IBM ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC Reviewed

JR writes "CoolTechZone.com has reviewed IBM's ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC that works as a standard notebook computer as well as a tablet PC. Generally with hybrid products, there are quite a few limitations attached, is that the case with X41? According to the article, "The notebook has a lot of drawbacks, lacks important features and tries to make up all that with its lightweight and a fingerprint reader that works like a charm. If you are looking for a small lightweight tablet and won't do much more than e-mail and note taking, along with basic office stuff, we would seriously recommend this one for it's battery life, the extreme lightweight design and the brilliant IBM support, but be ready to pay anywhere from $1800 to upwards of $2000 for a common purpose machine."

Comments

Lenovo

[Brunellus]

How long until these thinkpads are labeled Lenovo? As far as I'm concerned, there is no IBM Thinkpad any more....doesn't make Lenovo any better/worse; I'd just rather call a spade a spade.

Ars' UnReview

[theGreater]

Lenovo Thinkpad x41 Unreview
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/thinkpad-x 41.ars

-theGreater.

Not IBM

[macklin01]

It's not IBM anymore, guys, but rather Lenovo. Even for ThinkPads originally purchased from IBM, the Package Manager software has been steadily replacing all the IBM-branded ThinkVantage software with Lenovo-branded software. (So far, it all works the same, but they're making it very clear that it's a Lenovo show now.) Customer support has been turned over to Lenovo as well. (I can say from recent experience that it's still quite good.)

The article got this right, but I thought I'd post the FYI here as well. -- Paul

Re: RTFA

[Tezkah]

How long until these thinkpads are labeled Lenovo? As far as I'm concerned, there is no IBM Thinkpad any more....doesn't make Lenovo any better/worse; I'd just rather call a spade a spade.

from the title of the article: "Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC: Closing the Mobile Gap"

Slashdot just got it wrong, this is definitely a Lenovo.

I have one of these...

[jbf]

In fact, I'm typing this comment on it. It is a bit sluggish, but I suspect that's because my add-in memory is still on order. The battery life (as with all X series ThinkPads) is unbeatable. But the killer app to me is not the note-taking. There are a few nice applications the tablet can be used for that don't work as well on a regular laptop (and I won't buy a non-ThinkPad until someone else figures out how to put in a sane keyboard layout).

1. Driving directions. Bluetooth GPS + Streets and Trips 2003 = turn-by-turn directions and a nice huge map.
2. Photo editing. Instead of having a separate digitizer tablet, this one is built-in. Using the mouse for this kind of stuff really sucks, especially if you have RSI.
3. Aircraft use (pilot). There are a pile of programs to help aviators figure out where they're going, and they're much easier to see on a Tablet than on a laptop. In a vacuum or electrical failure, this can be a real lifesaver (by acting as a DG or VOR/GS).
4. Aircraft use (passenger). You can read PDFs in tablet mode, even when the seat in front of you is reclined. You can even annotate them with the pen.

So sure, its a bit sluggish (but another 512MB RAM will help that quite a bit), and the resolution sucks (1024x768? are we in the 90s?), but I think I'm sticking with the tablet for the near future as my portable. My power use takes place on a Pentium D desktop with 4GB RAM and a 24" LCD, so there's little need for me to have a beefy desktop-replacement laptop. And the optical drive problem is solved with an external DVD burner that hooks up to both the laptop and the desktop.

Re:Well

[daevux]

Actually, the finger print scanner _DOES_ work. EmperorLinux, Inc sells the machine as the "Raven". For information about the tablet functionality, go here. The finger print scanner is actually tied into GDM! The SD card, unfortunately, does not work.

X41 Tablet runs Linux perfectly well...

[EmperorLinux]

...and all the neato features actually WORK. I've been working on these for several months now, we announced this a month ago, and we have all this stuff working: The integrated Biometric Fingerprint scanner works in Linux, so you can train your fingerprints, and use them to login (via PAM/GDM). The pen works in Xorg, so you can input to screen as a mouse pointer or stylus. You can hand-write commands on-screen (converts handwriting to ascii text in the focus area (using rosetta)). It includes a recognition suite (trained conversion of handwritten text to ascii text (using Jarnal)). And the digitizer is pressure sensitivity in Gimp. now, that said, all of the handwriting features will require some training, but with carefull training, are very nearly as good as the "Windows Journal" at this time.

The screen can be rotated to portrait orientation via rotate button (not dynamic, no xrandr on i915 yet, so 2 Xconfigs). It has special "BlueKeys" support when folded into tablet configuration: scroll Up, scroll Down, Enter, and Toolbox keys. The Toolbox Key (plugin to "EmpTool" tools to access LCD brightness up/down, volume up/down, backlight, wifi kill, etc)