Digital Trends

Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet March 4th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Lenovo X60 Setup and Use

Setting up the Lenovo X60 tablet PC is quite simple. Once unboxed, the X60 is self sufficient - you only need to plug in the power adapter. Thankfully, Windows XP Tablet Edition 2005 is pre-installed. This means that from the time you first turn the X60 on till Windows is fully set up and has booted to the XP desktop, no more than 24 minutes should pass.

Once the X60 has booted for the first time, you'll need to connect to the Internet, whether by LAN cable or by connecting to a wireless network in order to get any Windows XP driver & security updates. This process could take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes.

The X60 comes with Symantec Client Security. Depending on your preferences and corporate IT policies, you can install any number of antivirus and firewall programs. There are plenty top-quality, free programs that can be found at download.com.

Once the X60 is properly configured with security updates, antivirus/firewall and productivity applications, reboot as necessary. One unfortunate statistic is the X60's boot time which averages between 72 and 90 seconds. That's a very, very long boot time for a Core Duo system with 1GB of RAM.

Despite the slow boot times of the X60, programs run very quickly. Internet Explorer opens in less than 1 second. Outlook Express opens in about 1.5 seconds. Microsoft Word and Excel open in 2-3 seconds each.

Awesome Touch Screen

Of course, the X60 is a tablet PC, so the LCD screen is touch capable in both laptop-mode and full tablet-mode. This Wacom-powered touch capability is one place where most, if not all, competitors fall behind. The X60 has near flawless handwriting recognition, extremely smooth pen-based controls and, if the included pen is lost, the X60 can be used with a fingertip or nearly any PDA stylus.

I have several different writing styles that I switch back and forth from depending on the purpose of my writing and how much coffee I've had. It progressively moves from pristine block to scribbly gobbledegook. The X60 was able to recognize all my writing styles and, in a lengthy series of test sentences, only missed two letters.

All programs and menus can be controlled by the touch screen. The pen is very accurate, never missing a menu item or dialog button once. The mouse can be moved along the screen without the pen ever touching the physical surface of the LCD.It seems there is a 1/4" to 1/2" control atmosphere over the LCD where the pen is still recognized with decreasing accuracy the farther away the pen is from the surface.

The touch screen features are probably the most impressive feature of the X60.

ThinkPad X6 Tablet UltraBase

Hooking the X60 tablet PC to the expansion dock is a no-brainer. The dock and laptop pair by means of a male/female connector built into the top of the dock and the bottom of the X60. Once connected, the X60 instantly recognizes the CD/DVD drive and all ports on the dock are instantly activated. The X60 can be used in laptop AND tablet modes with the dock in place.

The expansion dock adds an extra inch of thickness to the X60 and nearly 2lbs in weight. Because of this, it may not be sensible to travel with the dock unless you have some extra room and a little muscle power.

The only caveat in using the UltraBase is that prior to removing the X60 from it's docked position, you must deactivate the dock via the Start menu. Otherwise, you'll get a stern warning message from XP.

The Thickest Thin

One of the key marketing points of the X60 is it's ultra-portability. This typically means that a laptop/tablet is noticeably thinner than typical laptops, narrow and very light - no more than 4lbs. The X60 is certainly light and it is narrow, but it is a lot thicker than expected. Placing the X60 side by side with a MacBook Pro, it is clear that the X60 is quite a bit thicker. With the UltaBase attached, the X60 is over twice the thickness of a MacBook Pro. It's a little difficult to reconcile an ultra-thin tablet PC being much thicker than a full-sized laptop.

Battery Life

According to the IBM website, the X60 gets upwards of 7.5 hours of battery life. This is with the optional 8-cell Lithium Ion battery. The standard battery is 4-cell, which logically gets half the battery life - just under 4 hours. Of course, manufacturer's battery ratings are often higher than real-world results. If you're a road warrior who needs to crank away at your reports during the entire length of a cross-country flight, the 8-cell battery is your best bet. The 8-cell battery weighs 1lb.

Left: Apple MacBook Pro, ThinkPad X60 Tablet w/ Base