Lenovo
Lenovo is the Chinese manufacturing company that bought the IBM ThinkPad brand in 2005, but will continue to enjoy IBM ThinkPad product support and marketing assistance through 2009. Most recently, Lenovo has produced the ThinkPad X200 Tablet, which will keep it at the forefront of the Tablet PC industry, according to a review by PC Mag.com. This tablet leaves the square-screened world behind and joins other Lenovo product lines in embracing the wide-screen format--but that's not all.
Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet Pros
Selling for approximately $2,323 direct, as of 2009, the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet has a lot going for it. First, it can boast being the lightest-weight PC tablet on the market, weighing in at only a mere four pounds. Its competitors (Fujitsu's Lifebook and Toshiba's Protege M700-S7002) each weigh almost a pound more. And when you are carrying around these tablets and using them for hours on end each day (as in the health care industry), an extra pound in weight can take its toll by the end of the day.
Tablet Material and Option Pros
In addition to being the lightest-weight tablet on the market, the Lenovo X200 is also one of the sturdiest. Its frame was made from magnesium, not carbon filler, which (if used) could have reduced the X200's weight more--but would have also cut back on its sturdiness. But weight reduction and continued sturdiness are not the only pros for this tablet: It also has a speaker system which, as noted by PC Mag.com, is a significant improvement over its predecessor, and as smooth a writing experience (with the digitized pen) as any of its competitors.
Display Option Pros
Another plus for this tablet is the ability afforded the consumer to choose between three different Wacom display panels. The first display option, with LED, provides the brightest display for an extra $75. The second option, also LED, offers the consumer touchscreen capability (as long as they don't try to use the digitized pen and their finger on the screen simultaneously, since the digitized pen will deactivate touchscreen capability if it is within 2 cm of the tablet at the time). The touch-screen option comes at an extra cost of $275. Option three, the least expensive, has CCFL (fluorescent) with a brightness of 190 cd/m2. All three displays are only sold in wide-screen format.
Cons of X200 Tablet
The one drawback of the X200 is that it does not have optical drives on it. Instead, it has an optical drive add-on option. Consumers must choose between the Ultrabase Doc or a USB optical drive, unlike Lenovo's competitors (Fujitsu or Toshiba), who both offer optional drives on their top tablets.