Lenovo ThinkPad X220
Rating
Pros
- Lightweight, with great battery endurance and options
- Excellent performance and ergonomics
Cons
- Comes overloaded with background apps
Bottom Line
Fast and light, with great input ergonomics and battery life, this powerhouse ultraportable is best-of-breed, though its old-school looks may not appeal to everyone.
Lenovo ThinkPad X220: A Best-of-Breed Ultraportable
The Lenovo ThinkPad X220 ultraportable laptop, which replaces the X201, is sure to be a hit with ThinkPad fans--as well as most everyone else. It's fast and light, it has a great 12.5-inch display, and it continues the company's tradition of superb input ergonomics, offering an innovative buttonless touchpad and a long-stroke keyboard. It also provides excellent battery life that you can stretch to a whopping 23 hours with a bottom-mounted battery slice. The downside? Not much, really. The laptop's boxy, businesslike appearance and somewhat cluttered keyboard deck might lack the sex appeal some users are looking for.
Exact prices for the various ThinkPad X220 configurations are unavailable at this time: The starting price should be $979, with additional costs for better CPUs, solid-state drives instead of standard hard drives, and more RAM. CPUs range from an Intel Core i3 to a Core i7, the unit accepts up to 8GB of system memory, and storage options start with a 160GB hard drive and end with a 160GB SSD. The aforementioned 12.5-inch, 1366-by-768-pixel display is available in two flavors: one with an IPS panel for wider viewing angles, and one without.
Our $1299 (as of March 25, 2011) test model--with its 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M processor, 4GB of DDR3 system memory, and 7200-rpm, 320GB hard drive--turned in an outstanding WorldBench 6 score of 122. Not only that, but its integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU actually managed playable frame rates in some of our lighter gaming tests, reaching 41 frames per second at 1024 by 768 in Unreal Tournament 3 with medium detail, and 32.5 fps with high detail. And 1080p movies, even the high-bit-rate variety, play as smoothly as you could wish. Performance for any task outside of enthusiast gaming and high-end 3D workstation applications is of no concern with the X220.
Some of the keys are a tad odd on the ThinkPad X220, such as the extralarge Esc and Delete keys above the main alphabetical keys. However, unlike other vendors' keyboard quirks, they help, not hinder your typing. As usual for Lenovo, the long-throw feel of the keyboard is nothing short of excellent. The touchpad is a buttonless design--you press down on the left or right front edge to click, which makes it easier to use than standard buttons when you're using the thumb and forefinger of one hand. Two normal buttons sit above the touchpad, and Lenovo's TrackPoint eraserhead pointing device is also in attendance. Mute buttons for the dual microphones and the 720p Webcam join the volume rocker and ThinkVantage (toolbox) buttons at the top of the keyboard deck.
The X220's battery life is outstanding, and you can enhance it with options. Our test machine, with its six-cell battery, ran for a cool 7 hours, 15 minutes. You may also opt for three-cell and nine-cell main batteries, for less weight or longer run times respectively, and add a bottom-mounted $179 battery slice. The slide adds 0.4 inch of thickness but nearly doubles battery life to over 14.5 hours. For world travelers, the extra 1.6 pounds of weight and bulk will be an acceptable trade-off.
The ports and connectivity on the X220 are top-notch. The system has three USB ports, one of which is powered (for charging cell phones and the like) even when the laptop isn't turned on. Optionally, with the i7 CPU, one port can be USB 3.0. You'll also find an ExpressCard slot, an SD Card slot, a Wi-Fi switch, a VGA port, and a gigabit ethernet port. A dock is available with a multiformat burner, Bluetooth is on board, and the Wi-Fi is dual-band 802.11n (2.4GHz and 5GHz). Our test laptop arrived with IBM's biometric finger-swipe sensor to facilitate security.
If there's anything you should be wary of with the X220, it's the number of "value-added" applications and unnecessary background processes. The Windows 7 Professional operating system has just about every software feature you need for a laptop, yet on our machine a quick glance at the Windows Task Manager revealed nearly 90 processes running and almost 30 percent memory usage--without one user application running. One or two of the background apps are worthwhile, such as the Bluetooth manager or the tool that shuts down the hard drive in case of a fall, but additional battery meters and Wi-Fi handlers are generally useless. A trial version of Norton Internet Security and Microsoft Office 2010 Starter are bundled.
ThinkPad users won't find anything mind-blowingly different about this latest addition to the X2xx series, but the improvements are noticeable and all enhance the usability of the system. If you're not looking for a supersexy laptop, or if you're trying to get away on the cheap, the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 is the best thing going in an ultraportable.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1
Rating
Pros
- Very solid construction
- Thin and relatively light
Cons
- poor battery life
- glossy screen
Bottom Line
If the battery only lasted a couple hours longer, this would be the must-have business traveler's laptop.
The technology press has lumped Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 into a growing category of Macbook Air competitors, but now that I've used one for awhile, I can tell you it doesn't really belong there. Though the X1 is the thinnest ThinkPad ever, it is still considerably thicker and heavier than Apple's razor-thin laptop. This isn't to say that it's thick or heavy (it isn't) or that it is inferior to the Air or other superslim laptops like the Samsung Series 9. It's just a different product for a different market: business travelers who like to travel light.
Lenovo says that the ThinkPad X1 is 0.65 inches thick and 3.8 pounds. Our measurements show it's a little thicker than that at its thickest. Compare those numbers to the 2.3 pounds and tapered design of the Air that is 0.68 inches thick at its thickest and a mere 0.11 inches at the front edge. Just pick up the X1 and you'll immediately recognize the difference. Lenovo's laptop is thin and relatively light (for a ThinkPad), but let's not get carried away.
Lenovo packs a lot of good stuff into this compact package. The whole system is extremely rugged, resisting our attempts to flex or bend it. The backlit island-style keyboard is not just a joy to type on, it's spill-proof as well. In an interesting twist, Lenovo has equipped the X1 with a clickpad instead of a trackpad with discrete buttons. It's a good compromise to get a larger touch area, and the texture and tracking of the pad is top-notch. For those that can't give it up, you'll still find the little eraser-nub pointer control between the G and H keys and a set of physical buttons between the clickpad and the spacebar. The base configuration includes a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB, 7200-rpm hard drive for $1199. Our test model came with a Core i5-2520M CPU, raising the price to $1304. This configuration earned a respectable score of 124 on WorldBench 6, putting it near the top of the ultraportables category. SSD drive options are also available, though costly.
At first glance, the ThinkPad X1 seems to be missing a lot of connectivity options, as you'll only find a headset jack and a USB port under a small cover on the left edge and a card reader on the right edge. That's because most of the ports are tucked away on the back of the laptop. There you'll find a combo eSATA/USB port, a DisplayPort, an HDMI 1.4a port, a port for USB 3.0, and a covered SIM card slot for 3G connectivity. The 1366 by 768 display is bright and doesn't shift too much as you change your viewing angle, but it is a little disappointing to see Lenovo opt for a glossy glass cover instead of the anti-reflective matte finish found on most ThinkPads. The built-in high-def Webcam functions surprisingly well in low light, and the audio is a lot louder and clearer than you'd expect from a laptop this small. Credit that to Lenovo's licensing of Dolby Home Theater technology.
The Achilles' heel of this slick business ultraportable is its anemic battery life. Apparently, the one thing Lenovo couldn't really cram into this attractive black slab is a big enough battery. The nonremovable lithium polymer battery lasted only 3 hours, 41 minutes in our tests. You can double that with an external slice battery, but that's a serious compromise. It adds nearly a pound, makes the system quite a bit thicker (covering the back half of the bottom of the system), and raises the price by $150. What's the point of a thin and light laptop if you have to make it decidedly not thin and not light to get more than 4 hours of use out of it? At least it doesn't take long to charge. Lenovo is proud of how quickly its battery charges, and rightly so. You can go from drained to 80 percent of full charge in around half an hour, and the system is smart enough to charge up the internal battery first, and to drain the slice battery first.
There's a lot to love about the ThinkPad X1, even if it isn't quite thin or light enough to rightly join the ranks of Macbook Air competitors. It looks and feels great, is a joy to work on, boots fast, remains responsive even when multitasking, and has a really nice display. The audio quality and the Webcam are a cut above average, as well. If you don't need all-day battery life, it's an excellent choice. It's exactly the kind of thing a frequent-flyer businessman would want to stuff into his carry-on bag, provided he'll use it for less than 4 hours at a time. For users that demand all-day battery life, the external battery slice effectively eliminates the sleek size and weight that makes the system such an attractive prospect in the first place.
Sony VAIO Z-Series VPCZ137GX
Rating
Pros
- Onboard DVD burner and SSD
- Great performance, ergonomics, and looks
Cons
- No USB 3.0
- Expensive
Bottom Line
It doesn't get any better--or more expensive--than this slightly-larger-than-average ultraportable laptop.
Sony's VPCZ137GX balances portability, ergonomics, and performance in a way that's hard to beat. It's not quite as light or as small as the average ultraportable, but it offers a 13.1-inch, 1600-by-900-pixel display, great ergonomics, and an onboard DVD burner. On the other hand, it's smaller and lighter than a typical all-purpose 14- or 15-inch laptop. And finally, it looks great and performs superbly.
The downside is price: The VPCZ137GX costs a whopping $2300.
One reason for the high sticker price is a 256GB solid-state drive. This expensive component gives the installed 64-bit Windows 7 operating system a snappy feel that a standard rotating hard disk can't match, even when aided by a CPU faster than the VPCZ137GX's highly competent 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 460M. Sony also provides 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 system memory and a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 330M GPU with 1GB of video memory.
On our WorldBench 6 test suite, the ultraportable earned an excellent mark of 118, as well as fantastic frame rates in our reference games. 1080p HD video played smoothly on the gorgeous display and the audio was surprisingly clear and spacious sounding. Bass was lacking, but that's common in laptops.
Better yet, battery life hardly suffers at all from the great performance. The VPCZ137GX lasted 6 hours, 20 minutes in our rundown test.
Even with the DVD burner on board, Sony offers lots of ports: three USB 2.0 (sorry, no USB 3.0), both VGA and HDMI, and gigabit ethernet. You also get Bluetooth and N-wireless, Sony's Share My Connection software (for sharing a broadband connection with five other users), Memory Stick MagicGate and SD memory card slots, and microphone and headphone jacks. The VPCZ137GX lacks eSATA and Sony I.link (four-pin FireWire) jacks.
The Webcam tops out at 640-by-480-resolution video. Sony also provides a handy three-way button at the top left of the unit so you can switch the power scheme among three modes: speed, stamina, and auto.
The VPCZ137GX's backlit, Chiclet-style keyboard resembles the ones on the MacBook Air and Toshiba M645, but unlike with those units, the backlight leaking from around the keys isn't distracting at any angle. The keyboard has a nice firm feel, and the touchpad is well-tuned.
The VPCZ137GX weighs in at just over 3 pounds and measures 11.4 by 1.3 by 8.3 inches. However, its larger size makes it a better laptop to use. During my hands-on testing, I never got the feeling that Sony had sacrificed functionality for portability.
Sony loads its VAIO laptops with software. Many of the programs are branded utilities that duplicate Windows 7 functionality, but some--like the Wi-Fi hotspot utility and ArcSoft's WebCam Companion 3--extend the laptop's capabilities. You also get trial versions of Microsoft Office 2010 and Norton Internet Security, which will cover you until you install your own software.
If I could have kept any laptop that came through the PCWorld test center in the past year, this model would be my choice. My only quibbles are the lack of USB 3.0 and the availability of Blu-ray only at twice the price in a signature series model.
Dell Latitude E6420 ATG
Rating
Pros
- Four USB ports
- Supersturdy construction
- Great performance
- Incredible battery life
Cons
- Heavy for its screen size
- Average gaming scores
- Extremely pricey for a 14-inch laptop
Bottom Line
The Dell Latitude E6420 delivers all the power you'd want in a business laptop plus outstanding battery life, but its weight and high price tag make it overkill for mainstream users.
Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Review: A Fast, Tough, and Pricey Laptop
What does $3000 get you in a business laptop these days? With the Dell Latitude E6420 ATG, it buys top-flight computing speed and nearly half a day's battery life packed into a feature-rich chassis with a fortified case that might stop some bullets.
But the $3136 (as of June 15, 2011) price tag of our test configuration isn't the only drawback. At 6.5 pounds, the E6420 ATG is nearly a pound heavier than its less pricey (but still beefy) 14-inch sibling, theLatitude E5420.
The Latitude E6420 ATG certainly delivers superior computing power: Configured with Intel's high-end quad-core Core i7-2620M running at 2.7GHz, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, Intel HD graphics, a 128GB solid-state drive, and the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional, it racked up a WorldBench 6 score of 136, breezing past the E5420 and all entrants on our current (as of June 5) all-purpose laptops chart.
It isn't a gaming notebook, though. Lacking discrete graphics, the E6420 ATG posted scores on our gaming tests that were on a par with those of other Intel HD graphics-based portables (including the E5420, which uses the same graphics chipset). At least with the E6420 ATG you can pay extra to add an Nvidia graphics card, an option you don't get with the E5420.
On battery life, however, the E6420 ATG rose straight to the top of the class. I thought the E5420's 9.5 hours of battery life was impressive until I saw the E6420 ATG's result: It ran for 11 hours, 18 minutes. I might not want to lug this hefty powerhouse through an airport, but I could easily see it as my dream date on the passenger seat of a car during a long business road trip.
The E6420 ATG's road-readiness is immediately apparent when you pick it up. Aside from the weight, you can't help but notice its supersturdy construction, including a gray anodized-aluminum plate (with the Dell logo) set into the darker gray magnesium-alloy edges of the case. Other features designed to minimize wear and tear include flip-down port covers cut out of heavy, rubbery protective bumpers on both back corners. On the left edge you'll find a USB 2.0 port, a VGA-out, and a combo headphone/mic jack; around the corner on the back is an ethernet port. On the right edge are three USB 2.0 ports (including one that also supports eSATA), and around its corner on the back edge are HDMI and dial-up modem ports (our test unit did not come with the latter).
The E6420 ATG also offers a 54mm ExpressCard slot (which sits on top of its DVD burner on the right edge toward the front), a SmartCard slot on the left edge, and an SD Card slot on the front edge. An unusual option that didn't come with our test unit but might help you deal with the laptop's weight is a $50 carrying handle that snaps into holes on the bottom of the front edge, which when not in use are also protected with rubber covers. An on-off switch for the dual-band 802.11n Intel Centrino Wi-Fi adapter rounds out the external fixtures.
Inside, the 14-inch, 1366-by-768, widescreen LED-backlit display is almost blindingly bright. It's protected by a fairly thick bezel; the lid certainly feels as if it could take a fair amount of abuse. The keyboard boasts a backlight with user-adjustable brightness that comes on when you touch a key, and turns off to save power after a minute or so of inactivity. The keyboard, like the one on the E5420, is great: Keys are nicely sized and slightly sculpted, with good travel and a matte surface that discourages inadvertent sliding. As usual, Dell equips its business notebooks with both joystick and touchpad cursor controls; both work fine, but I found the joystick somewhat mushy to use.
As a multimedia machine, the E6420 AGT is a mixed bag. The audio, while decent, is somewhat muted compared with that of the E5420--perhaps the extra armor on the E6420 AGT muffles the sound a bit. I like the integrated webcam, though: It captured good-looking high-def video, even in low-light situations, and Dell's Webcam Central utility offers a good array of controls for adjusting backlighting, brightness, contrast, color, and even gamma. It's a great tool for Skype video calls, recording video, or capturing snapshots (up to 1920 by 1080 resolution).
As usual with its business laptops, Dell keeps the software bundle simple. Aside from the usual Microsoft Office Starter Edition, you get basic versions of CyberLink PowerDVD and Roxio Creator Starter for use with the DVD burner, Dell's Backup and Recovery Manager, and Intel's security-management and antitheft utilities.
You can opt to reduce the price by going for a cheaper and less powerful CPU, less memory, or a conventional hard drive (which would be slower but larger than the solid-state drive in our test unit). Conversely, a discrete graphics card, a second hard drive (the laptop has a module to accommodate one), more memory, and other upgrades could make the E6420 AGT even more expensive.
However you configure it, though, the Dell Latitude E6420 AGT is clearly meant for corporate users who want a machine that can not only survive rough-and-tumble conditions but also crunch serious numbers over a full day on the road, whether a power outlet is handy or not. Unless you need such a seriously sturdy, powerful laptop (and you don't mind lugging it around), you can probably find acceptable alternatives (including other Dell models) for a lot less money.
Asus U31JG
Rating
Pros
- Discrete graphics card
- Lightweight, with great battery life
Cons
- Display has poor viewing angles and too much glare
- Mediocre keyboard and touchpad
Bottom Line
The U31JG is ideal for getting work done on the road, but movie and music buffs should look elsewhere.
Asus U31JG Delivers Very Good Performance for the Price
The Asus U31JG, designed for urban professionals on the move, boasts a stylish brushed-aluminum finish that coats the lid and wraps around the black plastic keyboard. It's not just a fashion statement either: The aluminum trim reinforces the plastic chassis, creating a sturdy ultraportable laptop that packs enough power to play games and run your presentations while remaining light enough for you to carry on your daily commute.
The compact 4.2-pound case (5.3 pounds with the power adapter) contains an Intel Core i3-380M CPU running at 2.53GHz, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 500GB hard drive. Upgrade options are available for both the CPU and the memory, though anyone willing to shell out more than the $800 retail price (as of April 12, 2011) of the Asus U31JG for improved performance should probably consider upgrading to a more expensive ultraportable such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X220.
The U31JG's glossy black plastic keyboard is recessed within the aluminum case. Though it has no backlighting, the Chiclet-style keyboard is spacious enough to type on comfortably for hours. The keys felt sturdy under my fingers. Unfortunately, while the black plastic certainly looks sexy when you open the box, it causes the accumulated dirt and dust of daily use to stand out like scratches on a black Mercedes. Each plastic key is lightweight and shallow, too, so the feedback from touch typing isn't terribly satisfying. That said, the multitouch one-button touchpad recessed into the U31JG's brushed-aluminum palm rest works well under pressure, though my oversize fingers found it a little too cramped for comfort.
When it comes to performance the U31JG is no slouch, earning a respectable score of 109 in our comprehensive WorldBench 6 benchmark tests and competing favorably with many of the laptops ranked among our Top 10 ultraportables. Such results are due in part to the included Nvidia GeForce GT 415M discrete graphics card, which permits the U31JG to handle graphically challenging applications. As for gaming, though, our tests found mediocre performance for the category. The U31JG hit nearly 50 frames per second while running perennial classic Unreal Tournament 3 in 1024 by 768 resolution at the highest settings--but on more-modern games such as Far Cry 2, it performed poorly, topping out at 15 fps on high graphic settings at 1024 by 768 resolution. Such numbers are better than those we've seen from systems using integrated graphics, but the U31JG still isn't fast enough to serve as a modern gaming PC.
Of course, with no optical drive you'll be limited to whatever games and movies you can slip in via USB or download online. Watching HD videos from streaming services such as Hulu is certainly possible, but the distractingly glossy black screen and 1366 by 768 resolution make the U36JG an entertainment option of last resort. Even though the Altec Lansing speakers built into the front of the chassis do an adequate job of hitting the high notes, the volume tops out at tinny and the bass is nonexistent, even in quiet listening environments. As you might expect, a good pair of headphones will be your best friend while you're carrying this laptop.
You'll find the trusty headphone jack on the left side of the chassis, along with an audio input, a USB 2.0 port, and the AC power jack. Occupying the right side of the laptop are a pair of USB 2.0 ports, two HDMI and Mini DisplayPort outputs, an SD/MultiMediaCard/Memory Stick card reader, and a gigabit ethernet jack. Going wireless is easy with the integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter and Bluetooth radio; the latter allows you to carry along a Bluetooth headset and take advantage of the bundled Skype software to video-chat using the 0.3-megapixel Webcam perched atop the screen.
In addition to Skype the U31JG comes bundled with a smattering of Asus utility software, including a free trial for Asus WebStorage and a few silly games. You can safely ignore the lion's share of this bloatware, but Asus deserves credit for its Super Hybrid Drive, a hyperbolic term for an otherwise excellent suite of power-management settings that makes it easy to eke out every possible joule of juice from the eight-cell lithium ion battery. During our lab testing, by dialing the power settings down to 'Battery Saving' mode, we were able to keep the U31JG running on battery power for about 7.5 hours, which is better than average for an ultraportable laptop.
Asus has a reputation for building reliable laptops, and the durable U31JG is no exception. It outperforms and outlasts many comparably priced ultraportable laptops, including Asus's own U33Jc. The U31JG isn't optimal for multimedia use, but if you're looking for a business laptop that lasts all day and is easy on the eyes (and shoulders), the U31JG is a solid choice. Just be sure to pack a mouse and a great pair of headphones, too.
Lenovo IdeaPad U260
Rating
Pros
- Best-of-breed input ergonomics
- Super stylish
Cons
- Median performance
Bottom Line
This ultraportable achieves only median performance, but its style, keyboard,and touchpad will wow you.
Lenovo's IdeaPad U260: Unexpected Style
Despite generations of sober-looking, utilitarian forebears and a name that conjures up memories of a bad Matthew McConaughey WWII submarine movie, Lenovo's IdeaPad U260 ($1199 as of January 21, 2011) goes somewhere the company's laptops never went before--into the queue for this year's style and design awards.
Not only is the U260 is stylish for a Lenovo laptop, but it gives Apple and Sony something to think about. When closed and viewed from the back, with its dark copper shell (Lenovo calls the color "mocha brown") protruding ever so slightly beyond the black main body, this 0.75-inch-thick ultraportable laptopresembles an extravagantly bound book or pad-holder.
When opened, the IdeaPad U260 presents you with an all-black, minimally populated keyboard deck consisting of a smallish power button, an ambient light sensor that the laptop uses to adjust display brightness automatically, a tiny OneKey system recovery button (accessible only by means of a pointy object), the best Chiclet-style keyboard I've ever typed on, and an equally elegant touchpad with wonderfully smooth-operating buttons. In a major break with tradition, Lenovo does not include an eraserhead or nubbin pointing device.
Its striking style aside, the U260 earned mixed results in our PCWorld Labs' tests. Strengths of the configuration we looked at included an Intel Core i5 470UM CPU, 4GB of DDR3 system memory, and a 12.5-inch color display with 1388 by 766 resolution. However, the 320GB hard drive spins at just 5400 rpm, which undoubtedly played a major restraining role in the U260's pedestrian WorldBench 6 score of 75. If Lenovo offers an update later this spring when Intel ships its dual-core and ultra-low-voltageSandy Bridge CPUs, the laptop's performance should get a nice boost.
Gaming frame rates on our test machine were in the teens (or worse), owing to Intel's integrated graphics. On the other hand, every video we threw at the system played smoothly, even at 1080p, so you can count on pleasant movie viewing with this model. Sound is so-so, and rather quiet through the speaker.
The U260's array of ports consists of two USB 2.0, VGA and HDMI video outputs, an AC jack, a gigabit ethernet port, and a single combination microphone/headphone jack. This last spec means that you'll have to rely on the laptop's integrated Bluetooth if you want to use a headset with it, but you can use the mic built into the 640-by-480-pixel Webcam in lieu of an add-in microphone. There's no internal optical drive, and the wireless is 802.11n.
You can get the U260 with a lesser Core i3-380UM processor for $1099 and in "Clementine orange" for $1249. All models were on sale at $200 off list price at the time of this writing--a bargain.
Though the U260 is thin, it's not particularly light for an ultraportable. It weighs 3 pounds without AC adapter or external optical drive.It also has an unusually solid feel for a laptop of its class.
Lenovo includes 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium as the operating system and throws in a couple of nice utilities but no productivity software. The VeriFace facial recognition software is quite cool, as is the shock sensor and the Cyberlink Webcam utility.
The U260 combines Lenovo's traditional strengths with a new-found sense of style. It's an average performer for overall, but its lack of distinction in that respect is more than compensated for by top-of-the-line ergonomics. My main disappointment is that Lenovo doesn't offer an option for a faster hard-disk drive or solid-state drive, which would do much to improve performance. Otherwise, this ultraportable just feels right to me. I recommend that you put the IdeaPad U260 to the test before buying something else.
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