Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet Review by LAPTOP Magazine

Tablet fans everywhere have been waiting to see how well the venerable ThinkPad line translates into a convertible Tablet. It's not quite perfect, but the Lenovo ThinkPad X41 is easily one of the smoothest executions of the Tablet/notebook combination. Not only is the X41 Tablet the lightest convertible you can buy, it boasts all of the same ergonomic and security benefits of other ThinkPads.

Lenovo aspires to make the ThinkPad X41 a convertible with minimal compromises; something light and thin enough for comfortable slate mode use, but with a usable keyboard and a substantial battery for a full day of work. Indeed, the X41 is a marvel of compressed engineering that incorporates the familiar ThinkPad feel. The shell is rock solid in all aspects. The 12.1-inch display sits very firmly atop the quad-metal alloy hinge that allows the screen to rotate and fold back into slate mode.

The first thing you notice about the X41 Tablet is what it lacks: weight and bulk. At 3.5 pounds with the standard battery (4 pounds with the extended battery) this system is about as light, and only slightly less slim than most dedicated slates. The eight-cell battery adds about an inch to one of the unit's long sides, but its rubberized bottom actually helps you hold the Tablet more securely. It performed brilliantly in our tests, delivering over six hours of power.

A 1.5-GHz Pentium M 758 and 512MB of system RAM using Intel's chipset power the X41. This is obviously not the fastest convertible around; a cold boot took about 70 seconds, and program loading seemed sluggish, perhaps because of the mere 4,200-rpm hard drive. Nevertheless, once programs loaded, they performed as one would expect.

The keyboard, a model of smart compression, looks and feels like a full-sized layout. The slightly undersized Enter and Backspace keys are among the only visible concessions to space. Otherwise, the keys have firm feedback and excellent key throw for remarkable typing accuracy given the form factor. Function and page navigation keys stretch across the top in well-organized arrays. Some may be disappointed with the absence of a touchpad. As with many other ThinkPads, Lenovo relies on an excellent pointing stick and a cluster of three action buttons beneath the Space bar.

When you flip the notebook LCD screen around and use the reversible latch to lock the X41 into Tablet mode, Lenovo makes good on its promise to deliver a nearly uncompromised slate experience. The bright and crisp LCD held up well both indoors and out. The ultra-wide viewing angle is not quite as impressive as the displays we have seen on other Tablets, but it's superior to most and easy to see from awkward angles.

The stylus is the right length and thickness for a medium hand, and we especially like the one flat side that allows for better gripping. The display responds very crisply to the stylus, and there is a nice fat hover zone that allows for gesture commands. An Erase button next to the Right-click button makes for easy deletion of digital ink.

The X41 does not skimp on its Tablet launch buttons, with four customizable buttons as well as reconfigurable Up/Down scroll buttons. We love having the Task Manager shortcut as a well-protected recessed button that you activate with a poke of the stylus.

One glaring weakness is the X41's audio subsystem. The microphone sensitivity for voice recordings was mediocre at best, and the single speaker, which is poorly situated on the underside of the unit, emits hollow sound. If you want good speech recognition and recording, look elsewhere.

As with all ThinkPad models, the X41 is built with security and convenience in mind. An integrated fingerprint reader is included, as is Lenovo's Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0, and the Active Protection system is there to protect your hard drive using a built-in motion sensor. Other helpful tools include Rescue and Recovery to get up and running quickly after a crash and Access Connections for managing the built in 802.11 a/b/g wireless radio.

There are plenty of ways to accessorize the X41 Tablet, starting with the new X4 dock ($219), which includes three extra USB 2.0 ports, legacy ports, and a bay for an optical drive. The Tablet Sleeve ($49) provides a plastic shell that protects the X41 Tablet's LCD and allows you to write on the screen.

We would like to see a faster hard drive and better audio recording chops in its next iteration, but Lenovo's X41 Tablet clearly belongs at the top of the convertible pack. It is a genuinely ultra-light convertible Tablet that has all of the usual ThinkPad usability. Its awesome battery longevity and savvy Tablet design sense make it as credible a slate as we have seen in a convertible. It was worth the wait.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet

Light, long-lasting, and secure, the first ThinkPad convertible is a seriously good Tablet for business users.

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