X60s vs W4 redux- one wins.

[jl123]

I was just faced with this very decision- the X60s or the W4. I was at the ready to drop my 2K on either. I must say that I do not believe I had any major bias towards either brand and believe I chose mostly based on these reasons...

1. Durability- Panasonic wins. However the X60s also has a shock enhanced hard drive and auto-cut out if tipped over/dropped. Both machines claim they can take a decent size fall. Note also that the W4 is not designed to take too much of a beating despite its name, so the difference in durability here is probabily not that big. Both can take a fall, the W4 can probably take a slightly bigger one.
W4- 8.5 X60s- 7

2. Reliability- Dead heat. Both are said to be highly reliable.
W4- 9 X60s- 9

3. Weight- Panasonic wins by a somewhat significant margin 2.7 lbs vs 3.2 for the X60s with 8 cell battery.
W4- 10 X60s- 8.5

4. Battery. Lenovo wins by slight margin. Most reports suggest the W4 is good for somewhere around 6 hours and the X60s somewhere slightly longer 6 to 7 hours.
W4- 9.5 X60s- 10

5. Screen. Lenovo wins. Most reports claim the new Ultralight screen on the X60s is very good with good contrast, brightness and viewing angles. While the W4 is said to be slightly above average and not special in any catagory.
W4- 6.5 X60s- 8.5

6. Keyboard. Lenovo wins. The W4 keyboard is too cramped and many important keys are simply too small for long term typing. The lenovo keyboard is pretty much as good as it gets in the 12 inch ultra-portable size.
W4- 6 X60s- 9

7. Speed. Lenovo wins by a large margin.
W4- 7 X60s- 10

8. Noise/Heat. Panasonic wins, with whisper quiet harddrive, no fan required and cool operation. However the X60s is said also to be mostly quiet and not too warm.
W4- 10 X60s- 8

9. Service. Both are said to have very good service. Not sure how Lenovo has taken the ball from IBM. I call it even.
W4- 9 X60s- 9

10. Pointing device: Too close to call, matter of taste. No score.

So to recap....That's Panasonic 3 Lenovo 4 and 2 ties.
Durability: W4- 8.5 X60s- 7
Reliability: W4- 9 X60s- 9
Weight: W4- 10 X60s- 8.5
Battery: W4- 9.5 X60s- 10
Screen: W4- 6.5 X60s- 8.5
Keyboard: W4- 6 X60s- 9
Speed: W4- 7 X60s- 10
Noise/Heat: W4- 10 X60s- 8
Service: W4- 9 X60s- 9
Decision:
Durability is very important however as both can take a fall, Panasonic's extra strength is not that great a factor.
Reliability, battery and Service are about the same.
Weight: 1/2 a pound is a factor and a slight advantage for the W4. Noise and Heat seem not a problem on either, granted the Panasonic is close to silent.
So the main decision comes down to keyboard and screen, and it is here that the X60s scores its knockout blows. When it comes down to actually using a laptop day in and out, a much better keyboard and a brighter more visable screen are quite important. Until Panasonic can give me a great screen and keyboard, or until Lenovo looses its inherited IBM quality, I'll go Lenovo.
Thoughts on my grading would be appreciated. Thanks, JL

[sugo]

I owned a panasonic T2 for a year. It has a similar designs as W2/W4 without an optical drive.

The panasonic T/W doesn't have a fan. The cpu mostly relies on the keyboard for heat dissipation. Even with a 900MHz Pentium M at 600MHz, the cpu/keyboard gets pretty hot (50C +).

When hooked up with external monitor/keyboard/mouse, I still could not let the T2 run with LCD lid closed. Or it will probably fry.

Apart from the heat issue, the T2 was well built (Made in Japan) and never gave me any hardware problem.

The screen on T2 was much brighter than the SXGA+ on my T42. A 10/20 on T2 is about the same as 5/7 on the T42.

Another consideration is the much larger user base of thinkpads. It means cheaper parts and unparalleled level of peer to peer support. Thanks to the fancontrol program, my T42 fan is off 90% of the time.

With X60s one can also get built-in Firewire, WWAN and Bluetooth.

Unless a built-in optical drive is a necessity, I would vote for X60s over W4.