IT Pro Verdict

There's a lot to like about the Lenovo ThinkPad X121e from its low price and sturdy build to its lengthy battery life and built-in 3G. However, using it is a lackluster experience thanks to the dim screen, iffy pointing devices and compromised keyboard. This may be the price of getting an ultraportable laptop at a rock bottom price, but it also means that as soon as the working day is done you'll be putting it aside rather than continuing to use it for personal stuff.

By Alan Lu

published 22 November 2011

in Reviews

We were pleasantly surprised to find that the X121e's battery lasted a lengthy seven hours and 44 minutes in our light usage web browsing test.

However, to achieve this you'll need to turn the screen's brightness down by 50% which is a problem since the display here is dim, even at full brightness when compared to other laptops. We suspect this is a side effect of the matte anti-glare finish there's very little glare, even when the screen is placed directly under fluorescent lighting, but brightness takes a hit as a result. Squeezing a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels into the 11.6in screen may be a step too far for some a few of us in the IT Pro office found this required a bit too much squinting, especially when combined with its dimness.

Unsurprisingly for a cheap laptop, none of the X121e's three USB ports are of the super fast USB3 variety all are limited to older USB2 periphrals. The hard disk is a bit on the small side at 320GB, but this should be enough for most work purposes. The BIOS doesn't have an abundance of security options, but it does support Absolute's Computrace remote tracking technology in case of theft or loss although you will need to subscribe to a service plan to use it.