If your boss or office manager shoots down your request for a Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, here's a boomerang solution: Make an immediate case for the powerful, rugged, and still thin-and-light ThinkPad T480s. This more affordable ThinkPad (starts at ,007; ,659 as tested) is about a half-pound heavier than the Editors' Choice-winning X1 Carbon, the slimmest and sleekest ThinkPad in Lenovo's stable. The chassis is the same durable carbon fiber, albeit a bit bulkier, but as a reward for the added heft you get a few things that go missing on the X1 Carbon, among them an Ethernet jack and the option for a graphics upgrade. The question thus becomes: Does the ThinkPad T480s offer enough of a price break from the X1 Carbon to make it worth the weight? It depends on just how tight your budget is. Spoiler: In most cases, we'd say hold out for the X1 Carbon.