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Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 Tablet racks up awards

Reviews of the tablet version of Lenovo's X200 ultraportable are in. The big change in this version, which replaces the longstanding ThinkPad X61t, is the switch to a widescreen display.
Written by John Morris, Contributor

Reviews of the tablet version of Lenovo's X200 ultraportable are in. The big change in this version, which replaces the longstanding ThinkPad X61t, is the switch to a widescreen display. The X200 Tablet is also thinner and lighter, weighing about 3.5 pounds with the standard four-cell battery and a little more than 4 pounds with the eight-cell version.

Both Laptop Magazine and PC Magazine tested a $2,323 configuration that includes a low-voltage 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L9400 (the regular ThinkPad X200 uses a standard-voltage Core 2 Duo chip); 2GB of DDR3 memory, which also operates at a lower voltage; the latest Intel integrated graphics; and a 7,200rpm 160GB hard drive. This configuration also includes an LED-backlit display that accepts pen-input only. You can also choose an LED-backlit display works with both the included pen and your fingertip--but is not as bright--or a standard LCD display. All three have the same 1,280x800 resolution. The alphabet soup of wireless options--Wi-Fi, wireless WAN, Bluetooth, WiMax, UWB, Bluetooth and ThinkVantage GPS--is also pretty impressive.

PC Magazine says the X200 Tablet easily retains its predecessors Editors' Choice thanks to the Centrino 2 upgrades, lighter chassis, enhanced speakers, and widescreen display options. Laptop Magazine awards it an Editors' Choice as well stating its "one of the best tablets of the year thanks to smooth performance, durability, and numerous wireless options."

Both sites note the two obvious drawbacks: the X200 Tablet lacks an internal optical drive and it doesn't have a touchpad. Those are features found in bigger and heavier competitors such as the Toshiba Portégé M700 series and Fujitsu LifeBook T4220. Fujitsu also offers a 12.1-inch widescreen tablet, the LifeBook T2010, that weighs 3.5 pounds, but like the X200, lacks an internal DVD drive, as well as a couple of 13.3-inch tablets.

This week Lenovo also released a new version of the X200. The X200s uses carbon and glass fiber on parts of the case to trim the starting weight down to 2.4 pounds, and includes options such as 128GB SSDs, UWB, and a nine-cell battery that Lenovo claims delivers more than 13 hours. It starts at $1,709 with a 12.1-inch LED-backlit display (1440x900), ultra low-voltage 1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300, 1GB DDR3 memory, Intel GMA 4500M integrated graphics, 80GB hard drive, and standard four-cell battery.

[Read PC Magazine's review of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet]

[Read Laptop Magazine's review of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet]

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