Lenovo ThinkPad X301 in Laptops

Note battery life does drop under intense use: with the CPU pushed to the limit, the X301 lasted for just 2hrs 4mins in our test. If battery life is your priority, though, you can buy an additional three-cell battery to slide into the bay normally occupied by the DVD writer.

This leaves us with mixed feelings about the X301. The X300 broke new ground for laptops, being exceptionally thin and light but also - unlike headline stealers such as the MacBook Air - extremely usable.

The X301 delivers some improvements over its predecessor, but considering the high price we're a little aggrieved that the screen and keyboard aren't among them.

Despite this, it remains a fine design and business travellers with generous budgets should certainly put it on their shortlist.

However, and this is the big problem for Lenovo, products like Sony's SR Series offer much, much better value at around £650 exc VAT - and while it gains 450g, it doesn't lose much in the way of usability. In the face of such strong competition, we can't recommend the X301.

Author: Tim Danton