Lenovo ThinkPad T60 furthers the appeal for users looking for a thin-and-light notebook. It keeps the best features of T-series past (the unsurpassed keyboard, reasonable weight, and legendary durability) and adds cutting-edge features such as dual-core performance, advanced security, and wireless-broadband connectivity. The 5.4-pound chassis is classic ThinkPad matte black on the outside and feels comfortable in your hands. Open the lid and you’ll find the excellent ThinkPad keyboard, a touchpad, and the familiar red pointing stick, which has a broader top than other sticks, making it more comfortable to use. Handy Volume buttons also grace this keyboard.

The T60 features a fingerprint reader in addition to TPM circuitry. When it comes to durability, the T60 boasts an internal roll cage of sorts; a magnesium alloy inner skeleton surrounds all of the important components and helps protect the screen. For added data protection, the hard drive is shock-mounted and features the Active Protection System, which parks the hard drive heads should the machine sense it is falling. For those of you clumsy in the morning, the spill-resistant keyboard has a membrane below it that funnels liquids to two drain holes on the underside of the system.

Step-up to serious 3D performance and image quality with ATI’s Radeon X1300 Series. For greatly enhanced visuals, the Radeon X1300 combines a radically efficient 3D architecture with ATI’s Avivo video and display technology. The X1300 delivers superior visual performance for all types of PC entertainment and productivity. Whether upgrading your present PC graphics or buying a PC, the Radeon X1300 will easily handle graphics-intensive games, digital entertainment and productivity software.

FEATURES THAT ARE EXCLUSIVE TO THINKPAD

• Fast Recovery system: Built in a hidden partition of the hard drive, allows easy and fast system recovery even when you cannot enter the Windows system

• Fingerprint Security System: Only ThinkPad has a built-in fingerprint scanner. With a wipe of your fingertips, you can log into your computer via an Embedded Security System.

• Shock-mounted hard drive: This hard drive is protected by an air-bag like security mount and constantly monitored by the Active Protective System. In case of shock or vibration, this system will suspend the hard drive to prevent any damage to it.

• ThinkVantage: The blue ThinkVantage button summons Lenovo's excellent system support and help utility - ThinkVantage Productivity Center

• Think Keyboard Light: An LED light illuminate the keyboard when you type in darkness. I find it extremely helpful. Another brilliant, thoughtful design from ThinkPad.

• TrackPoint Device: In addition to a touchpad, ThinkPad still offers its classical TrackPoint device with two sets of mouse buttons, which I found more convenient than other pointing devices.

• Sturdy steel hinges: Not just cool-looking, they are the reinforced joint connecting the display with the rest of the machine

The 1.66-GHz Intel Core Duo processor T2300 and 512MB of RAM delivered a low score of 211 on MobileMark 2005, but performance should prove fine for business use. Thanks to the ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 graphics, the T60 delivered the highest score in 3DMark03 in this roundup of 3,170, good enough for the occasional game on the road. You can be on the road for a long time; the nine-cell battery in our configuration lasted for nearly 5.5 hours with Wi-Fi on, and more than six hours with it off.