Lenovo Thinkpad X100e reviewed – good pick, but endurance is a problem

Personally I’m a very big fan of Lenovo’s Thinkpad lines and I’ve been one ever since they were made by IBM, many years ago.

The Lenovo Thinkpad X100e is what this series has to offer in the 11.6 inch class, a portable and very solid build computer, more powerful than a standard netbook, but also pretty affordable. Some even call it the “poor man’s Thinkpad”, as it starts from $449. However, a decently equipped version will cost around $550, with these specs:

• HD ready 11.6 inch display (1366 x 768 px)
• Single Core 1.6 GHZ Amd Neo MV-40
• 2 GB of RAM (upgradeable to 4GB)
• Ati Radeon HD 3200 graphics
• 250 GB hard-drive
• Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth, Webcam ( 3G is available as an extra option)
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• 6 Cell battery

So, as you see, this Toshiba is based on an AMD platform. The guys at Laptopmag.com gave it a test and proved to perform slightly better than the 11.6 inch netbooks equipped with Atom processors (Asus 1201N with dual-core D330 for instance). However, those mini laptops with Intel’s ULV dual-core CPUs are no match for the Lenovo, outperforming them by far. Still, you will get a snappy computer for everyday applications with some decent graphic capabilities also (close to those of netbooks equipped with Nvidia ION).

Lenovo Thinkpad X100e - affordable mini laptop, too bad for the poor autonomy

So, the Lenovo X100e is actually a sturdy and reliable travel companion. It comes of course with the classic Thinkpad island keyboard, trackpad and trackpoint, perhaps the best combo you’ll find on a mini computer right now.

However, having the AMD platform inside comes with pros and cons. This Lenovo manages to offer decently good performances while keeping price low, but on the other side, it kind of heats up on the bottom and only offers a battery life of around 4 hours (that’s out of a 6 Cell battery). Too bad, I would have hoped for more from it. But, while there are low-powered netbooks that offer better battery life, this one should be compared with the likes of those mini laptops with ION, that provide somewhat similar autonomy.

Overall, the Lenovo Thinkpad X100e is definitely a good pick. However, I for one wouldn’t mind paying 50-100 bucks more to get a dual core Intel platform inside. Perhaps one of those new Intel Core i5 ULVs. That way the little 11.6 inch Thinkpad X100e could really reach its true potential.

More on this on Laptopmag.

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Tags: AMD Neo processor, fancy netbook, Lenovo netbooks, Lenovo Thinkpad

Last updated: March 19, 2010 | Published: March 18th, 2010 | See the comments or add yours!