Fujitsu LifeBook P1620-riview

he Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 sits somewhere between the ultraportable and UMPC camps, combining a 9-inch convertible tablet display (which rotates both ways--a tablet rarity) with a decent-size keyboard and business-friendly security features, including an embedded TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip. Naturally, there are compromises to be found in such a specialized laptop, the loss of a touch pad in favor of an old ThinkPad-style pointing stick being first among them. But the LifeBook 1620 improves significantly over last year's original version, the LifeBook P1610, by adding a dual-core CPU (the 1610 has an Intel Core Solo chip).

Still, we can't help but wonder if high-end, pocket-size laptops are an idea whose time has come and gone--if it was ever here at all. We have yet to see a UMPC or similar under-11-inch system that truly impressed us, and there's a trend right now toward small-screen, low-price devices, as evidenced by the growing buzz of laptops such as Asus' Eee PC, Intel's Classmate and NetBook, and HP's upcoming 2133 mini-notebook, which are much closer to $500 than the LifeBook 1620's price of $2,224. If you need to combine a subnotebook with tablet functionality, Fujitsu's own LifeBook U810 is a similar, if smaller, device that costs less than $1,000.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$2,224 / $1,749
Processor	1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600
Memory	1GB, 533MHz DDR2
Hard drive	80GB 4,200rpm
Chipset	Intel GM945
Graphics	Mobile Intel Express 945GM
Operating System	Windows XP Pro
Dimensions (WDH)	7.3 x 9.1 x 1.4 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	8.9 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.6 / 3.3 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Despite its small size (roughly the size of a trade paperback), the LifeBook 1620 weighs more than other small laptops, such as the 1.7-pound Toshiba Portege R500, and nearly as much as the 3-pound 13-inch MacBook Air. But the silver-and-black case feels sturdily constructed, and we'd feel confident tossing it in a shoulder bag.

Of course, with a case this small, you'll make some sacrifices--typing at length on the tablet's tiny keys wouldn't be our preferred input method, but Fujitsu does a good job of making the most of limited space, with flat-topped keys that expand nearly to the edge of the chassis. The tablet's textured, gray pointing stick, coupled with two mouse buttons and the middle scroll button, were adequate, but we'd much prefer a tiny touch pad, such as the ones found on the HTC Shift or the Vulcan FlipStart.

The 8.9-inch widescreen LCD display offers a 1,280x768 native resolution, which is perfectly acceptable for a screen this size, providing for text and icons that are highly readable. The touch screen works with both your fingers and the included passive stylus (or any similar pointing device), but we found the stylus to be a little flimsy and had to press down harder on the screen than we expected. Using a finger, however, worked well and felt responsive and accurate. Buttons along the bottom edge of the display offer quick-launch, page-up and page-down, and screen orientation functionality. Perhaps the display's best feature is the full 360-degree hinge, which means you can rotate the screen either left or right to flip it around--most tablets go only one way. We'd love to see that become standard across all tablet makers.

	Fujitsu LifeBook 1620	Average for category (ultraportable)
Video	VGA-out	VGA-out
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Headphone/microphone jacks
Data	Two USB 2.0, SD card reader	Two USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	PC Card slot	Type I/II PC Card or ExpressCard
Networking	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	None	None, or DVD burner

A small on-the-go system like this would really benefit from a wireless broadband option, but it'll be up to you to add an after-market PC Card or a USB antenna if you want that. An optional external floppy drive (yes, you read that right) is a $30 option, but no optical drive is offered.

A handful of configuration options are available, although the 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 is your only CPU choice. Our review unit was the high-end $2,224 model, but for $2,024, you can lose the Bluetooth and knock the hard drive down to 60GB from 80GB. At its most stripped down, the $1,749 version has only 512MB of RAM and a tiny three-cell battery. To its credit, Fujitsu requires you to have at least 1GB of RAM to upgrade to Windows Vista (XP is the default).

While we've never been big fans of Intel's ultralow-voltage processors--the marginal gains in battery life never seem to offset the sacrifice made in performance--the P1620 at least has the current dual-core version of the chip. Last year's P1610 had only a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400 processor, and at the time we called it a "slowpoke." The 1620 performed comparably to other ULV systems and can handle basic Web surfing and office productivity tasks, albeit with occasional slowdown. By way of comparison, Apple's MacBook Air, which is the first laptop to use a new slimmed-down version of the standard Intel Core 2 Duo laptop CPU, was faster in each of CNET Labs' benchmark tests.

Despite a six-cell battery that sticks out from the front of the system, the P1620 lasted only 3 hours, 45 minutes on our battery drain test. That's almost an hour longer than last year's P1610, but we're still waiting until ultramobile PCs can run close to a full work day (Fujitsu's own comes much closer).

Fujitsu backs the LifeBook P1620 with a one-year warranty. You can extend Fujitsu's warranty to three years for an additional $180, and you can add three years of on-site service for $150. Fujitsu provides 24-7 toll-free phone support for the life of your warranty, and a support Web site offers live chat with a technician, as well as the usual FAQs, driver downloads, and product manuals.

The Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 sits somewhere between the ultraportable and UMPC camps, combining a 9-inch convertible tablet display (which rotates both ways--a tablet rarity) with a decent-size keyboard and business-friendly security features, including an embedded TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip. Naturally, there are compromises to be found in such a specialized laptop, the loss of a touch pad in favor of an old ThinkPad-style pointing stick being first among them. But the LifeBook 1620 improves significantly over last year's original version, the LifeBook P1610, by adding a dual-core CPU (the 1610 has an Intel Core Solo chip).

Still, we can't help but wonder if high-end, pocket-size laptops are an idea whose time has come and gone--if it was ever here at all. We have yet to see a UMPC or similar under-11-inch system that truly impressed us, and there's a trend right now toward small-screen, low-price devices, as evidenced by the growing buzz of laptops such as Asus' Eee PC, Intel's Classmate and NetBook, and HP's upcoming 2133 mini-notebook, which are much closer to $500 than the LifeBook 1620's price of $2,224. If you need to combine a subnotebook with tablet functionality, Fujitsu's own LifeBook U810 is a similar, if smaller, device that costs less than $1,000.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$2,224 / $1,749
Processor	1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600
Memory	1GB, 533MHz DDR2
Hard drive	80GB 4,200rpm
Chipset	Intel GM945
Graphics	Mobile Intel Express 945GM
Operating System	Windows XP Pro
Dimensions (WDH)	7.3 x 9.1 x 1.4 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	8.9 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.6 / 3.3 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Despite its small size (roughly the size of a trade paperback), the LifeBook 1620 weighs more than other small laptops, such as the 1.7-pound Toshiba Portege R500, and nearly as much as the 3-pound 13-inch MacBook Air. But the silver-and-black case feels sturdily constructed, and we'd feel confident tossing it in a shoulder bag.

Of course, with a case this small, you'll make some sacrifices--typing at length on the tablet's tiny keys wouldn't be our preferred input method, but Fujitsu does a good job of making the most of limited space, with flat-topped keys that expand nearly to the edge of the chassis. The tablet's textured, gray pointing stick, coupled with two mouse buttons and the middle scroll button, were adequate, but we'd much prefer a tiny touch pad, such as the ones found on the HTC Shift or the Vulcan FlipStart.

The 8.9-inch widescreen LCD display offers a 1,280x768 native resolution, which is perfectly acceptable for a screen this size, providing for text and icons that are highly readable. The touch screen works with both your fingers and the included passive stylus (or any similar pointing device), but we found the stylus to be a little flimsy and had to press down harder on the screen than we expected. Using a finger, however, worked well and felt responsive and accurate. Buttons along the bottom edge of the display offer quick-launch, page-up and page-down, and screen orientation functionality. Perhaps the display's best feature is the full 360-degree hinge, which means you can rotate the screen either left or right to flip it around--most tablets go only one way. We'd love to see that become standard across all tablet makers.

	Fujitsu LifeBook 1620	Average for category (ultraportable)
Video	VGA-out	VGA-out
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Headphone/microphone jacks
Data	Two USB 2.0, SD card reader	Two USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	PC Card slot	Type I/II PC Card or ExpressCard
Networking	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	None	None, or DVD burner

A small on-the-go system like this would really benefit from a wireless broadband option, but it'll be up to you to add an after-market PC Card or a USB antenna if you want that. An optional external floppy drive (yes, you read that right) is a $30 option, but no optical drive is offered.

A handful of configuration options are available, although the 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 is your only CPU choice. Our review unit was the high-end $2,224 model, but for $2,024, you can lose the Bluetooth and knock the hard drive down to 60GB from 80GB. At its most stripped down, the $1,749 version has only 512MB of RAM and a tiny three-cell battery. To its credit, Fujitsu requires you to have at least 1GB of RAM to upgrade to Windows Vista (XP is the default).

While we've never been big fans of Intel's ultralow-voltage processors--the marginal gains in battery life never seem to offset the sacrifice made in performance--the P1620 at least has the current dual-core version of the chip. Last year's P1610 had only a 1.2GHz Intel Core Solo U1400 processor, and at the time we called it a "slowpoke." The 1620 performed comparably to other ULV systems and can handle basic Web surfing and office productivity tasks, albeit with occasional slowdown. By way of comparison, Apple's MacBook Air, which is the first laptop to use a new slimmed-down version of the standard Intel Core 2 Duo laptop CPU, was faster in each of CNET Labs' benchmark tests.

Despite a six-cell battery that sticks out from the front of the system, the P1620 lasted only 3 hours, 45 minutes on our battery drain test. That's almost an hour longer than last year's P1610, but we're still waiting until ultramobile PCs can run close to a full work day (Fujitsu's own comes much closer).

Fujitsu backs the LifeBook P1620 with a one-year warranty. You can extend Fujitsu's warranty to three years for an additional $180, and you can add three years of on-site service for $150. Fujitsu provides 24-7 toll-free phone support for the life of your warranty, and a support Web site offers live chat with a technician, as well as the usual FAQs, driver downloads, and product manuals.

Fujitsu LifeBook P1620-Product Summary

The good: Extremely portable; bidirectional screen hinge enhances tablet functionality.

The bad: Lacks a touch pad; unimpressive battery life; slower ultralow voltage CPU keeps a lid on performance.

The bottom line: The Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 makes a few notable improvements on its predecessor, but a new breed of cheaper mini-laptops are on the horizon, making this ideal only for heavy tablet users, who may prefer a full-size tablet.

Specs: Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (1.2 GHz); RAM installed: 1 GB; Weight: 2.4 lbs

Price range:

Fujitsu LifeBook P1620-Product Summary

The good: Extremely portable; bidirectional screen hinge enhances tablet functionality.

The bad: Lacks a touch pad; unimpressive battery life; slower ultralow voltage CPU keeps a lid on performance.

The bottom line: The Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 makes a few notable improvements on its predecessor, but a new breed of cheaper mini-laptops are on the horizon, making this ideal only for heavy tablet users, who may prefer a full-size tablet.

Specs: Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (1.2 GHz); RAM installed: 1 GB; Weight: 2.4 lbs

Price range:

Fujitsu LifeBook P8010-review

The LifeBook P8010 is a worthy upgrade to last year's ultraportable LifeBook, the P7230. Most importantly, it replaces the single-core processor with a low-voltage Core 2 Duo chip. Its dimensions swell slightly to accommodate a bigger 12-inch screen, but it still weighs in at a hair under 3 pounds. While the Apple MacBook Air, the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and the Toshiba Portege R500 make headlines for their sleek lines and thinness as well as forward-looking features such as solid-state drives, the LifeBook P8010 shuns such obvious attempts at attention. This unassuming ultraportable makes for a very capable travel companion, particularly for business users. It offers security features in a Trusted Platform Module and a fingerprint reader, while finding a comfortable balance between performance and battery life. If you are eyeing high-end ultraportable but can't fit it into this year's budget, the LifeBook P8010 provides an affordable and very functional alternative.

While our review unit costs $2,009, Fujitsu is currently offering a fixed configuration for $1,699 that we think is a better deal. You lose 40GB of hard drive space and 1GB of RAM while moving from Vista Business to XP Pro, but you save more than $400 in the process. An ultraportable is never going to be a powerhouse, and while we believe adding more memory is almost always money well spent, 1GB is enough to power a small XP machine. At $1,699, it's one of the more affordable ultraportables, which always carry a price premium in comparison to larger laptops. It's not easy cramming all the components into such a tight space, and the LifeBook P8010 boasts a useful feature set. While some ultraportables such as the MacBook Air drop the optical drive in an effort to save weight and space, the P8010 finds room for a DVD burner. You get a nice mix of ports, too, plus Bluetooth, a PC Card slot, and an SD card reader. (The otherwise excellent ThinkPad X300 lacks the latter two features.)

One feature notably absent, however, is an integrated WWAN antenna or even the option to add a broadband cellular modem card on Fujitsu's online configurator. If you need more wireless connectivity than Wi-Fi provides, you'll need to buy a PC Card from a third-party vendor.

Price as reviewed / Starting price	$2,009 / $1,699
Processor	1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100
Memory	2GB of 667MHz
Hard drive	120GB at 5,400rpm
Graphics	Integrated Intel GMA X3100
Chipset	Mobile Intel 965GM Express
Operating system	Windows Vista Business
Dimensions (WDH)	11.0 x 8.3 x 1.6 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	12.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.9 / 3.6 pounds
Category	ultraportable

While Fujitsu won't be making any claims along the lines of "the world's thinnest laptop" for the LifeBook P8010, it does make for an attractive little machine. It tapers from 1.6 inches at its thickest to 1.4 inches along the front edge, putting it on the thick side of the ultraportable scale. Given its relative bulkiness, it feels lighter than you would expect when you pick it up. The inside is outfitted in business gray with black keys, and the lid features a glossy black coating. While the keyboard is spill resistant and the hard drive offers shocks protection, unfortunately the plastic used for both the lid and the wrist rests feels particularly thin and flexes to an almost worrisome degree. In comparison, the ThinkPad X300 feels much tougher, but that extra sturdiness does add another half-pound to the weight.

Like any 12-inch (or smaller) laptop, the LifeBook P8010's keyboard feels a bit cramped. But Fujitsu did all it could here; the keyboard extends side to side. After a day of use, I grew accustomed to its dimensions, and my typos were greatly reduced. The touch pad has a nice feel to it and is generously proportioned. Between the two mouse buttons sits a fingerprint reader, which doubles as a scroll wheel. Above the keyboard sit four shortcut keys for calling up Fujitsu support, switching screen modes (normal or power saving), adjusting display settings, and opening Internet Explorer. All four buttons are programmable. To the left are icons for battery level and charging status.

Like the keyboard, the screen is as large as it can be, given the dimensions of the laptop. It extends nearly to the edge of each side; unlike the P7230, there's no wasted bezel space here. The thick bezel above the screen features a Webcam. Like the P7230, the P8010 features an LED-backlit LCD, which results in a bright image and helps with battery life. The display features the typical 1,280x800 native resolution found on other 12-inch ultraportables. It features a smooth finish, but it uses Fujitsu's Crystal View technology, which does an admirable job keeping glare and reflections to a minimum. Do note that as Fujitsu has moved from a 10.6-inch screen to one measuring 12.1 inches with its ultraportables, Apple and Lenovo just recently came out with 13-inch models whose weight puts them in the ultraportable class.

	Fujitsu LifeBook P8010	Average for midsize category
Video	VGA-out	VGA-out
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Headphone/microphone jacks
Data	Three USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, multiformat memory card reader, smart card reader	Two USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	PC Card	Type I/II PC Card or ExpressCard
Networking	Modem, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	DVD burner	None, or DVD burner

When we tested it a year ago, the LifeBook P7230 was a real dog, to put it kindly. It used a Core Solo processor and couldn't even keep pace with other single-core laptops. The LifeBook P8010 uses a dual-core but low-voltage CPU, the Core 2 Duo SL7100, and also boasts faster memory and a faster hard drive than last year's model. It showed vast improvement in the labs, finishing just behind pricier ultraportables such as the MacBook Air and the ThinkPad X300 on our application benchmarks. The Asus U6S finishes atop each chart because it uses a full-power Core 2 Duo instead of a low-voltage chip; check its battery life, however, to see the flip side of this equation. In anecdotal testing, the P8010 felt responsive, though not without the occasional delay with starting an application. In all, we think it will suffice for basic business use. More so than its performance, we feel the cramped keyboard is what will harm productivity.

The LifeBook P8010 ran for 3 hours and 45 minutes on our demanding DVD drain test, or two minutes longer than the ThinkPad X300 and its solid-state hard drive. It's an impressive number for this test, and we got closer to 5 hours of battery life during normal use with the power-saving setting enabled on the display. Not a full day's worth of juice, but enough to get you nearly from L.A. to New York (provided you are working and not playing a DVD).

Fujitsu covers the system with a one-year warranty. Support is available through a 24-7, toll-free phone line, and technicians can connect to your computer over the Internet to diagnose problems. Standard FAQs and driver downloads also are available. Adding an extra year of service costs $100, and upgrading to next-business-day on-site service is an additional $50 per year. Fujitsu is also unique among laptop vendors in offering a no-questions-asked Screen Damage Protection Plan that costs $150 for one year and $383 for three years.

Fujitsu LifeBook P8010-Product Summary

The good: Offers strong mix of performance and battery life; small chassis manages to find room for a 12.1-inch screen and a DVD burner; business-friendly features including TPM chip and fingerprint reader; comfortable and responsive touch pad, with scroll functionality built into the fingerprint reader, aids overall usability.

The bad: Thin plastic used for the chassis flexes and bends too much; no option to add WWAN prior to purchase; slightly cramped keyboard will take some getting used to.

The bottom line: Call it the unassuming ultraportable. The Fujitsu LifeBook P8010 shuns attention-grabbing thinness and solid-state drives for a solid feature set for business travelers.

Specs: Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo (1.2 GHz); RAM installed: 2 GB DDR II SDRAM; Weight: 2.9 lbs

Price range:

Asus Eee PC 4G - Review

Asus first released the low-cost, low-power Eee PC in the fall of 2007, winning rave reviews for the 7-inch $399 laptop, which cut overhead by using a tiny 4GB solid-state hard drive and a custom Linux operating system with preinstalled software such as Firefox and Open Office. While it became a cult hit (Asus says it will have sold 5 million units worldwide by the end of 2008), the lack of a Windows-based operating system kept some shoppers away.

The company promised a Windows version was in the works, but in the meantime, other PC makers saw the potential for inexpensive small laptops, and we've seen HP's 2133 Mini - Note and an revamped version of Intel's Classmate PC run Windows with similar hardware, creating a new category people are calling mininotebooks or Netbooks.

While Windows lends the Eee PC broader appeal, a larger 9-inch screen would give it a boost in functionality because the larger screen would mean less horizontal scrolling, and a larger keyboard would mean fewer typos. Instead, this new Eee PC adds Windows XP to an otherwise identical system and manages to keep the same $399 price (probably because the actual hardware inside is the same as we saw six months ago in the original). Hence, we stand by our original judgment that the Eee PC is certainly worth a look as a second laptop for travelers, or perhaps a first laptop for children--one you won't be afraid to leave in accident-prone hands. It shows up bloated UMPCs, which can cost up to five times as much.

Price as reviewed	$399
Processor	900MHz Intel Mobile CPU
Memory	512MB RAM
Hard drive	4GB SSD
Chipset/Graphics	Intel 910
Operating System	Windows XP Home
Dimensions (WDH)	8.8 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	7.0 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter [pounds]	2.0 / 2.4 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

At first it's easy to mistake the Eee PC's plastic chassis for a toy, and the recent HP 2133 Mini-Note is a similar system with an upscale brushed aluminum look. But the Mini-Note, while starting at only $599, is also a step up in price from the Eee PC, which was designed to put price first and looks second. The Eee PC is still the smallest of the mininotebooks, about the size of a trade paperback book, and it can even fit in a large jacket pocket without too much trouble. At 2 pounds, it's almost a pound lighter than the 2.9-pound HP Mini-Note.

Cramming all the things one expects from a laptop into a package this small presents some difficult design issues, and the Asus Eee PC has some of the tiniest keys we've ever had to deal with (UMPCs not included, which tend more toward smartphone thumb-style keyboards). At least most of the space is saved for making sure the actual letter keys are a usable size, which makes typing at least possible, if not entirely easy. We're not sure we'd ever be able to touch-type on it, but then again a fifth-grader might. Other keys, including the backspace, tab, and control keys, are smaller--mere slivers of their usual selves, and especially hard to hit. This is one area where HP's 2133 Mini-Note succeeds, with a nearly full-size keyboard impressively engineered into an only slightly larger space.

The 7-inch screen looks even smaller than it is, thanks to the large black screen bezel that frames it. At least the extra space around the screen serves a purpose--a Webcam sits above the screen and tiny speakers reside on the left and right side of the display, emitting tinny but passable sound for the occasional YouTube video but not much else. With a resolution of 800x480, there's not a lot of screen real estate to spare. The Windows XP desktop fits well into the small resolution, but some menus and control panels don't fit on the screen perfectly (you'll want to switch to the "small icons" view in the XP Start Menu, for example).

	Asus Eee PC 4G	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	VGA-out	VGA-out
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, SD card reader	2 USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	None	Type I/II PC Card or ExpressCard
Networking	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi	modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	None	None, or DVD burner

With three USB ports, a VGA out, and standard headphone and mic jacks, the Asus Eee offers decent connectivity. The SD card slot offers a good opportunity to boost the hard-drive space, letting you pop in your own flash memory, easily doubling the system's 4GB drive (less than half of which is actually free), with your own 4GB SD card, which you can get for less than $50.

Our standard laptop benchmark tests wouldn't run on the original Linux-based Eee PC, but the new Windows versions gives us a chance to put the hardware through its paces. It has the same Intel Celeron M processor as the Classmate PC, and both easily beat HP's VIA-powered 2133 Mini-Note. Both Intel (with Atom) and VIA (with Isaiah) have new low-power chips coming out soon for Netbook-style laptops, and though it will be several months before we see those in action, we're nevertheless disappointed to be stuck with essentially outdated hardware. Still, for basic Web surfing and working on Office docs, the Eee PC's underpowered processor suffices (as does the even slower processor in the HP Mini-Note). As long as you keep your expectations modest, and think of systems like this as Internet and word-processing tools, a Netbook can be the perfect travel companion.

On our video playback battery test, the Eee PC lasted 3 hours and 12 minutes with its four-cell battery, which is decent for an ultraportable laptop, especially one this inexpensive. Both the HP 2133 Mini-Note and the (much more expensive) HTC Shift fared much worse, each lasting for less than two hours, while Intel's Classmate passed the four-hour mark, proving this particular combination of components is capable of impressive battery life.

Asus covers its laptops with a standard, one-year parts-and-labor warranty, and it offers online Web-based help and a toll-free phone number. The company's support Web site includes the expected driver downloads and a brief FAQ but lacks useful features such as user forums or the chance to chat in real time with a technician.

Asus Eee PC 4G (black, Windows XP) - Product Summary

The good: Small, light weight, and inexpensive; Windows XP for the same price as the Linux version.

The bad: Cramped keyboard; very little hard-drive space; low screen resolution; new ultramobile CPUs are coming soon.

The bottom line: The popular low-cost Asus Eee PC makes a play for mainstream acceptance, adding Windows XP to create an impressive package for portable Web surfing and basic productivity, making it a near-flawless choice for a highly portable second laptop.

Price range:

Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - Review

When is a ThinkPad not a ThinkPad? Don't twist your brain too hard around this riddle. It's when Lenovo, a corporate staple, makes a play for the casual laptop buyer, dressing up its solid, well-built systems with some new consumer-friendly features and naming it the 15-inch IdeaPad Y510.

Aside from the textured lid, 4.1 speaker system, and media control buttons, the IdeaPad T510 could almost double as a ThinkPad T61. While the above features give this 15-inch laptop some consumer appeal, some of other additions, such as a facial-recognition log-in screen, seem more at home in a business laptop. Available only as an $899 fixed-configuration retail system, we're not ready to declare Lenovo a major player in the consumer laptop market, but the solid build quality and reasonable price make it an interesting alternative to mainstream 15-inch offerings from Dell or Hewlett-Packard.

Price	$899
Processor	1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5450
Memory	2GB, 667MHz DDR2
Hard drive	250GB 5,400rpm
Chipset	Intel GM965
Graphics	Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (integrated)
Operating System	Windows Vista Premium
Dimensions (WDH)	14.3 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	15.4 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	6.2 / 7.0 pounds
Category	Midsize

The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 eschews the soft round edges and light colors of other 15-inch consumer laptops, such as the Dell Inspiron 1525, for a matte black finish and boxy shape. It feels solid and well-built, if a little on the heavy side, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The Dell 1525 is lighter but feels much flimsier. This still isn't the heftiest 15-inch around--that would be the 7.8-pound Alienware m15x.

The back of the lid is also black, but has a linenlike pattern etched into it. Lenovo calls it a "Light Weave Texture," and while it probably spent more time on the name than the design, it's at least a nice break from the usual flat, glossy laptop shells.

Lenovo is known for its excellent keyboards, and the IdeaPad's is very good, with thick, sturdy keys. A row of touch-sensitive media control buttons sit above the keyboard, and a volume rocker switch is on the right side of the keyboard tray. It's worth noting that the traditional Lenovo pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard is missing.

The Y510 takes audio seriously, with four front-mounted speakers and a subwoofer on the bottom. The sound is certainly a step above your average laptop, and good for movies and TV, but we have yet to find a laptop that offers acceptable sound for serious music listening.

A 1.3 megapixel Webcam sits above the display. It works with the VeriFace face-recognition software, which uses your face to log into Windows. Unlike the Asus U6S, the Lenovo version actually worked well, and we were able to log in almost instantly, after running a quick face-enrollment application, without having to play around with positioning and lighting.

The 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD has a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for a screen this size. The display looks bigger than it actually is, thanks to a glossy screen overlay that extends right to the edges of the lid. Lenovo calls it a "frameless screen," although we'd probably save that designation for a screen with the smallest possible bezel--this one has a fairly standard half-inch bezel. The glossy overlay does make for a cleaner look, but it was a bit too glossy for our tastes, and we had a lot of screen glare to contend with.

	Lenovo IdeaPad Y510	Average for midsize category
Video	VGA-out, S-Video	VGA-out, S-Video
Audio	4.1 speakers w/subwoofer, headphone/microphone jacks	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	3 USB 2.0, mini FireWire, multiformat memory card reader	4 USB 2.0, mini FireWire, multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	Express Card	PC Card slot
Networking	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth
Optical drive	DVD burner	DVD burner

As a fixed-configuration laptop, you won't get to add options such as mobile broadband to the IdeaPad Y510. At least the system has an ExpressCard slot, so that kind of hardware can be added aftermarket. The lack of Bluetooth was also disappointing--it's standard equipment now even in cheaper laptops.

Intel's 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo T5450 is the default CPU these days for laptops that want decent performance on a budget, and coupled with 2GB of RAM, the Y510 is certainly more than capable of Web surfing, working on office documents, media playback, and photo editing. We found its performance nearly identical to other mainstream laptops with the same 5450 chip, such as the Toshiba Satellite A205, and didn't experience any slowdown or stuttering.

Lenovo has a reputation for good battery life, and the IdeaPad Y510 does well for a budget-minded mainstream laptop, lasting 2 hours and 56 minutes on our DVD battery drain test. That test is especially grueling, so you can expect longer life from the included 6-cell battery in casual Web surfing and office use, and we got closer to 4 hours anecdotally.

Lenovo includes an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty with the system, and the company's support Web site is above average, providing easy access to features such as an online knowledge base and driver downloads. Support is also accessible through a 24-7 toll-free phone line and an online chat tool.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 - Product Summary

The good: Solid construction; reasonably priced; face-recognition software that actually works; decent battery life.

The bad: Fixed configuration; overly glossy screen; no Bluetooth.

The bottom line: Lenovo's entry into the consumer laptop market with the 15-inch IdeaPad Y510 provides ThinkPad-like quality but the design still comes off as a little buttoned-up.

Specs: Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core (1.6 GHz); RAM installed: 2 GB DDR II SDRAM; Weight: 6.4 lbs

Price range:

Iriver E100 (8GB, sky blue)

Product Summary

The good: The Iriver E100 is packed with pretty much every feature in the book--photo and video playback, an FM radio, all recording capabilities, compatibility with both Windows and Mac, extensive audio file format support, bookmarking, microSD card expansion, even external speakers--yet it's inexpensive and easy to use.

The bad: The Iriver E100 has a cheap, plastic feel, and the interface is very basic. The clickpad is not totally responsive, and some navigation is sluggish. D-Click navigation isn't optimal for the control pad setup. No integrated podcast support.

The bottom line: The Iriver E100 is a decent choice for people who want a ton of features in an easy-to-use package, but if you're after speedy navigation or top-notch sound quality, look elsewhere.

Specs: Device type: Digital player / radio See full specs >>

Price range: $

Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones

Product Summary

The good: The Sony MDR-NC500D headphones offer superior noise cancellation, solid sound quality, and a plethora of useful extras, including a battery pack for extended use.

The bad: The Sony MDR-NC500 headphones cannot be used without the noise cancellation activated; the tight fit may be uncomfortable for some users; and they're expensive.

The bottom line: The Sony MDR-NC500D Digital Noise Canceling Headphones may lighten the wallet, but they are a great option for frequent fliers and tetchy commuters who need superior noise cancellation.

Specs: Product type: Headphones; Design: Ear-cup; Weight: 6.9 oz See full specs >>

Price range:

iLuv i399 (Black, Bluetooth)

Product Summary

The good: iPod speaker with built-in subwoofer; streams wireless audio from Bluetooth sources; FM radio with 20 presets; good sound quality.

The bad: Lacks CD, USB port, alarms, and video-out options found on earlier, more affordable model; major battery requirements for portable use; shoddy speakerphone performance; tacky rhythm-sensitive LED lights; slight speaker buzz when iPod is connected.

The bottom line: While the iLuv i399 is still a solid-sounding iPod speaker dock, we wish it had held on to some of the features the made the previous model such an excellent value.

Price range:

Sony MDR-AS40EX Headphones

Product Summary

The good: The Sony MDR-AS40EX earphones feature an excellent, fitness-friendly design; they're also comfortable and very reasonably priced. They come with a case, extender cable, and various ear fittings.

The bad: The Sony MDR-AS40EX earphones suffer from mushy bass, and that's only if you can get the 'buds far enough in to hear the low end at all. Music sounds overly bright.

The bottom line: The Sony MDR-AS40EX earphones are a good choice for fitness fiends with limited cash to spend and a preference for an earclip design.

Apple MacBook - Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Product Summary

The good: Upgraded CPU for the same price; same great design; Leopard operating system.

The bad: Still no Express card or SD card slots; only more expensive models are available in black.

The bottom line: Apple has been content to issue minor periodic hardware updates to the 13-inch MacBook, but the modest performance gains and new Leopard OS keep it in our top tier of laptop recommendations.

Price range: $1,376.60 - $1,494.00

Specifications

Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

Part number: MB063LL/B

General

System Type

Notebook

Built-in Devices

Stereo speakers, Bluetooth antenna, Wireless LAN antenna

Width

12.8 in

Depth

8.9 in

Height

1.1 in

Weight

5.1 lbs

Color

Black

Notebook type

Thin-and-light (4-6 lbs.)

Screen type

Wide-screen

Wireless capabilities

Bluetooth, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11 pre-N, 802.11g

Processor

Processor

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz

Multi-Core processor technology

Dual-Core

64-bit processor

Yes

Data bus speed

800 MHz

Cache Memory

Type

L2 cache

Cache size

4 MB

RAM

Installed Size

1 GB / 4 GB (max)

Technology

DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz

Memory specification compliance

PC2-5300

RAM form factor

SO DIMM 200-pin

RAM configuration features

2 x 512 MB

Environmental Parameters

Environmental & energy standards compliance

EPA Energy Star

Min Operating Temperature

50 °F

Max Operating Temperature

95 °F

Humidity Range Operating

0 - 90%

Storage Controller

Storage controller type

Serial ATA

Storage Controller / Serial ATA Interface

Serial ATA-150

Storage

Floppy Drive

None

Hard Drive

160 GB - Serial ATA-150 - 5400 rpm

Storage Removable

None

Hard drive type

Portable

Optical Storage

Type

DVD±RW (±R DL) - Integrated

CD / DVD read speed

24x (CD) / 8x (DVD)

CD / DVD write speed

24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL)

CD / DVD rewrite speed

10x (CD) / 4x (DVD±RW)

Optical Storage (2nd)

2nd optical storage type

None

Display

Display Type

13.3 in TFT active matrix

Max Resolution

1280 x 800 ( WXGA )

Widescreen Display

Yes

Features

Glossy

Video

Graphics Processor / Vendor

Intel GMA X3100

Video Memory

Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0

Max Allocated RAM Size

144 MB

Audio

Audio output type

Sound card

Audio Input

Microphone

Notebook Camera

Camera Type

Integrated

Input Device(s)

Input device type

Keyboard, Trackpad

Telecom

Modem

None

Networking

Networking

Network adapter

Networking / Wireless LAN Supported

Yes

Data link protocol

Ethernet, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0 EDR, IEEE 802.11n (draft)

Networking standards

IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, Bluetooth 2.0, IEEE 802.11n (draft)

Expansion / Connectivity

Expansion Slots Total (Free)

2 ( 0 ) x Memory - SO DIMM 200-pin

Interfaces

1 x Display / video - Apple mini-DVI, 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) - 6 pin FireWire, 2 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type A, 1 x Audio - SPDIF input/line-in - Mini-phone 3.5 mm / TOSLINK, 1 x Audio - SPDIF output/headphones - Mini-phone 3.5 mm / TOSLINK, 1 x Network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45, 1 x Network - Radio-Ethernet

Miscellaneous

Included Accessories

Remote control

Cables Included

Power cable ( 1 pcs.)

Features

Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately)

Compliant Standards

EPA Energy Star

Power

Power device form factor

External

Voltage Required

AC 120/230 V

Battery

Technology

Lithium polymer

Installed Qty

1

Battery capacity

55 Wh

Mfr estimated battery life

6 hour(s)

Manufacturer Warranty

Service & support type

1 year warranty

Service & Support Details

Limited warranty - 1 year, Technical support - Phone consulting - 90 days

Operating System / Software

OS Provided

Apple MacOS X 10.5

Software

Front Row, Apple iCal, Apple iChat, Photo Booth, Apple Safari, Apple Spaces, Apple iLifeí08, Apple Dashboard, Apple QuickTime, Apple Spotlight, Apple DVD Player, Apple Quick Look, IWork í08 (Trial), Apple Address Book, Apple Time Machine, Apple Mac OS X Mail, Drivers & Utilities, Apple XCode Developer Tools, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive

Toshiba Portege R500-S5003

Product Summary

The good: Extremely thin and light laptop; includes solid-state hard drive.

The bad: Fixed configuration; no mobile broadband; expensive external optical drive option; ULV CPU limits performance without seeming to do all that much to extend battery life.

The bottom line: Toshiba's SSD version of the Portege R500 may be the best ultraportable laptop available right now, and it packs in much of what the MacBook Air lacks while weighing nearly half as much.

When we first saw the Toshiba Portege R500 back in the summer of 2007, it quickly became one of our favorite ultraportable laptops--and one of our favorite laptops overall. Thanks to its small size, light weight, and plentiful extras, the R500 was very close to the final word in ultraportable systems. In the months since, very little has come our way to challenge the R500's lofty perch atop the ultraportable heap, though Apple's new MacBook Air comes close, offering a bigger screen, thinner chassis, and more powerful CPU, as well as an optional solid state hard drive.

Toshiba's SSD version of the R500 has been widely available only recently, and going toe-to-toe with the solid-state drive (SSD) version of the MacBook Air, it's a close matchup. Both systems offer expensive 64GB modules and omit the optical drive. (While both companies offer slim external drives, it should be noted that Toshiba also sells a version of the R500 with an internal optical drive). The Air is thinner and features a larger display, but the R500 keeps most of the ports and connections that go missing on the Air, and, more amazingly, manages to cut more than a pound off of the Air's weight, coming in at an astounding 1.7 pounds.

At $2,699, the SSD version of the Portege R500 is no bargain, especially considering its wimpy Intel ultra-low-voltage processor (the Air has a new, shrunk-down version of Intel's standard Core 2 Duo, which won't be available to other PC makers for months, at least). But, considering the SSD version of the MacBook Air comes in at $3,100, the R500 suddenly looks a lot more reasonable.

Price as reviewed	$2,699
Processor	1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7600
Memory	1GB, 667MHz DDR2
Hard drive	64GB solid-state drive
Chipset	Intel 945
Graphics	Mobile Intel Express 950GM (integrated)
Operating System	Windows XP Pro
Dimensions (WDH)	11.0x8.5x1.0 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	12.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	1.7 / 2.4 pounds
Category	Ultraportable

Cast in a matte silver, with an ultrathin LED backlit display, the R500 is still impressively tiny, even though the footprint is no smaller than the versions of the R500 that feature an optical drive. Both the screen and keyboard flex a bit under the slightest pressure, even though we know from experience that the magnesium-alloy chassis is sturdy enough for regular use and travel. At only 1.7 pounds, the R500 feels incredibly light--so much so that one colleague who picked it up asked if it was a dummy mockup for photos, rather than a fully functional computer.

The Toshiba Portege R500 manages to fit in a decent-size keyboard, which made for comfortable typing, and avoids the annoying ultraportable trap of eliminating important keys, squeezing in separate page-up and page-down keys (always important for laptop Web surfing). The 12.1-inch display has a native resolution of 1,280x800, the same as that of the MacBook Air and most other 15-inch or smaller laptops. The R500 had a matte screen, which we generally prefer, but the antiglare coating made for terrible off-angle viewing.

	Toshiba Portege R500	Average for category [ultraportable]
Video	VGA-out	VGA-out
Audio	Headphone/microphone jacks	Headphone/microphone jacks
Data	Three USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD card reader	Two USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, SD or multiformat memory card reader
Expansion	PC Card slot	Type I/II PC Card or ExpressCard
Networking	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	None	None, or DVD burner

With a laptop this small, there are inevitably concessions to be made in terms of ports and connectivity. The older PC card slot is becoming increasingly irrelevant, and we would rather have seen an ExpressCard slot instead. The lack of mobile broadband was one of our key complaints about the original Portege R500. This feature is coming soon to Europe, via a 3G connection, but it's not available in the U.S. yet. Toshiba sells an external DVD burner for $269 (which seems a bit pricey), or the R500 is available with both the SSD drive and a built-in DVD burner for $2,999 (which would add to its weight).

Intel's line of ultra-low-voltage Core 2 Duo CPUs are designed to work in small laptops where heat and battery life are key concerns. Therefore, they're not the speediest processors available, and laptop users can experience slowdown and stuttering even under the best of circumstances. The Core 2 Duo U7600 is a step above the U7500 in the Sony VAIO TZ 150, and it soundly bested the VAIO in each of our benchmarks. But these chips can't compete with the custom version of the standard Core 2 Duo Intel designed specifically for the MacBook Air, which offered an all-around better, faster, and smoother computing experience. While not officially announced, we expect that MacBook Air's CPU to make its way into other brands later in 2008.

A tiny ultraportable laptop lives or dies based on battery life. After all, there's no point to carrying one of these systems around all day if you have to bring an A/C adapter with you everywhere. The Portege R500's battery was reasonably impressive, lasting 2 hours and 49 minutes on our video playback battery drain test. We didn't see much benefit in the battery department from either the ULV processor or the supposedly power-saving SSD hard drive.

Toshiba includes a three-year standard warranty with the R500, as we would expect for a premium-priced system like this, but it's only mail-in service. On-site will cost an extra $152 for the three-year term. The tech support toll-free phone line is open 24-7, and the Web site offers all the standard driver downloads and manuals.

Lenovo ThinkPad X300

Product Summary

The good: Extremely thin and light; sleekest ThinkPad yet; built-in DVD burner, plus WWAN, GPS, and wireless USB.

The bad: Solid-state drive comes at a high premium; touch pad's location makes it easy to accidentally graze while typing.

The bottom line: The ThinkPad X300 breaks new ground by packing a broad display, full-size keyboard, and nearly every feature a mobile user needs into a sleek, lightweight case.

Price range: $2,997.00

REVIEW

We're not even two months into the new year, and we've already seen Apple's remarkably slim MacBook Air and Toshiba's update to its featherweight Portege R500 . Both were very strong contenders for the top spot on our list of favorite ultraportable laptops--until this week, when we got our hands on the Lenovo ThinkPad X300. The newest addition to the ThinkPad X series incorporates the best of the MacBook Air (13.3-inch display, full-size keyboard, thickness less than one inch) with the best of the Portege R500 (solid-state hard drive, thorough selection of ports) while also adding its own great features, such as a built-in DVD burner, WWAN connectivity, and GPS. The X300's ThinkPad DNA is evident in its instantly recognizable black, square-edged case, but at 0.73 inch thick and weighing anywhere from 2.9 pounds to 3.5 pounds (depending on your battery and optical drive choices), it's simply the sleekest ThinkPad yet. The biggest criticism of the ThinkPad X300 is its price: the base configuration costs $2,476 and goes up from there. But innovative design, thorough features, and cutting-edge components don't come cheap, and the ThinkPad X300 is truly unique in its balance of portability and usability.

Price as reviewed / starting price	$2,936 / $2,476
Processor	1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100
Memory	2GB of 667MHz
Hard drive	64GB solid-state drive
Graphics	Intel GMA X3100 (integrated)
Operating System	Windows XP Professional
Dimensions (WDH)	12.5 x 9.1 x 0.73 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	3.4 / 4.0 pounds
Category	ultraportable

.

Aside from the laptop's dimensions, the design changes with the ThinkPad X300 have been incremental. The ultraportable still features a rectangular black case built around a magnesium chassis. There's still a blue ThinkVantage button above the keyboard, a fingerprint reader below it, and a keyboard light on the top edge of the display. However, ThinkPad fans will notice small changes that make the X300 a bit more attractive. The lid and wrist rest feature an appealing soft matte finish; the ThinkVantage, power, and mute buttons glow when pressed; and the front edge is devoid of any ports or switches.

In addition to the keyboard light, the ThinkPad X300's display bezel includes a 1.3-megapixel Webcam and a noise-canceling digital microphone for Web conferencing. The matte-finish display itself features a 1,440x900 native resolution that's sharper than that of the MacBook Air and other similarly sized screens, resulting in text and icons that are a bit smaller than you'd expect. The sharper resolution doesn't cause tremendous problems, though we did find ourselves pumping up the font size on a newspaper's Web site so we could read a lengthy article. We also zoomed in a bit when working on documents and spreadsheets. The trade-off: more screen real estate for multitasking and, when it's time for a break, beautiful video.

Given the amount of typing the typical executive does through the course of the work day, a keyboard can make or break an ultraportable. The ThinkPad X300 actually uses the same keyboard found on Lenovo's 14- and 15-inch models--which is to say, not the condensed keyboard found on previous X series models and many ultraportable laptops from other manufacturers. After conducting an entire morning's work--and writing this review--on the ThinkPad X300, we still don't feel like we've been typing on a laptop. We love it.

Lenovo decided to include both the red eraser-head TrackPoint pointing stick and a touch pad on the ThinkPad X300. The decision is understandable: many ThinkPad users are viscerally attached to their TrackPoints, while other users can't stand it, so why not include both methods? However, the double sets of mouse buttons seem to run counter to the overall theme of simplification that the ThinkPad X300 embodies. In order to make room for the TrackPoint's buttons, the touch pad is placed rather low on the wrist rest, with its buttons near the laptop's front edge. Fortunately, the ThinkPad X300 is thin enough that we could use the touch pad with our wrist resting on a desk surface--or on our leg, when the laptop was in our lap. Of greater concern is the fact that, during our lazier typing moments when our wrists dropped to the wrist rest, we were likely to graze the touch pad and accidentally misplace the cursor.

	Lenovo ThinkPad X300	Average for ultraportable category
Video	VGA-out	VGA-out
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks	Headphone/microphone jacks
Data	Three USB 2.0	Two USB 2.0, mini-FireWire, mulitformat memory card reader
Expansion	None	PC Card or ExpressCard slot
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11 a/g/n, Bluetooth, WWAN, GPS	Modem, Ethernet, 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive	DVD burner	None, or DVD burner

The ThinkPad X300 is an interesting exercise in minimalism. The laptop lacks some features that would be considered standard on an ultraportable, such as an expansion card slot or multiformat memory card reader, both of which are found on the Toshiba Portege R500. But it adds features that will likely be of higher value to mobile workers, such as WWAN, wireless USB, and even GPS. More notably, it incorporates many features that the MacBook Air does not, including two more USB ports, an Ethernet connection, and a built-in DVD burner. These additions make the ThinkPad X300 a realistic choice for use as a primary computer, which is a major advantage over its Apple competitor, especially given the price.

The base model of the ThinkPad X300 costs a hefty $2,476. Much of that price can be attributed to the laptop's 64GB solid-state drive, which promises faster application launch and boot times as well as a longer lifetime than a traditional hard drive with moving parts. (Unlike the MacBook Air, which comes in a low-cost configuration with a traditional spinning hard drive, the ThinkPad X300 is available only with a solid-state drive.) Our review unit included a few upgrades--twice as much RAM as the base configuration, plus WWAN, GPS, and an extended-life six-cell battery--that brought the price to $2,936. That's a bit high, even for an ultraportable, but still below the cost of a MacBook Air equipped with a solid-state drive.

Like the MacBook Air, the ThinkPad X300 incorporates Intel's new small-form-factor Core 2 Duo CPU, though with a slightly slower clock speed. That slower speed is at least partly to blame for the ThinkPad X300 trailing behind the MacBook Air on the multimedia multitasking portion of CNET Labs' performance benchmarks. Fortunately the ThinkPad's 2GB of RAM helped it keep up with the MacBook Air on our Photoshop test, where it also scored well ahead of the Toshiba Portege R500. As with any Core 2 Duo system, the ThinkPad X300 proved more than adequate for typical business productivity tasks, including Web surfing, media playback, and running office applications. We were able to conduct a full morning's work while streaming music over the wireless connection without any stuttering or noticeable performance issues.

In anecdotal testing of the ThinkPad X300 with the six-cell battery, we were able to get between 3 and 4 hours of battery life, depending on our usage and screen brightness settings. On CNET Labs' DVD battery drain test, the ThinkPad X300 died out after 3 hours, 43 minutes, just 20 minutes before the MacBook Air. That's obviously not enough juice for a full day of work away from the desk, but it is nearly an hour longer than the Portege R500's battery life. Here's another place where the ThinkPad X300's built-in DVD is an advantage: you can purchase an additional three-cell battery that fits inside the drive bay to extend your mobile computing time. Also an advantage: the ThinkPad X300's removable battery, which is remarkable only because users cannot replace the battery in the MacBook Air.

As Lenovo has moved toward offering built-to-order systems, the company has dropped the baseline warranty for ThinkPads to a single year. Extending coverage to three years costs $119; other reasonably priced upgrades add coverage for accidental drops or spills and LCD damage. The preloaded suite of ThinkVantage applications helps users troubleshoot problems, and Lenovo's support Web site includes the expected troubleshooting topics, driver downloads, and user guides.