Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Dual Core Review

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e

Review Summary:

The ThinkPad X100e with dual-core processor offers a great value for students and road warriors.

Pros

• Solid performance
• Good battery life
• Great build quality

Cons

• Still runs a little hot
• No backlit keyboard
• No HDMI or DisplayPort

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Dual Core Full Review

 

The ThinkPad X100e is an 11-inch netbook based on AMD processors and ATI graphics that promises to outperform cheaper Intel Atom-based netbooks and provide the durability and features business users demand. We weren't too impressed with the single-core version of this laptop, but we decided to take a closer look at this tiny road warrior equipped with a newer dual-core AMD processor. Is the dual-core ThinkPad X100e worth your hard-earned dollars this Fall?

Observant readers will notice many similarities between this review and our original review of the single-core ThinkPad X100e. These notebooks are technically identical except for the processor configuration. Be sure to jump ahead to page two of our review if you want to see how things changed with the newer processor.

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Specifications:

• 1.6GHz AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual-Core L625 Mobile Processor (800MHz FSB, 1MB L2)
• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 (667MHz)
• Windows 7 Professional 32bit
• 11.6" WXGA HD anti-glare LED Backlit display (1366x768)
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• ATI Radeon 3200 Graphics
• 802.11b/g/n, Gigabit LAN
• 4-in-1 card reader and 0.3-megapixel webcam
• 6-Cell Li-ion battery
• Dimensions: (W x L x H) 11.1" x 8.2" x 0.6"/1.2"
• Weight: 3.3 pounds (with 6-cell battery)
• Price as configured: $574.00

Build and Design
The brand name "ThinkPad" is virtually synonymous with business both in the US and overseas. Extremely solid build quality, excellent keyboards, precision TrackPoints (that red dot in the middle of the keyboard) and fantastic warranty support have been the cornerstones of the ThinkPad legacy going all the way back to the days when IBM still owned the brand. The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e continues this tradition with one of the best built ultraportable notebooks we've seen in our office.

With a starting weight around three pounds and a simple black industrial design, the designers of the ThinkPad X100e attempted to deliver the ThinkPad heritage at an extremely affordable price. Lenovo admits that their customers have demanded a "ThinkPad netbook" for several years now, but the ThinkPad engineers debated whether it was possible to deliver a durable, reliable, business-class laptop at "netbook" prices.

The solution? Don't call it a netbook. That might sound funny, but it's no joke. Lenovo engineers started from the ground up with the goal of creating an "affordable ultraportable notebook" at a netbook price. In ThinkPad terms, engineers had to deliver a product that was built for business in terms of durability, usability, connectivity, serviceability, and warranty coverage ... all while keeping this laptop as inexpensive as possible. Businesses still demand the best, but in this economy they now also demand it for less money.

At first glance, the exterior of the ThinkPad X100e shares many of the same design features as the rest of the current ThinkPad lineup. Indeed, the 11-inch X100e borrows much of its looks from the 12-inch ThinkPad X200 business notebook. The simple plastic rectangular screen lid on our review unit features a "midnight black" color scheme and, just like the new ThinkPad Edge series, the X100e is also available in "heatwave red" in case your workplace needs a splash of color.

Those customers familiar with the famous ThinkPad keyboards will probably notice the new layout of the ThinkPad X100e's keyboard. The new "Chiclet" keyboard is a radical shift from the traditional ThinkPad keyboards and is again similar to what you'll find on the ThinkPad Edge series of notebooks. That said, this is still a ThinkPad keyboard in every way that matters. Lenovo uses a new keycap design that prevents the caps from popping off like they would on cheaper keyboards. The key spacing and support structure underneath the keyboard help deliver a fantastic tactile feel an prevent typing errors despite the small footprint of the keyboard.

Screen and Speakers
The 11.6" LED-backlit screen on the X100e is similar to the 1366x768 display used on most ultraportable budget notebooks. The biggest single advantage of this screen over ultraportables like the Alienware M11x or the Dell Inspiron 11z is the fact that this screen features a matte surface. Unlike the glossy displays on consumer notebooks, the matte screen on the X100e doesn't reflect sunlight or strong indoor lights, making it easier to read what is on the screen in any environment. Horizontal viewing angles are good out to at least 60 degrees to either side before you start to notice color distortion. Vertical viewing angles are below average as the display becomes over exposed or colors begin inverting after moving the screen 15 degrees forward or back.

Speaker quality is average as the maximum volume output is loud enough to fill a large meeting room with clear sound. There is a little distortion at the maximum volume setting and bass output is minimal, but the speakers deliver good enough quality for a good video conference or webcast. That said, the speaker location on the bottom of the notebook means sound is directed down and away from you rather than up toward your ears. If you plan on using the X100e like a "laptop" rather than using it on a desk then the speakers might be muffled on your lap.

Keyboard and Touchpad
As previously mentioned, the new "Chiclet" keyboard on the X100e is a radical shift from the traditional ThinkPad keyboards. Despite the change, this keyboard maintains the same level of quality that business users expect when they hear the ThinkPad name. Lenovo uses a new keycap design that prevents the caps from popping off like they would on cheaper keyboards. One of the main benefits of choosing a Chiclet-style keyboard is that it allows for more space in between the keys on an ultraportable laptop. This means fewer typos compared to netbooks with cramped keys. The individual keys on the X100e have a springy, responsive action and each key has a curved surface similar to the traditional ThinkPad keyboard. Typing noise is minimal, with no loud "click clack" noises while typing. The palmrests are a little small for average adult male hands but they support the wrists without causing additional stress points while typing.

It's hard to complain about this keyboard since it is genuinely fantastic, but if there is one flaw to the X100e's keyboard it is the lack of backlighting. We're starting to see more and more laptops with backlit keyboards and business travelers would likely appreciate the ability to see their keyboards on dimly-lit airplanes.

The Synaptics touchpad and TrackPoint provide a fantastic pair of control points for moving your cursor in various applications. If you regularly use the larger touchpads found on MacBooks and desktop-replacement notebook PCs, you might consider the tiny touchpad on the X100e to be a little cramped. However, compared to the touchpads on most netbooks, the X100e delivers a great touchpad surface with a nice pair of touchpad buttons. The TrackPoint buttons include the traditional middle button found on most ThinkPads. Overall, the touchpad and TrackPoint were both a joy to use, with a fast response time and no discernable lag. Sensitivity was excellent and no adjustment was needed out of the box. This particular touchpad has some multitouch capabilities, including pinch-to-zoom and pivot-rotation. I didn't have any problems with the smooth touchpad texture even after weeks of use. The touchpad buttons seem to have a slightly shallow clicking depth compared to other ThinkPads, but they still provide a deeper press than most netbook touchpad buttons.

Ports and Features
Port selection is good enough to get the job done while on the road. In fact, the port layout on the X100e looks almost identical to what you'll find on most consumer netbooks. Unfortunately, most ultraportable notebooks with Intel-based low-voltage processors now also feature either HDMI or DisplayPort. Since the ATI Radeon 3200 graphics support HDMI output it really is a shame that Lenovo didn't include an HDMI port on this laptop. In addition, since the X100e is aimed at business professionals we would have liked to see either an eSATA port or a USB 3.0 port for extremely fast data transfers.

Front: Indicator lights

Rear: AC power jack, battery, and VGA out

Left: Heat vent, two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, and combo audio jack

Right: 4-in-1 card slot, one USB 2.0 port, and Kensington Lock slot

Performance and Benchmarks
During our review of the single-core ThinkPad X100e we said the laptop fell "just a little short of earning our Editors' Choice Award" due to the poor processor performance. Would the newer dual-core version really make a difference? We certainly wanted to find out.

The single-core version of the X100e uses the same old AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor that we first tested inside the HP Pavilion dv2 more than a year ago. Back in early 2009 this was fine, but the same can't be said today with so many better processors available in 2010. The dual-core version of the ThinkPad X100e features the newer AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual-Core L625 mobile processor, and despite a clock speed of just 1.6GHz this CPU has plenty of muscle for a budget ultraportable laptop.

The AMD Turion Neo X2 is easily twice as fast as the older Athlon Neo and rivals the speed of an overclocked Intel SU4100 ultra low voltage processor. Not only is the new processor twice as fast as its old single-core brother, but it "feels" about three times as fast in a Windows 7 environment.

In terms of day-to-day activities like working with Microsoft Office or browsing the web the dual-core Turion Neo X2 suffers from none of the "lag" typical of the single-core AMD Athlon Neo or the Intel Atom. Windows 7 startup and resume speeds are fast, application switching is quick, and multitasking is a breeze. HD video playback for both 720P and 1080P content was flawless, and unlike Intel-based netbooks, the ATI Radeon 3200 graphics are powerful enough to handle video without stressing the processor. This means you can run Office and a video player at the same time without as much lag.

Bottom line, thanks to the dual-core processor the ThinkPad X100e has been transformed from a laptop that performs "a little better than a netbook" into a real laptop that competes with any notebook running a low-voltage processor.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
Noise levels were average during normal daily use. The default fan speed is always on at a low setting, pushing hot air away from the CPU and out of the notebook. The fan doesn't get much louder even if you stress the system with a game or video encoding. Unfortunately, heat remains a concern for the X100e. The new dual-core processor actually appears to produce slightly less heat than the old single-core processor (at least in terms of external temperatures recorded in our lab), but the X100e is still a little too hot to be considered "lap friendly." You'll probably want to keep this notebook on an airline tray table or a hotel desk when working on the road. All temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit.

Battery Life
The dual-core version of the ThinkPad X100e really surprised us after multiple battery tests in our lab. The X100e with dual-core AMD Turion Neo X2 processor delivered 4 hours and 34 minutes of battery life with the screen set to 70% brightness, wireless active and continuously refreshing a website, and Windows 7 set to the "balanced" power profile. This is almost a full hour more battery life than the X100e with the older single-core AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor. In short, it's clear that AMD has made some improvements in their latest CPUs both in terms of performance and power consumption.

We've seen some netbooks with the Intel Atom processor deliver more than 10 hours of battery life, but we've also seen Atom-based netbooks provide less than 4 hours of continuous run time. Likewise, some Intel low-voltage Core 2 Duo and Core i-series processors see more than six hours of battery life while others provide roughly the same amount of run time as this ThinkPad X100e. Bottom line, the dual-core X100e is "on par" when it comes to battery life in this price range.

Conclusion
The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e with the AMD Turion Neo X2 processor feels like a completely different laptop than the X100e with the older single-core processor. The single biggest failing of the single-core X100e was lackluster performance and the newer dual-core processor completely resolves that problem. This configuration of the ThinkPad X100e is so much nicer in terms of real-life use that I have to wonder why Lenovo decided to offer the single-core version at all.

If you want a well-built, 11-inch notebook with good performance for less than $600 then I would not hesitate to recommend the ThinkPad X100e with the AMD Turion Neo X2 dual-core processor. Yes, there are larger notebooks available at the same price with better performance, and there are some 11-inch notebooks that have better performance if you're willing to pay significantly more, but the ThinkPad X100e hits the "sweet spot" of portability, performance, and price.

Students and road warriors looking for an 11-inch laptop should really take a closer look at the ThinkPad X100e ... just be sure to ignore the single-core model.

Pros:

• Solid performance
• Good battery life
• Great build quality

Cons:

• Still runs a little hot
• No backlit keyboard
• No HDMI or DisplayPort

Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support 
Upgrade Capabilities 
Usability 
Design 
Performance 
Features 
Price/Value Rating 

* Ratings averaged to produce final score