Conclusion
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 is an incredible piece of hardware with few flaws. Glossy display aside, the user interface and material choices of the X1 make it a deserving receipt of the ThinkPad badge. The X1 is a serious laptop for people who need to do serious work and can’t tolerate an inadequate keyboard or poor durability.
This also results in a serious price – the review unit’s MSRP is just a hair over $1300 – but there’s no point in harping on it. The X1 is part of an elite circle of ultra-thin, luxurious, powerful laptops. You’re going to spend a lot of money for a laptop of this caliber no matter who you buy it from.
Battery life is the only downside to the X1, and it’s one that will unfortunately put it out of the running for some potential customers. It really would be nice to see at least four hours of use with WiFi on. Sure, that’s easily possible with the slice battery, but that adds a significant amount of bulk – not to mention $150 to the purchase price.
In every other way, the X1 is close to perfection. So long as battery life isn’t a high priority, the X1 will serve as an excellent ultraportable. It’s thin, light, a pleasure to use and offers excellent performance. That’s enough to earn it a Gold Award.
Too bad about the screen
Too bad about the screen resolution. This could actually rival the MacBook Air with a better screen and a slightly lower price…
rival of macbook air? i don’t
rival of macbook air? i don’t think so…. core2 ULV vs sandy bridge… you don’t do the same things with them…
Sure you do. The fact that
Sure you do. The fact that you can do things quicker with the Sandy Bridge doesn’t exclude the many, many things you can do equally well with either.
Don’t be ignorant….you
Don’t be ignorant….you can’t expect the same performance out of an air.
Aside from the processor,
Aside from the processor, seems like a step down from my X301. No matte screen option, lower resolution (this really kills it for me), and a non-replaceable battery. And it’s heavier? I really wanted to like this one. Looks are killer and the new keyboard with backlighting is a great idea, however, there are more steps back than forward with this new flagship IMHO. Looks like I’ll be holding onto my X301 for a little bit longer.