Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review - 6.25/7
The ThinkPad series from Lenovo has been very popular, especially with business users the world over. While not a huge name in netbooks, Lenovo gave us two very solid ranges – the S10 and the S12. Both featured impeccable design and specifications but failed to capture a large share of revenues, potentially due to lack of brand resonance.
While the ThinkPad X100e with its AMD processor and 11.6 inch display skates the line between being a netbook and a ultra-thin, the ThinkPad connotation is sure to provide a boost to interest, and thereby sales. The X100e features the same typing and navigational excellence that is typical of the ThinkPad series. It has a full sized keyboard with raised keys, the signature Trackpoint pointing stick, a touchpad and an extra pair of mouse buttons. Phew!
This machine is targeted towards students, businessmen and entrepreuners and stays true to its roots with the ThinkVantage system. So how does it stack up compared to other 11.6 inch netbooks like the ASUS 1201N, the Acer AS1410 or the Dell 11z? Let’s find out.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review – Top Features
- Superior Performance – The ThinkPad X100e features the AMD Neo MV-40 and the ATI Radeon 3200 graphics chipset, and is one speedy machine.
- Stylish Body and Solid Build – We really like the looks on the X100e, and are sold on the semi-matte exterior and two colour choices – especially Heatwave Red. The build quality can’t be faulted and the end result is a classy netbook design.
- Business Functions – The Lenovo X100e features the ThinkVantage Active Protection system. By using an accelerometer, the machine can tell if it’s dropped and will park the harddisk reader arm to prevent scratches on the data platter.
- Enterprise Services - In addition to the 1-year warranty and global support, Lenovo offers image-creation, deployment and end-of-life data and asset-recovery services.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review – Drawbacks and things to keep in mind
- Battery life – The 6 cell battery has a low mAh capacity. With the performance-heavy processor and graphic card, the X100e lasts just shy of 4 hours.
- Headphone and Mic have same slot input – This seems to be a needless economization, and may be a problem for people who use their machines for video-conferencing.
- Souped up models are expensive – A good thing is that the X100e has a great starting price at $449. But when you start adding RAM and Hard Drive exponents, the price zooms up. I’m not even including the costs of other customizations beyond memory.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review -Ratings
- Price and Value for money – 1.0 Star. The base model comes in at an irresistible $449 featuring the AMD processor, ATI graphics, Lenovo services and Windows Home Premium. Now that’s great value for money.
- Speed and Performance – 1.0 Star. The X100e kicks out a much superior performance to other netbooks with its processor-graphics chipset combo. As I mentioned earlier, 1080p is viewed without any hiccups.
- Screen – 0.75 Star. The 1366 x 768 resolution screen gives off a good amount of color and brightness and makes for a decent watch. The viewing angles could have been better.
- Keyboard, Touchpad, Useability – 1.0 Star. The keyboard is a great island-style 100% size. A pointing stick and trackpad with double mouse buttons make up the rest. Awesome ThinkPad experience.
- Portability and Battery Life – 0.75 Star. The 6-cell model weighs in at 3.3 lbs which is just better than average for a netbook with this screen size. The battery life tops out at a not-too-impressive 4 hours, but then again performance is superior.
- Looks and Design – 1.0 Star. We are completely sold on the looks and design of the ThinkPad X100e and award full points.
- Connectivity and Extensibility – 0.75 Star. – All ports that you’d normally expect, with Bluetooth option available for $20.
This gives the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e an overall rating of 6.25 out of 7 Stars.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review – Our Recommendation
This netbook has a fantastic base price with very good specifications, although upgrades are a bit expensive. The Lenovo ThinkPad business advantages make this netbook a great buy.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e is available on Lenovo’s website and amazon starting at $449.
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Review – Technical Specifications
- OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (Windows 7 Pro Upgrade – $30)
- CPU: AMD Neo MV-40
- Graphics: AMD M780G with ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics
- RAM: 1GB RAM (Upgrade to 2GB -$45)
- Storage Space: 160GB SATA HDD (Upgrade to 250GB – $30)
- Screen: 11.6 inch 1366 x 768 Display
- Connectivity: 3 USB ports, Ethernet jack, Headphone & microphone combined slot, Multi card reader, WiFi b/g/n
- Battery: 6 cell Li-Ion battery (4 hours)
- Weight: 3.3 lbs
Filed under: Lenovo Netbook Review
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I have had my X100e for about 2 weeks and agree with most of what you said. Even though it can run a HD movie from a file or CD it still cannot stream Hulu or even youtube content any better than a netbook and that is one of my biggest gripes. Other than that I love it.
@techgeek32 –> get the Flash Player 10.1 Beta – with Graphics-Hardware support. It should work then …
how about heating?
Can you create & update webpages with this machine? My site has a lot of photos (take a look if you like), and I need to use MS FrontPage to make it (because I suck at coding).
Is it powerful enough to run FrontPage and PhotoDraw/PhotoShop, etc.?
Thanks.