Case
The case of the X201 is composed primarily of magnesium elements, but the end result is the traditional black synthetic material look. The case is very robust and, according to the manufacturer even lives up to some military standards. Overall, the workmanship is very good and the case pullys off a very classy, conservative look. The surface is a bit rough and can be classified as easy-to-clean. The chassis is very strong and can not be bent inwards anywhere. Only in the hand-rest regions does the case give way slightly under heavy pressure, but this is to be expected even in a high-quality case such as this one.

Connectivity
Port performance
At a first glance, the ports available on the laptop seem very few: 3 USB 2.0 ports and no eSata, Firewire or USB 3.0. Even the digital monitor output such as Displayport and HDMI is missing. The picture output on an external monitor is provided by an analogue VGA interface. This port delivers a very good output at 1280x1024 pixels and a fine, but, slightly blurred output at a resolution of 1680x1050 pixels. The data transfer rates of the USB ports lie at 27.4 MB/s and the CardReader speed is on average around 9.7 MB/s. The available Gigabit-LAN port is an absolute must, but the 56k Modem interface surprised us a little. However, this is probably due to the fact that the business world still uses a lot of older gadgets such as (e.g. FAX

Keyboard

The keyboard of the X201 extends itself over the entire case width of the notebook and offers normal-sized keys in a 19 mm format. Space, Enter, Shift, Tab and Delete are well-dimensioned and the buyer can get used to them quickly. Even the normally ignored cursor and F- keys are well-sized. The keyboard is protected against fluids and thus prevents the keyboard from being damaged in the case of a spill