Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet

Deluxe tablet gets almost everything right
WE WERE IMPRESSED with Lenovo ThinkPad X200 ultraportable notebook that debuted this past summer with Intel's Centrino 2 platform, and for an encore, Lenovo has a treat for the tablet aficionados among us: the ThinkPad X200 Tablet. This business-focused machine has all the benefits of the X200 notebook, with added features that make it an outstanding—if pricey—tablet.

Wrapped in their familiar matte-black cloaks. the X200 and X200 Tablet look very similar, but there are some subtle differences.The X200 Tablet is actually a bit larger, measuring three-quarters of an inch deeper front-to-back. It's also about half a pound heavier (3.55 pounds, versus 3 pounds for the standard X200). But other attributes remain the same, from the impeccable (and very peckable) ThinkPad keyboard to the lack of an onboard optical drive—a typical, though not universal, omission in this class.

To accommodate tablet mode, the optional fingerprint reader has been moved to the screen bezel. Buttons on the bezel also let you switch the screen orientation; launch a quick access menu lot tablet and pen settings, brightness, volume, and so on; access the menu choices for shutting down or restarting the device; and disable the tablet buttons so you don't inadvertently press them.

The biggest new feature is the optional WideView MultiTouch + MultiView LED backlit panel. This 1,280x800 12.1-inch screen costs $275 more than the available standard WXGA panel, but it makes the X200 Tablet much more usable. For starters, the LED blacklit provides a brighter image that's easier to see outdoors while also making the machine lighter and more power efficient.

You can use the panel as a touch screen (controlled by your finger) or with the pen stylus (better for writing and actions that require greater precision). Lenovo repots that the touch screen requires less pressure to register gestures than the panel found on the previous-generation ThinkPad X61 Tablet. When the pen comes within 25mm of the tablet surface, the active digitizer automatically disables the finger-touch sensitivity. This keeps the machine from incorrectly interpreting your stray touches as you work with the pen.

Our test unit came with the stylus only screen, which has plenty of user benefits of its own. Most important, the digitizer is one of the most invisible we've seen; on some tablets, the overlay lends a soft-focus effect to the panel, but not here. It's also exceedingly accurate, and the cursor reacts to pen movement even when the stylus tip is almost an inch from the surface, which makes zeroing in on buttons and other onscreen targets easier. We also love the "flick" gesture support, which lets you use pen strokes to perform navigational and editing nicks such as scrolling, copying, and pasting.

Standard connections include three USB ports, VGA, Ethernet, ExpressCard, a 5-in-1 memory card reader, and headphone and mic jacks; there's a Wi-Fi radio switch and a slot for the stylus as well. Lenovo also equips the X200 Tablet with every wireless technology undo the sun, including your choice of mobile broadband (AT&T for $80 or Vetizon fot 1150), plus Centrino 2 Wi-Fi, WiMAX, wireless USB, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Our X200Tablet came with the 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 processor.This ultra-low-voltage CPU gives up some performance compared with other processors, but the machine's Centrino 2 platform still delivers decent productivity performance for this class: The X200Tablet scored a respectable 3,105 on Futurematk's PCMark Vantage benchmark suite. It also handled our Cinebench 10 test very well, with a score of 3,867. The X200Tablet managed to convert out 11 Mines files in a speedy 5 minutes and 9 seconds and complete out Windows Media Encoder test in a quick 7 minutes and 57 seconds.The 3D graphics from Intel's X4500 HD chipset were also decent, with a 3DMaik06 score of 838 at the display's native 1,280x800 resolution.

The miserly processor also helped the machine deliver very good battery life horn the eight-cell power pack: It ran for 3 hours and 5 minutes on our demanding DVD rundown test (we used the optical drive on the UltraBase, which came with out system).

For those who can spend closer to $3,000, Lenovo offers all manner of cutting-edge features.The optional 64GB solid-state drive ($635) provides faster performance than a traditional hard drive, as well as crashproof reliability ideal for road warriors. Our biggest qualm is the lack of a touch pad. But because the digitizer is so good, this is less of an issue.



If you need a tablet that's comfortable to hold and powerful enough to be your only business computer, the ThinkPad X200 Tablet is the way to go.
—Jamie Bsales
www.lenovo.com

Computer Shopper January 2009