Lenovo's ThinkPad X100e, an excellent design let down by poor battery life

Defining what makes Lenovo's ThinkPad X100e special is easy, but the question of whether it's a netbook or a true ultraportable is altogether more tricky.

One of the key motivations for lumping the X100e firmly in the netbook category would be its performance - the single-core AMD Athlon Neo processor has more RAM at its disposal than the average netbook, but it still baulks at more demanding tasks.

It feels much, much faster in use too, but as a score of 0.43 in our benchmarks reveals, the raw horsepower just isn't there.

Elsewhere, the netbook moniker looks less appropriate. The ATI graphics chipset outclasses Intel's integrated efforts in both the netbook and CULV groups, and is capable of HD video playback as well as light gaming.

The 11.6in display has much more in common with CULV laptops too. Image quality is a tad washed out and pale, but it has a thoroughly sensible resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels.

And that extra inch makes all the difference to legibility, so while Sony's W21 Eco Edition matches it pixel for pixel, its smaller screen makes it less comfortable to stare at all day.

Get to grips with the X100e and any qualms about its usability are rapidly dispelled. The keyboard is more than a match for all but the finest ultraportable keyboards, let alone that of the average netbook.

The concave key tops prevent fingers from slipping, and the clean, positive break at the end of each stroke makes for supremely comfortable typing.

Lenovo has even managed to squeeze in an excellent touchpad and a trackpoint. And it's well equipped elsewhere, with Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n wireless networking and Windows 7 Professional installed as standard.

The X100e does have one weakness, however: battery life. In our tests, it returned a maximum six and a half hours in the light use test, which places it a long way behind the best netbooks and Intel CULV-powered machines. More serious-minded buyers will find much to love, but it's clearly not the perfect all-rounder.