Lenovo ThinkPad X61s Review Quotes

Lenovo ThinkPad X61s, the PC maker’s new ultraportable notebook, has been reviewed recently by Laptop Magazine, NotebookReview, Cnet and XYZ Computing.

Built on the latest Intel’s platform codenamed “Santa Rosa”, X61s features the Core 2 Duo L7300 or L7500 low voltage processor, a 12-inch XGA (non-widescreen) display, Intel GM965 Express chipset with the integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X3100, up to 4GB of system memory, up to 160GB SATA hard drive, the Intel Turbo memory and wireless N (802.11n draft) options, and a lots of security features, but it doesn’t have a built-in optical drive. Also, instead of a touchpad, the X61s has the TrackPoint control.

Among the notebook’s “pros”, Laptop Magazine highlighted its fast performance for an ultraportable laptop, its bright display, a “top-notch” security and durability, and very good battery life. But, six hours of battery life when performing everyday productivity tasks on X61s is about two hours less than on previous less powerful X60s model reportedly. The “cons” of Lenovo ThinkPad X61s are mediocre Wi-Fi performance, a lack of an integrated optical drive, and the fact that there is no widescreen option, Laptop Magazine says.

According to NotebookReview, the good sides of the ThinkPad X61s are its good build quality, zippy performance, long battery life, a light weight, a clear and bright screen, the ThinkVantage Tools for managing and securing your laptop, a marvelous keyboard, and available docking options. The bad sides are a loose screen, a single speaker instead of stereo speakers, and pre-installed Microsoft Office trial.

CNet has tested the performance of the Lenovo ThinkPad X61s with the low-voltage Core 2 Duo L7500 processor. During tests, this thin and light laptop kept pace or finished slightly ahead of systems with normal-voltage Core 2 Duo processors and Intel’s previous-generation platform.

“Unsurprisingly, the ThinkPad X61s largely outpaced its ultraportable competition, the Sony VAIO TXN17P and Fujitsu LifeBook P7230, both of which are built on Core Solo processors. For business users who multitask heavily or spend a lot of time working with Microsoft Office applications, the ThinkPad X61s provides dual-core performance in a lightweight, compact package,” CNet reports.

XYZ Computing has reviewed both ThinkPad X61 and X61s models and concluded that they are “worthy successors to the X series”. However, the improvements in these laptops are not dramatic, when compared to the X60 or the X60s.

“If you are a fan of the X60 or the X60s then the X61 models will not disappoint. If you are choosing between the two, there is no reason not to go with the X61, but if you are an X60 owner you shouldn’t be in any rush to upgrade,” according to XYZ Computing.