Lenovo ThinkPad X41 Tablet PC

Ever since I saw one of these in my doctor's office a while back, I wanted one. I have an Android tablet but this is a unique kind of an item. A lot of them were apparently used in the corporate world and are now out there in the "recycle" market for cheap. Ironic since they were quite expensive at well over $1000.00 only a handful of years ago. Mine came quickly and in beautiful condition. Also the build fit and finish is definitely high end Thinkpad. The keyboard by the way is very comfortable to type on with no Netbook akwardness.

I just started working on this machine this weekend. I had purchased a copy of XP Tablet on eBay but try as I would it would not install. I updated the BIOS and tweaked it and did everything I could but would still get the Blue Screen of Death when the computer went to reboot for the first time during installation. (remember, by the way, no CD drive on this machine. I used a USB drive with no problems).

Finally I tried a copy of XP I had from an old computer and it installed perfectly. So I don't know what the issue was, except that the XP Tablet edition I had was originally for an HP tablet not a Thinkpad. Who knows, but something was missing or wrong. Anyway the regular XP Professional installed fine.

Now I am going through the inevitable process of downloading drivers and getting everything working. So far I am about 60% done. The drivers are out there it just takes a while. I recommend a company called Driver Agent as a huge help. There is a small annual subscription but it is not a lot, and they search your machine and figure out which drivers are missing or bad and supply them for download. They are not perfect but a lot easier on the odd ball stuff. Oh and of course I have run Windows Update about a hundred times...

My machine is SLOW with only 512mb of RAM. I will be adding more. Also these resale units typically are missing stuff. Mine had the hard disk and caddy which I was told may not come with it, but no charger or battery, also no stylus pen. The batteries are out there for a few bucks. For the charger I am using a universal laptop charger. Oh and the hard disk is NOT a standard laptop disk but smaller in size. And a little slower. But they are out there on eBay also if you need one.

I have not tested the tablet functionality but once all the drivers are installed it will be fun...we are multi computer house so this is not an urgent project for me, more for fun. It is a really nice compact laptop bigger than a netbook but nice size. Not cutting edge but the current Lenovo version is $1400.00 I think!

I have been wanting to try out a tablet for quite some time. I previously purchased a 7" tablet loaded with Android, which I enjoyed using quite a lot.

The X41 I purchased was on a lark, as it was quite a bit cheaper than others I had seen. I prefer IBM ThinkPad products, so I jumped on the auction and won.

So far I'm highly pleased with my X41! It is compact, light, and powerful for its size and age.

The only irritations I have experiences have really nothing to do with the X41 itself. The pen is an aftermarket (ie non-IBM), so it can be a tad inconsiderate in how it works. Additionally, Windows XP is itself an irritation, end of story

In the future, I will be replacing the Windows XP with an Ubuntu install, and I will keep watch for a real IBM pen. I intend to keep this computer for a very long time, and in the final analysis, that's what counts in my book!

This is an excellent laptop. It was bought for a girl in a wheel chair who had to ride from Monroe, La to hospitla in New Orleans. She gets bored easy. This tablet is compact and small and is perfect for her to hold. Especially since it swivels and folds down to a notebook size. It has the drawing, canvas style built in artist program. This is exactly like an artist, his canvas, and pallet with the colors. Quite amazing. The pen fits in the side, perfect, can't get lost. Bought extended battery that gives 4 plus hours. Screen rotates to four differant positions so you can hold it with the heavy battery end down, to the left, to the right. The slow start us is worth the wait.

I bought one for my son. I then found myself buying 5 more for friends and family. The average price of $250 for a reliable tablet laptop computer is more then reasonable. I like that it will not burn itself out with uncontrolled high temperatures. I like that the unit is rated for heavy duty usage. I like that the screen has a hard plastic shield over it. I like the light weight and high battery usage time. Overall: The unit is reliable and easy to use. All be it; that the unit is not a processing power house. It is perfect for school, web, and general office usage. OUTSTANDING WELL MADE PRODUCT, 5 STAR!!!!! <<(•¿•)>>

My actual rating would be 4.5/5.0.

This tablet is solidly build (feels more structurally sound than some of the current Thinkpads) as expected from Thinkpad. The feel of the full-size keyboard is excellent. The rigidity of the screen of the tablet is great (not a scratch from the unit I got). The stylus (got is for $17) works well under both Windows XP and Windows 7. It is perfect for everyday use (document, web surfing, music, etc.) This is NOT a tablet for gaming.

The major bottleneck is the 1.8&amp;quot; IDE drive (got $50). A huge boost if one gets a solid-state drive. Also the sound could be a lot better but this is a business machine.


Note: Windows 7 battery life is 20% less than in Windows XP Tablet. I get 3 hr (from battery that came with it!) from Windows XP Tablet which is sufficient for me. Mine came with 2GB RAM with 512MB RAM already.