Lenovo ThinkPad X130e Review and Specs

New ThinkPad X130e review for 2012. Lenovo ThinkPad X130e Review. The ThinkPad X100e was released to rave reviews 2 years ago. But it had some flaws, so in 2011, came the ThinkPad X120e. Now new for 2012 Lenovo has released the ThinkPad X130e. Which takes the X-Series to the next level.

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The ThinkPad X-series is Lenovo’s slim line of laptops and the new ThinkPad X130e replaces the old X120e model. The X120e was very well reviewed. Now you might think that the ThinkPad X130e is just a slightly improved version of the X120e…but it’s so much more. That’s because over the past year, netbooks have become a concern for Lenovo, so they’ve decided to take the X130e to the next level. Keep reading for our comprehensive Lenovo ThinkPad X130e review for more details.

ThinkPad X130e Design

The X130e design is bulkier than the old version. Now with slim laptops, that might sound counter productive…everyone is slimming down…so why is the X130e bigger? The answer is simple, the X130e is supposed to be both slim…and rugged. You drop one of those $500 netbooks, and you are left with bits and pieces. With the X130e, you won’t have to worry that your kid just flushed $500 down the drain. The X130e is 11.6 x 8.5 x 1.3 inches and features an 11″ screen. It also weighs 3.4 pounds.

The overall design is made more kid friendly. It has rounded corners…this is done to both keep the kids from poking their eyes out and to make the laptop more aesthetically pleasing. It also comes in a choice of midnight black or heatwave red. And you have an option to customize the exterior with a custom skin(for $30), which can include anything from the kid’s favorite sports team to flowers and unicorns.

The rugged features include a top cover rubber bumper, reinforced shock deflecting corners, and a 1.2mm plastic screen cover to protect the monitor. All of this adds up to plenty protection against any accidental drops…which should come in handy if you plan to give this system to a kid.

The system has also been designed with heat in mind. It operates at only 85 degrees, while most laptops in this category operate at 92 degrees. It may not sound like much, but you’ll definitely notice the difference. This is an important factor to measure for our Lenovo ThinkPad X130e Review because hot laptops are very uncomfortable and you shouldn’t have to deal with 3rd degree burns just to update your Facebook status..

ThinkPad X130e Keyboard & TouchPad

The overall shape of these is the same to the X120e, except for a few differences. The escape and delete keys are now twice as large and the insert button has been removed from the function key area. It also adds a dedicated Print Screen button. The keys themselves offer a very good tactile feedback(feel) compared to any notebook/netbook of similar size. The touchpad remains the same with the industry-best Trackpoint for mouse movements. The Trackpoint can be a bit sensitive for some people, so if that’s the case, simple go into the settings menu and adjust the speed.

ThinkPad X130e Performance

The ThinkPad X130e can come with a 1.3Ghz AMD or a 1.4 Ghz Intel chip. It may not sound like much, but it’s plenty of power for listening to music, writing a paper, or using the internet. Paired with the 320GB hard drive, it takes about a minute for the laptop to boot up, which is about on par with other laptops in this category. And in the large file folder test, it took 3:15 to copy a 5GB folder of files. Since this is a student laptop, the graphics card is a bit weak. It’s fine for day to day tasks, but you won’t be playing a lot of games with it. Which is actually a plus, you want your kids to pay attention in class, instead of wasting their time playing a game. The ThinkPad X130e battery life is very good. It’s a whole hour better than the X120e, at 7 hours, 9 minutes…which means it can last the whole day of school without needing to lug around a backup battery. To give you an idea of performance, this is about 30 minutes longer than the industry average in this category…and almost 90 minutes better than the HP DM1. The battery life is one of the reasons why the ThinkPad X130e reviews place it safely ahead of the competition.

ThinkPad X130e Ports

The X130e comes equipped with 3 USB 2.0 ports, a 4 in 1 memory stick reader, ethernet, HDMI, VGA, and a headphone/mic port. These ports are recessed and reinforced so they won’t go bad from careless use. It also comes with a webcam….which is why the laptop also comes with skype installed.

ThinkPad X130e Configurations

The laptop comes in 2 different configurations…which can then be upgraded as you see fit. Make sure to use this ThinkPad X130e Coupon Code to get close to 50% off. After the coupon, the AMD version ThinkPad X130e price goes down to $499 and the Intel version goes down to $629.

The specs are as follows: with the AMD version you get the 1.3GHz AMD E-300 APU Dual-core Processor, AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics card, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard drive and Windows 7 Home Premium. The $129 more expensive Intel version adds the 1.4GHz Intel Core i3-2367M Processor and a Intel GMA HD Gfx 3000 graphics card. Overall, it’s worth the upgrade if you can afford it, but the AMD version will work just as well too.

You can also buy a few extra upgrades. With the AMD you can upgrade to a 1.65Ghz processor for $40. This is definitely worth it, especially if you can’t afford the Intel upgrade. And you’ll probably want to spend the $30 to personalize the laptop with the custom skin.

Final Verdict

As you can see from this ThinkPad X130e review, this laptop is more than capable for students needs. It’s safe, sturdy, and powerful enough to do the tasks they need done. And it’s a ThinkPad, so you won’t have to worry about parts dying on you. And with the coupon code, it’s a very good deal as well.