Since I’m a huge fan of thin and stylish notebooks, I was naturally very excited when I got my hands on the new ThinkPad X1 Nano. This is one of those thin and cute models that appeals to me because of its unique aluminum body design. I also really like the way it looks – unlike some of the laptops on the market that are very boxy and boring. With all of that said, I decided to write up a quick review of the product so that other people can get a better idea of what I think about it.
The thing that separates these thin and sleek laptops from your typical ones is that they run a full Windows operating system. That is impressive in and of itself, but what really impresses me about this model is the fact that the ThinkPad X1 Nano actually has two different modes – a regular mode for those who don’t need all of the functions that come with it or a turbo mode. Now, Lenovo has also made the ThinkPad X1 Nano a bit more compact, so that it comes in at only 14 inches in height. So, don’t think that just because it’s a little thinner and less than an inch thick that it s any less powerful than some of the other thin and sleek notebooks that are out on the market.
With regular functions, the ThinkPad X1 Nano offers the standard functions that we have come to know from the ThinkPad line. It has a full QWERTY keyboard that makes it easy to type text messages or emails without having to take my finger off of the keyboard to do so. On the other hand, the turbo mode gives the laptop a boost in performance. Basically, this mode puts the laptop into play mode, so that everything is done in a flash. The laptop starts up faster and responds with commands much quicker than normal, all thanks to the dedicated processors within the laptop. While in this turbo mode, things such as browsing the internet, running Skype, and playing games will be a lot of fun, things like working with graphic software will be a lot more of a drag, but with the dedicated processors, everything will run a lot smoother.
When I compared the ThinkPad X1 Nano to the MacBook Air, I found that the X1 lasted a lot longer than the MacBook. At times, I wished that I had bought a ThinkPad X1 with a USB port so that I could connect the laptop to my external monitor instead of relying solely on the LCD. At the end of the day, it was the battery life of the laptop that ended up being the main deciding factor between the two. For people that are looking to get a little bit of extra battery life into their laptops, I recommend that you purchase the ThinkPad X1 Nano.
Speaking of the internal specs, the ThinkPad X1 Nano is not that much different from the MacBook Air when it comes to size. At just over 3 inches, the laptop is about the same size as some of the other mini laptops out there. There are several different brands of the laptop, which will depend on what brand you end up buying. Most of the laptops that are sold have been tested and certified by real experts so you know that they should perform well.
In the battery-life test, which involves running the laptop for a full day without using any applications, the ThinkPad X1 Nano performed great, scoring almost double the performance that the MacBook Air managed to achieve. While these numbers may not mean anything to you at first, I can tell you that after downloading and installing the latest updates for the operating system on the laptop, I began to see a huge difference in the battery life. Between eight and ten hours on the battery is all that I needed to complete my round of business trips and meetings without any issues. All in all, the ThinkPad X1 Nano is definitely an excellent choice if you are looking for a laptop with tons of features and a long battery life.