Lenovo ThinkPad x130e Pro Reviews

The education-targeted Lenovo ThinkPad X130e is a mixed bag of an 11-inch laptop: not exactly inspiring or all that ergonomic, but built like a tank. It's simply not good enough in terms of design, price, or performance to merit serious consideration for most.

The question on every reader's mind: can the buyer expect a real ThinkPad for less than 500 Euros? After all, even the predecessor, X121e, showed one or two flaws when we looked closer. The X130e is a different story: even when compared to far more expensive laptops, the workmanship quality is amazing. The design may be old but the laptop was never meant to be part of a fashion show. The biggest disadvantage of this robust build is the heavy weight, which is noticeably higher than the competition. Lenovo has picked the right CPU for the job: the AMD E-450. Users should not expect amazing performance from the Fusion APU but the extremely low consumption values and the thereby resulting long battery life are great pros for the X130e, as they allow the subnotebook to be used an entire day on-the-go. The decision to upgrade to the Intel alternative (Core i3-2367M) is free for each user to make. The upgrade will deliver more performance but will come at a high price.

On the software front, school systems will be able to specify which version of Windows 7 they want, ranging from Windows 7 Home Premium to the Windows 7 Professional on our test configuration. Buyers also get the excellent ThinkVantage toolset, which includes utilities for rescue and recovery, managing wireless connections, and handling passwords, plus system-health and -diagnostic tools, and a communication utility to assist with Web conferencing. As we typically see among machines destined for fleet use (in which buyers are likely to specify their own OS/software configurations), third-party software is kept to a minimum. Lenovo preloads Adobe Flash player, Adobe Reader, a Kindle reader, Skype, a 30-day trial for Norton Internet Security, and the ad-supported Microsoft Office Starter 2010 productivity suite.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X130e is a semi-rugged netbook, outfitted with enough padding to survive the day-to-day dings of traveling across campus or running from terminal A to B.