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Lenovo ThinkPad X100e review

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Verdict

Combining netbook portability with Lenovo's ThinkPad quality, the X100e is an absolute steal

Review Date: 15 Jan 2010

Reviewed By: Sasha Muller

Price when reviewed: £344 (£404 inc VAT)

Overall Rating

Features & Design
6 stars out of 6

Value for Money
6 stars out of 6

Performance
3 stars out of 6

PCPRO Recommended

Eschewing fashion and fads for straightforward practicality, it’s little surprise to find legions of ThinkPads barracked in businesses across the world. After all, the Lenovo brand is almost a byword for durability, but one thing they’ve never been is cheap. The ThinkPad SL500 skirted around the £450 exc VAT mark, but as a chunky 15.4in laptop, it’s out of the question for those on the move. The X100e, on the other hand, may just be the Holy Grail: a ThinkPad ultraportable for just £344.

If you’re familiar with the ThinkPad styling – acres of black highlighted by a flash of red or a tease of yellow – then just imagine it shrunk in the wash and you’ll have the tiny X100e. Lenovo's previous X-series ultraportables were approaching waiflike proportions, but the X100e takes the ThinkPad into new territory. At just 30mm thick, and weighing 1.47kg with a six-cell battery poking out of its rear, the X100e is by far the cutest ThinkPad to have graced the PC Pro Labs.

But while the design will be enough to send many weak at the knees, Lenovo hasn’t forgotten the more serious side of things. Build quality is impressive considering the price, if not quite up there with the robustness of the premium ThinkPads. The base feels solid and sturdy, and it wasn’t until we really started to press hard on the lid that there was any sign of the display casing fouling the TFT inside.

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The 11.6in panel boasts a sensible 1,366 x 768 resolution – a good balance between desktop space and legibility – and while the matte finish keeps reflections to a minimum, the LED-backlighting makes for bright, punchy images. As you’d expect at the price, it doesn’t deliver the last word in image quality, but other than weak contrast and slightly greyish blacks, we were pleased with the vibrant colours and impressively neutral skintones.

Beneath the 11.6in display sits a Scrabble-tile keyboard, with only the glaring red of the trackpoint and a stripe along its accompanying buttons to break the mood. Unlike the 12.1in ThinkPad X200, though, there’s also a trackpad, which is remarkable given the limited space on offer. By positioning the trackpad’s buttons right along the laptop’s edge, Lenovo has made the most of every millimetre, and the ergonomics haven't suffered: the keyboard feels spacious and comfortable, and the trackpoint and trackpad combination is excellent as ever.

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Comments

User comments

Where can this be bought for £404 inc VAT

Even the Lenovo employee discount site has it at £404 with only a 128MB video card.

By paul1315 on 15 Jan 2010

Try here...

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X10
0e_Ultraportable_Laptop_NTT2FUK/version.asp

By SashaMuller on 16 Jan 2010

BenSearson

A proper business netbook at last!

By BenSearson on 16 Jan 2010

Yes I would agree with the previous post, it's a netbook as the performance rating clearly shows, so why is this tested as a laptop.
From the description at laptops direct, quote: "he X100e is an ultraportable laptop, so it offers all the performance of a standard laptop ". Personally I would dispute that, it's a netbook with a single core and no hyperthreading unlike the atom, but with poorer battery life. Still apart from the rather ugly screen surround I suppose there may be a niche in the market for this, but the performance is way down on most culv based ultra portables.
I am looking for an ultra portable at the moment, but this isn't causing my plastic to twitch.

By stokegabriel on 16 Jan 2010

paul1315,the ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics use shared system memory, probably dynamically.

By stokegabriel on 16 Jan 2010

it is absolutely a great netbook. but i would not call it an ultra portable when it's 30mm thick.

By stasi47 on 17 Jan 2010

Performance comparison

How would this compare to my old but trusty IBM X41? Would there be any noticeable difference in the (lack of) performance when processing photos and the like.

By alistairtwigg on 21 Jan 2010

Comparison to a T42 Thinkpad

I've had the same thoughts as alistartwigg, but regarding a T42 Thinkpad. Passmark rates the CPU slightly better than the Pentium M 1.6 in my T42, and the extra RAM would surely help when running a few apps...

By Fevvahz on 3 Feb 2010

AMD vs Intel

I'm afraid I have no idea how the CPU would compare to Intel's previous generations, but if the one thing putting you off the X100e is the limited performance of the single core CPU, then I believe a dual-core model will be out sometime soon.

By SashaMuller on 4 Feb 2010

But no DVD drive...

So not quite a business laptop/netbook, then. What a shame.

By JohnGray7581 on 5 Feb 2010

Is a DVD drive essential?

I'd argue that it's far from essential these days. Would be faster to install software over a Gigabit network, and if you really, really need an optical drive, then buy a USB one for £20/£30 or so. Problem solved.

By SashaMuller on 6 Feb 2010

Findings after buying one

I bought one of these, hoping to improve on my Lenovo 15" model. I find the X100e too hot to have on one's lap for long, and, though relatively light overall, it's quite a little 'lead brick' on your legs after a while. Otherwise quite good all round. The trackpad buttons on the near edge are annoying for 'lap' use, as it is easy to foul them with your clothing. I ordered the onboard 'mobile broadband' WWAN model, but there is no SIM card inside to make this work, and there are no instructions or help files on this. After some research and many phone calls, apparently I now have to fill out a Returns Request. Not sure if they're proposing to send me a SIM, or swap the whole machine, or send out the Mossad to get me. I went back to my old 15.4" model, and it was like a breath of fresh air to use, by comparison, albeit bulky to lug around.

By ni_com9 on 18 Feb 2010

cough second hand x60s cough

By gavmeister on 19 Feb 2010

cough x200 with 2 years year left on warranty, or X61 with one cough

£500 and £300 respectively. see corporate resellers on ebay. Must get a glass of *cough* water.

By gavmeister on 17 Mar 2010

No dual core for Western Europe...

It seems the dual core version (X120e)will not be available here. Instead, Latin America, Japan, Australia and Western Europe should content themselves with the ThinkPad Edge 11in... http://www.reghardware.com/2011/02/15/lenovo_no_uk
_thinkpad/

By Selina on 16 Feb 2011

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