA. There is no HDMI. The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures. There is also a touchpoint pointing stick. Lenovo offers Windows 7 Pro/Home Premium or Windows XP Pro with the notebook. The base version starts at $449.

LENOVO THINKPAD X100e LEAKED

Details regarding Lenovo’s latest notebook, the ThinkPad X100e, have leaked. This is an entry-level ultraportable notebook aimed at small and medium businesses. It will have an 11.6 inch high resolution display with 1366 x 768 pixels.

The ThinkPad X100e will be based on AMD RS780 chipset and will run on Athlon MV40 processor. Up to 4GB of RAM can be installed. The maximum available storage space is 500 GB. The machine will come pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium and will also have WWAN wireless options.

The keyboard will be a chiclet style model but sources claim that it will still offer the ‘legendary ThinkPad keyboard feel’. The touchpad will support multi-touch gestures. The machine will also have a Trackpoint.

The notebook will be available with either 3-cell or 6-cell batteries. The 6-cell version will weigh around 3.3 lbs and is expected to provide up to 5.1 hours of uptime. The X100e will be available in black, white or red colors. Prices may start at $449.

LENOVO THINKPAD X100E DETAILS LEAKED

Details of Lenovo’s upcoming ThinkPad X100e have been leaked. The ThinkPad X100e is being classified as a business netbook. It is thin and light, but it will be larger than a typical netbook.

While Lenovo hasn’t officially confirmed these details, the notebook is expected to have the following specifications.

The ThinkPad X100e will have an 11.6 inch display with 1366 x 768 pixels. It will be powered by an AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor. The notebook can be configured with various versions of windows 7 ranging from Starter to Pro (32 bit or 64 bit).

Up to 4GB of RAM can be installed. The hard drive spins at 5400 rpm and is available in 160GB, 250GB or 320Gb capacities. There will be 3 USB ports, VGA output port, 0.3 mega pixel webcam and a 4-in-1 card reader. Other features include 802.11b/g/n, optional Bluetooth and 3G. 3 and 6 cell battery options are available. The 3 cell battery is expected to give 2.2 hours of up time whereas the 6-cell battery may run for 5 hours. Prices may start at $449.

LENOVO THINKPAD USB EXTERNAL KEYBOARD REVIEW

Lenovo has released a new version of its ThinkPad USB external keyboard. It is aimed at desktop and notebook users who don’t own a ThinkPad but want the same typing experience.

Lenovo ThinkPad keyboards are well known for their ease of use so much so that they are considered the best laptop keyboards in the world.

Lenovo ThinkPad USB Keyboard Features

Integrated TrackPoint
Spill resistant
Good ergonomic design
Access to variety of ThinkPad features through the Function Key
Volume up and down arrow keys

The Lenovo ThinkPad USB keyboard comes with a 3-year warranty. It is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Build and Design
In layout the new ThinkPad USB keyboard is very similar to the keyboards on some newer ThinkPad laptops. The keyboard features a low profile design with a thin frame and a large fixed palm rest surrounding it. Lenovo has removed the integrated touchpad which used to feature on older models.

The keyboard is very sturdy and shows minimal flex. Lenovo has also made use of rubber pads to keep the keyboard firmly on your desk.

In Use
The keyboard is very comfortable to type on. The key layout is identical to the keyboard on the T400s. Individual key action is smooth and quiet. The top edge of the keyboard comes with quick access keys with which you can perform a number of tasks including volume adjustment. These buttons don’t seem to require additional drivers to work on different laptop models running Vista or Windows 7. If you are using this keyboard on a ThinkPad notebook you will also be able to launch the ThinkVantage software suite by pressing its key.

The new ThinkPad USB keyboard doesn’t have an integrated touchpad. There is only a pointing stick which works reasonably well.

The new keyboard also doesn’t feature the onboard USB port which was present on the previous models. Lenovo may have removed it to cut costs or make the keyboard thinner, but this is a feature may people will miss.

Conclusion
The new Lenovo ThinkPad USB keyboard offers value for the money. The typing experience is nearly identical to what you would get from typing on the laptop itself. If you already own one of the old models of the keyboard you may miss the touchpad and the onboard USB hub. But at $59, the new model is also cheaper than the old models.

LENOVO ANNOUNCES LOST & FOUND SERVICE FOR THINKPAD OWNERS

Lenovo has announced a Lenovo Lost & Found service. As the name itself suggests this is a service that helps people return lost Lenovo notebooks to their owners. Presently the service is only available for ThinkPad notebooks that have Absolute Software's Computrace. Here is how the Lost & Found service works.

Owners who have lost their PC need to flag it with Absolute so that the device will automatically be locked. When the PC is turned on the screen will display a message indicating that the laptop is a lost one and will give a toll-free number for the finder to contact Lenovo. The toll-free number found on a sticker on the outside of the laptop can also be used for the purpose.

Upon receiving the call, Lenovo will register the laptop for Lost & Found and send a pre-paid shipping box to the finder. The finder will then send the notebook to Lenovo. Lenovo will then ship the notebook to its owner. The owner can then unlock the ThinkPad through Absolute after turning the PC on.

ThinkPad owners who bought the notebook with Absolute Software’s Computrace can avail of the service at no additional cost.

LENOVO THINKPAD T400S TOUCH REVIEW

The new Lenovo ThinkPad T400s Touch is the first standard notebook to feature a touchscreen panel. It doesn’t come cheap: buyers have to shell out an additional $400 to buy the touchscreen version.

Specifications
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional
Display: 1440 x 900 WXGA+ with MultiTouch LED Backlit (Matte finish)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB Cache)
Memory: 4GB DDR3 RAM (2GB x 2)
Storage: 128GB Toshiba SSD

Build and Design
The new ThinkPad T400s is slimmer and lighter than the original T400. Lenovo has coated the exterior of the notebook with a rubberized black paint. Build quality is excellent. The chassis shows absolutely no sign of flex at all.

The hard drive is now 1.8 inch instead of the 2.5 inch found on T400. Upgrading this notebook is really easy, as the chassis provides easy access panels to all user-replaceable components.

Screen and Speakers
The T400s Touch has more or less the same panel as the regular T400s with the only difference being the addition of a multi-touch surface. The touch surface allows you to manipulate screen objects without using a mouse or a touchpad. The display is OK, but it does have those minor flaws associated with all touch-screens. For instance touch-screens appear to be hazy, but the problem is not that apparent on T400s Touch.

The display itself is good. Colors are bright and vivid. Contrast is also good. Viewing angles are average. Lenovo has also added new software to take advantage of the multi-touch features. Speaker performance was far from being perfect, but this is a problem with most business notebooks.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on this notebook looks and feels different from the keyboards on previous models. But the changes are mostly for the better. The T400s Touch has relatively larger ‘escape’ and ‘delete’ keys. The keyboard is comfortable to type on.

The touchpad is different too. The T400s Touch has a raised touchpad with a softer texture. It seems less sensitive than the touchpad on T400s.

Ports and Features
Port selection is good. There are 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 eSATA/USB combo port, VGA port, DisplayPort out, built-in web camera, Bluetooth, DVD+/-RW

Performance
Performance is quite satisfactory. Boot times and application load times are fast. The machine can handle most tasks. Despite this being a business notebook with no discrete GPUs, it can easily decode HD movies.

Battery Life
At about 6 hours, the battery life is quite good.

Conclusion
With T400s Lenovo has brought a Touch-screen interface to a standard notebook. The notebook performs reasonably well with its touch interface. The only problem is its prize. The T400s Touch starts at around $2000.

Pros:
First standard notebook to feature a multi-touch screen
Good battery life

Cons:
Pricey

LENOVO THINKPAD W700 DS

The Lenovo ThinkPad W700 is designed with creative people like graphic artists and photographers in mind.

System Configuration
Primary Display: 17 inch 1920 x 1200 screen
Secondary Display: 10.6 inch 768 x 1200 slide out screen (the DS stands for ‘dual screen’)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme 2.53 ghz
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Operating System: 64 bit Windows Vista
Hard Disk Drive: 460gb hard disk storage
Graphics: NVidia Quadro FX3700M Video Card

The ThinkPad W700 Dual Screen is not a small laptop. The machine weighs around 13 pounds. You can’t probably spend a lot of time with it on your lap or away from the desk. It has all the imprints of a ThinkPad machines – it’s black, square and solid looking. The full sized keyboard comes with a full numeric keypad. There is a trackpad with 5 buttons and a trackstick in the center of the keyboard. A very interesting feature is the Wacom tablet that is built into the front right hand area of the machine. There is also a digital pen to use it.


Main Screen
The 17 inch main screen is simply fantastic. Colors are great, brightness is good. The 10.6 inch secondary screen is not as great as the primary screen. But it is still a very useful addition. You can run email or other programs on it while working with main documents on the main screen. The smaller screen is in the portrait format while the larger one is in the landscape format. Keyboard/Touchpad

Other Features
The W700 Dual Screen offers plenty of options when it comes to connectivity. There are 5 USB ports. Other options include VGA, 1394 FireWire, CF card reader, Express 64, dual-link DVI, DisplayPort, 7-in-1 card reader, ethernet and wireless. There is also a fingerprint reader for those concerned with security.

Performance
Performance is amazing. You can run a variety of programs all at once and the machine won’t fail you even once. The only problem with performance is that you can’t run this machine on battery for long.

Conclusion
This is a powerful machine with many innovative features. It isn’t cheap. It isn’t very portable either. But if you are looking for a mobile workstation with enough power this is the laptop to buy.

THE LENOVO THINKPAD X61S

The Lenovo ThinkPad X Series notebooks are known for their usability and sturdiness. The X61s is no different.

System Configurations
Operating System: Windows Vista Business 32 Bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6GHz L7500 4MB L2 Cache 800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB DDR2 PC5300 2 Slots, 0 Open 4GB Max
Hard Disk Drive: 100GB 7k100 Hitachi 7200RPM (HTS721010G9SA00)
Display: 12” XGA UltraLight 1024x768 180 nits
Graphics: Intel X3100

Build & Design
The X61s is slim and trim - almost tiny. It weighs a little over 3 pounds with the 8-cell battery making it quite portable. The design is solid. This model sports the UltraLight screen which is about 20% brighter than the standard X series screen.
The X61s uses the low power versions of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Despite running at half the power of other Core 2 Duo CPUs, performance is quite satisfactory. You can easily perform the daily tasks like surfing the net and using MS office.


Ports and Slots
There are 3 USB Ports, Ethernet and Modem and VGA Out. There is an SD Card Reader, an Express Card Slot and a Dock Connector.

Drives & Storage
The X61s doesn’t have an optical drive, but if you need one it is available via the UltraBase. It uses the Hitachi 100GB 7k100 hard drive. There are two memory slots. The maximum memory that can be installed on this laptop is 4 GB. The Keyboard is great. Some users might not like it, but the ThinkPad X61s only comes with a pointing stick.

Battery & AC
Three battery options are available - a slim four cell, an enhanced four cell and an eight cell battery. The battery life is excellent. If you use the 8 cell battery, you can comfortably get over 6 hours of up time.

Wireless & Networking
The X61s comes with the ThinkPad A/B/G/N wireless card. The X61s also has Bluetooth. Like All ThinkPads, the X61s comes with Lenovo's ThinkVantage tools.

Conclusion
Overall, this is a no-problem notebook ideal for people who need to travel a lot. You should have no trouble using this machine as your primary PC. The keyboard is great, performance is good and you have nearly all the connections you would use.

Pros
Build Quality is Good.
Great Performance
Long Battery life
Doesn’t weigh much
Great display
Good keyboard

Cons
Single speaker
Tends to heat up

LENOVO THINKPAD X200 TABLET PC

The Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet PC is powered by a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor. It has a solid design. It may be a tablet, but it is still a ThinkPad and does manage to live up to its name. The tablet weighs around 3.8 lbs making it perfectly portable. Most models sport an active digitizer, with the touch screen being optional. Over all the display is good. The digitizer is great and you can take notes like you write on a paper. With the 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, the X200 performs well. It boots up really fast. You can surf the net and run multiple application without any trouble.

The solid keyboard is nice to type on. Like other ThinkPad models this too has a trackpoint. The trackpoint is easy to use and accurate like a mouse. The pen too works well, and it has an eraser. There are 3 USB ports, a 5-in-1 Card Reader, PCI ExpressCard, VGA, RJ-11 and RJ-45, microphone and headphone. Other useful features include Intel Wi-Fi 5300 and WWAN.


Battery
The estimated battery life for the 8-cell battery is 10 hours. Alternatively you can use the 4-cell battery and you will still get 4 to 5 hours of battery life.

System Configuration
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz L9400 processor
Memory: 2GB RAM
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB hard drive, 7200 rpm (Solid State Drive optional)
Graphics: Intel GMA X4500 graphics
Display: 12.1" WXGA (1280 x 800) display with active digitizer, touch screen optional
Operating System: Windows Vista Business


Pros
It has good battery life
Solid design
Good pen
Nice and crisp display

Cons
Could have used more features

LENOVO THINKPAD T400S REVIEW

Lenovo laptops are getting more and more thin and light. The ThinkPad T400s is no different. It is super thin, has a light weight chassis and is rugged enough to survive the life on the road.

The ThinkPad T400s has an Intel Core 2 Duo SP9600 processor inside and comes with the Intel X4500 integrated graphics. Performance wise this is an extremely good laptop. In fact, it is extremely fast to boot. And with features like SSD, DisplayPort, eSATA, WWAN, a 14.1 inch WXGA + LED backlit display and 5-in-1 multicard reader, it is pretty modern under the hood.

The T400s is more than enough to meet your day-to-day requirements, such as word processing or enjoying an HD movie. It isn’t very good for gaming. The 1.8” drive is much faster than the conventional 2.5” drive. The only major problem with this model is its price. At the starting price of $1599, the T400s is way too costlier than the standard T400.

Pros:
Sturdy yet thin and light
Good keyboard and nice design
Comes with eSATA and DisplayPort
Very fast even with integrated graphics

Cons:
Limited battery options
The 1.8" storage drive is costlier than the more common 2.5” drive

LENOVO THINKPAD X300 REVIEW

At just 0.73 inch in thickness, The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is the sleekest ThinkPad ever. This newest addition to the ThinkPad X series comes with an attractive design and high-end components. It incorporates the best features of Apple’s MacBook Air and Toshiba’s Portege R500. It has its own great features too. For instance, it comes with built-in DVD burner, WWAN connectivity and GPS. ThinkPad X300 is ultraportable. It weighs less than 3.5 pounds. Estimated battery life is 3.5 hours.

System configuration
Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP2; Processor: 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7100; Memory: 2GB of 667MHz; Graphics: Integrated Intel GMAX3100; Hard Drive: 64GB Samsung Solid State Drive

The ThinkPad X300 comes with both the TrackPoint pointing stick and a touch pad. It also incorporates features like an Ethernet connection, a built-in DVD burner and 3 USB 2.0 ports. On the flipside the laptop lacks features such as an expansion card slot or multiformat memory card reader. The biggest problem with this model, however, is its price. With a starting price of $2,476, it is way beyond the reach of many people.

LENOVO THINKPAD X200 REVIEW

The new Lenovo ThinkPad X200 is a nice addition to the ThinkPad family. It is an ultraportable laptop delivering strong performance. It has a wide-screen display with good resolution. It also offers a variety of connectivity options.
X200 is slightly smaller than the much fancied X300. And with its prices starting at $1434, it is much cheaper than X300. X200 also offers more hard drive space than X300.

Performance
With its new Centrino 2 components X200 offers better performance than most other ultraportable laptops. Another plus side is the 9-cell battery which offers the longest battery life ever seen on a laptop.

System Configuration
Processor: 2 .4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600; Memory: 2GB at 667MHz; Hard drive: 160GB; Operating System: Windows Vista Business


Pros:
Great battery life
Comes with options like WWAN and GPS
Reasonably priced

Cons:
The nine-cell battery adds significant weight to the laptop
Lacks and Optical drive and touch pad

LENOVO THINKPAD Z60T NOTEBOOK

The Lenovo Z60T is a thin and light laptop ideal for mobile professionals. It weighs just under 5lbs making it highly portable. The notebook comes with several great security features including a biometric fingerprint reader. Another useful security feature is the ThinkVantage Active Protection System which will shut down your hard drive if the notebook is dropped or bounced accidentally.

Who should buy ThinkPad Z60t?
Well, any mobile professional who wants an ultra portable laptop with a widescreen should consider buying this. ThinkPad Z60t comes with a powerful processor: It can be configured with 2.13 GHz Pentium M processor or the Intel Celeron M 1.5 GHz processor. It has three 3 USB 2.0 ports, a media card reader and FireWire. You can install up to 2GB of RAM on this PC. The Z60t doesn’t come with a dedicated graphics card. There is, nevertheless, Intel’s integrated multimedia accelerator with which you can still play a lot of games.

LENOVO THINKPAD W700DS STARTS SHIPPING

Its not like this is big news but if you have the money and was waiting on this thing to begin making its way out of Lenovo's warehouse than today is your lucky day. The dual-screen with an integrated WACOM pad is shipping as we speak and starts as a measly $3,663.

Just in case you forgot the specs of this monster the following configurations are all available. NIVIDIA Quadro FX graphics, 8GB RAM (DDR3), dual-link DVI / Display Port / VGA support, 5 x USB 2.0 ports, 7-in-1 card reader, WiFi (WiMax optional), smartcard reader, RAID HDD/SSD setups, and thermal cooling solution to keep your balls from frying (sorry couldn't resist).

So far we haven't been able to find this thing anywhere on the US site but I'm guessing that will all change pretty soon. Japan can't hold this one for too long.

LENOVO THINKPAD W700DS – A MULTITASKING MONSTER

Lenovo has made a big leap in technology with its ThinkPad W700ds by introducing dual screen display in a notebook. The original 17-inch screen is supposedly the brightest display available today and now you can just pull the second 10.2-inch LED display from the side of the original screen for an extra peek. You can even tilt the second display forward or backwards on a hinge and drag and drop files from one display to another. How cool is this! Sure to make graphic artists, application developers and some gaming fiends to drool. They will just have to wait for this tech wonder which will be officially announced at the CES in early January.

With Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds you have an option between Intel Core 2 Quad processor or a 3 GHz Core 2 Extreme that has four independent processing cores, and includes 8GB RAM, up to 960GB of storage shared by an SSD and a hard drive, NVIDA Quadra FX 3700M GPU, optional Blu-ray support, 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, an ExpressCard/54 slot, gigabit Ethernet, a 7-in-1 media card reader, and an assortment of USB 2.0 ports. This desktop replacement notebook has a generous keyboard with 18.7mm keys and illuminated by a pair of LED lights or you can use the pointing stick over a touchpad, both are at your disposal. With the dual screen and the big AC adapter this monster weighs about 13lbs which discards any idea of mobility. This mighty monster also has a monstrous price tag of $5000, but there is no doubt that Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds has taken multitasking to a whole new level in a notebook.

LENOVO'S W700DS DUAL-SCREEN THINKPAD

You might have heard pretty recently that Lenovo was coming out with a dual screen bad boy for photographic dudes and those of us whose work revolves around 3D imaging (hello gaming).

LENOVO THINKPAD W700 REVIEW

W700 leaps with a new professional approach

If Lenovo's looking at any solitary market with this piece of equipment, it's indisputably photographers: in no doubt, if you labor in any kind of intend the W700 could be an enormous workstation buddy, but with abundant storage space, an outstanding screen, a built-in digitizer, and an on-board color calibration coordination, Lenovo is obviously taking a undeviating shot at the comparatively closed and narrow-minded pro photo market.

Design
We've teasingly tagged the W700 "the workstation intended to make customary people feel small," and the name suits. With a trail measuring a munificent 16 by 12 inches, laboring with the W700 in reality on your lap is not actually advised. And disregard trying to take it on a plane – we're not certain that the Lenovo would fit in the overhead booth of a local jet, much less on the miniature tray table. Similarly, finding a casing for the W700 will almost positively necessitate shopping at the notebook bag equal of "big and tall" stores.

Performance
Lenovo furnished us with a high-spec (and, consequently, high-cost) review piece, maximizing the W700's graphics prospective. Our investigation mock-up came with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Q9300 processor, 4 GB of DDR3 memory, and the raised NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M graphics processor option. File storage space is courtesy of a couple of 160 GB, 7200 RPM hard drives configured by evasion in a RAID 0 arrangements that accommodates a single 320 GB storage space.

Sprinting a Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit OS environment further increases our test system's capabilities on the graphics end and offers some key upgrades (most particularly, enhanced color management integration) when evaluated to older XP systems.
Numerous connections are another reason users buy large desktop-replacement laptops, and in this consider the W700 delivers. The ThinkPad's 5 USB ports and Fire wire are positively not too much to ask for, and out support the W700 provides a nice array of alternatives for making output associations as well.

The W700 sports a 9-cell lithium-ion battery. With a display this size, we weren't anticipating much in terms of power pack longevity – though the question of how often you'll be taking this notebook away from a desk, and thus away from a power vent, is a fair one.

Overall
The reality that the ThinkPad W700 exactly addresses every one of the anxieties – and numerous others – will likely make it the computer unit that a lot of mobile graphics pros have been lingering for, even with its profound price tag. After all, the production increases afforded by a mechanism like this ThinkPad, a notebook competent of taking on serious graphics production chores, will be priceless for many companies and users.

Pros
+ Quad-core presentation proffers a desktop experience
+ Rock-hard Lenovo keyboard, touchpad
+ En suite digitizer a handy accumulation

Cons
- Exhibit doesn't quite meet supercilious expectations
- Speaker acoustic builds everything sound like a Paul Harvey broadcast
- Supplied pen is undersized, feels low-priced

Value For Money

Our Rating

THINKPAD X301’S ARE UP FOR GRABS

The innovative X300 sees enormous price drops with the basic configurations even down to $1,839 at present. Lenovo has distributed the ThinkPad X301 (an update to the original X300 ultra-portable) right on agenda. The novel X301 series notebooks are now obtainable at Lenovo's portal for US buyers in 2 break up SKUs - one standard replica with incorporated graphics whereas the other one is slightly luxurious but approaches with incorporated 3G AT&T mobile broadband.

ThinkPad X301's base configuration comes pre-loaded with Core 2 Duo SU9400 (1.4GHz, 3MB L2, 800MHz FSB) ULV CPU, operating system donned by Windows Vista Business, 1GB DDR3 1067MHzRAM (promotable to 3GB), Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100 (AGN) and 3-cell battery. Graphics on both the variants are motorized by Intel's onboard GMA 4500MHD chip. We sense your pain here but rumor has it that it must be very firm to fit a distinct GPU in its slim framework. Screen is again a 13.3" WXGA+ LED backlight one. The Ultra-thin DVD Burner drive is non-compulsory and a $225 upgrading (ouch!).

Accessibility condition for X301 on Lenovo's portal reads as "Ships within 1-2 weeks" so there you contain it. It's approximately there once you position your orders. Base configuration is $2,575 and the one with 3G AT&T Mobile Broadband the high spec variant is $2,655.

LENOVO THINKPAD SL300 REVIEW

ThinkPad SL300 – Offers more than any 13.3 inch in the market

The ThinkPad SL300 is Lenovo's innovative 13.3" budget business laptop which proffers many of the identical features you would discover on the T/X/R-series laptops, but at a much subordinate price. The SL-series is Lenovo's reply to the Vostro line-up from Dell.

Design
Build superiority is just higher than average, with a hard-wearing sense, but not as burly as what you might find in the R or T series variants. Some gentle flex does establish in the palm rest, and the underside of the laptop has more give under stress, such as gripping the periphery while carrying the laptop around. Fit and finish could be enhanced in a few areas, such as the Touch Point buttons which are too secure to the apex edge of the palm rest, and whine when pressed. While this is a fairly negligible assembly imperfection, the echelon of annoyance is similar to walking around with a shoe covered with water, squeaking everywhere you stride.

Performance
System presentation was outstanding with the 2.4GHz Intel P8600 Core 2 Duo processor and NVIDIA 9300M graphics. The laptop was very snappy with a speedy boot-time, and applications unbolted without any pause. Synthetic benchmarks also supported up many of our subjective system recital findings, with PCMark05 reaching higher than 5,500, 3DMark06 above 1,500, and wPrime around 30 seconds. While it may not be in the similar territory as gaming rigs, it is more than competent for its projected audience of diminutive businesses.

The LED-backlit Vibrant View exhibit established on the SL300 rates above average and was extremely easy on the eyes. The keyboard on the SL300 is extremely firm around the perimeter, and even higher than the optical drive cavity, shows diminutive to no flex underneath firm pressure. Port assortment on the SL300 is extremely fastidious, offering an extensive range of ports that don't always crop up on 13.3" laptops. This ThinkPad offers 3 USB ports, FireWire, HDMI and VGA, LAN, modem, and also a multi-card reader.

The SL300 sustained itself fairly well in our off-the-grid testing, accomplishing almost 4 hours of battery sprint life on the 6-cell battery. This is with the screen backlight at 60%, wireless enabled and incredibly light web browsing bustle. With wireless disabled, the anticipated time remaining jumped approximately 30 minutes.

Overall
The tech savvy world is racing ahead with loads of functioned puzzled in the confines of the most cost efficient notebooks, The SL300 fro the house of Lenovo is no exception. The build is a typical Lenovo life-line, but a bit on the squeaky side. The port selection is typical of its kind and the product is in line with the quality that Lenovo has sustained in the market. A decent product for the money spent.

Pros
+ It’s a Lenovo package
+ Snappy performance
+ Ports selection is above expectations

Cons
- Build quality a bit of a worry

Value For Money

Our Rating

LENOVO THINKPAD SL500 REVIEW

ThinkPad’s Quality without ThinkPad’s Price – SL500

In the past few months, Lenovo has experimented to tremble up its merchandise accessibility a bit with the preamble of new-fangled lines of laptops. The SL series is a finances line of notebooks intended at the small business section.

Design
The 15.4-inch SL500 is a bigger adaptation, obviously, than the 13.3-inch SL300 or 14.1-inch SL400 that we've reviewed at previously. It trails the identical stylings, with a lustrous back lid and narrow piece underneath the LCD, while all over the place else is encrusted in a black matte plastic. Positioned in the corners of the slick back are the different Lenovo, ThinkPad and Energy Star logos.

Specifications
· Memory: 2GB PC2-5300 RAM
· storage space: 320GB SATA hard drive
· Optical Drive: DVD+/-RW
· Wireless Connectivity: Intel 5100 802.11 a/b/g/n
· Graphics Accelerator: NVIDIA Geforce 9300M GS 256MB

Performance
The SL500 is a commerce laptop, so don't be expecting disproportionate 3D/gaming presentation. That being alleged, it detained its own extremely well. Recital was satisfactory with even desktop rendering. The laptop never felt bogged down even with quite a few applications open at similar time appreciation to the dual-core Intel processor buried inside. Lenovo's laptop keyboards are branded for their constancy and effortlessness of typing, and the keyboard on this notebook is no omission.

Being a 15.4" laptop provides the SL500 the suppleness to proffer a number of dissimilar ports and extension technologies, and the SL500 takes benefit of the room. Lenovo also elegantly speckled the ports around the sides of the laptop rather than putting them all in the flipside, so users don't have to twist the laptop around anytime they desire to plug something in.
Lenovo did an unbelievable job when engineering the SL500's temperature dissipation techniques. Our laptop came with a 9-cell battery, which is a supplementary $79 but except your laptop stays plugged in all day, I'd say it's a requirement. For the battery test, I set the display to sixty percent vividness, wireless networking on, and loading different webpage’s every so frequently.

Overall
At the end of the day, the SL500 is a commendable accumulation to the ThinkPad line, as it permits consumers to forgo a definite degree of build excellence while saving adequate money to approximately buy a second computer. Small businesses glancing to swell their productivity while keeping prices down would do well to seem at the ThinkPad SL500 as a mobile elucidation.

Pros
+ Assortment of ports, together with FireWire and HDMI
+ Bodily wireless connectivity button for easy conformity with flight regulations
+ Far-fetched heat debauchery
+ Contemporary business plan
+ ThinkPad excellence devoid of ThinkPad prices!

Cons
- Intend makes accessing a few ports tricky
- Lustrous lid is a fingerprint attraction

Value For Money

Our Rating