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Lenovo's new ThinkPad T60p is one of the first laptops with both dual-core processing technology and built-in wide area networking using Verizon Wireless' 3G EV-DO cellular data network. Those capabilities, along with Lenovo's security, usability and enterprise management features, make this less-than-6-pound notebook appealing.
The T60p comes with Intel's Centrino Duo mobile-optimized twin-core processor operating at 2.16 GHz, 1GB of RAM and a 100-GB serial ATA hard drive. I noticed no drop-off in speed or processing power compared with my desktop computer, which specs out at 2.8 GHz and 512 MB of RAM. The T60p's nine-cell battery, rated for as long as 5.2 hours, provided more than four hours of usage while constantly connected to a wireless network.
The T60p has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but the icing is a built-in radio for Verizon's EV-DO service, which provides typical download speeds in the 500-Kbps range. When EV-DO service is not available, the built-in radio falls back to 1xRTT cellular data service, with speeds of about 100 Kbps. Lenovo includes a slick connection-management utility so you can create profiles that make use of its various combinations of connectivity and security. For instance, you could create one profile for using Wi-Fi in the office, a second profile to use the EV-DO connection when available, and so on.
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