Lenovo ThinkPad SL400

Type: General Purpose, Business, Small Business
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo P8400
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
Weight: 6 lb
Screen Size: 14.1 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 9300 M GS
Storage Capacity: 160 GB
Networking Options: 802.11n Business
Primary Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW

The Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 incorporates the ThinkPad keyboard, TrackPoint pointing stick, touchpad, and another set of mouse buttons to provide dual pointing devices. With keyboard and navigation components that are the best in the industry, typing and navigating on a ThinkPad is an experience like no other. There are also physical volume buttons to the left of the keyboard. Though it doesn't say "ThinkVantage," a nameless blue button launches lenovo. Dell 1310 and the Toshiba U400 also offer this type of flexibility. Care—a suite of proprietary applications that you can use to manage power settings, wireless connections, and maintenance. (lenovo Care is a subset of the ThinkVantage suite that's been carried over from the 3000 line). Some might consider this suite bloatware, so lenovo offers the option of leaving this sort of management software and third-party applications off when configuring an "SL" ThinkPad.

Although the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 succeeds in retaining many of the ThinkPad qualities, lenovo does several things to differentiate it, such as a glossy black top. 'The styling not meant to be cutting-edge—in fact, it's similar to what Dell did with the Vostro 1310, which was to find the line between conservative and chic and hang on to it for dear life. To keep production costs down, the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 is part plastic, part magnesium alloy, so it's not as sturdy as, say, the lenovo ThinkPad X200 and ThinkPad T61 Widescreen. Even more impressive is the energy efficiency that this processor brings to the table.

The Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 not only produced blazing speeds, it also achieved 4 hours 38 minutes of battery life on MobileMark 2007. Though this battery score doesn't sound as impressive as the X200's 6-hour one, keep in mind that the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 is running a discrete graphics card—the nVidia GeForce 9300M GS, which eats up more battery resources than the X200's integrated set. Over 4 hours of battery life on a laptop that runs a good graphics card is very impressive. The nVidia card is there not so much for 3D gaming, but for enhancing 3D environments like Windows Vista Business and supporting high-definition video playback.

The predictable demise of lenovo's small-business notebook line—the 3000 series—happened with little or no notice. The gap between the enterprise ThinkPads and the 3000 series was simply too wide for any small-business user to bridge. Yet that ending allowed a new line of lenovo small-business laptops to emerge. The Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 ($1,129 direct) looks as if it's from the same gene pool as its enterprise brothers, and it inherits many of the classic ThinkPad design features, such as the signature keyboard and TrackPoint pointing stick. No slouch, the Lenovo ThinkPad SL400 blazes the performance trails with a variety of processing options.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X200

Type: Ultraportable, Business, Small Business
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo P8600
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
Weight: 3.7 lb
Screen Size: 12.1 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Storage Capacity: 160 GB
Networking Options: 802.11n
Primary Optical Drive: External

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300, introduced last February, is easily lenovo's greatest gem. But though it's as close to an impossible act to follow as an ultraportable can get, it has one major flaw—it costs $3,000! This was done, presumably, to give its other X-Series siblings such as the ThinkPad X200 ($1,199, direct) room to flourish. The X200 isn't likely to trump the X300 anytime soon, but it does have several things that make it a terrific business ultraportable. It's one of the first laptops to receive Intel's latest Centrino 2 platform (codenamed Montevina), including a powerful 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor that has a very favorable affect on battery life. Furthermore, every wireless technology imaginable is at your disposal, and your savings account won't take nearly as big a hit as with the X300.

The X200 is a faster machine than both the X300 and the X61. In fact, for now it's the fastest lenovo ultraportable. That's not to say that the X300 won't get a similar speed treatment. As a Centrino 2 baby, the X200 runs one the newest Intel "Penryn" cores, which has support for the 1,066MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). The 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 not only has a very low thermal rating (25W), but it's a standard-voltage processor as well. This means that it runs at full speed without overburdening your battery. In contrast, the T-series processors found on the HP Pavilion dv5t and the Sony VAIO VGN-FW198UH are better performers, but they'll tax their batteries more than the P8600.

The X200's SYSMark 2007 Preview Overall score bested that of the Sony SZ791N by 17% and of the lenovo X300 by 41%. A 7,200rpm hard drive and 2GB of RAM helped its cause, but the processor and the new platform were the driving forces behind the superb performance numbers. It starts with internal WWAN connectivity, with your choice of AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. The upgrade prices for an AT&T and a Verizon cellular modem are $80 and $130, respectively, although service plans are still on the pricey side. Because it's one of the first Centrino 2 laptops, the X200 runs the new Wi-Fi Link 5300 chipset. The 5300 is the higher-end version of two Centrino 2 Wi-Fi chips (the other being the 5100), sporting a larger antenna array and greater range than the previous Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN chipset. Don't worry—Centrino 2 Wi-Fi is compatible with your current routers. Like the X300, you also have options for GPS (although you'll need to have WWAN as well, since it's on the same card), UWB (wireless USB), Bluetooth 2.0, and support for WiMax. No other ultraportable has such a wide range of wireless connectivity options.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X300

Type: Ultraportable, Business, Small Business
Operating System: MS Windows XP Professional
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo L7100
Processor Speed: 1.2 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
Weight: 3.3 lb
Screen Size: 13.3 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: Intel GMA X3100
Storage Capacity: 358 GB
Networking Options: 802.11n
Primary Optical Drive: DVD+R DL

Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is not crammed to the gills with features, but useful ones are plentiful. One of the most important is a built-in dual-layer DVD burner, which is considered pretty impressive in 3-pound-and-under ultraportables. Others in its weight class, such as the Sony VAIO VGN-TZ150N, the Panasonic Toughbook W5, the Fujitsu LifeBook P8010, and the Toshiba Portégé R500, have already broken ground in this frontier. The X300 uses the same 7mm optical drive as the VAIO VGN-TZ150N and Portégé R500 to keep its thickness under an inch.

Another useful feature is the integrated WWAN modem, courtesy of Verizon's EV-DO networks—and something the Apple MacBook Air and the LifeBook P8010 could have used. As a business professional, We only can imagine how much money and time a cellular modem could save, even with its pricey monthly premiums. Many Peoples would have been satisfied with cellular wireless alone in their laptop, but Lenovo went out of its way to address every other wireless scenario. It has a GPS chip and mapping software built in for long road trips—a cool idea, though I don't think laptops are ready to replace standalone GPS navigation devices. It's also one of the first laptops to integrate a WiMax chip—Intel's next-generation wireless that could potentially bring better throughputs, over greater distances.

The X300 is also equipped with standard 802.11n wireless, and it comes with Bluetooth 2.0. Like the MacBook Air, the X300's wider dimensions allow not only for a bigger screen but also for a full-size keyboard, and who better to take advantage of this than the makers of the ThinkPad keyboard. It's arguably the best typing experience on a laptop keyboard, better than the Air's oversize phone-pad keys. Every key is equal in size to those on the ThinkPad T61 Widescreen, so you're not sacrificing anything with a smaller laptop. Amazingly, Lenovo even managed to put in dual pointing devices: its patented TrackPoint pointing stick and a slightly compressed touchpad. By contrast, the MacBook Air used most of the space beneath the keyboard to create a gesture-based touchpad, where users can manipulate files and images with multiple fingers. Cool effects, but not as practical as having dual pointing devices.

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