Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga review: Yoga flexibility melded with ThinkPad muscle

Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga $1,299.00 This business-oriented Ultrabook hybrid is a successful marriage of Yoga design and ThinkPad durability, features, and docking options.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga isn’t as slim or sexy as its colorful consumer-oriented sibling, the IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro, nor does it have the Yoga 2 Pro's alluring 3820-by-1200-pixel display. But this hybrid Ultrabook checks all the must-have business feature boxes, as befits its place in the ThinkPad lineup. And it does so in typical Yoga style.

So what does the ThinkPad Yoga have that the "darn close to perfect" Yoga 2 Pro doesn't? Both models have touchscreens with 360-degree hinges, so they can be used in tablet, laptop, stand, and "tent" modes. ThinkPad Yoga adds business-oriented goodies such as a matte Gorilla Glass display, a tough magnesium-alloy case, a port for a desktop docking station, and that classic TrackPoint button in the center of its keyboard.

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Lenovo's ThinkPad Yoga has that famous hinge that allows it to be used in notebook, stand, tent, or tablet mode. 

The ThinkPad Pro also has an innovative "Lift 'n Lock" feature that raises the frame surrounding its backlit keyboard so that it’s flush with the keys when the laptop is in tent or tablet mode. This helps prevent damage from dirt and spills. Contrast that with the Yoga 2 Pro, which simply turns it keyboard off when it’s flipped around.

The Yoga comes in a pedestrian gray case with rounded corners, unlike the sleek tapered design of the Yoga 2 Pro. It's not ugly, but where is it written that business laptops can't have sexy looks or come in a color scheme other than gray or black?

The main attraction of the Yoga line is the backflip hinge, which lives up to its promise. I flew cross-country twice during this review, and the "stand" mode, where the screen is upright with the keyboard flat on the table behind it, proved to be perfect for such cramped quarters. It’s much more stable in bumpy airspace than tent mode. I could watch videos or use the touchscreen to surf.

Where is it written that business laptops can't have sexy looks or come in a color scheme other than gray or black?

But the ThinkPad Yoga is too hefty—it weighs 3.52 pounds—for extended hand-held tablet use. Stand mode, on the other hand, works fine even in your lap. The Yoga's hinges are great, not too stiff, and they hold the screen securely at any angle in both tent and stand positions.

Despite its clever lift-up keyboard, I just couldn't bring myself to place the machine in stand or tablet modes on the kitchen table or anywhere liquid or crumbs might get into the downward-facing keyboard. Twist-around displays, including Lenovo's own ThinkPad Twist, allow pretty much the same usage modes without the keyboard ever facing down. Sony's VAIO Flip and Dell's XPS 12 Convertible avoid this problem, too. On the other hand, these designs are not as rugged as the hinges on Lenovo’s Yoga laptops.

The ThinkPad Yoga’s 12.5-inch touchscreen delivers resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. Its matte finish performs better in sunlight and doesn't show fingerprints as much as the glossy one in the Yoga 2 Pro, but they do still show.

The ThinkPad Yoga didn't deliver the highest Worldbench 8.1 score we've seen in this class, but it's certainly not a weakling.

But the ThinkPad Yoga's secret weapon is the excellent pressure-sensitive pen it ships with. You can draw or take notes on the screen and avoid the fingerprint issue altogether. The stylus proved essential when using the mchine in tablet mode, because many interface elements are just too small for accurate fingertip navigation. You can use the pen to annotate PDFs, sign documents, and even snap screenshots.

That venerable red TrackPoint button is there for long-time ThinkPad devotees. I'm firmly in the touchpad camp, and I found the ThinkPad Yoga’s five-button glass touchpad to be just average. It simply doesn't feel as good as the best I've used. The keyboard, on the other hand, is top-notch: responsive, tactile and fast to type on.

The ThinkPad Yoga also has the de rigueur 720p HD webcam in the touchscreen bezel. It worked just fine with Skype, but it's not great in low light.

The ThinkPad Yoga is slightly thicker (0.76 inches compared to 0.61 inches) and about a half-pound heavier than the Yoga 2 Pro, but it offers considerably more expansion options than its consumer-oriented stablemate. There’s a OneLink/power socket, a USB 3.0 port, and a headphone/mic jack on the left side. The right side has a second USB 3.0 port, a 4-in-1 card reader, a mini-HDMI port, and a display orientation lock.

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The ThinkPad Yoga is slightly thicker and heavier than the consumer-oriented Yoga 2 Pro, but it still qualifies for Intel's Ultrabook designation. 

The OneLink port connects the laptop to Lenovo’s optional OneLink Dock ($120), a vertically oriented port replicator with two USB 3.0 ports (one with always-on charging), two USB 2.0 ports, gigabit ethernet, a headphone jack, and an HDMI port.

The dock is a must-have for big-monitor junkies and peripheral collectors, and a major reason to choose the ThinkPad Yoga over the Yoga 2 Pro. Another reason is the option to outfit the ThinkPad Yoga with an Intel Wireless-AC 7260 card, as our eval unit was. The Yoga 2 Pro is currently available only with Intel’s Wireless-N 7260 adapter. If you don’t already have an 802.11ac router, one is likely in your future. They’re considerably faster and deliver much better range.

Our $1299 review unit was equipped with a fourth-generation Intel Core i5-4200U processor, 4GB of DDR3/1600 memory, and a 128GB SSD. It runs Windows 8.1 Pro. Other configurations are also available.

We're a little disappointed in this hybrid's battery life, especially when compared to the comparably equipped Dell XPS 12 Convertible. 

The ThinkPad Yoga delivered a Worldbench 8.1 score of 287, which is typical of this category. In fact, it’s identical to that of the Yoga 2 Pro we reviewed (which was outfitted with the same CPU, memory, and SSD).

Battery life came in at a so-so 5 hours and 40 minutes, which is slightly better than the Yoga 2 Pro's 5:29, but more than an hour less than Dell’s comparably priced and similarly equipped XPS 12 Convertible, (although the XPS 12 doesn’t have that useful pen digitizer).

Business users will appreciate the ThinkPad Yoga for its rugged design, double-jointed hinge, versatile dock, better-than-average performance, and vaunted ThinkPad keyboard. Now if Lenovo could just shoehorn an ultra-high-res display into a more-attractive housing, they'd have a hybrid Ultrabook with flash as well as substance.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X240 review: A no-nonsense business laptop

If Lenovo’s spendy ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the laptop every corporate drone craves, Lenovo’s thrifty ThinkPad X240 is the laptop their employer is more apt to spring for (assuming, of course, that the company’s IT department has standardized on Lenovo and not Dell, HP, Toshiba, or some other commercial laptop builder).

You might think the ThinkPad X240 is too thick and too heavy to qualify for Ultrabook designation, but it’s only 0.79 inches thick and it weighs just 3 pounds. And there’s a very good reason why the X240 doesn’t taper to a knife edge like the X1 Carbon does: The X240 is outfitted with two batteries and a battery bridge that enables you to swap a depleted battery for one that’s fully charged without turning the machine off. That’s slick.

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Lenovo's ThinkPad X240 looks thick only next to wafer-thin notebooks like Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon. This machine is only 0.79 inches thick and it weighs three pounds.

PCWorld’s Worldbench suite rewards laptops equipped with SSDs—the configuration reviewed here includes a 256GB model—but the X240’s score of 282 leaves it slightly behind Dell’s XPS 12 Ultrabook Convertible (which has the same dual-core CPU) and Samsung’s Ativ Book 7 (which is powered by a third-generation Core i5-3337U, another dual core). This is a little surprising considering that the ThinkPad had twice as much DDR3/1600 memory: 8GB versus 4GB in the Dell and the Samsung.

Worldbench favors machines with SSDs, and the ThinkPad X240 we reviewed has a 256GB model. 

The x240 packs a fourth-generation Intel Core processor, so you can expect strong battery life. Our eval unit came with a Core i5-4200U, but you can make other choices when you place your order. The three-cell battery in this one ran for 6 hours and 26 minutes, which is typical of Haswell-powered notebooks, but Lenovo also offers an optional six-cell battery that should run much longer than the average workday. That large battery will add weight and about a half-inch of thickness to the X240—it will protrude from the bottom rear of the laptop.

If you don't mind toting an extra battery, the ThinkPad X240's hot-swap feature will keep you productive for many, many hours.  

The X240 has a number of I/O ports you won’t find on the 2013 X1 Carbon, including a gigabit ethernet port, a smart card reader, 34mm Express card socket, a VGA port, an always-on USB 2.0 port, and a docking port on its bottom. Like the X1 Carbon, it also has two USB 3.0 ports, a mini DisplayPort, an SD card reader, and a fingerprint reader (an included option our eval unit).

You can also order your machine with several different 12.5-inch displays, but I recommend staying away from the 1366-by-768 touchscreen I evaluated. It’s a bright IPS panel that’s very responsive to touch, but it looked fuzzy and grainy to my eyes. Place it next to a laptop with a 1920-by-1080 display and you’ll experience severe pixel envy. Ordering one for this machine will add $330 to its $1555 price tag.

I was also a little disappointed in the X240’s backlit, island-style keyboard. I've used a number of Lenovo keyboards, and this one just doesn't feel as nice (for lack of a better term). The spacebar has an oddly stiff feel that made me miss-tap it frequently, and the key spacing didn't feel as comfortable. It's not a terrible keyboard, but it's not as outstanding as I've come to expect from a ThinkPad.

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The 1366 by 768 display left me wanting more definition. 

TrackPoint fans will still find the nubby red dot in the center of the keyboard, but the dedicated buttons are gone. You'll need to depress the whole glass trackpad and hope your finger is in the right zone (there are five) to get the type of click you want. I found middle clicks especially hard to hit accurately. Speaking of the one-giant-button trackpad, it depresses easily and quietly. Its generous size enables you to make the most of Windows 8’s multitouch gestures, but I ran into a few frustrating moments when it registered two-finger scrolling when I only had one finger down. Apart from that, I found it to be smooth and responsive for navigation.

If you’re looking for a workhorse laptop with incredible battery life, Lenovo’s X240 is a solid choice. Its graphite-black chassis won’t turn heads, but it will help you travel light and get a lot of work done. Just think hard before you order one with the 1366 by 768 touchscreen. This machine deserves better, and so do you.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon review: An enterprise-class notebook to fall in love with

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch $1,215.00 This quietly elegant executive notebook is small, slim, sturdy and a dream to use. It's expensive, and its battery life is short, but it's one of the best business-travel companions we've seen.

ThinkPads have been a class act among business laptops since IBM launched the line over two decades ago. As a Lenovo brand, they remain pricey, but they’re also exceptionally easy to carry and comfortable to use. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch stands out even from its forebears.

I recently took this Windows 8 Pro model with me on a flight from San Francisco to the East Coast and quickly fell into serious like with it. Fabricated from carbon fiber, it’s one of the thinnest and lightest 14-inch Ultrabooks around, and I found its low-glare touchscreen big enough to view spreadsheets without stressing my wrists and fingertips while panning and scrolling. The display was easy to read even in the constantly changing lighting conditions inside the aircraft’s cabin.

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The wafer-thin ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch weighs just 3.4 pounds.

The X1 Carbon Touch comes with other intelligent design elements, too: A perfectly tensioned screen panel that I could quickly flip open to the exact viewing angle I wanted; a quiet, cushy keyboard that’s a pure joy to type on; a large, smooth glass multitouch trackpad with excellent palm rejection to minimize fly-away cursors while I typed; and a case that’s tough and stiff, yet soft enough I could comfortably perch my palms on the keyboard deck for long stretches while I pounded out notes for this review.

I do have a few complaints. My biggest beef is the short battery life. I flipped open the X1 Carbon Touch soon after we lifted off from SFO, and it expired more than an hour from Boston. I’m used to getting to New England with juice to spare. I have a few other gripes, which I’ll mention later. All in all, though, the X1 Carbon Touch is a terrific machine. It’s one of the most comfortable and easiest-to-use notebooks I’ve laid eyes and hands on, and it’s amazingly tough for such a thin and light model.

If all you’re after is speed and feeds, you can find much of what the X1 Carbon Touch offers in machines costing hundreds of dollars less. Its most exciting silicon is the lightning-fast 180GB SSD that gave it the edge in our performance tests (more on that below). The processor (Intel’s 1.8GHz Core i5-3427U, with its HD Graphics 4000 integrated GPU) and the 4GB of memory are standard fare on small notebooks, and you can’t upgrade either.

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Not that you'll be playing a lot of games on the company's notebook, but it's good to know the X1 Carbon Touch can keep up with the competition on that metric. 

The Carbon Touch shines—truly shines—when you take it with you and actually use the thing. It’s so light and slim I hardly noticed it in my carry-on bag. It weighs only 3.4 pounds and measures 0.75 inches thick. Still, this ThinkPad hardly flexed at all when I gripped its ends with both hands and gave it the torque-twist test.

Getting down to business with the X1 Carbon Touch is an almost unbridled pleasure. The screen panel slightly overhangs the keyboard deck; that, plus the slightly tacky, almost rubbery case surface makes the laptop easy to grip and flip open, and it almost instantly wakes up from Sleep mode. Even from a dead start, the Carbon Touch fires up in 10 seconds, among the fastest full boots we’ve seen among little notebooks.

The 14-inch screen is based TN (twisted nematic) technology, so colors are less vivid, and viewing angles aren't as wide compared with an IPS (in-plane switching) display, but the viewing angles are exceptionally good for a TN panel, even from the top or the bottom. The screen resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels is a good match for the display’s size.

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You'd never guess that the X1 Carbon Touch's display is based on what's widely considered to be inferior twisted-nematic technology. 

And that brings me to input, one of this ThinkPad’s greatest strengths. You won’t find anything better on any computer this small. The display responds nimbly and accurately to touch gestures, and so does the touchpad. The keyboard is hands-down the best I’ve used on any notebook under 4 pounds. Lenovo spaced the keys an eighth-inch apart (only slightly less than the gaps you find on full-sized keyboards), the keys are slightly concave from side by side, they have the same slightly tacky surface you find on the case, and the tactile feedback is spot-on. The end result: I cranked out loads of typo-free copy even while wedged into my window seat on the 737. Plus, the keyboard is so quiet, it has almost no clacking sound to it at all.

This ThinkPad comes with two pointing devices: the eraser-head-like TrackPoint nestled within the keyboard keys, and the trackpad below the keyboard. The TrackPoint’s big benefit is that you don’t need to move your hands off the keyboard to use it. Touch-typists will love it, but I found the TrackPoint overly sensitive. Your mileage may vary. I could do multitouch gestures on it like pinching to zoom, so I didn’t have to move my hands up to the screen very often, and I worked blissfully free of flyaway pointer problems—the first notebook I’ve reviewed with that perfect record. The touchpad, though, is a little finicky when I tap on it to mimic left-mouse key actions.

Lenovo's Ultrabook delivered an excellent WorldBench 8.1 score. (Click charts to enlarge.)

The X1 Carbon Touch has some great usability features, such as the dedicated buttons underneath the screen for adjusting the volume and muting the onboard mic. These are very handy when making video calls. The speakers themselves are mounted near the front of the PC, beneath the keyboard deck. The bottom edges of the laptop slope up, so the sound bounces off whatever surface the computer is resting on. That’s fine if it’s a desktop or table, but it can sound muffled if the PC’s sitting on a soft surface like a seat cushion (although that’s not a good practice anyway, since that could block the cooling vent).

So where could Lenovo most improve this ThinkPad? Battery life and expandability. Our battery-rundown test puts battery life at 4 hours, 9 minutes, but it seemed even less in my day-to-day use. A saving grace: The battery recharges really fast. I charged it to 75 percent in 30 minutes, which is great even if you have tight flight connections.

Bring a portable battery charger with you on long trips. The X1 Carbon Touch's battery poops out much too early.

The X1 Carbon Touch also has fewer connections than I expect: just two USB ports (one 2.0 and one 3.0), a mini DisplayPort, an SD Card slot, and a headset/mic jack. You can use the USB 2.0 connector to charge a tablet or smartphone even when the computer is powered down. You get no ethernet port, so it’s good that Lenovo provides an ethernet dongle, but that’s something extra to remember to pack—and possibly lose. Lenovo also sells a VGA dongle for $35, if you really need one. I also found a SIM card slot on the back of the notebook for mobile broadband. But you’ll need to buy a 3G card and make sure that the needed WWAN (wireless wide-area network) antennas are installed inside the computer.

As is often the case with superthin notebooks, hardware upgrades are limited and a pain to accomplish. Your IT department might love the X1 Carbon Touch less than you. The Core i5 processor and the 4GB of memory, for example, are fixed. Apart from adding a WWAN card, you can bump up only the size of the SSD.

Not that you'll be playing a lot of games on the company's notebook, but it's good to know the X1 Carbon Touch can keep up with the competition on that metric. 

The X1 Carbon Touch performs quite well compared to its ultraportable peers. Thanks to its superfast SSD, it chalked up a 289 on our WorldBench 8.1 score, beating out nearly all its Core i5-based challengers and even some Core i7-based notebooks. As for real-time gaming, this ThinkPad plays them better than most small notebooks, but it’s still nothing to tweet about. Running BioShock Infinite at a resolution of just 1024 by 768 and with image quality set to low, the Carbon Touch delivered only 24 frames per second. That’s not awful, but it’s less than the 30 fps threshold you need to have a great experience.

You’ll want to keep the ThinkPad X1 Carbon's AC power brick close at hand, which will raise your carrying weight to 4.2 pounds. Apart from that and the too few connectors, it's a truly great notebook. It costs a pretty penny, and its performance won’t knock your argyle socks off, but it delivers enough power to cruise through all your typical business tasks, it’s tough as nails, and it’s an eminently easy machine to carry around and use. If you travel for work, those are the things that really matter.

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Lenovo ThinkPad Helix review: A versatile but expensive Ultrabook/tablet hybrid

Lenovo’s ThinkPad Helix is nothing if not versatile. This 11.6-inch Windows 8 Pro touchscreen tablet can operate as such, dock to a razor-thin keyboard to become a dual-battery notebook PC, and then flip with acrobatic ease to become a desktop presenter.

ROBERT CARDINLenovo's ThinkPad Helix is one of the best laptop/tablet hybrids we've seen so far.

The Helix also boasts a 128GB solid-state drive, which boosts its performance on tasks involving data transfers between storage and memory (boot, return from sleep, and application launches, for example). The presence of the SSD played no small part in the Helix’s respectable Notebook WorldBench 8.1 score of 285, which was nearly three times better than that of our reference system (an Asus VivoBook S550CA, which augments its mechanical hard drive with a 24GB SSD cache). The Helix also earned an outstanding PCMark 7 storage test score of 5308, one of the best results we’ve seen. (WorldBench 8.1 consists of a suite of synthetic and real-world benchmarks, of which PCMark 7 is one element.)

A 128GB SSD helped the ThinkPad Helix deliver a good benchmark performance.

In configurations that use both the tablet and the keyboard, we saw impressive battery life of 6.5 hours thanks to the presence of a battery in each component. The Helix’s longevity dropped to just 2 hours when operating as a tablet with a single battery.

In most tasks less dependent on hard-disk access, the Helix still performed solidly, if not as brilliantly. Outfitted with an Intel Core i5-3337U mobile CPU (based on 2012’s Ivy Bridge architecture) and 4GB of DDR3/1333 memory that it must share with the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics hardware, our review unit suffered most in gaming tests.

All this power and versatility doesn’t come cheap. Our review unit, the least expensive of the available configurations on Lenovo’s website, carried a $1679 price tag ($1427 after an instant rebate) as of August 5, 2013. Conventional touchscreen Windows 8 laptops are widely available for less than $1000.

In usability, the Helix generally lives up to Lenovo’s reputation for well-built portables. The black soft-touch case feels good when you’re handling the tablet, and the keyboard boasts Lenovo’s signature, pleasing contours and snappy action. For pointing, you get to choose among a responsive touchpad with multitouch support, a red eraserhead joystick button, and of course the digitizing touchscreen. Separating the keyboard takes only a second or two and doesn’t require a reboot. In our tests the touchscreen responded well to swipes.

ROBERT CARDINSeparate the Helix's display from its keyboard, and you have a fully functional Windows 8 tablet.

The integrated high-def webcam produced smooth-looking video on Skype calls, and its low-light technology worked well. The integrated microphone picked up my voice well, but the Helix’s audio is very disappointing. Even when I turned it all the way up, I could barely hear the voice of Skype callers, and music on YouTube videos was positively faint. This problem could be a deal-breaker for someone who needs to make presentations on the road.

I have a few other quibbles as well: Although the Helix maintains the sub-0.75-inch thickness appropriate for an ultraportable, the machine is heavy for its display size, weighing a full 3.6 pounds with the keyboard and 1.8 pounds without it.

Lenovo provides a plastic stylus that slides into a slot on the tablet, but I didn’t enjoy using it because it was imprecise—a real issue on the 1920-by-1080-pixel widescreen IPS display. That resolution on an 11.6-inch display made for good-looking videos on YouTube and Skype, but it also resulted in very tiny type on many websites, including a few that use Flash or other technologies that don’t support pinch and zoom. I sometimes found myself squinting, and using the stylus to select radio buttons (fingertips being too blunt an instrument) was generally a hit-or-miss affair.

In tablet mode, you get one Mini DisplayPort connection, one USB 2.0 port, a SIM-card slot for optional mobile broadband, and a combo headphone/microphone jack. The keyboard dock adds a pair of USB 3.0 ports and a Mini DisplayPort connection. But I missed having an SD Card reader, and depending on a USB dongle for ethernet connections is a bit of drag (the Helix does support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi).

The ThinkPad Helix deserves kudos for its innovative design, and a business user in search of a laptop-tablet convertible with good performance might find the high price tag palatable. (And if money is no object, you can upgrade to a faster processor, add more solid-state storage capacity, and tack on on the aforementioned mobile-broadband feature.)

If a high-performance tablet is all you need, note that Microsoft recently slashed the price of its 128GB Surface Pro to $899. But that tablet’s screen is an inch smaller, and you’ll need to add $130 to get the Type Cover keyboard (which, in addition to being inferior to the Helix’s, lacks a trackpad).

Contributing Editor Yardena (Denny) Arar is a San Francisco-based freelance writer, avid online shopper, media junkie, consummate foodie, and proud possessor of a private pilot's license.
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Lenovo ThinkPad T431s review: A high-priced Ultrabook without the high-end specs

LENOVO, INC. ThinkPad T431s $1,209.00 Lenovo's pricey new entry into the Ultrabook market caters deftly to business users, but it fails to deliver most of what's good about Ultrabooks: speed, portability, and convenience.

Lenovo’s long-standing tradition of producing black, boxy, boring laptops continues with the ThinkPad T431s, and it’s a testament to their underlying quality that businesses and business users continue to embrace them. But the company might want to rethink the “Ultrabook” suffix tacked onto this one's name, which conjures images of sleek, sexy, and speedy machines. The T431s is none of those things.

Rather, it has the heft and bulk of a more traditional laptop, weighing 3.6 pounds and measuring 0.8 inch thick. One suspects Lenovo could have squeezed in an optical drive, though at least the system leverages its large chassis to pack in plenty of expansion options: ethernet and VGA ports, a Mini DisplayPort, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, and a Smart Card reader for organizations that still rely on them. It also has a fingerprint reader, another nice security-minded perk. The system has only two USB 3.0 ports (three would be better), but one of them is powered so you can charge a mobile device even when the ThinkPad is off.

The T431s ranks among the slower Core i5–equipped Ultrabooks we’ve tested.

Like a growing number of laptops, the T431s lacks a drive-activity indicator. And although Lenovo included an LED for the Fn-key lock, the Caps Lock key didn’t get the same simple amenity. That’s inexcusable from a company known for great keyboards.

Indeed, this ThinkPad’s comfortable, backlit, perfectly spaced keys make typing a pleasure. It also has dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys, though they’re not grouped together. That’s a mild annoyance; a bigger one is the bottom-left corner placement of the Fn key. Most touch-typists’ fingers are accustomed to finding a Ctrl key there.

ROBERT CARDINLenovo's ThinkPad T431s is a relatively thick, heavy, and slow Ultrabook.

Lenovo has redesigned its touchpad. This one is appreciably spacious and smooth to the touch, with buttons in all four corners. The top two are intended for use with Lenovo’s trademark pointing stick, which seems downright quaint today, but its presence will undoubtedly please longtime ThinkPad users. The entire touchpad is also a button, and that “give” can be awkward at times, especially if you land a little harder than you anticipated with your finger. To avoid accidental cursor clicks, you’ll need to develop a light touch.

ROBERT CARDINThinkPads are known for their sturdy construction, and the T431s is no exception.

With its Worldbench score of 121, the ThinkPad ranks among the slower Core i5-equipped Ultrabooks we’ve tested. The Sony VAIO Fit 15 posted a higher score, and the 128GB SSD in the Dell Latitude 6430u helped it earn a significantly higher result. The ThinkPad has a quick 7200-rpm, 500GB hard drive augmented by a 24GB SSD cache.

The ThinkPad T431s was only slightly faster than the Asus VivoBook S550CA we use as a notebook reference point. (Click to enlarge.)

Despite having only a three-cell battery, our review unit managed to last 4 hours, 45 minutes in our rundown test, which is about average for systems in this class. Like other Ultrabooks, the T431s has a nonremovable battery—a potential problem for business travelers who must swap in a spare power pack when the first one runs dry.

The ThinkPad’s 14-inch screen has native resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels. That’s sufficient for enjoying HD movies and other video, but it’s shy of the 1920-by-1080 displays offered by other Ultrabooks (such as the Samsung Series 9). What’s more, we expected a laptop in this price class to include a touchscreen, but the T431s lacks one. On the plus side, the screen exhibits very little glare, and Intel’s integrated HD Graphics 4000 supplies enough horsepower for stutter-free full-screen video (at least based on what we streamed from Hulu and YouTube).

As Ultrabooks go, the ThinkPad T431s is far from the skinniest, lightest, fastest, or longest-lasting model you can buy. And without perks like a touchscreen and solid-state storage (the latter is available on other configurations), it’s hard to justify Lenovo’s higher-than-average price. Business users might continue to appreciate the ThinkPad’s sturdy design, security features, and comfy keyboard, but others will find more features and better performance for less money.

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Lenovo Thinkpad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive Review: A High-Flying Performer

If having to pay $7+ per gigabyte for secure flash drives makes you blanch, take a look at the Lenovo ThinkPad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive. At only $200 for 750GB—which translates to about 4GB per $1—and PIN-pad security, it's a lot more affordable than secure flash drives. Plus, the ThinkPad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive is faster than the USB flash drives, most of which are USB 2.0. As a 2.5-inch hard drive it's not as portable or rugged as the flash drives , but it's where you go if you need the capacity.

Though the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive isn't FIPS 140-2 certified, it is sealed against intrusion and is in a chassis that's lightly ruggedized. It uses 256-bit AES encryption integrated into the drive controller, and is software-free; you unlock your data using a keypad on the top of the unit. A keypad is faster and more convenient than waiting for software to launch, and also makes the unit compatible with any operating system or device.

The keypad is wear-resistant so that as long as you keep it clean, thieves won't be able to detect which keys are most often used, at least not without resorting to advanced techniques. The physical dimensions of the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive makes it easier to use than a PIN-protected USB secure flash drive such as the Aegis Secure key—you can hold the unit in both hands and use your thumbs to enter the PIN, texting-style.

The Secure Hard Drive's security system provides an administrative PIN in addition to ten user PINs. Eight digits are required for all PINS. Accessing the drive is as simple as pressing the green unlock button and entering your PIN. Administrative mode, under which you can create PINs, is entered by pressing and holding the unlock button for 5 seconds. The device also has a lock button so you can secure the unit without detaching it from the computer. If the number of failed PIN-entry attempts exceeds the administrator-specified limit, the encryption keys for accessing the data are destroyed, but the hardware remains intact and usable, though sans its previous contents.

The Lenovo Secure Hard Drive proved quite a good performer. Not surprising given the USB 3.0 interface. In PCWorld's tests, the drive wrote a 10GB mix of small files and folders at 39.4MBps and read it at 64.3MBps. With a single large file, that write performance jumped to 89.2MBps and 99.7MBps. As there are no USB 3.0 secure flash drives available yet, the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive is currently the considerably faster option. The drive features a captive USB cable that you can't lose or leave behind, though Lenovo includes a USB Y-cable so you can use the drive with underpowered USB 2.0 ports.

If you don't need the tiny form factor of a USB flash drive, the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive is a much better deal. You'll need to be a bit more careful handling it, but otherwise it has only upsides.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review: Exotic Case, Ho-Hum Screen

Lenovo is justifiably proud of its ThinkPad X1 Carbon ultraportable laptop. The machine is incredibly thin—just 0.7 inch at its thickest point—and the chassis is built with carbon fiber, resulting in an Ultrabook that ships with a 1600-by-900-pixel LCD display and weights slightly less 3 pounds.

In Search of Slim

In its zealous pursuit of ultrathinness, however, Lenovo did make a few compromises. Like the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A and the Vizio C14-A2, the X1 Carbon has no built-in ethernet port, though Lenovo does include a USB-to-ethernet dongle. The X1 Carbon's LCD panel flexes enough to make me a little nervous, though a little flex won't hurt the display—and in fact may improve the laptop's resilience when dropped.

Port Minimus

There are other, stranger shortcomings. For example, Lenovo supplies a USB 3.0 connector on the right side of the X1 Carbon, but a USB 2.0 port—instead of another USB 3.0 port—on the left. At least the USB 2.0 port delivers enough current to charge a smartphone or other mobile device. The only video output is a mini-DisplayPort connector, and the lone audio jack is a combination input/output jack.

The Lenovo lacks a dedicated wired ethernet port, instead offering integrated 3G (not 4G) cellular broadband. According to Lenovo, the chipsets needed for PC 4G support would have taken up too much system board space and consumed too much power. You can use the integrated 3G as a mobile hotspot, if you need that capability.

Performance

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon test model we tested includes an Intel Core i7-3667U CPU, with a default clock frequency of 2.0GHz and a maximum Turbo frequency of 3.2GHz. Like most Ultrabooks, this one uses Intel's HD 4000 integrated GPU and ships with 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory. A 256GB SanDisk solid-state drive handles storage chores.

In our performance testing overall, the X1 Carbon essentially tied with Vizio's C14-A2, despite having a faster CPU than the Vizio's Core i7 3517u. The Vizio outpaced the X1 Carbon in PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark test suite, earning a mark of 158 as against the ThinkPad's score of 144.

On the power side, the X1 Carbon uses Lenovo's RapidCharge system, which allows the system to charge to 80 percent in just over 35 minutes. The system's measured battery life was a solid 6 hours, 11 minutes, almost an hour longer than the Vizio C14-A2's 5 hours, 17 minutes.

Not surprisingly, in view of the laptop's Intel HD 4000 GPU, the X1 Carbon's game performance was fairly weak. Even with detail settings at low, the Lenovo struggled to an unplayable 11.4 frames per second in Crysis 2, although its frame rate on the Dirt3 test was a more playable 36 fps.

Overall, Lenovo seems to have emphasized battery life over raw performance, a perfectly reasonable preference in designing an ultramobile PC.

Display and Audio

As usual with ultraportable laptops, audio quality in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is limited. Lenovo did include Dolby Home Theater V4, which enhances the audio somewhat. Overall audio in music was neutral, but I could hear noticeable distortion in the speakers when volume levels were cranked too high. Though the X1 Carbon can't pump out sound at very loud volume, its speakers were definitely good enough for near-field use during travel.

The laptop's 14-inch LCD panel offers an excellent resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels. Text looked crisp, but colors tended to be muted and brightness levels were on the low side. On the other hand, the matte-finish screen picked up almost no glare from background lighting, which your eyes will surely appreciate.

Video playback quality tended to be somewhat disappointing, due in part to the relatively unsaturated colors and in part to the screen's limited viewing angles. Straight on, both high-definition and standard-definition content looked smooth, with little visible jerkiness or frame stuttering.

Usability

Lenovo includes both a TrackPoint stick-based pointing device and a large glass multitouch-enabled touchpad. The latter was a little too sensitive out of the box, but it does have good palm rejection, making for generally good cursor control.

The keyboard layout is good. The keys themselves are slightly indented and offer good tactile feedback, though keystroke travel is short. Lenovo also includes discrete page down and page up keys, a welcome addition to the usual Fn-key options.

Bottom Line

Lenovo put some serious thought into mobile usability with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, including cellular broadband and the RapidCharge feature. The slightly flexible carbon-fiber chassis is an interesting departure from the rigidity of machined metal cases. Though Lnovo's failure to offer dual USB 3.0 ports and HDMI output is a little disappointing, the port selection isn't radically different from what similar superthin Ultrabooks provide. If you're a serious traveler, the X1 Carbon merits closer inspection.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review: Exotic Case, Ho-Hum Screen

Lenovo is justifiably proud of its ThinkPad X1 Carbon ultraportable laptop. The machine is incredibly thin—just 0.7 inch at its thickest point—and the chassis is built with carbon fiber, resulting in an Ultrabook that ships with a 1600-by-900-pixel LCD display and weights slightly less 3 pounds.

In Search of Slim

In its zealous pursuit of ultrathinness, however, Lenovo did make a few compromises. Like the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A and the Vizio C14-A2, the X1 Carbon has no built-in ethernet port, though Lenovo does include a USB-to-ethernet dongle. The X1 Carbon's LCD panel flexes enough to make me a little nervous, though a little flex won't hurt the display—and in fact may improve the laptop's resilience when dropped.

Port Minimus

There are other, stranger shortcomings. For example, Lenovo supplies a USB 3.0 connector on the right side of the X1 Carbon, but a USB 2.0 port—instead of another USB 3.0 port—on the left. At least the USB 2.0 port delivers enough current to charge a smartphone or other mobile device. The only video output is a mini-DisplayPort connector, and the lone audio jack is a combination input/output jack.

The Lenovo lacks a dedicated wired ethernet port, instead offering integrated 3G (not 4G) cellular broadband. According to Lenovo, the chipsets needed for PC 4G support would have taken up too much system board space and consumed too much power. You can use the integrated 3G as a mobile hotspot, if you need that capability.

Performance

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon test model we tested includes an Intel Core i7-3667U CPU, with a default clock frequency of 2.0GHz and a maximum Turbo frequency of 3.2GHz. Like most Ultrabooks, this one uses Intel's HD 4000 integrated GPU and ships with 4GB of DDR3-1333 memory. A 256GB SanDisk solid-state drive handles storage chores.

In our performance testing overall, the X1 Carbon essentially tied with Vizio's C14-A2, despite having a faster CPU than the Vizio's Core i7 3517u. The Vizio outpaced the X1 Carbon in PCWorld's WorldBench 7 benchmark test suite, earning a mark of 158 as against the ThinkPad's score of 144.

On the power side, the X1 Carbon uses Lenovo's RapidCharge system, which allows the system to charge to 80 percent in just over 35 minutes. The system's measured battery life was a solid 6 hours, 11 minutes, almost an hour longer than the Vizio C14-A2's 5 hours, 17 minutes.

Not surprisingly, in view of the laptop's Intel HD 4000 GPU, the X1 Carbon's game performance was fairly weak. Even with detail settings at low, the Lenovo struggled to an unplayable 11.4 frames per second in Crysis 2, although its frame rate on the Dirt3 test was a more playable 36 fps.

Overall, Lenovo seems to have emphasized battery life over raw performance, a perfectly reasonable preference in designing an ultramobile PC.

Display and Audio

As usual with ultraportable laptops, audio quality in the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is limited. Lenovo did include Dolby Home Theater V4, which enhances the audio somewhat. Overall audio in music was neutral, but I could hear noticeable distortion in the speakers when volume levels were cranked too high. Though the X1 Carbon can't pump out sound at very loud volume, its speakers were definitely good enough for near-field use during travel.

The laptop's 14-inch LCD panel offers an excellent resolution of 1600 by 900 pixels. Text looked crisp, but colors tended to be muted and brightness levels were on the low side. On the other hand, the matte-finish screen picked up almost no glare from background lighting, which your eyes will surely appreciate.

Video playback quality tended to be somewhat disappointing, due in part to the relatively unsaturated colors and in part to the screen's limited viewing angles. Straight on, both high-definition and standard-definition content looked smooth, with little visible jerkiness or frame stuttering.

Usability

Lenovo includes both a TrackPoint stick-based pointing device and a large glass multitouch-enabled touchpad. The latter was a little too sensitive out of the box, but it does have good palm rejection, making for generally good cursor control.

The keyboard layout is good. The keys themselves are slightly indented and offer good tactile feedback, though keystroke travel is short. Lenovo also includes discrete page down and page up keys, a welcome addition to the usual Fn-key options.

Final Thoughts

Lenovo put some serious thought into mobile usability with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, including cellular broadband and the RapidCharge feature. The slightly flexible carbon-fiber chassis is an interesting departure from the rigidity of machined metal cases. Though Lnovo's failure to offer dual USB 3.0 ports and HDMI output is a little disappointing, the port selection isn't radically different from what similar superthin Ultrabooks provide. If you're a serious traveler, the X1 Carbon merits closer inspection.

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Lenovo Thinkpad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive Review: A High-Flying Performer

If having to pay $7+ per gigabyte for secure flash drives makes you blanch, take a look at the Lenovo ThinkPad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive. At only $200 for 750GB—which translates to about 4GB per $1—and PIN-pad security, it's a lot more affordable than secure flash drives. Plus, the ThinkPad USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive is faster than the USB flash drives, most of which are USB 2.0. As a 2.5-inch hard drive it's not as portable or rugged as the flash drives , but it's where you go if you need the capacity.

Though the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive isn't FIPS 140-2 certified, it is sealed against intrusion and is in a chassis that's lightly ruggedized. It uses 256-bit AES encryption integrated into the drive controller, and is software-free; you unlock your data using a keypad on the top of the unit. A keypad is faster and more convenient than waiting for software to launch, and also makes the unit compatible with any operating system or device.

The keypad is wear-resistant so that as long as you keep it clean, thieves won't be able to detect which keys are most often used, at least not without resorting to advanced techniques. The physical dimensions of the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive makes it easier to use than a PIN-protected USB secure flash drive such as the Aegis Secure key—you can hold the unit in both hands and use your thumbs to enter the PIN, texting-style.

The Secure Hard Drive's security system provides an administrative PIN in addition to ten user PINs. Eight digits are required for all PINS. Accessing the drive is as simple as pressing the green unlock button and entering your PIN. Administrative mode, under which you can create PINs, is entered by pressing and holding the unlock button for 5 seconds. The device also has a lock button so you can secure the unit without detaching it from the computer. If the number of failed PIN-entry attempts exceeds the administrator-specified limit, the encryption keys for accessing the data are destroyed, but the hardware remains intact and usable, though sans its previous contents.

The Lenovo Secure Hard Drive proved quite a good performer. Not surprising given the USB 3.0 interface. In PCWorld's tests, the drive wrote a 10GB mix of small files and folders at 39.4MBps and read it at 64.3MBps. With a single large file, that write performance jumped to 89.2MBps and 99.7MBps. As there are no USB 3.0 secure flash drives available yet, the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive is currently the considerably faster option. The drive features a captive USB cable that you can't lose or leave behind, though Lenovo includes a USB Y-cable so you can use the drive with underpowered USB 2.0 ports.

If you don't need the tiny form factor of a USB flash drive, the Lenovo Secure Hard Drive is a much better deal. You'll need to be a bit more careful handling it, but otherwise it has only upsides.

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ThinkPad X1 Carbon First Test Results: This Ultrabook Means Business

Like the ThinkPad X1 before it, the X1 Carbon is built for durability as it has passed 8 differe MIL-SPEC tests, including those which measure the ability to operate at extreme temperatures, altitudes and when being hit by sand. Like other ThinkPads, it has a roll-cage, but this time the cage is made from lightweight carbon fiber rather than magnesium. The X1 Carbon certainly felt durable in our testing as we were able to hold it by the deck with one hand, without feeling like the notebook would slip.

In order to make the X1 Carbon so thin, Lenovo has jettisoned several important ports. In particular the lack of an Ethernet connector will irk some business users. In many locations, wired Internet is much more reliable than wireless. Fortunately, Lenovo includes a USB-to-Ethernet dongle which solves this problem, as long as you remember to bring it along.

The notebook is equipped with a mini DisplayPort for video out, a 4-in-1 card reader and an audio jack, but just two USB ports, only one of which is USB 3.0 compatible. Business users with older projectors will definitely miss having a VGA port. Despite the limited space, Lenovo somehow found room for a hardware Wi-Fi on/off switch, which just duplicates functionality that’s available in Windows already. We would have preferred a third USB port or Ethernet.

The X1 Carbon’s 1600 x 900, 14-inch matte display is truly stunning. Using our light meter this ThinkPad’s screen registered 290 lux, which is even brighter than the 1400 x 900 MacBook Air’s 268 lux mark. However, the ASUS ZenBook Prime and its 1920 x 1080 display returned a much stronger measurement of 423 lux.

When we watched a 1080p QuickTime Trailer for SkyFall, images were sharp and detailed while colors were vibrant, though not quick as rich as on some other notebooks we’ve tested. Viewing angles were excellent; colors didn’t wash out at all, even at 90 degrees to the left or right.

The bottom-mounted speakers provided clean audio that was just loud enough to fill a small room at maximum volume. When we listened to both the bass-heavy “Forget Me Nots” and the guitar-laden “Basketcase,” sound was good quality was good enough to substitute for a low-grade stereo. Certainly, the Dolby v. 4 Home Theater software helped, particularly when we switched it into music mode. However, when we tried using the notebook on our lap, the speakers became just a little bit muffled.

The X1 Carbon’s island-style keyboard looks just like those on the recent ThinkPad T430 and W530, but it feels quite a bit shallower. Perhaps because the chassis is so much thinner, Lenovo had to sacrifice vertical key travel, which is a shame. Overall, we enjoyed typing on the keyboard and loved the feel of the comfortable, soft-touch palmrest under our wrists, but there is no doubt that it is not nearly as responsive as the keyboards on its thicker brethren. Even the MacBook Air’s keyboard seemed to have more depth and stronger feedback.

As with other ThinkPads, the X1 carbon has two different pointing devices. The TrackPoint pointing stick is incredibly accurate and comfortable, just as it is on every other recent ThinkPad. We highly recommend the stick because it provides the most accurate means of navigating around the desktop and allows you to move your pointer without taking your fingers off of the homerow.

Those who prefer a touchpad will like the large 4 x 2.4-inch glass touchpad. Unlike Lenovo’s other touchpads, which recently have had textures, this pad has a completely smooth surface that feels so smooth that sometimes we found our finger sliding around a bit. However, the pad was incredibly accurate and, despite its integrated buttons, it displayed none of the jumpiness we’ve seen on some other clickpads. Multitouch gestures like pinch-to-zoom and three finger swipe were smooth, but two-finger rotate only worked some of the time.

The Thinkpad X1 Carbon stayed pleasantly cool throughout our tests. After streaming a video for 15 minutes, we measured the touchpad at 77 degrees, the keyboard at 85 degrees and the underside at 92 degrees Fahrenheit. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees comfortable.

With a 1.8-GHz Core i5-3427U under the hood and integrated graphics, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is good enough for productivity tasks like crunching spreadsheets and transcoding videos. On PCMark 7, a benchmark that measures overall performance, the X1 Carbon scored a solid 5,297, well above the 2,854 Ultraportable average. This score also beats the 13-inch MacBook Air (4,380), which has the same CPU and the ZenBook Prime UX31A (4,989).

The 128GB SanDisk SSD booted into Windows 7 in a slow 56 seconds, 12 seconds behind the category average and way slower than ZenBook Prime (23 seconds) and the Fujitsu LifeBook U772 (27 seconds). The drive took a modest 1 minute to complete the LAPTOP File Transfer test, which involves copying 4.97GB of mixed-media files. That’s a rate of 84.8 MBps, which is about 50 percent faster than the 56 MBps category average, but slow for an SSD.

The SSD-powered MacBook Air completed the test at a rate of 159 MBps while the Fujitsu LifeBook U772 managed a rate of 121.2 MBps.

When it comes to perfoming productivity tasks, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is no slouch. It took a mere 5 minutes and 37 seconds to complete the LAPTOP Spreadsheet Macro test, which involves matching 20,000 names with their addresses in OpenOffice calc. That time is significantly faster than the 8:08 category average, but still behind the 2.6-GHz Core i5-3320M-powered ThinkPad X230 (4:29) and the 1.9-GHz Core i7-powered ASUS ZenBook Prime (4:59).

Just forget about gaming on the ThinkPad X1 Carbon. With its integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, it scored just 517 on 3DMark11, a synthetic graphics benchmark. That’s way below the 814 category average and the 624 offered by the MacBook Air.

When we tried playing World of Warcraft on the X1 Carbon, it managed a barely-playable 29 frames per second on autodetect settings and an unplayable 14 fps with the special effects turned up. Those rates are worse than the 46  / 23 fps category averages.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon feels really good on our lap, it has an excellent screen, solid sound and accurate pointing devices. Though the keyboard doesn’t offer the level of feedback we expect from ThinkPads, it is one of the best Ultrabook keyboards around. What will really make or break this notebook is its battery life, which we have yet to test. Lenovo says to expect up to 7 hours of endurance, but our battery test tends to produce results that are below manufacturer’s claims. Stay tuned for our full rated review.

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Help Me, LAPTOP! Choosing Between a ThinkPad and an HP ProBook

Our reader writes:

I would just be just using the computer for internet surfing and e-mail.  My considerations are a well made keyboard with no flex and good reliability.  Is the HP Probook screen clear and sharp enough with the non-glare screen, or does the Lenovo E420s have too glossy a screen?  I will probably only be using the notebook indoors.

Clearly, a good keyboard, sturdy design and screen clarity are top priorities for our reader. Let’s start with a comparison of the keyboard on the ThinkPad and ProBook.

Keyboard:

Like most Lenovo notebooks, the ThinkPad Edge E420s features a truly excellent keyboard. The island-style, spill-resistant keyboard features curved, “smile-shaped” keys that make it easy to avoid typing mistakes and offer lots of tactile feedback. What’s more, it’s rubberized palm rests makes typing a downright pleasurable experience. It’s hard to improve on this design — Lenovo has consistently set the standard for comfortable and reliable keyboards.

The HP ProBook 4430s, like its larger cousin the 4530s, sports slightly concave, chiclet-style keys. We loved the keyboard on the 4530s — its keys click softly, offer deep travel, and provide comfortable feedback. While the 4430s lacks the dedicated number pad found on the 4530s, this isn’t a terrible loss. Nevertheless, the ThinkPad Edge E420s probably has the edge on the ProBook 4430s in this department, as Lenovo’s keyboards are some of the best in the industry.

Design:

While Lenovo has never been known for its flashy designs, the E420s looks more sporty than the classic ThinkPad, featuring chrome trim, an end-to-end infinity glass display, and a rubberized chassis. Perhaps more importantly, the weighs just 4.4 pounds and is only 1.2 inches thick, making it easy to slip into your messenger bag or backpack on those days when you want to get out of the house.

The HP ProBook 4430s is remarkably attractive for a sub-$600 notebook, featuring a brushed aluminum lid and interior, as well as a perforated metal speaker grille that runs along the deck above the notebook’s keyboard. With a starting weight of 4.5 pounds, the ProBook is slightly heavier than the ThinkPad Edge E420s, but at 1.11 inches thick its slightly thinner. If you place a premium on an attractive design, the ProBook 4430s will probably be most to your liking .

Display:

Here is where the two notebooks diverge dramatically. The glossy infinity glass display on the ThinkPad Edge E420s (1366 x 768 resolution) offered beautiful, vivid colors. Unfortunately, the screen offers somewhat limited viewing angles — colors wash out when viewed at angles greater than 45 degrees. The notebook also suffers from a substantial amount of glare when viewed in sunlight — but since our reader is going to be using it mostly indoors, this shouldn’t be a problem.

The ProBook 4430s, on the other hand, features a matte anti-glare screen. You won’t have to worry about annoying reflections on this laptop, but if it’s anything like its cousin, the ProBook 4530s, you won’t be impressed with its viewing angles or its contrast. When we reviewed the ProBook 4530s, we felt that the contrast could have been improved, and that the blacks could have been deeper. Given what our reader is looking for in a screen, the ThinkPad is the better choice.

Overall, it looks like the svelte ThinkPad Edge E420s — with its magnificent keyboard and vivid infinity glass display — is the best choice for our reader. And while it may not have a brushed aluminum chassis like the ProBook 4430s, the ThinkPad certainly isn’t hard on the eyes. Still, both of these laptops are an excellent choice — as far as small business notebooks go, the ThinkPad Edge E420s and the HP ProBook 4430s are at the top of the class.

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Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet Keyboard Folio Case: Amazing Keys, Lots of Bulk

Lenovo’s ThinkPad keyboards get raves for good reason: The key travel, feedback, and spacing make for the most comfortable typing available on a mobile device. When I saw the island-style keys on the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet Keyboard Folio Case ($100 as of March 7, 2012), I thought there was no way the company could replicate that amazing typing feel with those keys. I was wrong.

It's all in the shape of the keys. Whereas most island-style keyboards have flat, square keys, the ThinkPad keys are concave, allowing your fingers to settle more easily into the middle of each key. The spacebar is just the opposite: It's rounded out, making it very easy to find with the sides of your thumbs. Key presses are deep and responsive. Even though the spacing is no wider than on other attachable keyboard docks, it feels roomier and more like typing on a laptop.

Since this device is an Android keyboard, the function keys on the top row are all Android-related. Across the top are volume controls, a home button, brightness controls, settings, lock, zoom in and out, and playback controls. Also of note are the actual, separate Page Up and Page Down keys accompanying the arrow keys. That's right--these are not secondary functions of the arrow keys, but dedicated keys, a pleasing find.

In the middle of the keyboard is what looks like an old-school ThinkPad eraserhead pointing stick--but it’s really oh-so-much better. It's an optical mouse that you don't have to push at all: Just glide your finger over it, and the cursor moves around the screen. By placing it in the middle of the keyboard, Lenovo keeps the main benefit of the pointing stick, since you don't have to shift your hands from the keyboard to move the cursor around the screen.

The keyboard connects by USB, but it is enclosed in the folio case in such a way that the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet is the only thing that can fit the plug. That means the keyboard gets its power from the tablet’s sole USB port, so you don't need to worry about batteries or charging (though you do give up the ability to sideload something to the tablet via USB). The keyboard itself has three grooves along the back that the tablet slots into, providing three different angles; unfortunately, all three angles tipped the tablet a little too far back for my taste. All of the tablet's ports and buttons, as well as its pen, remain accessible when you have the tablet in the folio case, and you can easily slip the tablet in and out. The leather wrapping of the folio case gives it a premium feel.

I found some drawbacks, however. The Keyboard Folio Case is bulky, and adds a lot of weight. The ThinkPad Tablet is already one of the chunkier tablets on the market, and the extra bulk of the Keyboard Folio Case makes it rather unwieldy from a portability standpoint. On top of that, the dock offers no additional ports, and no extra battery. I might be more inclined to tolerate the bulk if this dock added running time, as the Asus Transformer TF101 Mobile Docking Station does. No matter how nice a keyboard is, if it makes you hesitate to add it to your bag because it's so big and heavy, the add-on is defeating the purpose of the tablet.

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Deal of the Day: Save $867 on Core i3 Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420S

There are some deals that sell themselves — and this is one of them. When we reviewed the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420S, its sophisticated design, light weight, excellent keyboard and strong battery life netted it four stars and an Editor’s Choice. This 14-inch ultra-light notebook weighs only 4.4 pounds but still packs plenty of punch with a Core i3 processor. The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420S is available now for only $566 through a deal at LogicBUY.

Perfect for students and mobile professionals, the ThinkPad Edge E420S boasts a 2.3-GHz Intel Core i3-2350M processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. The notebook also features a fingerprint reader for an added layer of security. Its island-style keyboard and curved “smile-shaped” keys are best-in-class, and its solid performance and long battery life solidify the ThinkPad Edge E420S’s position as the go-to laptop for business users. At 61% off the list price, this is a bargain that can’t be missed.

Base specs: 2.3-GHz Intel Core i3-2350M processor, 4GB of RAM, 320GB 7200-rpm HDD, Intel HD 3000 graphics, 14-inch HD LCD Display, DVD Burner, Fingerprint reader

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420S Laptop with a 2.3-GHz Core i3 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 320GB HDD for $566 through LogicBUY.

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Deal of the Day: Save More Than $700 on Lenovo ThinkPad T420

Looking for a powerhouse laptop with a great battery life at an affordable price? This laptop deal just got a little bit sweeter. Lenovo’s ThinkPad T420, usually $1,345 (which is a good deal for the product already), is selling for $719 today with a deal through LogicBUY.

This 14-inch laptop features a thin and light design and is 4.84 pounds. For $719 you get Intel Core i3, but you can upgrade to i5, i5+Optimus or i7 for $769, $919 and $1,014, respectively.

The ThinkPad T420 received 4 out of 5 stars in our full review, and snagged an Editors’ Choice rating. We liked its great battery life, keyboard, performance and high-resolution screen. Although it doesn’t have USB 3.0 or a standard Webcam, we were able to get over it for the price tag.

Base specs: Intel Core i3/i5/i5+Optimus/i7 CPU. MS Windows 7 Professional (64-bit), 4GB RAM, SATA hard drive, 1600×900 resolution, Nvidia NVS 4200M/Intel Integrated Graphics 3000, 1GB video memory, 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 14-inch Laptop with Intel Core i3/i5/i5+Optimus/i7 $719/$769/$919/$1014 through LogicBUY

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