X201 540M 2GB/320 Dvr Bt F C W7-32

Not much to say here for introduction, I guess if you are reading this review chances are you know why we professionals buy ThinkPads... ;) :P

Pros:

world-famous, excellent quality FULL-SIZED KEYBOARD (=essentially Lenovo built an ultra-portable road-warrior around a regular-sized keyboard sans dedicated numeric pad which is available as accessory)

COMES WITH ULTRABASE w/ DVD-RW dockin station (model #32492FU from J&R, at least) included in the box ($200 savings!)

Ultrabase can charge a second battery and sports loads of extra ports while does not block any on-board ones

runs COLD, even after 5+ hours

netbook-class dimensions and battery life but much faster than a netbook and it can pretty

very good battery life/CPU performance ratio with mid-range battery and fast (i5-540) CPU combo: I regularly score above 5 hours on WiFi with medium-light usage (VPN Client connected, putty/SSH, Firefox + Chrome, both running 10+ tabs and loads of plugins including Flash Player etc)

good weight at 3.xx lbs w/ 6-cell battery

Windows 7 Professional license included

decent-sized 320GB hard drive

finally a 'reasonably slow' integrated (on-die) Intel HD graphics core

full Intel vPro stack including vT-d (DirectIO) means future Citrix XenClient support (launches in October 2010)

excellent security: fingerprint reader, Intel AMT, optional encrypting hard drive upgrade

excellent status lights with proper 'icons', readable even with closed lid

very convenient, very useful ThinkVantage Tools: all updates, profiles, locations, warranty, support issues etc can be accessed by the push of a button

dedicated hardware buttons all around: radio on/off/ volume mute/down/up, ThinkVantage Tools button to access everything else

usual unbreakable ThinkPad chassis (though feels a bit less sturdy than old IBM ThinkPads)

mile-long list of options (accessories, warranties/support, upgrades etc)

and of course, built-in ThinkLight, a switchable LED light source for nighttime typing, checking card numbers etc! :)

Cons:

2GB memory -> Windows 7 Pro 32-bit preinstalled, you need to reinstall from scratch to get 64-bit (serial works for both)

no bloatware (no, ThinkVantage Tools are NOT bloatware)

wimpish battery life with 4-cell -> only buy it with 6-cell!

9-cell gives great battery life but stands out in the back and pushes the weight well above 4lbs

rather craptastic LCD colors out of the box -> run a calibration tool, it makes a difference though viewing angles etc won't be better (cheap screen panel tech:

X201/i is 'only WXGA (1280x800), not available with WXGA+ (1440X900) -> only ultra-light X201s got it but then say goodbye to webcam... dumb compromise?

personal grievance: Fn button is outside instead of Ctrl... aaahhh, you shouldn't use anything other than ThinkPade, period. :)

Summary: for $1,200 it is the best all-around ultraportable road warrior with the most power and longest battery at the same time.

PS: make sure you check your warranty status because J&R apparently screwing around with your dates, mine came with a June 2010 warranty start date, that's a 2-months loss right there... just contact Lenovo and fax them your actual invoice, they will fix it (takes some time.)

Warning: if you want to upgrade your warranty to ThinkPad Protection (accidental damage etc) you MUST add in the first 30 days!