Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Independence MO

A very nice corporate laptop, the Lenovo ThinkPad T60 is ideal for
on-the-go executives who chafe at ultraportable limitations. It's big enough to
have a 14.1-inch screen and a first-rate keyboard, yet plenty light enough to
carry, at 5.7 pounds. Battery life with the nine-cell upgrade included with our
$1899 (as of 5/9/07) review unit was superb.

Our test machine came with
Windows Vista Business and featured a 2-GHz Core 2 Duo T7200 processor and 1GB
of RAM. It performed well in our tests. In the WorldBench 6 Beta 2 suite, the
T60 scored a slightly better-than-average 69. In battery testing it endured for
almost 5 hours on a single charge of its upgrade battery, one of the best times
we've recorded for a Vista laptop. Better yet, ThinkPads have a modular bay
that can hold another battery (instead of the dual-layer DVD rewritable drive),
so you can work off of two batteries at once.

The T60 is a sturdy, slim
unit with the ThinkPad's classic black case. Among many useful features, the
great keyboard includes browser back and forward keys, and touchpad and
eraserhead pointing devices. The screen is of a standard aspect ratio--instead
of the wide-aspect design most notebook vendors have switched to--and it uses a
matte rather than a glossy finish, but it's reasonably bright and not at all
bulky. All of the basic connections--USB, audio, video, and communications
ports--are present, including an ExpressCard slot. But the unit lacks a
FireWire port and memory-card slots. The stereo speakers are a bit weak.

The flexible pricing starts at $1200; optional extras include broadband
wireless, a fingerprint reader, and a larger 160GB hard drive. You can also
request almost any flavor of Windows Vista or XP.

The ThinkPad is not
ideal if your idea of good laptop includes media buttons and loud audio. But if
the best balance of portability and performance is what you need, it could be
the perfect addition to your carry-on gear.