CES 2006 - Day 2: Blu-ray/HD-DVD, PureVideo H.264, Viiv, Centrino Duo and a lot more

Lenovo's Thinkpad X60s

The most exciting Core Duo notebook at the show didn't even have a Core Duo processor in it, it was the Lenovo Thinkpad X60s.

The 's' in the name denotes that it is the smaller 2.7 lbs version of the chassis which is only large enough to cool a single core Intel Core Solo processor. The regular Thinkpad X60 does feature a Core Duo processor but it weighs about 0.5 lbs more. The Core Duo equipped X60 also increases its thickness from 1.11" to 1.39", once again to accomodate proper cooling for the dual core processor.

Lenovo representatives claimed that the X60 series should have no problems outlasting the T60 we previewed in terms of battery life. In our T60 preview we found that it lasted a hefty 5 hours in most tests, so we can only imagine what the X60 will be able to pull off - especially if you use an extended battery.

The X60 features three potential battery configurations, the first being the standard 4-cell battery seen below (the shiny finish is only on the pre-production notebook):

You can also replace the 4-cell battery with an extended life 8-cell battery that will protrude out the rear of the notebook. Or finally you could combine the extended life battery with yet another battery that the X60 would sit on top of to increase battery life to beyond 11 hours.

The X60 keyboard is the same excellent keyboard (with Windows key) that we've seen on Thinkpads in the past. Just like the T60, the X60 does come with a fingerprint scanner, however there is only one pointing device on the X series notebook.

Quite possibly the biggest upgrade to the X series with the new models is that all Thinkpad X60 notebooks feature a 2.5" hard drive spinning at up to 7200 RPM (the model we saw had a 5400 RPM drive). Not all of the previous X series notebooks featured 2.5" drives, some used 1.8" drives that did not perform well at all and weren't easy to find replacements for outside of IBM/Lenovo.

Of course the X60s felt just as solid as other Thinkpad notebooks, but the Lenovo representative that we met with reminded us of why even the larger Thinkpads feel extremely sturdy. While not necessary on the X60 because of its small size, larger Thinkpads like the T60 feature an integrated roll-cage to not only improve rigidity but also helps distribute shock in the event that you drop your laptop or run it into something:

The roll-cage pictured above ends up absorbing a lot of the impact of a drop or bump, causing notebooks that use it to be, according to Lenovo, around four times as sturdy as those without it.