Lenovo ThinkPad X100e: When Build Quality Matters Most
by Dustin Sklavos on September 3, 2010 6:40 PM ESTIs It Worth the Bread?
First things first: regardless of pricetag, Lenovo's ThinkPad X100e is a pretty nice ultraportable. Performance is solid if unexceptional, and the Radeon HD 3200 can even handle some mild gaming if you ask it nicely. What you're really looking at with the X100e is the superior keyboard and build quality, and these things really go a long way. You can have the fastest, most power efficient notebook in the world, but if using it feels like a chore, why bother? The user experience is marred slightly by the mediocre screen and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the notebook can get mighty toasty under a heavy load, but overall it's far more comfortable to use than any other netbook or ultraportable I've personally tested.
When we get to the pricetag, though, it does start to get onerous, and you're going to have to ask yourself if it's worth the premium over competing notebooks from Acer and Toshiba to get something this comfortable to use in such a small form factor. Things only get worse when you start looking at shelling out $150 to upgrade your allegedly cheap ultraportable into the realm of true usability. The X100e is perfectly fine without the upgrades, but it cannot be overstated: the SSD makes a major difference. That's extra cash on top of an already high $529 for the Turion Neo X2 version; we can't recommend going with the single-core Athlon Neo MV-40 with its inferior performance coupled with worse battery life. The Athlon Neo X2 build might be a decent middle-ground, but that's still $479.
Of course, there's a third option. It's the one that I chose and it evens the odds somewhat, depending on your luck: you can buy it from the Lenovo Outlet. Honestly I didn't even know it existed until it was brought up in the comments on another site's review, but I was able to score mine for $430 shipped. Mine was new, apparently just an overstock, but if you're willing to put up with a refurb (and in fairness, it's a refurbished ThinkPad), you can probably score an excellent deal. A current check reveals the Turion Neo X2 model for $440 before shipping, which we think is still worth the premium.
So yes, it's last generation tech. It runs hot, and it only lasts about five hours on the battery. But the ThinkPad X100e is also exceptionally well-built and incredibly easy to use, upgrade, and service. For many users these aren't going to be big enough perks to make up the difference in price between a faster unit from a competing vendor, but there are going to be some users out there frustrated by slow ultraportables with mediocre keyboards. The X100e is for them, and it's absolutely worth the premium. Nothing else in its class feels better to use.
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Dustin Sklavos - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
That's true and it's an oversight I was somewhat conscious of during the review. In the end I went the direction I did because while more RAM can improve system responsiveness a bit during multitasking, the SSD shores up the whole package.Rick83 - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
Well, with modern Windows you also get lot of caching going on, further reducing the IO-load, and thus saving some more power.I think that actually the RAM-upgrade makes just as much a difference, as the SSD.
Did the same upgrade to an old thinkpad x60 tablet early this year, and the usability boost was huge (Also going from XP to 7 to have trim around..)
Megadunder - Thursday, October 28, 2010 - link
Did you do a SSD upgrade also? I have a x60 with 2GB ram and I'm thinking about a ram upgrade aswell as a SSD upgrade...allasm - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
When I needed a small portable laptop I bought a used Thinkpad X61s for about $500. It is a 12" unit (with matte and relatively low-res 1024x768 screen) and a low-voltage Core2Duo @1.6 (old tech 65nm though). Mine has 4GB DDR2 as well, and I got an intel 80GB SSD for it.The keyboard is excellent, and for me lower res on a screen 12" big is just right. Despite being older and 12" (and not 11") it weights the same 3.3lbs with the standard 4-cell battery, which is enough for about 3.5 hrs with a properly set up OS. It is a bit heavier with a larger 8cell battery, but then it is good for about 6-7hrs of internet surfing.
(on a side note, I'm amazed when netbooks which are 3 years younger with a smaller 10" screen and a much slower atom CPUs - and about the same battery life for 3-cell units - weight about the same as this X61s! Of ocurse, it used to cell for almost $2K, but hey, 3 years is a lot!)
Core2 @1.6 is more than enough for internet (including flash), and is good enough for some visual studio emergency development on the road as well. I never tried running any modern games though.
Of course YMMV when buying a used laptop, but I think the X61 line is still a good alternative if you need a small laptop more powerful than a netbook and don't mind (or want) a lower-res screen & good keyboard. Oh, did I mention it is very solid, and can live undamaged through a few drops as well (unfortunately, that was tested, heh)
Edgar_Wibeau - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
yuhong: I guess we won't see a Nile successor of the x100e because Ontario/Zacate aka Fusion is too close already. Don't know if IBM started developing a Nile based one and cancelled it for it's tiny time frame, I VERY STRONGLY hope that they'll have an x110e based on Ontario/Zacate soon in Q1 2011 though.I've virtually bought it already! :)
Decent review btw!
Edgar_Wibeau - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
Damnit, confused code names in my subject. Not Thuban but Ontario/Zacate of course :-/Zak - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
I had my hands on few Lenovo laptops recently, setting them up for the users, and they definitely feel more solid than Dell, HP or Toshiba. And they don't look hideous like most of the recent Toshiba and HP monstrosities. If I'm ever on a market for a laptop I would definitely look at the Thinkpads.LoneWolf15 - Saturday, September 4, 2010 - link
Don't count out Dell, or HP. The key is to look at their business-class lines, not their consumer models. Dell's Latitude line, and HP's Business Notebook line are good contenders.That said, I'm using my second ThinkPad , a T400 (my SO has my first, a T61, and loves it). They are very well built, and I can't do without a TrackPoint (though you can get those on Dell/HP business models as well). The keyboards are topnotch, too. The T-series and X-Series ThinkPads are great choices; the W-series is good too if you need a workstation-class powerhouse.
Yangorang - Sunday, September 5, 2010 - link
Did you experience any sort of hanging or freezing issues with your review unit? Because my x100e is hanging and freezing every now and then under Windows 7 x86 and x64. It works with XP quite fine though...kizzmequik - Sunday, September 5, 2010 - link
My girlfriend has one, and she's complained about some hanging when she first got it. A round of software updates apparently solved it. Or at least, she hasn't complained of any in a while.Unfortunately, those updates also included a wi-fi driver update that broke the wi-fi. I had to reinstall the original drivers, and it seems fine now.
Except that the Fn+F7 command (to extend display) sporadically pops out of nowhere to annoy the hell out of her. And me. Mostly me. Probably I should roll back the drivers and software for that, too.