Review: Lenovo Thinkpad X61 notebook computer

We were very impressed with the X60 when we reviewed it back in 2006. Its successor, the X61, hasn’t really changed much, apart from bringing in faster components.

The chassis is so sturdy, rigid and solid to hold that we prefer it over all the others. What’s more, it’s seriously light, weighing just 1.6kg with the extended battery (which does stick out a bit too far) and around 300g less if you buy a regular four-cell battery.

Lenovo sticks with a 4:3 aspect ratio 12.1in screen, which offers more real estate than screens from manufacturers that have hopped on the widescreen bandwagon, and contrast is good. A squarer screen means the chassis is similarly shaped, giving more space for the unwaveringly good keyboard. While the display’s high rim may look old-fashioned, it’s designed that way to stop the screen moving when closed.

It’s no slouch in our synthetic benchmarks either. The fully Santa Rosa qualified Core 2 Duo T7300 running at 2GHz with 1GB of Ram and an 80GB Sata hard disk all put in top showings in PCmark05.

Our model came fully loaded with a fingerprint scanner, both PC Card and SD slots, Bluetooth, Draft-N wireless and mini-Firewire. There was no optical drive though ­ this requires an Ultrabase dock (around £150) ­ but by loading images of CDs onto the hard disk you can travel with your CD collection anyway.

Another neat touch is the Thinkvantage key, which offers quick access to maintenance and security options, the best of which is the facility to restore the entire system to factory settings.

Keeping in mind the good performance (it’s more powerful than the Panasonic Toughbook) the X61 remains our favourite travelling companion.

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This article is part of a group test, see also:
1 Introduction
2 The great weight conundrum
3 Acer Travelmate 6292 review
4 Advent 8112 review
5 Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook P7230 review
6 Hi-Grade Notino D2200 review
7 HP Compaq 2710p review
8 HP Pavilion TX-1260ea review
9 Lenovo Thinkpad X61 review
10 MSI PR200-064UK review
11 Panasonic Toughbook CF-W7 review
12 Samsung Q45-A007 review
13 Toshiba Portégé R500-10U review
14 Performance graphs, page 1 of 2
15 Performance graphs, page 2 of 2
16 Replacement battery costs
17 Conclusion and awards