Lenovo ThinkPad X60

More surprising additions are the very welcome Windows key and the less welcome context-menu key; press this, and you get the same options as right-clicking with a mouse. It's a strange addition, as it makes some other keys on the bottom row too slim for comfort. The keyboard itself is still very high quality, but if anything it falls behind the X40 series for tactile feedback. That said, it remains head and shoulders above any other ultraportable's keyboard.

There are certainly good reasons for companies to stick with the X40 series: the new peripherals add extra cost to what is an already relatively expensive notebook. For everyone else, though, the X60's stunning build quality and equally impressive speed push it into a different league, while the emphasis on data protection means the extra money you spend at the time of purchase could be paid back with dividends if anything does go wrong.

Author: Tim Danton