This outstanding ultraportable delivers full-featured performance, great battery life, and a good keyboard.
Equipped with the new Centrino 2 processor, Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 looks a mild-mannered ultraportable, and yet it can leap tall workloads in a single bound. Its battery life is phenomenal, and the keyboard is huge. In short, this is a much better notebook than the ThinkPad X61, which it replaces, and a surefire winner for on-the-run execs.
Because it bears a lower model number, you might imagine that this a less-powerful version of the ThinkPad X300, but the X200 actually has a more recent processor. The X300 has a 13.3-inch display, however, while the X200 has a 12.1-inch screen. Ah, but what you'll see when you fire this baby up!
At just under 3 pounds with its lightest battery installed, the X200 weighs a few ounces less than the ThinkPad X61, despite offering the same 12.1-inch wide screen and a bigger keyboard. The bright little screen has an easy-to-read 1280-by-800-pixel resolution, making it quite comfortable for work on the go. And the built-in Webcam keeps you in visual touch with your colleagues.
The redesigned keyboard is as big as the ones that members of Lenovo's ThinkPad T series carry, and it has all the same amenities: spill resistance, dedicated page up and page down keys, and the all-important ThinkVantage button. The ThinkVantage application suite offers one-touch access to the onboard user manual as well as to recovery, security, and other crucial utilities. A fingerprint reader rounds out the package. What's missing: a touchpad. Many ThinkPads offer both a touchpad and aneaserhead as pointing devices, but not the X200.
The review unit Lenovo sent us came with 2GB of RAM and a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400, and it notched a WorldBench 6 score of 88, putting it only 14 points behind the fastest laptop we've tested to date. As you might expect, the X200's integrated video graphics can handle only simple games. But the X200's battery life soars. Lenovo has expanded its battery line to three choices, topped by the powerful nine-cell model that our X200 carried. Though this battery extends the back of the notebook by about half an inch and brought our unit's weight to 3.7 pounds (not including power adapter), the payoff was almost nine hours of juice on a single charge.
Unless you already have a spare external USB optical drive on hand, you'll have to shell out $219 extra for Lenovo's Ultrabase docking slice to get an internal drive bay. (A Blu-ray optical drive costs even more). On the bright side, the modular bay accepts other devices like a second battery or second hard drive. But the docking slice also offers some nifty new connections, most notably a place to charge yet another battery and a DisplayPort display interface that combines high-def audio and video in a single connector.
Of course, ultraportable ThinkPads have always used the space they save by omitting a built-in optical drive to add lots of laptop features that are missing from same-size competition. The X200 features three USB ports, microphone and headphone ports, a VGA port, and an ethernet connection. You have your choice of a modem jack with a five-in-one memory card slot, or a less expensive configuration offering an SD Card slot but no modem.
The X200 feels tough as nails, thanks to a magnesium alloy lid and bottom. A crash-proof solid-state hard drive up to 64GB is optional (we got a standard 160GB platter-based hard drive, however). For future upgrading the X200's two memory chip slots are located in an easy-to-access bottom compartment, and the hard drive can be removed from the right side of the unit after unscrewing one bottom screw.
A full array of wireless communications options come built in: 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, WWAN, and even GPS. Before the end of the year Lenovo should offer WiMax, too--and a tablet version of the X200. But if all you need is the world's best travel laptop right now, you're looking at it.
Sony's high-powered multimedia business machine is compelling; but when fully loaded, it costs as much as a used car.
Everyone talks about the Apple tax - the premium you're paying for an Apple product. The same could technically be said for some of Sony's more uniquely designed notebooks, like the Sony VAIO VGN-Z598U. This ultraportable class starts at $1,499, but our review unit balloons up to the eye-bulgingly-high price tag of $4,450. If money is no object (yeah, as if that's the case these days), then by all means, scoop up this overstuffed, lightweight beauty.
Primary responsibility for the sticker shock goes to a pair of 128GB solid-state drives, which jacked up the original price by roughly two grand. But our test unit also jams a 2.53-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P9500 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a dedicated nVidia GeForce 9300M GS GPU into its tiny 12.4- by 1.3- by 8.3-inch frame.
The twin SSDs probably contributed to the VGN-Z598U's eye-opening WorldBench 6 score of 107, the highest we've seen from an ultraportable. The next-fastest competitor in this class is the Asus U6V, with a mark of 93. And yet despite its powerful configuration, the VGN-Z598U weighs only about 3.3 pounds (4.2 pounds including the power brick).
In stamina mode, the VGN-Z598U switches from its nVidia GeForce 9300M GS graphics to its integrated Intel GPU), to prolong its battery life. Working with the integrated GPU, the laptop runs for 4 hours, 46 minutes--not bad, but far below the figure of almost 9 hours for the Lenovo ThinkPad X200. And unlike with a certain Mac-flavored machine, you can toggle between modes without either enduring a full system reboot or having to log out first.
The first thing you'll notice upon lifting the lid of this VAIO is its beautifully backlit 13.1-inch wide-screen display. Even in direct sunlight, the LED image at its native 1600-by-900-pixel native resolution is crisp and clear. And the wide-screen design is great for positioning documents side-by-side and for watching movies at a 16:10 aspect ratio. Not coincidentally, the VGN-Z598U also houses an optional Blu-ray drive.
As on other high-end Sony models, the VGN-Z598U incorporates a cutout keyboard, in which the keys pop out through holes in the case. The design creates good key spacing between buttons and promotes solid tactile feedback. The only extra buttons on the keyboard are a large disc-eject button, a couple of programmable shortcut buttons that by default launch a presentation mode and Windows Meeting Space, and a performance toggle for switching between the integrated Intel GPU and the GeForce 9300GS chip. The mouse is suitably large and sensitive, but its two slim mouse buttons (with a fingerprint scanner between them) are like two landing strips for gnats. At least the buttons are firm and well-built.
The laptop's layout is clean and simple, though some of its features are just a tad skimpy. Among the positives are two USB 2.0 ports, a four-pin FireWire jack, and a PC Express card slot. High-end A/V-heads will appreciate the unit's HDMI output, too. Though a Blu-ray drive is a configuration option, the base model comes with a modest VGA port.
Sony's suffers from the same problem Like most ultraportables, the VGN-Z598U has a rather puny sound system consisting of two tiny, tinny speakers and no subwoofer. On the bright side, it does get loud enough to distract cubicle neighbors (sorry, mate!) or fill up a small room. Of course, most of the time you'll want to use headphones anyway.
Preloaded software includes Microsoft Works, a video content exporter, a basic video-editing program, and the VAIO Control Center (which quickly breaks down all of the vital chores you're likely to need instant access to on your computer.
High-flying businessfolk will have little to complain about with the VGN-Z598U in its fanciest configuration--except its price. And you can trim $2000 off that scary number ($4450) by opting for a platter-based hard drive in place of the dual SSDs. Or you might want to cast your eye toward Samsung's tweener (part ultraportable, part all-purpose notebook), the X460.
Asus's fashionable ultraportable gives you good performance--and a second battery--without breaking the bank.
Powered by a 2.26-GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of memory, and an nVidia GeForce 9300M GS integrated graphics chip, The Asus U6V exhibits excellent performance compared with other ultraportables, earning a WorldBench 6 score of 93. The U6V held its own on the gaming front, garnering 38 frames per second in Doom 3 and 68 fps in Far Cry (1024-by-768 resolution with antialiasing turned off). Those frame rates may not sound so hot, but ultraportables rarely rise above mediocre game performance. Compared with others in this class, the U6V trounces lesser machines that offer only weak-sauce integrated graphics chips (ahem, Intel) and puts up a decent fight against most of its competition. In fact, it's a hair faster than Lenovo's ThinkPad X200.
The Asus U6V comes equipped with a 320GB hard drive--plenty roomy for all your media. But grab a good set of headphones or external speakers to go with it; the U6V has only a crummy speaker, with poor volume and all the sound quality of an alarm clock radio. That said, the 12.1-inch 1280-by-800 glossy wide-screen display is bright, crisp, and evenly lit--what you put on the screen will look great indoors and still hold up decently outside.
By and large the U6V is an attractive, nicely designed notebook with some higher-end touches such as a leather palmrest. The keyboard feels firm, but the keys on the edges are smaller than usual to make room for the Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys along the keyboard's right-hand side; while not a big deal, you may have to adjust your typing-muscle memory a little. The trackpad is a bit small, but usable; the buttons, though, can be awkward to use, since they're not very large (thanks to the fingerprint reader between the left and right buttons) and can be difficult to press. Good thing our review unit includes an external Bluetooth mouse (I was certainly tempted to use it).
The U6V includes three USB ports, with ports on both sides of the notebook for easy mousing. Also included are eSATA, HDMI, and VGA ports, an ExpressCard/34 slot, gigabit ethernet, and a built-in Webcam. The hard drive and memory modules are easily accessed by removing their covers on the bottom of the unit.
The notebook weighs in at 3.5 pounds with the 6-cell lithium ion battery--about average for an ultraportable--but add another 0.9 pound if you want to lug around the power adapter. You'll need it: The U6V's included 6-cell battery achieved 3 hours, 29 minutes of running life in the PC World Test Center's evaluation. While this is about average for a typical all-purpose notebook, it's on the lower end of the spectrum for ultraportables. Some machines we've tested have lasted upwards of 6 hours. However, the U6V does include an extra 3-cell battery--a nice touch considering that most other PC makers would make this an extra-cost option.
Samsung's latest ultraportable laptop provides solid competition for Lenovo's X200, highlighted by slicker looks and a crisper display.
In recent months, Samsung has been lying low in the U.S. notebook market. But its new X360 is an interesting contender among ultraportable models--sleek enough to take on the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 or even the ThinkPad X200. Though its sex appeal can't match that of the Apple MacBook Air or the HP Voodoo Envy 133, this slim little machine may have enough positives to win you away from Lenovo's competing models--if you have a spare $2500.
That money buys you an ultraportable equipped with a 1.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U9400 CPU and 3GB of RAM. Despite its lukewarm configuration, the X360 still managed to eke out an average score of 73 on our WorldBench 6 test suite. But don't buy it if your intent on playing graphics-intensive games. Intel's integrated graphics system limps along in Doom 3 at a lousy 8 frames per second (at 1024 by 786 resolution). Hamsters on treadmills move faster. On the other hand, the X360's 128GB solid-state drive is fairly speedy; it is also largely responsible for the laptop's high price and low weight (only 3.7 pounds, counting the AC adapter).
The battery life of this ultraportable was most impressive, lasting a whopping 7 hours, 36 minutes in our stress tests. Lenovo's X200 still keeps the top spot on the endurance chart, however, at 8 hours, 54 minutes.
The X360 measures 12.2 by 9.1 by 1.3 inches, so a lot gets crammed into a fairly tight space. In fact it shares a lot in common with its big brother, the X460, despite having a smaller screen and lacking an optical drive. The 13.3-inch backlit LED on the X360 is amazingly bright. Good and colorful, without oversaturation, Samsung's new notebook is easy on the eyes. In fact, the screen makes for easy viewing under just about any lighting conditions, including direct sunlight. And the 1280-by-800-pixel resolution is perfectly reasonable for an ultraportable notebook.
Like Apple and Sony, Samsung opts for a cutout keyboard, on which the keys pop out through holes in the case. This arrangement gives the keys a more solid feel and creates good spacing between them. The result is comfortable, solid tactile feedback on every key press. Though the keys aren't especially textured, they don't feel flimsy.
You won't find superfluous multimedia shortcut keys on the X360. Instead, the laptop handles each special task through a combination of the 'Function' button and one of the F keys. (That's the only way to toggle the number lock and caps lock.) The only dedicated buttons are a shortcut to the Samsung MagicDoctor (a quick-fix finder for PC problems) and a speed-boost shortcut key (a toggle between basic power-saving settings and full speed). The mousepad is pleasantly sensitive, and the two buttons are well-spaced and solid to the touch.
The case is expertly built and ready for travel. Like the screen on its inner surface, the two-toned metallic lid stands out. The X360 squeezes a lot of ports into the case as well: VGA and HDMI for video, an ethernet jack, a modem, 802.11n Wi-Fi , Bluetooth., three USB ports around the sides, a five-in-one flash card reader, a PC Express card slot, and headphone and mic jacks. Throw in the 1.3-megapixel Webcam and the fingerprint reader, and you have a fairly robust package.
The sound is surprisingly big--strong enough to fill a small room and annoy cubemates. There's no proper subwoofer, but the mids and highs work well, and the volume reaches a high enough level that headphones aren't your only listening option.
People who loathe bloatware will appreciate that the X360 comes without much preinstalled software. It's not completely barren, however. Our test unit came with Samsung's one-step diagnostic and system recovery software, a quick troubleshooter for analyzing installation problems and getting you back to a factory-fresh state. You can also quickly reinstall important Windows files while keeping your data intact. The other programs on board consist of a speed-stepping shortcut that lets you quickly toggle between battery-saving and power modes, as well as the OmniPass security software, made to work in tandem with the built-in biometrics.
This ultralight doesn't look as svelte as the MacBook Air, but it does many things better than Apple's notebook.
Lenovo's buttoned-up ThinkPad X300 ultraportable laptop computer may not have the MacBook Air's superslim, spartan style, but from rock-solid construction to piled-in perks, this notebook--with a street price of $2696 at time of testing--offers just about everything that matters to the business traveler.
The Air and the X300 do have some similarities. They both have crisp 13.3-inch displays, although the X300 has a higher resolution--1440 by 900 pixels versus 1280 by 800--and with both, you can get a 64GB solid-state drive (it comes standard with Lenovo's machine, but tacks about $1000 onto the Air's price).
Whether you're afraid of dropping your laptop at the airport or accidentally spilling some coffee on the case, the X300 is built like--and resembles--a black-box recorder. The keyboard is spill-resistant, and the textured carbon- and glass-fiber exterior is supposed to protect the innards. Unlike most ultraportables, the unit has both an eraserhead and a touchpad. The keyboard feels great, with full-size keys.
The X300 is a little on the chunky side for a true ultraportable--just over an inch thick and weighing 3.4 pounds (4 pounds with an AC adapter) versus the Air's 3-pound heft. Then again, you can pop a disc in the ThinkPad's integrated, paper-thin, 3-ounce DVD drive and watch movies (the Air's optical drive is an external model).
The X300 has a decent amount of power for an ultralightweight notebook--in fact, it performed surprisingly well against other ultralight models. With a 1.2-GHz Core 2 Duo L7100 processor and 2GB of RAM, it scored a 64, outpacing the MacBook Air by a healthy 7 points in our WorldBench 6 benchmark tests. On the other hand, the X300's performance is exactly average compared with the broad field of ultraportables we've tested. It also posted an average score in our battery life tests, lasting 4 hours, 22 minutes on a charge.
Another thumb in Apple's eye is the X300's many features. Here you have a notebook not much thicker than the Air, yet not only does it manage to include a DVD drive, it also has three USB 2.0 ports, a VGA-out port for an external display, a Webcam, headphone and microphone jacks, and an ethernet port. The Air has a Webcam, but it has only one USB port, and you have to use an optional adapter to connect via ethernet.
To make life even easier, the X300 has the one shortcut key to rule them all--the ThinkVantage button. Most notebooks have some sort of shortcut to helpful utilities or a "For Dummies..." version of the control panel. However, the ThinkVantage button accesses by far the most helpful, complete, and concise collection of such tools. You can use the button to access a backup utility, to set security protocols, or to find a wireless data connection, and if your computer won't boot, the button will make the computer boot a small non-Windows OS from a hidden hard-drive partition, after which you can diagnose problems and even download drivers, if necessary.
And when you do start searching for wireless connectivity options, you are fully covered with the X300: The notebook has built-in support for 802.11a/b/g/n, wireless WAN, wireless USB, and Bluetooth. Finally, it has the "gee-whiz" feature of the month: GPS (somewhere, an army of travelling salesmen are cheering over that addition).
This stylish ultraportable Air competitor steps out of the ThinkPad's shadow.
Lenovo's supersvelte IdeaPad U110 is about as flashy as ultraportable laptops get. Somewhere between the fire-engine red, laser-etched lid and the rugged rubbery base coating, the U110 establishe itself as a bonafide MacBook Air rival.
This IdeaPad weighs 2.9 pounds with the seven-cell battery in place. It measures 10.8 inches by 7.7 inches by 0.72 inch, and for an ultraportable it packs a reasonable amount of power under the hood: A 1.6-GHz Intel L7500 Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of RAM help the U110 run a little faster than Apple's Air. In our WorldBench tests, the U110 scored in the middle of the pack with a score of 65 versus the thin-and-light MacBook's slower 57.
The U110's reasonably roomy 120GB hard drive spins at a pokey 4200RPM, but the notebookit had a respectable battery life of 4 hours, 38 minutes on a single charge.
Lenovo's business-class ThinkPad X300 beat the Air by the same margin in our performance tests. But unlike the U110 (and the Air), it squeezes in optical and solid-state drives (for a higher price, of course).
The rugged, rubberized IdeaPad matches the durability and design of its stablemate, with three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, PC Express and SD card slots, an ethernet jack, and VGA out.
On a laptop with an 11.1-inch screen at 1366 by 768 resolution, a scrunched-up keyboard with inhumanly small buttons would hardly seem out of place. But the U110's buttons are huge by ultraportable standards. Though the wide, flat keys took a little getting used to, I had no trouble tapping out this review on it.
One negative: The U110 is a fingerprint magnet. Its glossy coating renders the four shortcut keys almost unnoticeable. Run your fingers along the top of the keyboard for the faintly lit, stylized buttons to appear. Good luck seeing them in broad daylight, though.
As on the IdeaPad Y510, Lenovo's glossy treatment creates an annoying amount of glare, even with the brightness control set all the way up. At least you'll be fine indoors.
The software included with ThinkPads is vastly superior to what included you get with an IdeaPad. Exhibit A: the ThinkPad's smartly executed ThinkVantage Suite versus the U110's Shuttle Center II entertainment hub, which borders on being useless bloatware.
Overlook the small keyboard and 2-hour battery life, and you have yourself an affordable, ultrafast ultraportable laptop.
The small, white Micro Express JFT2500 defies expectations by being both extremely fast and affordable, two qualities not often found in the same ultraportable laptop. The catch? Lousy battery life. Still, if saving money on a light, fast laptop is paramount to you, the JFT2500 is a good choice for some home- and small-office workers.
Equipped with a 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 processor and 4GB of RAM, the JFT2500 notched a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 92. That result is faster than the mark of any other model in our current test batch of ultraportables. In fact, only three desktop-replacement laptops have come close to matching its performance. A midsize HP Voodoo Envy M:152, equipped with Intel's new 2.6-GHz Core 2 Extreme X7800 gaming processor, earned a tying score of 92. Two large notebooks equipped with desktop quad-core processors, the Micro Express NP9261 and Eurocom D900C Phantom-X, scored 96 and 97 respectively.
Battery life, on the other hand, was way shorter than average in our tests--2.2 hours shorter, in fact, than the 4.2 hours that the typical ultraportable lasts on one charge. Only two other ultraportables (out of a field of 17 currently tested machines) ran down faster.
The rest of the design is satisfactory. At 4.4 pounds, the JFT2500 is a little heavy for a notebook with a 12.1-inch screen. The 1280-by-800-pixel display is reasonably bright and easy to work with. The small white keyboard felt a little too snug at first, and I was disappointed to find my favorite keys--Ctrl, Del, and Page Up and Page Down--somewhat buried, but typing quickly became comfortable. The lower casing, a nice contrasting black, has a fair assortment of ports and slots, including three USB ports and an ExpressCard/54 slot--but no FireWire.
Our review unit came with no productivity applications. If you don't need the Windows Vista Business operating system, you can save $20 by configuring the JFT2500 with Windows XP Home. Full Wi-Fi comes built in, but Bluetooth is an extra $25.
With its short battery life, the Micro Express JFT2500 would be a poor choice for frequent travelers; but if you can work around this shortcoming, it's a cheap entry into the world of fast, light notebooks.
It's tough enough to tackle the real world, but lacks enough power for some computing tasks.
Panasonic's ToughBook line consists of mobile computing workhorses. Its ultraportable model, the ToughBook W7, is, however, a quarterhorse dragging a too-heavy cart.
The W7 has a couple of nice design choices: The DVD+RW drive loads from the top of the laptop, under a palm rest, making quick disc swaps easy to perform even in tight spaces--so no side-ejecting trays will bop your plane-seat neighbor. While the W7 lacks the Webcam and fingerprint scanner you'll find on many business-minded notebooks these days, it does stack on just about everything else.
Three USB ports, an SDHC card slot, a PC Card slot, and a VGA output port sprout from its edges. This particular model also has built-in Wireless WAN support. Unlike with Sony's VAIO VGN-TZ295N, you aren't locked into a single wireless data plan. You can specify whether you want to use EvDO over Sprint or Verizon, or HSDPA over AT&T's network. The only thing we missed: FireWire.
The notebook's keyboard is supposed to be resistant to spills of up to 6 ounces, so go on--guzzle that tall cappuccino with one hand and type with the other.
Unfortunately, the W7's durability comes at a sacrifice in performance. The ToughBook slogs along with a 1.06-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7500 CPU and 2GB of RAM, earning a WorldBench 6 score of 52. However, it stayed alive for 6.5 hours before running the battery down, or about two hours longer than the average for the ultraportables we've tested. The message these results tell me is that this machine was built for simple single-minded tasks--data entry, for example--but in more hostile climates than your average office.
The keyboard's spacing is certainly comfortable enough, but the keys are more than a little more slippery to the touch. The W7 has a circular touchpad, which seems like a neat idea, but it doesn't work well. Perhaps it would if the buttons were spaced farther apart around the wheel--or just widened. I often found that my fingers got jammed by the hinges of the top-loading DVD tray.
One major deficiency compared with other notebooks, even ultraportables: The screen's maximum resolution is a measly 1024 by 768 pixels, so we often had to squint. It also doesn't help that the display looks relatively dim until you crank it back to a full recliner-worthy 135-degree angle.
The design of HP's aptly named Envy turns heads, but the overpriced hardware inside this ultraportable prompts double-takes.
Admit it: You've said to your boss that you need an ultraportable laptop because it would give you easy and instant access to your work data. But the truth is, the main reason anyone buys a sleek, slim ultraportable is to turn heads. The HP Voodoo Envy 133 is one such shiny new toy, with just enough features to legitimize it as a slick business box as well. Like the Apple MacBook Air, the Envy 133 sports enough interesting design choices for it to be a genuine attention-getter. Unfortunately, however, it also shares the Air's anemic guts and high price tag.
Whereas Apple's thin-and-light is slightly curvy and well-rounded, the Envy 133 is boxy--yet with its glossy sheen, it's still sexy. This Voodoo laptop measures 12.7 by 9 by 0.8 inches (closely matching the Air), and it weighs 3.5 pounds without its incredibly unique power brick, which I'll go into more detail about soon.
What I need to address first, though, are the system's less-than-speedy components.
For starters, the NV4040NA model we tested (a configuration that HP says is suitable for the road warrior) comes equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.6-GHz CPU (SP7500), 2GB of RAM, and a poky 80GB hard drive that spins at 4200 rpm. You probably won't be shocked to learn that the system didn't exactly sail through WorldBench 6. It received an overall score of 64, and it ran single-digit slide shows in Doom 3 (7 frames per second at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution). Nobody will mistake this Voodoo box for a game machine.
And while the Envy 133 doesn't have the worst battery life, its results in our tests were far from the best: Lasting 2 hours, 39 minutes, it ran a little longer than the MacBook Air but fell way behind almost everything else we've seen. (By comparison, the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 rules the roost, having lasted a staggering 8 hours, 54 minutes. And the sexy Samsung X360 hung on for 7 hours, 36 minutes.) On average, laptops we test can run approximately 4.5 hours.
Innovative Design Choices
So, with those performance knocks against the HP Voodoo Envy 133, why would anyone in their right mind consider dropping roughly $2349 for it? Let's take a look at some aspects of its design.
This ultraportable incorporates a number of genuinely unique ideas--stuff that I'd never seen before--and I applaud a few of them. The slim, sealed case doesn't allow much room, so don't try looking for a lot of inputs. The Envy 133 has one headphone jack and one USB port, and it makes a couple of nods to the high end with an HDMI-out and a shared eSATA/USB port. One interesting choice: The slot-loading external optical drive that sells with this unit plugs in with an eSATA cable.
No ethernet port on this machine? No worries. In a first-of-its-kind move, the Envy 133 parks the ethernet jack in the power brick. Okay, technically it's a wireless access point built into the brick, but it works. And it makes a ton of sense. Leave the power supply at your desk, and it serves as a miniature docking station, providing both power and network access to the Envy.
I also love the HDMI-to-VGA connector that accompanied our review unit. It could've been a simple dongle, but it's a whole lot more. Once you plug the HDMI converter in, it instantly optimizes the image for the VGA output and adjusts the laptop's settings appropriately for giving a presentation. No extra buttons to press!
I will say one thing for the Envy 133: The lid is secure. The hinges stand firm, and the thick protective bezel encasing the screen isn't too distracting. The glossy lid is smooth to the touch; and upon opening, it reveals a decent 13.3-inch screen. (That's the 133 in its name, get it?) In your standard-issue office--or most indoor locations, for that matter--the screen is crisp and easily viewable, thanks to its 1280-by-800-pixel native resolution. Since the screen is glossy, however, outdoors you must factor in sunlight, which makes the display a little harder to see. You know the drill by now. I think Samsung did better with the sharp screens on its X360 and X460, which are viewable anywhere you set up shop.
Slight Imperfections
At first, I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about the keyboard. It doesn't have any multimedia shortcuts (instead, they're all tasked to function-button combinations). It also sandwiches the power and Wi-Fi buttons into a corner, flanking the Delete key. To be honest, I was expecting to make many typos--and thinking I might turn off the laptop accidentally more than once. Using it actually wasn't bad, though. For one thing, you need to hold down the power button for a couple seconds before it will do anything.
The key spacing and key travel felt substantial and of high quality, enough that I could comfortably type this review without stumbling over the keys. (Even so, the Envy 133 won't unseat any of Lenovo's ThinkPads anytime soon; Lenovo remains the champ of creating laptops with keyboards that feel lush to the touch and have a satisfying amount of give.)
I wish I were as high on the touchpad, which sits below the keys in the wrist rest. Or, at least, I think that's where it is. You see, in an effort to be supercool, the Envy 133 has just a large area with divots that denotes the active mousing space. A tiny sliver of a plastic bar serves as your left and right mouse click, all in one. And I hate it.
I get how the touchpad stylistically matches the two speaker vents on either side of the keyboard. It just doesn't give me enough of a sensation that I'm in a different area than the wrist rest. While I was typing, a stray finger or my wrist more than once grazed the pad, and I unintentionally highlighted text or moved the mouse pointer. And, more often than not, I'd trigger one of the multitouch functions. The HP Voodoo designers need to do a better job of indicating the boundaries separating the keyboard, wrist rest, and touchpad.
Another problem with the mousing surface that's easily spotted: fingerprints. You'd think it was a smudgy, greasy crime scene. The shiny plastics that make this thing look so sweet end up attracting fingerprints instantly. And God help you if you're trying to eat cheese puffs while using the Envy 133. Oh, yeah, the case gets hot, too. While the end result isn't skin-scorching, the two side vents don't expel enough heat, so if you rest your wrists on the machine long enough, you'll notice it. I did.
The speakers' sound quality was a pleasant surprise. You get some surprisingly clear and crisp audio from this ultraportable. Of course, you won't hear much in the way of bass out of the two tiny side-mounted speakers (there's no subwoofer to be found), but the sound is certainly good enough if you want to watch videos or play a few tunes while working.
The included software isn't as much of a big deal as is the Linux shell wrapped around Windows, dubbed Voodoo IOS. Upon starting up the Envy 133, pressing Function-F2 lets you opt to do a couple other things before booting into Windows. These shortcuts allow you to use your laptop for Web browsing, photo viewing, MP3 playback, IM chats (with support for everything from AIM to Yahoo Messenger), and Skype. It's a nice added feature--one that just so happens to work in the same manner that Asus's Express Gate software does.
Designer notebook with excellent battery life will appeal to both multimedia fans and frequent travelers.
The dv2660se (the se stands for "special edition") comes with a 1.5-GHz Core 2 Duo T5250 processor coupled with 2GB of memory shared with the laptop's Intel 965 Express integrated graphics. The notebook's WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 67 is significantly lower than the high-eighties scores of some portables with the latest mobile chips, but it's not bad for a budget machine.
In fact, the score beats the average of 65 earned by the five sub-$1000 laptops we tested for this roundup and is only five points below the average for all the all-purpose notebooks that we've tested of late, regardless of price. However, don't expect its graphics power to be good enough to play 3D games well.
Battery life was just short of amazing. This six-pound unit's high-capacity 12-cell battery endured for a whopping 6.3 hours on one charge in our tests. That's about 2.5 hours longer than the average mainstream laptop. The way the big battery protrudes from the bottom of the notebook does not make the dv2660se the most briefcase- or backpack-friendly model in our test bunch, but it does give the keyboard a very nice slant for extra-comfortable typing. The dedicated on-off touchpad button, slightly concave keys, and deep-depressing mouse buttons help typing, too.
The overall design of this Windows Vista Home Premium laptop is just about the best you'll find among budget units. For one, as the latest in HP's designer line of notebooks, this model is stamped with an embedded motif--sweeping tendrils that drape partway over the touchpad like a vine.
Another nice extra is the notebook's instant-on capability via HP's QuickPlay menu, accessed through a touch-sensitive media control panel at the top of the keyboard; it lets you play a CD or DVD without first launching Windows, so it's a great time saver. Two other nice multimedia touches: a Webcam and dual headphone ports on the front so two people can listen in private at once. (Not that you really need headphones because the built-in speakers sound pretty darn good without them.)
The 14.1-inch, 1280-by-800-pixel screen could be a tad brighter, but it's easy enough to read, and it has enough room to comfortably view several open windows at once. The dv2660se does lack some increasingly mainstream features, such as 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, gigabit ethernet, and a fingerprint reader. However, it has 802.11g Wi-Fi, which should provide fast-enough wireless connectivity for most. It also has a DVD writer and an ExpressCard slot. And the dv2600se is one of the few laptops in this price range to bundle a full-fledged set of productivity applications in the form of Microsoft Works 8.5.
Finally, the dv2660se has the most upgrade potential thanks to a side connection that all Pavilion laptops have for HP's Swiss knife-like xb3000 Notebook Expansion Base. Though you're looking at an investment of several hundred dollars more, this stand/storage docking station lets you add better speakers and another hard drive, a nice option for those who might have the itch to improve the system later on.
Moderately powerful laptop has dedicated nVidia graphics, HDMI output, and an HD DVD reader.
The Acer Aspire 5920-6954 just slips under the $1000 mark, at $999 (as of 2/7/08); it's worth every penny. Except for business applications, which it lacks, this Vista Home Premium laptop has just about everything home-office buyers could ask for in a solid budget notebook.
The notebook looks different without being too flashy. It has a black-and-cream-colored case set off by blue accents, including a big, easy-to-press triangle-shaped shortcut key set in the corner of the keyboard like a high-tech sapphire (hence Acer's so-called "gemstone" designation).
At 7.3 pounds, the Aspire 5920-6954 is the heaviest budget laptop we looked at, but it has a 250GB hard drive and a fairly nice 15.4-inch screen (it's a bit too reflective). Though it lacks a few things like Bluetooth, the 5920-6954 is the most high-definition-ready unit here, including both an HDMI port and an HD DVD reader. It has a subwoofer for better-than-average sound and a handy volume wheel. The terrific keyboard boasts loads of shortcut buttons that do everything but take out the trash. One set, on the left side of the keyboard, launches applications. A second, right-hand row controls multimedia, including an instant-on button that lets you play music and movies without launching Windows. A button placed between the mouse buttons scrolls documents in all four directions.
Finally, this is the only sub-$1000 laptop we reviewed that had a dedicated graphics chip--an nVidia GeForce 8600M GS with 256MB of memory. Thus it was the only one powerful enough to properly play the 3D games in our tests such as Doom 3 and Far Cry. Its frames-per-second rates weren't the highest we've recorded for a laptop, but are more than enough for smooth, glitch-free play.
Equipped with a 1.66-GHz Core 2 Duo T5450 and 2GB of memory, the Aspire 5920-6954 earned a solid WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 70, the second best on the budget laptops chart. The score is five points higher than the group average of 65, and it's one point better than the average of 70 earned by the 16 recently tested all-purpose notebooks in any price range. Battery life was average, lasting 3.8 hours.
The customization options on this zippy $999 portable will please picky shoppers, and it's fast, too.
Our review unit will please those for whom good performance is a priority. Equipped with 2GB of memory and the best notebook CPU Dell offered for this model at the time of our review (a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7250), our $999 (as of 2/7/08) Windows Vista Home Premium machine earned a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 78. That's 17 percent faster than the average score of 65 earned by the five under-$1000 laptops in this roundup, and even 13 percent better than the average of 69 earned by 16 recently tested all-purpose notebooks in any price range. With the battery upgraded from the standard four-cell to a six-cell ($15 extra), our notebook lasted a fairly generous 4 hours, 4 minutes on one charge, about 10 minutes longer than our five budget laptop test group's average.
About the only thing the Inspiron 1525 can't handle is 3D graphics; with an Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 and no dedicated video card option, it's limited to simple games and other 2D applications.
The 1525 is wedge-shaped but svelte at 6 pounds, including a 15.4-inch 1280 by 800 resolution screen, a DVD writer, and a good keyboard. The port variety and layout is fine (the 1525 is one of the few notebooks in this price range with an HDMI connection). And like the excellent HP Pavilion dv2600se, the 1525 gives multimedia lovers lots of entertainment features: an instant-on button, a Webcam, and even dual headphone jacks. In fact, I like the Dell's MediaDirect button more than the HP's QuickPlay because it has Instant Office, an application viewer that lets you access your calendar, contacts and PowerPoint presentations. Also, Dell's volume gauge is easier to use. Alas, the raspy-sounding speakers take some of the shine off the 1525's entertainment appeal.
The real beauty of the 1525 is its customizability. For instance, our glossy screen (a no-extra-cost option at the time of our review) was pretty reflective, so you might be happier with Dell's standard antiglare screen. From a base configuration of $500, you can build your perfect sub-$1000 laptop that includes a lid in any one of 11 different colors ($25 usually, but included in our test model's price), Bluetooth ($20), an integrated mobile broadband card ($150), and even built-in wireless USB ($150).
Thin and light portable with so-so speed could still satisfy budget-minded road warriors.
The $899 (as of 2/7/08) Fujitsu LifeBook S7211 (model FPCM43471) would make a good travel laptop for workers on a shoestring budget. This svelte Windows Vista Business laptop suffers from only two significant drawbacks: Its speed is so-so, and it can't burn DVDs. But if getting basic work done on the go is all you need, this attractive little unit might be just your cheap ticket.
The LifeBook S7211 weighs 5.2 pounds with its built-in CD writer/DVD reader installed in its modular bay. Swap the optical drive out for a battery instead ($120 extra) and you can really cut the cord to a wall outlet. Our review unit lasted a solidly average 3.8 hours with a single battery. With the second battery in place (which we didn't test), Fujitsu estimates 6.5 hours of operation.
Unfortunately, the unit's speed could have been better. Using a 1.6-GHz Pentium Dual-Core T2330 processor and only 1GB of RAM, the S7211 notched a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 56, putting it 14 percent behind the average of 65 earned by the five sub-$1000 laptops we tested. The good news is, the standard memory allocation comes on one stick, leaving one slot open, so you can easily add another stick later when you're ready to improve performance.
The S7211 lacks some desirable features, such as Bluetooth connectivity and a FireWire port. The overall design, however, is good for the price. Aside from a small glare problem, the 14.1-inch, 1280 by 800 resolution screen is crisp and readable. I quickly acclimated to the petite keyboard, which features Fujitsu's dual-purpose Security Application Panel. This panel has numbered buttons that you can use to set up a password to prevent intruders from starting Windows. When the notebook is running, the same buttons can be used as shortcuts to launch your favorite applications.
Bargain-priced laptop has sweet built-in speakers, but it's too slow for demanding users.
Those with only basic needs might find the $699 (as of 2/7/08) Toshiba Satellite Pro A210-EZ2201 acceptable. It's the lowest-priced laptop in our recently tested sub-$1000 group, but it has very modest performance. Rather slow and with short battery life, it's easily outshone by most competitors. However, if pinching pennies is paramount, this Windows Vista Basic laptop can get mainstream work done without too much fuss.
The only model in the group using an AMD processor (a 1.8-GHz Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core TK-55), and only one of two to include just 1GB of RAM, the Satellite Pro A210-Ez2201 achieved a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of just 54. The sub-$1000 laptop average was 19 percent faster. As for battery life, the Satellite Pro A210-Ez2201's 2.2-hour performance was the shortest of the 16 recently tested all-purpose notebooks in any price range, pooping out 1.7 hours sooner than the average.
Performance aside, this black-and-silver unit does have some nice features for a $700 notebook, including a DVD writer, a FireWire port, and an ExpressCard/54 slot. There are even two surprises. One is an empty bay inside the notebook for adding a second hard drive, if you're so inclined. (One 80GB hard drive comes standard.) The other is ebullient, crystal-clear sound. This plain little laptop belts out music like Ugly Betty channeling Celine Dion.
But the keyboard, while easy to type on, looked and felt cheaply made, and the 15.4-inch, 1280-by-800-resolution screen was on the dark side and prone to glare. The brightness controls seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
Considering that much better notebooks cost a mere $200 more, it's hard to recommend the A210-Ez2201 with much enthusiasm. On the other hand, I've never heard a better-sounding notebook at this price. Music lovers, at least, could score a real deal here.
The dv7t, a heavy-duty desktop replacement, wows with its performance but falls a little short in multimedia--where you'd expect it to excel.
The Pavilion dv7t is one of HP's "entertainment powerhouse" notebooks, just one step down from the ludicrously oversize 20-inch HDX. Beyond the 17-inch screen, and under the cool "liquid metal" exterior, lies Intel's new Centrino 2 processor. The result: high-octane performance in an extremely shiny package.
The dv7t, with its 2.53-GHz Core 2 Duo T9400 processor and 3GB of RAM, turned in a blazing score of 98 in our WorldBench 6 tests. Interestingly, MicroExpress's identically stacked all-purpose machine, the JFL9226, earned a mark of 103.
The dv7t's nVidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card makes this laptop a better gaming rig than many other portables. It produced an impressive 152 frames per second in our Doom 3 and Far Cry tests (and a respectable 95.26 fps with antialiasing turned on).
Battery life was 3 hours, 1 minute, not bad for an 8.4-pound unit with a 17-inch screen. If only we could see the screen a little better. In a typical fluorescent-lit office, viewing the display is hard. Even when ratcheted all the way up, the huge screen was not very bright--not what you'd expect from a high-end machine. Compared with the display of a 15.4-inch HP Pavilion DV6000t, in fact, the dv7t's screen was grayish. That said, the dullness shouldn't impede enjoying a flick on the Blu-ray drive or getting work done, especially with the lights turned down low. The 1680-by-1050-pixel resolution makes mainstream applications plenty easy to work in. Be sure to keep headphones handy, though: Despite the unit's subwoofer, to me it sure didn't sound like a Blu-ray movie was playing.
On the bright side, if you like shiny things, you'll love the dv7t. The lid and lower casing are black, but inside it resembles a slab of highly polished steel topped off with a similarly finished keyboard and icy-white status lights. It's so reflective that you can see yourself in the wrist rest, quite handy for surreptitious spinach-stuck-in-teeth and makeup checks. The keys gleam like pricey flatware, and even feel cool to the touch. Maneuvering about the keyboard is just as smooth, thanks to the great layout, the wide mirrored touchpad, and the dedicated number pad. The fingerprint reader is completely and conveniently out of the way in its right-bottom-corner location.
I only wish that the rigid mouse buttons depressed a little farther into the case, and that HP's volume swipe were better behaved. Though it's always a pleasure to use HP's signature one-touch QuickPlay media button for directly launching a movie and music menu and its forward and backward controls, HP still hasn't ironed all of the kinks out of its touch-sensitive controls. Getting the mute control working took a hard punch. The cranky volume swipe would lower but not raise volume--which, unlike movie sound, is quite loud and pleasing with CDs and MP3s. (We've had the opposite problem--the volume swipe raising but not lowering sound--on other Pavilions.)
Power-packed desktop replacement laptop delivers good game performance but bungles sound.
A notebook catering to the gaming set is sure to deliver a flashy design and good horsepower. And Gateway's latest racer, the P-172X FX, doesn't disappoint.
Before even jacking open the 17-inch display lid, you can't help but notice the copper-colored trim lining this portable player. From the font choices on the keys and color scheme to the glowing, backlit shortcuts atop the keyboard, this is obviously targeted at those who attempt to "pimp their rigs."
The hard plastic, glossy exterior almost makes you feel like you're slipping into some racecar. Well, one that revs a 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo T8300 Intel CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and nVidia's GeForce Go 8800M GTS graphics board.
Sure enough, in our WorldBench 6 performance tests. the P-172X FX finished right behind the powerful Micro Express IFL9025, with a score of 96. At the display's native 1920-by-1200-resolution, however, neither Crysis nor World in Conflict--two extremely demanding games--got out of first gear. Crysis ran at slide-show speed, slogging along at 11 frames per second, while World in Conflict managed 16 fps. When we ratcheted the screen resolution down to 1024 by 768 pixels, each game reached 23 fps--decent performance for a discrete notebook graphics card.
This laptop also hosts a slew of useful outputs, including a FireWire port, three USB ports, and eSATA and HDMI outputs. The trayless optical drive lets you feed the disc into the slot. - but that's nothing that we haven't already seen in a MacBook Pro. Still, it's nice to see in a relatively affordable gaming machine.
The P-172X FX's keys feel sturdy, are well spaced, and have good response; and the keyboard doesn't dip when you start hitting the keys (except the flimsy multimedia shortcut keys) with mounting enthusiasm. Also, Gateway seems to have treated the keys to resist spills and the stray Cheetos crumb. Even the numeric keypad is large enough to use easily.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the trackpad. Oh, sure, the pad is the "right" size and has a handy scroll zone, but something's amiss. The touchpad is positioned too far to the left side of the wrist rest. In most games the player uses the W, S, A, and D keys for movement and uses the mouse to control the camera). But the P-172X FX's configuration crams all of the essential controls into one uncomfortable zone. You're better off plugging in an external mouse.
Someone say peripherals? Two words: Buy headphones! The P-172X FX has some of the lousiest audio to excrete from a desktop replacement notebook. Watching a monster take Manhattan in Cloverfield, the two top-mounted speakers sound terribly tinny. And whether listening to that symphony of destruction or Metallica's Enter Sandman, the audio sounds so hollow you might as well use an empty soup can.
Battery life is another shortcoming. In our tests, the P-172X FX ran for just 2 hours, 42 minutes on a charge; the average I've battery life for laptops in this category is about 3 hours.
Splashy laptop offers excellent entertainment options and great sound, as well as strong performance.
A powerful laptop does not have to be a boring laptop. Take Dell's Inspiron 1720, a robust system that also happens to be available in seven colors besides black. The 1720 is a heavyish 17-inch notebook, but its multimedia design is outstanding.
Superbly crafted for a demanding home office, the 1720 has a full-size keyboard with a separate number pad. Our test machine had a single 160GB hard drive, as well as a complete contingent of connections--five USB ports, an ExpressCard/54 slot, and a memory card slot. The 1720's weight (8.7 pounds) makes it a less-than-ideal notebook for the road.
When you're ready to kick back, Dell's DirectMedia button provides instant access to the full panoply of entertainment choices: DVD movies, music, photo slide shows, and videos. The stereo sound is good; a Blu-ray Disc drive is an option, albeit a costly one ($660 on top of our test unit's $2409 price).
Configured with a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, 2GB of RAM, and an nVidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card, the 1720 proved an agile workhorse and gaming machine. Its WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 75 puts it in the top 10 percent of currently tested notebooks. The 1720 kicked booty in our gaming tests, producing 116 frames per second playing Far Cry at 1024 by 768 resolution. Its 3-hour, 33-minute battery life, while not great, is above average for this class.
Lightweight 17-incher has a beautiful screen and comes loaded with useful software. It's fast, too.
For people who appreciate finer laptop accoutrements such as a backlit keyboard and a slot-fed DVD drive, Apple has crafted another tasty offering in the form of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Sleek, powerful, and able to run Windows as well as the Mac operating system, the MacBook Pro makes a strong case for becoming anyone's ultimate notebook.
Equipped with a 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo T7700 processor, the maximum 4GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and nVidia's new top-of-the-line notebook graphics card, the nVidia GeForce 8600M GT, our $2949 test unit set new speed records (through 10/25/2007). The MacBook Pro outperformed the rest of the notebooks we tested, all of which claim Windows as their primary--nay, their only--operating system. We loaded Windows Vista Home Premium on the Apple notebook, and it snagged a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 88. In games it achieved a blazing frame rate of 141 frames per second in Far Cry (with antialiasing turned off).
At 6.6 pounds and just 1 inch thick, the MacBook Pro is the lightest 17-inch notebook available. But it has no memory card slots and only three USB ports, and it comes configured with an ExpressCard/34 slot instead of the more versatile ExpressCard/54 slot. Though it has Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi, built-in cellular broadband is not an option. On the other hand, video editors will be happy to have not one but two FireWire ports. Battery life was disappointing: Apple pegs it at 5.7 hours on one charge, but in our tests we got less than 2 hours, 45 minutes.
Nevertheless, the MacBook Pro is elegantly designed and remarkably mobile for a 17-inch notebook.
Robust home portable offers great gaming with beautiful-sounding audio and a stylish striped lid.
This big multimedia notebook is for on-the-go gamers and TV fans. The Toshiba Satellite X205-S9359 handles 3D shooters with aplomb, plus it comes bundled with an add-on TV tuner and remote control for watching shows. For work, productivity applications are also included in the laptop's $2400 (as of 10/9/07) price. Regardless of your pursuit, the big screen and twin hard drives make for very comfortable desktop computing. Just don't count on long battery life.
The X205-S9359 is a preconfigured retail model distinguished by a swirly red and black "carmine flare" lid that for a gaming notebook is downright tasteful. A very similar-looking model, the X205-S9349, is $500 less but has only half the video memory and storage. That configuration might be fine for multimedia dabblers, but for full-throttle entertainment, opt for the X205-S9359.
In our tests, Word and Photoshop ran quickly and 3D games looked good. Equipped with a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 512MB nVidia GeForce Go 8700M GT dedicated graphics card, the laptop logged a WorldBench 6 Beta 2 score of 76, putting it in the middle of a tightly grouped pack of similarly equipped, high-performing desktop replacements. For instance, a Fujitsu LifeBook A6030 and an Acer Aspire 5920G scored a point better at 77, but the X205-S9359 bested a Toshiba Qosmio G45 AV-680 that earned a mark of 74. Among all currently tested desktop replacements, the X205-S9359 scored one point better than the average of 75. It also aced our gaming tests with a frame rate of 84 in Doom 3 and a scorching 122 frames per second in Far Cry. Battery life was only average for a desktop replacement, though, at 2.5 hours.
The design is good overall. The X205-S9359 is typically heavy at 8.7 pounds (the average among currently tested desktop replacements is 8.8 pounds), but it has two 160GB hard drives and four built-in Harman/Kardon speakers backed by a bottom subwoofer for rich, satisfying sound. The Toshiba USB HDTV Tuner and brick-like power adapter bring the weight to a chunky 11 pounds. Dropped hinges on the 17-inch screen, however, give the total package a remarkably low profile. The screen itself, a 17-inch 1680-by-1050-pixel display with Toshiba's patented TruBrite glossy finish, is reflective; I had to experiment with tilting the notebook and lowering the office shades that were behind the notebook. Otherwise, it's easy to read.
The laptop is plentifully supplied with the kinds of ports, connections, and other features that you might expect of a better-than-average entertainment portable. Chief among them are an HD DVD player, a built-in Webcam, and an HDMI port for connecting a plasma screen. The generous nonmultimedia features include a gaggle of USB ports--six in all--and a keyboard with several nice extras. One is a dedicated number pad; another is Toshiba's unique dual-mode touchpad, which you can switch to a set of virtual quick-launch buttons with the tap of a finger in the upper-right corner. Microsoft Works 8.5 rounds out the offering.
These affordable, all-purpose machines start in the neighborhood of $650 and yet still offer much of the look and feel you'd expect from a more expensive ThinkPad. The SL400 model we received for evaluation was at on the upper end of the series, selling for about $1223 as of October 23, 2008, and it's a fairly solid deal.
Inside lies a reasonably speedy Intel Core2 Duo 2.26-GHz P8400 CPU backed up by 2GB of RAM and a 256MB nVidia GeForce 9300M GPU. Not too shabby. In our tests, this combination performed well, garnering a score of 84 on our WorldBench 6 benchmark test suite. That's well short of the Micro Express Microflex JFL 9290, which notched a 92, but it makes a strong enough showing to finish near the top.
Lenovo rolled out the SL400 before nVidia unveiled its GeForce 9400M, which debuted in the new Apple MacBooks--and the laptop suffers for its bad timing, as nimbler graphics processors will soon appear in new all-purpose notebooks.
Still, this Lenovo is a good performer for the price. Its six-cell battery kept the SL400 working for a little over 5 hours on a single charge--that's plenty of juice to keep you at the keyboard nonstop during a cross-country flight. The laptop's layout, screen, and beefy-meets-boxy 6.1-pound case indicate that Lenovo was shooting for a "strictly business" approach here.
A matte treatment on the screen does a good job of preventing sunlight from bouncing back in your face. The 14.1-inch, 1440-by-900-pixel-resolution panel is amply bright when cranked up all the way, but it's a tad dim in its native habitat (a standard fluorescent-lit office). As a result, in most settings, you'll be tempted to crank it up to full intensity, which unfortunately muddies the colors a little. On the bright side (pun fully intended), you can adjust the brightness for Video Playback mode (or any of five other default settings--or text size) with one click on a Lenovo application in the taskbar.
The SL400 has a fairly full-featured layout for an all-purpose machine. Four USB slots-- two on the left, two on the right--adorn the machine. HDMI- and VGA-out ports cover higher- and lower-end video support. In addition, you get a fingerprint reader, a Webcam, a four-pin FireWire port, a WWAN card, and GPS. The hard-drive bay is easy to unscrew, and popping in a replacement is equally effortless. Less pleasingly, this budget-minded business laptop has a boxier, less-rigid (though still sturdy) case than most ThinkPads have.
You won't buy this notebook for hi-definition audio, either. Music sounds slightly tinny (and hollow), though it got loud enough to distract my neighboring cubemates. Video streamed from Hulu sounded fine, but not robust enough for me to forgo headphones.
One corner that remains uncut is the SL400's keyboard, which--in the tradition of superb ThinkPad keyboards--is solid and buttery smooth to the touch. There was no loud clicker-clack as I typed away on the nigh-silent keyboard, and at the same time I could readily discern every key.
Another familiar ThinkPad trend: The SL400 has both a touchpad and a touch-point navigation device; not many laptops provide both these days. A couple of multimedia shortcut keys appear on the left side of the keyboard, but alt-function keyboard combos handle basic volume controls and practically everything else (for example, Fn + down arrow is the combination for Play/Pause multimedia). The one button to rule them all: a helpful blue backlit key that links to the Lenovo Cares utility suite.
The depth and breadth of the ThinkPad's software bundle goes well beyond what you normally get at first powerup. Many laptops content themselves with a 60-day trial of MS Office or some obnoxious antivirus package. Here, you receive a beefy Lenovo Cares application suite, which provides handy shortcuts and user-friendly apps without getting in your way. Everything from the ThinkVantage GPS tool (which tethers to Google Maps by default) to the proprietary Sidebar gadgets points to a well-conceived package.
