Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: Lenovo, x61s, notebook | Themes: Business Notebooks, Laptops and Notebooks, Business
- 1. Lenovo Comes Late
- 2. Design Weight and Quality
- 3. Hardware
- 4. Keyboard and Trackpad, Display, Temperature, Noise Level
- 5. Synthetic Benchmarks
- 6. Application Benchmarks
- 7. Battery Charge Duration and Noise Level
- 8. Conclusion: Strong Performance without Networking
- 9. More on this topic
8. Conclusion: Strong Performance without Networking
The Thinkpad X61s came in late, but its performance was convincing. It closes the gap between notebooks with ULV CPUs and the performance flyer Samsung P200-Pro. It succeeds in walking the tightrope between weight and performance, offering more performance than the ULV group, but it is lighter than Samsung and HP while offering similar battery life.
The price of the Thinkpad x61s starts at about $1976.26 with 1 GB of RAM and WLAN. According to Lenovo, the tested configuration costs $1907.67. It is far cheaper than the similarly light Sony (with optical drive) or the lighter, but somewhat slower Toshiba.
The quality was convincing, and even small details—like keyboard illumination and ThinkVantage tools—indicate that the developers thought about what a good business notebook should look like. There are sufficient connection ports available, but digital monitor outputs are missing. Lenovo failed with the screen, because the brightness decreases as you go to the edges. Due to the high black level, the contrast is mediocre; only Toshiba’s Portégé is worse.
Had Lenovo delivered us a notebook with the standard configuration—meaning with WLAN—the X61s would have become our purchase recommendation. But since we can only the test and assess what we have in the laboratory, the X61s misses the award. According to the product list, the X61s series will have a standard WLAN 802.11 a/b/g module, and that’s what you get by default unless you explicitly order the Turbo Memory. Bluetooth is apparently missing completely, as is a webcam. A fingerprint sensor and TPM are integrated, though.
Spec Sheet
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Lenovo does indeed pick up the ThinkPad if in need of service. This is no different than the rest of the industry. You call, they diagnose and send a DHL guy or Fedex guy with a box for you to put it in and label for the freight into their repair depot. 72 hours promised turn around.
I have a Lenovo X60s laptop and it shipped with WLAN and bluetooth and from what I know the basic difference between the X60s and X61s is the CPU (Core Duo vs. Core 2 Duo), so I am left to believe you were "victim" of a serious misunderstanding.
Best regards!
I am sorry for you, that you got crippled x61s for your "review", but my X61s DOES HAVE A/B/G/N WIFI TOGETHER with BLUETOOTH and turbomemory module.
My config:
Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 1,6 GHz 4 MB L2 Cache 2x1 GB DDR2 667 MHz
1 GB RBS (Intel Turbo Memory Modul)
WiFi Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)
BlueTooth
Best regards.
Why are you reviewing the X61s? The X200 is already out. The X61s is discontinued. Also, WLAN is a standard feature on it. Obviously they don't take you guys seriously. Why don't you ask them fr the CURRENT model?
We use thinkpads X61s and tablets as well in our organisation. I agree with colleagues here, our config has all wi-fi, bluetooth and turbomemory all integrated.
Another points is... why the heck is X61s being tested, it is out of production. X200 is the current replacement and it is so much better than the already great X61s. Something is not right here!