Lenovo's X60 Tablet PC reviewed

Lenovo's ultraportable X60 has gotten plenty of love, so there are some naturally high expectations for this "X60t" tablet incarnation, and it looks like they were pretty well founded. Tablet PC Review has already been putting the brand new tablet through its paces, and it seems to definitely come out on top. In fact, most of the biggest gripes about the laptop are directly related to the Tablet PC OS: slow startup, inconsistent input options, etc.. Performance gets a big bump from that of the X41, though the size of the laptop has increased a bit to accommodate a faster HDD and the extra USB and Firewire ports available on the X60t. As for actual functionality, Lenovo really lent its polish to the proceedings: the pen input feels just right, the XGA MultiTouch (finger-based input allowed) display is bright and quite usable, the SXGA+ (non-MultiTouch) option is great as well, and the keyboard feels ThinkPad-great. Of course, road warriors need not apply. The price of entry is steep, and "features" like a mono speaker slapped underneath the computer make it obvious where Lenovo's priorities lie. Battery life just OK for the ultraportable set, the 8-cell battery hits around 5 hours at average use (quite a bit under the 7.5 hour rating), but pushes the weight over 4 pounds, while the 4-cell battery manages 2.5 to 3 hours, but maintains ultraportable status. Other little gripes like an EV-DO hump at the top of the screen and no optical drive (you'll need to spring for the $200 base station) should make you weigh your options carefully, but after the dust settles it's pretty clear that the X60t is one of the best made tablets on the market, and should please the ThinkPad and/or Tablet PC faithful quite well.

[Mike @ Nov 14th 2006 12:12PM]

My company has a few X60t's and I think they are great, but as far as mobility and tablet functionality goes the X60 is still a distant second to the LE1600 from Motion Computing: http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc_le.asp

[thrill @ Nov 14th 2006 12:28PM]

I had and used extensively an LE1600 since the day it was announced 18 months ago. I don't particularly like the tablet, as it is extremely slow in getting anything done, for one thing, and I am very unimpressed with the company after having suffered their perspective of customer service -twice. The detachable keyboard is horrid too.

I intend to buy the X60 Tablet and sell the LE1600 on Ebay with no reserve.

[Rich @ Nov 16th 2006 4:47PM]

Mike, where did you buy the X60t? Cannot find it anywhere and would like to purchase several for copmany.

[Rod @ Nov 14th 2006 12:20PM]

Obviously.
But keyboard helps sometimes...

[Kain Azeroth @ Nov 14th 2006 1:15PM]

I have an older Acer c302 tablet. I couldn't stand not having a optical drive. There are many better choices for tablets than this. MONO?!

[Rod @ Nov 14th 2006 1:30PM]

Kain,
A lot of people do not need optical drives on the go.
You're certainly not a majority with respect to the Thinkpad ultraportable market

[SpoonDogSVT @ Nov 14th 2006 4:12PM]

Excellent, I so want to upgrade, but I really have no complaints (other than processor speed) about my current X41t. That multitouch screen seems like the biggest draw for me though, but that price tag... oh well, I'll wait until I'm out of school and working again.

[kev @ Nov 14th 2006 6:32PM]

Sorry, but that battery life isn't going to cut it for me if it's meant to be an ultraportable. The battery standards set from our friends from Japan are much better than the crud we get here. Ideally you should be able to do whatever at full brightness of the screen for at least 5~8 hours on an ultraportable with a standard battery that isn't...8-cells.

[kev @ Nov 14th 2006 6:33PM]

Oh, and I would be willing to sacrifice a core for an extra 12WHr returned.

[jtghcaus @ Nov 16th 2006 12:46PM]

Well, according to the specs, they have a ULV Core Solo available. But, you'll probably have to wait for the actual release in December.