Lenovo ThinkPad T400s pros:
+ Solid design
+ Fast solid state drive
+ Excellent keyboard
+ Very light and thin
+ Outstanding performance

Lenovo ThinkPad T400s cons:
- Poor viewing angles
- Below average graphocs performance
- Unusual memory card reader

Design:

Lenovo ThinkPad T400s measures 13.27 x 9.49 x 0.83″ and weighs 3lbs 14.3oz. Some elements of the laptop’s design resemble the usual Lenovo laptop, yet such features as carbon-glas fiber lid and slim lines suggest that the laptop is state-of-the-art. The Lenovo ThinkPad T400s make an impression of an extremely solid and durable laptop despite is inconspicuous look perhaps because of its magnesium alloy keyboard bezel, or the metal hinges.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T400s has all the ports necessary for business use and a few more. For example, it has VGA and DisplayPort for video, two USB ports, one eSATA/USB port, Ethernet and a combined audio-out/microphone port. As an option you might also add a 5-in-1 memory card reader.
The full size keyboard is very comfortable and almost identical with any other Lenovo laptop keyboard, but this time the delete and escape buttons are a bit larger than in other computers which makes writing even faster and more error-free.
The trackpoint is very accurate, but if you dislike using it you can make use of the wide and textured touchpad. Following Apple’s MacBook Pro the Lenovo laptop supports multitouch gestures.

Performance:

The 14.1-inch laptop displays 1440 x 900 image which is just perfect for such a screen. The displayed image is bright, vivid and sharp as long as you look straight at it. The viewing angles in the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s slightly disappoint. When displaying fast motion, for example when watching a film, some pixelation may be visible, but for business use the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s should be just fine.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T400s comes with an integrated fingerprint reader so you can bypass the Windows login screen and/or protect your data more safely. The fingerprint reader works very well so you will not have to try several times to perform the desired action.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T400s comes with a built-in 2 megapixel webcam above its display so it is much better than on the Samsung N120 and Toshiba mini NB205. The image recorder with the camera is sharp and clear, just as you might expect.
What’s important is that the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s does not overheat even after prolonged use and when you do a lot of intensive work.

When it comes to its processing power the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s with its 2.53 GHz processor, Solid State Drive and 2 GB of RAM is a lot faster than an average lightweight laptop. The PCMark Vantage test score of almost 6000 should tell you all you need. However, the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s scores poorly in graphics tests with results below the category average. So the Lenovo laptop is clearly business oriented and not aimed at movie watchers and players.

Selected Lenovo ThinkPad T400s features and specifications:

• Processors Options – Intel® Core™2 Duo SP9400 (2.4GHz, 6MB Cache, 25 watt) or  Intel® Core™2 Duo SP9600 (2.53GHz, 6MB Cache, 25 watt)

• Operating Systems choices – XP Professional 32 downgrade – Windows Vista® Home Basic – Windows Vista® Home Premium – Windows Vista® Business – Windows Vista® Business 64

• Chipset/CPU – Intel® 4500MHD/Core™2, SV Small FF, 25W

• Displays – 14.1″ wide LED WXGA+ (1440×900) Graphics – Integrated Intel® GMA 4500 MHD

• Memory – 1GB/2GB/4GB DDR3 1067 MHz Hard Drives from 80GB SSD to 120GB SSD with 250GB SSD available at a later stage – 120GB to 250 GB 5400rpm SATA

• Supported WLAN Cards Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5300 (3×3) – Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 5100 (1×2) – • Intel® WiMax WiFi Link 5150 (1×2) –  Realtek Wireless B, G, N Card

• Integrated Communications – WWAN, WiMAX, WLAN Bluetooth®, UWB Constant Connect Support – 34mm card (US and Canada Only) – Constant Secure Support (US and Canada Only)

• Ports and Slots – 1 Standard USB 2.0, 1 Powered USB 2.0, 1 USB/eSATA –  VGA, DisplayPort, Mic/Headphone, RJ45 –  Optional 34mm Express Card or 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader – Combo Microphone in /Audio out

• Additional Features – Integrated 2MP Camera –  Multi-Touch TouchPad Optical Drive options –  DVD ROM –  CD-RW/DVD Combo drive – DVD recordable multiburner or Blu-ray™ DVD

• Security – Integrated Fingerprint Reader with LED ‘Smart Indicators’ –  Trusted Platform Module –  ConstantSecure (WWAN models)

• Battery – 6 cell Li Ion Prismatic Battery for up to up to 5.5 hrs or 3 cell Ultra Bay battery: up to 8.5 hrs with 6 cell battery

Other recently reviewed laptops:

Toshiba mini NB205, Samsung N120, MacBook Pro

Toshiba mini NB205 pros:
+ Unique design
+ Long battery life
+ Comfortable keyboard
+ Large touchpad
+ Hard drive protection
+ USB port charges device when system is off

Toshiba mini NB205 cons:
- Longish boot time
- Too large display bezel

Design:

Toshiba mini NB205 measures 264/193/33 mm and weighs 179 grams. The netbook is available in 4 different colors so you can choose the perfect one for you. The Toshiba mini NB205 has some raised horizontal lines and shiny hinges and silvery finish on the bottom deck to stand out from the crowd of netbooks. The keyboard is responsive and almost full size and although it may take some time to get used to it after some time it feels very comfortable. The touchpad is also of very high quality and as it measures 3.1 x 1.6-inch it is relatively big for a netbook. The right side of the Toshiba mini NB205 features a Keningston lock and two USB port, whereas the left side houses the third USB port, Ethernet, VGA-out and audio in/out.

Performance:

The Toshiba mini NB205 features a 10.1-inch screen working in 1024 x 600 resolution. The image is bright and colors look very natural. The viewing angles are quite good and much better than in the Samsung N120. Above the display you can see the 0.3 megapixel camera which works just fine. Unfortunately the Toshiba mini NB205 has quite poor speakers so on some occasions you might have to use headphones. The recently reviewed Samsung N120 has better camera and speakers so if the viewing angle is not your priority you might be more interested in the latter netbook.
When it comes to the Toshiba mini NB205’s processing power it seems that the netbook is a winner. With its 1.66-GHz Atom processor it can run a few applications at a time and show a high quality movie without any glitches. The PCMark05 test results also confirm that with the score of almost 1500. The graphics chip in the Toshiba mini NB205 is powerful enough to enable you to watch a 720p movie and although you will not be able to play the latest 3D games it seems that for other tasks the Toshiba mini NB205 will be just perfect.

The Toshiba mini NB205 comes equipped with a 160GB hard disk working at the standard 5,400 rpm. The startup time is a bit below netbook average but this might be due to the trial software installed on the netbook. In any other test the Toshiba mini NB205 scores above netbook average. If you do not overuse the netbook too much and use it mainly for browsing the Internet it might run for even eight hours so its battery life is outstanding.
Although Toshiba does not plan to offer upgrade options for the netbook you can easily upgrade its RAM to 2 GB on your own to improve its performance even more.
All in all, the Toshiba mini NB205 is an extremely powerful netbook and it is surely worth considering, especially if you look at its price and specs.

Selected Toshiba mini NB205 features and specifications:

• Manufacturer

Toshiba

• Model name

Mini NB205

• CPU type

Intel Atom

• CPU speed

1600 Mhz

• Graphics

Intel GMA 950

• OS

Windows XP Home

• Display Size

10.1″ 1024 X 600

• RAM

1024 MB

• Hard Disk

160 GB

• Keyboard

YES

• Mouse Pointer

YES

• Physical Interfaces

Ethernet 10/100
Line-out / Headphone (3.5mm)
MIC-in
VGA
USB2.0 (x3)

• Wireless Interfaces

802.11b/g
BT 2.0 (On some models)
No Wireless WAN (e.g. 3G cellular)

• Additional Specs and Accessories (can vary)

WebCam

• Pirce: below $400

Other recently reviewed laptops:
Samsung N120, MacBook Pro, SONY VAIO VGN-SZ71XN/C

Samsung N120 pros:
+ Very good resolution and overall screen quality
+ Excellent battery life
+ Comfortable and responsive, full size keyboard
+ Windows XP

Samsung N120 cons:
- Smallish touchpad
- Poor viewing angles
- no optical drive

Design:

Samsung N120 measures 10.7 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches and weighs 2.8 pounds. The netbook is available in black or white and its body resembles some older Samsung netbooks. However, in order to accommodate a larger keyboard it is a bit larger than its predecessors. As the netbook is still very small and comfortable to hold and carry around I don’t think it is a big issue. This also affected the bezel around the screen which now accommodates speakers making the sound quality commendable.
The Samsung N120 features the standard set of ports sufficient for the normal, day to day work. And so it has to USB ports and an Ethernet port on the left, whereas the right side features the VGA-out, Kensington lock, audio in/out, and a third USB port. You can also find the 3-in-1 memory card reader hidden under the front lip.
Samsung claims that the N120’s keyboard is full size, yet it is not quite so. All the key are slightly smaller than on a standard, full size keyboards, but you can hardly notice it and for suet it does not have a negative impact on writing. All the keys in the Samsung N120 are well placed and provide nice feedback. The trackpad is a bit smallish, but very responsive and pleasant to use also its buttons are responsive and behave as expected.
The Samsung netbook’s 10.1-inch screen works in 1024 x 600 resolution and shows bright colors. However, the viewing angles are quite poor not only horizontally, but also vertically. The Samsung N120 also comes with a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam which works pretty well.

Performance:

Samsung N120 features 1.6-GHz Intel processor which achieved a good result in PCMark05 test (1,515) so the overall performance is commendable. The Samsung netbook features the Intel 945GSE graphics chip which also does its job quite well and although you will most probably not be able to play the latest 3D games you can seamlessly watch a 720P HD video. Samsung N120 has a 160 GB working at 5,400 rpm so you can’t expect it will save and open files as fast as the latest MacBook Pro, but it will should be okay for browsing the net and for basic work with multimedia.
The wireless performance of Samsung N120 is in line with the netbook average, yet its battery life test performance might be surprising. The Samsung N120 has strong enough battery to allow you to browse the Internet wirelessly of up to 7 hours.

Conclusion:

All in all the Samsung N120 is a very powerful netbook for a reasonable price (about $420) which will not disappoint. With its very good battery it is prefect for long travels and as it can run HD movies effortlessly it is also very good for fun.

Selected Samsung N120 features and specifications:

• CPU

1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270

• RAM Included

1GB

• RAM Upgradable

2GB

• Hard Drive Size

160GB

• Hard Drive Speed

5,400rpm

• Hard Drive Type

SATA Hard Drive

• Display Size

10.1

• Native Resolution

1024×600

• Graphics Card

Intel 945GSE

• Video Memory

128MB

• Wi-Fi

802.11b/g

• Bluetooth

Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Mobile Broadband

• Operating System

MS Windows XP (SP3)

• Ports (excluding USB)

Ethernet; Headphone; Kensington Lock; Microphone; VGA

• USB Ports

3

• Card Slots / Readers

3-1 card reader

• Warranty/Support

One-year standard parts and labor/24/7 toll-free phone

Other recently reviewed laptops:

SONY VAIO VGN-SZ71XN, MacBook Pro

Overview:

MacBook Pro comes in three different sizes but what can be said about all the MacBook Pro laptops is that they are very efficient. They offer very good screens (13.3”, 15” and 17”) lightweight body, fast processors and good graphics cards.

MacBook Pro pros:
+ Outstanding design
+ Excellent battery life
+ Reduced price
+ Very good user experience
+ Fast processors, good graphics cards
+ Good customization
+ Alluminium unibody case
+ Backlit keyboard
+ Runs Mac OS X Leopard

MacBook Pro cons:
- Still high price
- Non-removable battery

The design:

The new MacBook Pros are all made of aluminum which makers them look very professional. All the new MacBook Pros look very alike although the biggest one has ExpressCard/34 slot, whereas the smaller ones have SD card slots. Apart from that all MacBook Pros have MagSafe power port, Gigabit Ethernet port, One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps), Mini DisplayPort, USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps), Audio in/out, Kensington lock slot and the battery status indicator on the left side. The right side of Apple laptops features the superdrive. All MacBook Pros have a very comfortable and responsive, black, backlit keyboard which thanks to its excellent ergonomics makes it very easy to write fast and without making many errors.

Performance:

The new MacBook Pros have increased battery life up to 8 hours and because they use the lithium-polymer battery they can be recharged 1000 times before the battery starts to wear off. This means you will most probably change the entire laptop sooner that you wear off your battery. Of course, all MacBook Pros have a big trackpad supporting multi-touch gestures. The laptops can accommodate even a 3.06 Ghz dual core processor and up to 8 GB of RAM which means you will have to try really hard to overuse them.

User experience:

All apple computers have excellent user experience thanks to the Mac OS X Leopard, but the MacBook Pros with their aluminum body and backlit keyboards seems unbeatable. The laptops do not overheat and have very good image and sound quality. As the MacBook Pros are also lightweight and customizable you can choose the best one for you and carry it everywhere which makes them irreplaceable to their users.
All in all, considering the reduced price and what you get for it, it would seems that now is the perfect time to buy an Apple laptop.

Selected features and specifications of the 15” MacBook Pro:
Size and weight

• Height: 0.95 inch (2.41 cm)
• Width: 14.35 inches (36.4 cm)
• Depth: 9.82 inches (24.9 cm)
• Weight: 5.5 pounds (2.49 kg

Connections and expansion

• MagSafe power port
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
• Mini DisplayPort
• Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
• SD card slot
• Audio line in
• Audio line out
• Kensington lock slot

Communications

• Built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi wireless networking2 (based on IEEE 802.11n draft specification); IEEE 802.11a/b/g compatible
• Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
  Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)

Audio

• Built-in stereo speakers
• Built-in omnidirectional microphone (located under left speaker grille)
• Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
• Combined optical digital audio output/audio line out (minijack)

Storage

• 250GB, 320GB, or 500GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive; optional 320GB or 500GB 7200-rpm hard drive, or 128GB or 256GB solid-state drive4
• 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Maximum write: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW
• Maximum read: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD

Specification:

• processor (manufacturer): Intel
• CPU (type): Core
• processor:2.5
• processor (cache memory): 6
• processor (description): T9300
• matrix (diagonal): 13.3
• matrix (resolution): WXGA 1280 x 800 (16:10)
• matrix (shell): bright
• matrix (description): X-black LCD with LED technology 13.3 “WXGA (1280×800)
• installed memory (capacity): 2048
• memory (occupied / free slots): 2 / 0
• memory (technology): SO-DIMM DDR2 667MHz
• hard drive (capacity): 200
• hard drive (GUI): SATA
• hard disk drive (speed): 5400
• hard drive (description): G-Sensor HDD Shock Protection
• optical drive (type): Super Multi DVD + / -RW/RAM
• graphics card (manufacturer): nVidia
• graphics card (model): NVIDIA
• graphics card (memory): 192
• graphics card (memory cards): 64
• graphics card (shared memory): 128
• sound card: Integrated
• speakers: 2
• built-in microphone: YES
• network card: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
• Wireless network card: YES
• The wireless network adapter (description): LAN 802.11a/b/g/n
• bluetooth: YES
• bluetooth (description): Integrated Bluetooth
• fax modem: YES
• fax modem (description): Built-in V.92 Modem
• pcmcia card type ii: YES
• expresscard 34: YES
• Fingerprint Reader: YES
• kensington lock: YES
• vga (rgb): YES
• line-in: YES
• line-out: YES
• external microphone: YES
• memory card reader: YES
• memory card reader (description): MemoryStick Pro Duo Slot, MultimediaCard, SD Card, xD Card, SMC (SmartMedia card)
• fire-wire (ieee1394): YES
• usb 2.0: 2
• Operating System: Genuine
• Additional software: Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Photoshop, DVGate Plus, Microsoft Office (Trial), Microsoft Works, Norton Ghost (Try and Buy), Norton Internet Security, Roxio DigitalMedia SE 7, SonicStage,
• Additional software: VAIO Edit Components VAIO Media, VAIO Update, WinDVD for VAIO
• built-in camera: YES
• built-in camera (resolution): 0.3
• pointing device: Touchpad with scrollem
• accumulator (technology): Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery (VGP-BPS2C)
• accumulator (time): 5.5
• dimensions (height): 25-38
• dimensions (width): 318
• dimensions (D): 236
• Weight: 1.79
• Warranty: 12