Three cardinal rules of mobile computing

Whether it?s notebooks, tablets, phones, peripherals, or even software, we want three things from our mobile tools: they must be light, fast, and intuitive to use.

Here is a quartet of products that meet those rules for the road.

Thin and light ? and bigger ? portable PC

To fulfill the rule of lighter-faster-easier, Lenovo?s ThinkPad T430s (info page) starts with a carbon fiber?reinforced chassis that helps pare its weight down to just 4.2 pounds. For a 14-inch display notebook, that?s light! In addition, the T430s is equipped with Lenovo?s proprietary RapidBoot technology, which gives it a perceptibly faster Windows 7 Professional boot up than typically seen on many other Win7 machines. And if you?re into cutting-edge qualities, this portable has an optional Windows 8?like interface that launches applications and utilities with a single click. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The T430s comes with an optional startup screen that's reminiscent of the forthcoming Windows 8.

An inch thick, the T430s includes a lithium-ion battery that delivered nearly five hours of power in my informal tests ? enough time to watch Avatar and get some work done, too. Watching the movie was visually pleasing on my review unit. It came with a crisp, 1600?900 HD display (a 1366?768 display knocks U.S. $50 off the standard price) driven by an optional Nvidia NVS 5400M graphics card with 1GB VRAM ($330 extra).

Most laptops and Ultrabooks have reduced size and weight by eliminating built-in optical drives. However, that?s a problem when you want to load applications or grab a movie out of Redbox. The T430s includes a DVD/CD multiburner, adding a bit to its weight and thickness. However, it?s good to have the option. You can also order a second battery that slips into the drive bay for extended power.

On the other hand, you?ll want a good set of headphones when watching movies or listening to music ? Lenovo has put two mediocre speakers on either side of the keyboard.

Figure 2. Lenovo's light and fast T430s

Going back to the days when IBM held the brand, ThinkPads have always sported the best notebook keyboards ? bar none. So why, oh why did Lenovo switch to the island-style (or chiclet) keyboard for the T430s? Although still comfortable with providing great feedback, the key spacing guarantees mistypes galore. I know, I know. You just have to get used to it, but it?s a pity that Lenovo had to ?improve? on keyboard perfection to satisfy obvious MacBook envy.

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5. Run Windows on iPad using remote-computing apps

About Michael Lasky

WS contributing editor Michael Lasky is a freelance writer based in Oakland, California, who has 20 years of computer-magazine experience, most recently as senior editor at PC World.

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