CNET Asia Review

The latest in a long line of ThinkPad X notebooks, the ThinkPad X41 delivers the best combination yet of performance, battery life, and features. Though it's a little heavier than the ThinkPad X40, it's still one of our favorite notebooks for business travelers, offering dependable, secure, high-performance computing in a small, elegant case. The X41's high price may cause some corporate buyers to balk, but we think it's worth it.

	The fingerprint sensor serves to authenticate users.

It may be small, but the ThinkPad X41 includes many of the creature comforts of bigger systems. Forget about a cramped, puny keyboard, because this laptop has full-size keys with a generous 2mm of depth. Those who like pointing sticks will love the ThinkPad X41's TrackPoint, which comes with three different tip options and has a handy scroll button. For those who burn the midnight oil, a keyboard light provides helpful illumination.

The ThinkPad X41's basic connections for the office or the road include external VGA monitor, audio, and two USB 2.0 ports. In addition to the requisite modem and Gigabit Ethernet, the machine has a Secure Digital card slot as well as one for a PC Card--though we would have liked an additional CompactFlash slot, as found on the Latitude X1. With an Intel 802.11b/g Wi-Fi card, the ThinkPad X41 connected with a variety of wireless LANs and stayed online 30m from our access point in our anecdotal tests. Still, we wish it had an external on/off switch to quickly turn off Wi-Fi for takeoffs and landings or when in a sensitive corporate area. Snapping the ThinkPad X41 into the included X4 UltraBase Dock adds a swappable bay for an optical drive, a second hard drive, or an extra battery pack, as well as three USB 2.0, parallel, serial, and PS/2 connectors and a pair of speakers. On the downside, the dock makes the ultraportable computer into a 2.26kg slug that's 40mm thick.

	Among the features on the right edge is the Secure Digital card slot.

Whether you're purchasing 1 or 100 notebooks, it all comes down to price, and the X41 is one of the most expensive on a per-kg basis. At S$3,699 (US$2,633.49) (as of April 2005), our test machine, which included a dock with a DVD/CD-RW drive, is on a par with the ThinkPad X40 model it replaces, but it costs more than the Dell Latitude X1. Still, we think the ThinkPad X41 is the better choice for the corporate road warrior.

Based on Intel's latest-generation Centrino architecture, the ThinkPad X41 uses a low-voltage Pentium M processor that tops out at 1.5GHz, which is quite a bit faster than the Latitude X1's 1.1GHz Pentium M. Unlike the Latitude X1, the ThinkPad X41 has a cooling fan--it's not particularly noisy, but it doesn't prevent the bottom of the notebook from heating up. Our test system came with 512MB of DDR2 memory (it can hold up to 1.5GB), and a 40GB hard drive spinning at a pedestrian 4,200rpm. With a 1,024 x 768 native resolution, the 12.1-inch display is clear and sharp, but not nearly as bright as that of the Latitude X1.

Performance And Battery Life
All this high-powered hardware adds up to one of the top-performing notebooks in its class. Its performance in CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks was much faster than that of the ThinkPad X40 and was virtually tied with the Dell Latitude X1, which had a much slower CPU. However, the ThinkPad X41 delivered an excellent 5 hours, 26 minutes of battery life--about equal to the X40's span, but nearly twice as long as the Latitude X1's smaller battery lasted. Only the amazing 6-hour, 24-minute battery life of the Sony Vaio VGN-T250 runs longer in this class of mighty mites.

Service And Support
The machine comes with Windows XP Pro, as well as a phalanx of utilities for security, online connections, keyboard customization, and data backup. Happily, the system includes Watergate Software's PC Doctor, which can help diagnose problems with any of the computer's components. But its ace in the hole is the anachronous (given that IBM no longer owns the ThinkPad line) Access IBM button above the keyboard, which connects the machine with Lenovo's help desk or contacts your own company's support site, when you configure it to do so. The machine comes with a three-year warranty, and it includes lifetime support through a 24/7 toll-free hotline or via e-mail. While a tad complicated, the company's online support resources are complete and up-to-date, with spare parts, downloads, FAQs, and troubleshooting tips.

Mobile application performance
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating

Sony Vaio VGN-T250

167 

Dell Latitude X1

167 

ThinkPad X41

165 

ThinkPad X40

126 

Battery life
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes

Sony Vaio VGN-T250

385 

ThinkPad X40

343 

ThinkPad X41

326 

Dell Latitude X1

182 

System configurations:

Dell Latitude X1
Windows XP Professional; 1.1GHz Intel Pentium M 733; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express 128MB; Toshiba MK6006GAH 60GB 4,200rpm

Sony Vaio VGN-T250
Windows XP Professional; 1.2GHz Intel Pentium M 730; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; Intel 855GME Graphics Controller up to 64MB; Toshiba MK6006GAH 60GB 4,200rpm

ThinkPad X40
Windows XP Professional; 1.2GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; Intel 855GME up to 64MB; Hitachi DK13FA 40GB 4,200rpm

ThinkPad X41
Windows XP Professional; 1.5GHz Intel Pentium M 758; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM; Intel 915GM/GMS 910GML Express 128MB; Hitachi Travelstar C4K60 40GB 4,200rpm

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ThinkPad X41 (Pentium M Processor LV 758 1.5GHz, 512MB RAM)

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User Reviews

Awesome PC

Oct 23, 2005

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
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This PC is one of the best I have owned. I have over the last 10 years owned Gateway, Dell, Sager and Toshiba, but this is by far the most impressive. This unit allows the user to experience both tablet and notebook features. It works well as a tablet and is small and light to travel anywhere. Every feature works like a charm.
I really love this computer and I am now an IBM ThinkPad fan. I can't wait to see future PCs by them. I am sure it will be an eye-catcher. I highly recommend this unit. Buy it and try it, you will love it.

 

Wonderful!

Sep 16, 2005

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: 
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Really easy to use, good even for first-time users and people who aren't really tech-savvy. Great ultraportable with all the important features. I got mine for only around 2.4K, with 60GB and a docking station - what a steal! I'm still gushing over it even after owning it for a month! Love this machine to bits!!!

 

Perfect laptop

Aug 30, 2005

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: 
Cons: 
Opinion:
Very easy to use, I do not need to install all drivers one by one. An application is offered which can download all latest drivers and install them automatically.

 

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