A hot model - figuratively and literally
Cute, light and well appointed, Lenovo's ThinkPad X100e is an impressive notebook in most regards _ but only if you can stand the heat
- Published: 17/03/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: Database
Lenovo ThinkPad's brand has always been associated with sturdy, well-built and tough-looking notebooks _ until now. The newly launched Lenovo ThinkPad X100e may very well be the cutest ThinkPad ever made. Roughly the size of a large netbook (the X100e's footprint occupies just about 85 percent of the dimensions of a piece of A4 paper) and weighing only about 1.5 kg., the matte black notebook has the same look and (almost the same) feel of other ThinkPads, down to the protruding battery at the back, only it is smaller and much lighter.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e—the smallest, lightest, most affordable ThinkPad
From the exterior, on the port side, the notebook sports two USB ports, a LAN port, and a shared port for microphone and headphones. The ventilation panel along this side vents out really warm air. But we will save the unit's heat dissipation for discussion later in the article.
VGA port and ThinkPad's bright yellow power port are located in the back. On the starboard side, there is 4-in-1 card reader, one powered USB port, and a security lock slot. The powered USB slot, in yellow to differentiate it from normal USB slots, is configurable for Blackberry, iPhone, and other USB devices via BIOS, and can be used for charging your devices even when the machine is turned off, provided that the notebook is plugged to the wall outlet.
In the front, there are only two LED indicators, one for battery status and another for sleep mode. Sadly, there is no indicator for Wi-Fi or hard disks operation. Like the X200 series, the X100e doesn't feature a DVD drive, although during the promotional launch period, you can probably get one with portable DVD drive free of charge from some dealers.
The ThinkPad X100e's cover can be easily opened since there is no latch like on other ThinkPads. Flipped open, the screen can be pushed to an almost flat position _ another trait that sets a ThinkPad apart from other notebooks. (The screen doesn't quite go all the way because the six-cell battery gets in the way, from the way I see it.) The hinges are not metallic like those employed on other ThinkPad siblings, however.
Under the hood, you would see a water-resistant chicklet keyboard featuring large and well-spaced keys. The keyboard is firm and doesn't flex when I type _ a real pleasure to use. The flat keys are comfortable to use and the travelling is great.
Like other ThinkPads, the Fn and Ctrl are located respectively on the lower left corner of the keyboard. If you don't like this arrangement (unlikely, if youre a ThinkPad user), you can swap the keys via BIOS setting. ThinkPad's diehard users might complain about the lack of ThinkLight on this notebook. Frankly, I don't miss it that much, considering that it's very dim at best on my other ThinkPad.
Regarding the water-resistance of the keyboard, it should be noted that, contrary to other ThinkPads, there is no drainage hole at all for the X100e's keyboard. Obviously, I decided not to pour water on the keyboard just for the testing of this feature. But, cynicism about water resistance aside, I think this is one of the best, if not the best, keyboards for notebooks and netbooks this size.
The ThinkPad X100e features two kinds of pointing devices, a TrackPoint and a multigesture track pad. The track pad is large and comfortable to use. As for the TrackPoint, although I've never been a fan of this pointing device, its highly usable, as always.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is equipped with 1.6 GHz AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 single core with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, 2 GB of RAM (4 GB maximum) and a 5400 RPM 250GB hard disk. If you feel the need for expansion, the unit's bottom can be unscrewed easily for this purpose.
Having a chance to test the unit running both Windows 7 and Windows XP, I have to report that while Windows 7 is faster than Vista on other high-powered machines that I've tested, the ThinkPad X100e running Win 7 starts up quite slowly. The one running XP is noticeably snappier during start up.
Somehow, the two synthetic benchmark tests that I normally employ, 3DMark 03 and 3DMark 06, failed to run on both Win 7 and XP machines. I managed to run Aquamark3 successfully on the XP machine. The score, which is mediocre for today's standard _ 24.25 FPS, GFX 3,033, CPU 6,035, total score 24,249 _ confirms my suspicion that Lenovo ThinkPad X100e has computing power in the same class as netbooks, despite what Lenovo says on the subject.
Don't get me wrong,. The machine performs quite well on normal operations with applications like web browsing, YouTube streaming and MS Office if you're running XP. The waiting time is apparent on the Win 7 machine, however.
The 11.6 matte screen of the ThinkPad X100e is bright. Its non-glare characteristic makes it work well in a brightly lit indoor environment. The screen is large enough for comfortable use, especially when the machine is put on the desk. I couldn't work with it for long hours, however, if the notebook is placed on my lap and the screen is farthest to my eyes. (Note that this is an observation from a man in his late 40s.)
As for multimedia, I can watch HD videos (1280x720) smoothly using Gom Player. Sound quality is acceptable (read mediocre) for a notebook this size. I didn't test YouTube's HD streaming because connection speed can come into play. Although definitely not a multimedia machine, you can use Lenovo ThinkPad X100e to watch standard movies and listen to standard music.
The ThinkPad X100e scores poorly on both battery consumption and heat management, to my dismay. Testing by playing back a non-stop MP3 file in Power Saving mode, the unit went into hibernation in only 3 hours, give or take a couple of minutes. This is one of the worst battery consumption rates for any netbooks/ultra-portable notebooks I've tested in the past year.
As for heat management, I feel obliged to report that the X100e is the only notebook/netbook I've tested recently that could make me feel uncomfortable when placed on the lap for more than 10 or 15 minutes. If you put it on the desk, you wouldn't feel the heat. The temperature on the top surface is well controlled, unless your left hand happens to be near the port-side air ventilation.
In the end, how you decide whether to like this machine depends on how you choose to view it. It has many traits of Lenovo ThinkPad, as I already mentioned. But it also lacks many other features which are the mainstay of the series, like Roll Cage and FireWire port.
To some, this might be the ThinkPad they are looking for _ an ultra portable which doesnt cost an arm and a leg. And it comes with a track pad to boot. As a netbook, its quite fast and usable. But the prices you pay for a fast AMD CPU and a Radeon GPU are poor battery consumption and great heat. Only you can make decision whether the trade-off is worthwhile.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is priced at 17,900 baht, excluding VAT. In addition to midnight black (the usual ThinkPad colour), the machine is also available in Heatwave Red and Arctic White.
Relate Search: Lenovo ThinkPad X100e
About the author
- Writer: Pee Kay
- Position: Writer
No comments:
Post a Comment