Lenovo Thinkpad X220 Tablet
1.Design
The ThinkPad X220 Tablet has a neat, tidy and compact design. We don't think a convertible tablet housing a 12.5in. screen could get much smaller than 30.5cm by 22.9cm by 2.7-3.13cm; the weight, 1.76kg, is perfectly acceptable too.
This weight is quoted with a 4-cell battery, whereas our review sample was provided with the optional 9-cell battery. The bigger battery protrudes about 2.5cm from the back of the chassis along about two-thirds of its length, adding both size and weight but also, obviously, delivering extra battery life.
The characteristic matte-black outer shell includes two useful status lights that show you when the notebook is in hibernate mode and when the battery is charging. The remaining LEDs, showing wireless status and hard drive activity, are on the screen bezel.
Inside, this convertible tablet features Lenovo's usual abundance of buttons. The keyboard is topped by a row of full-size number keys, with 12 two-thirds-size Fn keys above that. A bank to the right of these contains five further similarly sized keys, including a double-height Delete key plus Home, End, PgUp and PgDn keys. Four more keys sit above Fn keys 9-12, many of which have secondary functions.
There are four cursor keys, with secondary media control functions, in the bottom right corner of the keyboard; in what are usually empty spaces in this 'inverted-T' are a pair of keys to step back and forwards when web browsing.
The keyboard is further filled with a double-height Esc key top left, and a bank that includes a mute button, a volume rocker, a microphone mute button (for use during conference calls), a ThinkVantage button and an on/off switch.
To top all this off, the X220 Tablet has two cursor-control systems. There's a small pointing stick sitting between the G, H and B keys, which can be used with a pair of large buttons and central scroller beneath the space bar. There's also an innovative buttonless touchpad: the whole unit depresses, and pushing it in towards the bottom edge emulates left and right clicks. We're not sure we like the feel of this, as it seems rather flimsy. But it does remove the need for a second set of buttons, and you can always resort to the two trackpoint buttons if necessary.
The screen swivels around a central pivot and lays flat facing outwards. Without a hinge to hold the screen in place there's a little play here, which could prove problematic in the long term. The protruding 9-cell battery proves to be a rather comfortable grab-bar that helps you hold the notebook firmly.
2.Performance & battery life
Because Lenovo sent us a late pre-production sample with specifications that don't quite match what you'll see online, it would have been unfair for us to note the Windows Experience Index (WEI) or run our usual battery benchmarks.
However it's worth noting that Lenovo quotes a battery life of up to 9 hours with the 6-cell battery that's supplied as standard and up to 16 hours with the optional (102) 9-cell battery in our review sample.
Lenovo's Power Manager software allows you to control how battery power is used to a fine degree, and includes a facility called Battery Stretch that's designed specifically to help you squeeze the most uptime from the battery.
The ThinkPad X220 Tablet has a neat, tidy and compact design. We don't think a convertible tablet housing a 12.5in. screen could get much smaller than 30.5cm by 22.9cm by 2.7-3.13cm; the weight, 1.76kg, is perfectly acceptable too.
This weight is quoted with a 4-cell battery, whereas our review sample was provided with the optional 9-cell battery. The bigger battery protrudes about 2.5cm from the back of the chassis along about two-thirds of its length, adding both size and weight but also, obviously, delivering extra battery life.
The characteristic matte-black outer shell includes two useful status lights that show you when the notebook is in hibernate mode and when the battery is charging. The remaining LEDs, showing wireless status and hard drive activity, are on the screen bezel.
Inside, this convertible tablet features Lenovo's usual abundance of buttons. The keyboard is topped by a row of full-size number keys, with 12 two-thirds-size Fn keys above that. A bank to the right of these contains five further similarly sized keys, including a double-height Delete key plus Home, End, PgUp and PgDn keys. Four more keys sit above Fn keys 9-12, many of which have secondary functions.
There are four cursor keys, with secondary media control functions, in the bottom right corner of the keyboard; in what are usually empty spaces in this 'inverted-T' are a pair of keys to step back and forwards when web browsing.
The keyboard is further filled with a double-height Esc key top left, and a bank that includes a mute button, a volume rocker, a microphone mute button (for use during conference calls), a ThinkVantage button and an on/off switch.
To top all this off, the X220 Tablet has two cursor-control systems. There's a small pointing stick sitting between the G, H and B keys, which can be used with a pair of large buttons and central scroller beneath the space bar. There's also an innovative buttonless touchpad: the whole unit depresses, and pushing it in towards the bottom edge emulates left and right clicks. We're not sure we like the feel of this, as it seems rather flimsy. But it does remove the need for a second set of buttons, and you can always resort to the two trackpoint buttons if necessary.
The screen swivels around a central pivot and lays flat facing outwards. Without a hinge to hold the screen in place there's a little play here, which could prove problematic in the long term. The protruding 9-cell battery proves to be a rather comfortable grab-bar that helps you hold the notebook firmly.
2.Performance & battery life
Because Lenovo sent us a late pre-production sample with specifications that don't quite match what you'll see online, it would have been unfair for us to note the Windows Experience Index (WEI) or run our usual battery benchmarks.
However it's worth noting that Lenovo quotes a battery life of up to 9 hours with the 6-cell battery that's supplied as standard and up to 16 hours with the optional (102) 9-cell battery in our review sample.
Lenovo's Power Manager software allows you to control how battery power is used to a fine degree, and includes a facility called Battery Stretch that's designed specifically to help you squeeze the most uptime from the battery.
