Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m

Business users on a budget, meet the Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m. For a little more than $1,000, this 6.5-pound mainstream notebook delivers the right mix of performance and security to fit into any corporate expense account.

As you might expect, there are some sacrifices to be made in order to hit that low price. The Z60m we reviewed features a 1.4-GHz Celeron M processor, lacks a Bluetooth radio, eschews a DVD burner in favor of a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, and uses integrated graphics.

Lenovo manages to surprise with some nice amenities, like a 15.4-inch widescreen display, 5,400-rpm 60GB hard drive, tri-mode Wi-Fi adapter, and Gigabit Ethernet. Unlike previous ThinkPads, the Z60m also has a full array of interfaces that includes an ExpressCard/54 slot and a multiformat memory card reader.

The Z60m lacks the traditional ThinkPad look. Sure, it's decked out in "business black," but the bottom doesn't taper in toward the base as most ThinkPads do. That design element is really all that keeps a ThinkPad from looking like a big black box. Worse, in order to fit in both a pointing stick and a touchpad, each with its own set of mouse buttons, the touchpad is too close to the front of the chassis. This makes you position your arm awkwardly to use it. The Z60m features a perfectly usable pointing stick, but if you're a touchpad user, this could be a deal breaker.

We didn't have any other usability issues. Like other ThinkPads, the Z60m has a best-in-class keyboard and the mouse buttons don't feel the least bit cheap (like they do on other budget notebooks). On the inside, Lenovo protects the Z60m's components from damage with a new Roll Cage design, a one-piece magnesium casing that will protect against hard disk failure in case of a drop.

The 15.4-inch screen features the WXGA resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, which is right for the screen size, and the 1.4-GHz Celeron M 360 CPU proved surprisingly capable. MobileMark gave it a score of 204 (180 would have been our highest guess), but the Z60m ran Excel, Word, and Windows Media Player without a hitch. Multitasking seemed to bog the system down a bit, but certainly not to the point that the Z60m was unusable. No doubt the 5,400-rpm hard drive helped the system's performance.

For a 15.4-inch notebook, the Z60m delivers acceptable but not stellar endurance. The system turned in a runtime of 3 hours and 14 minutes, which dropped by only four minutes with the Wi-Fi radio enabled. Expect good throughput when near your access point but slightly below-average data rates as you move 50 or more feet away.

It's clear that Lenovo is catering to business users with this machine. The Z60m features Lenovo's Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0, which combines a TPM security chip with the easy-to-use ThinkVantage Client Security Solution 6 utility to lock your sensitive data behind hardware-based encryption. This is one of many smart utilities included in the ThinkVantage Productivity Center, which launches by pressing the blue ThinkVantage button above the keyboard beside the volume controls. You'll also find tools to manage wireless network connections, back up important files, perform routine maintenance, migrate data to a new PC, update software, and get help from Lenovo online support. This is easily the best suite of system utilities we've seen a manufacturer create for its notebooks.

As one might expect from a system with Intel graphics, the Z60m couldn't muster playable frame rates at 1024 x 768 in Far Cry, even with all the detail settings dropped to the minimum. The waves in the water were blue lumps that didn't move, but even at that low level of detail, the Z60m couldn't render motion smooth enough as to be playable. We think 3DMark03 was feeling generous when it gave the system a paltry mark of 788.

That's not to say the Z60m doesn't know how to have fun. The widescreen display may lack the glossy exterior of competing systems, but it's the right aspect ratio for watching DVDs in your downtime. You'll enjoy more volume on this ThinkPad compared to previous models, as well, thanks to the two stereo speakers positioned on either side of the keyboard.

Overall, the Z60m is a smart purchase for business users who don't have a war chest to spend on new notebooks. It may not be sleek, but it's powerful, portable, and secure enough to be your only PC.