I have been using this laptop for the past two weeks as my daily driver and excited to say that I am impressed by this device. I am always on the go and this is the best device I have had in a long time. Lets just say that I would rather open my ThinkPad X280 than use my iPad Pro while on the go. Performance is good, the keyboard is great and I like the overall look and feel of the device.
I am not sure why I never got an ultraportable laptop before. If you are like me who travels often and alway on the go then I would highly recommend this device. If you are concerned with the smaller display, as was I, don't be because the size and performance of the laptop will make up for it. Trust me, you will thank me later, but if you are set in your ways then I would recommend the Lenovo T480s that has a 14 inch display in size.
Although the X280 just has a 12.5 inch display the screen has a nice matte finish and can be configured with a touch screen. I would recommend getting the touch screen with it because it provides you with the better resolution than the standard configuration even if you dont see yourself using the touchscreen. One large advantage over the MacBook line up is the availability of the ports. This provides you little to no worry about bringing adapters to connect to a monitor or projector on a business trip, meeting, or classroom. I personally get frustrated to carry around so many adapters at work, especially when I had my MacBook Pro 15 inch as my primary laptop.
Another great bonus is that the ThinkPad X280 has RapidCharge which is suppose to provide a charge from zero to eighty percent in sixty minutes. This is a must have with any mobile device and more so for a laptop. If security is your concern I wouldn't be too worried because the ThinkPad X280 has, according to Lenovo.com, Fast Identity Online (FIDO) that "enables hardened authentication that wraps your access info in three layers of security." Its suppose to provide better security for online services which in the end can reduce some cost to your business or organization.
The matte black finish presents a nice professional business first impression while still being stylish. I personally use this laptop as my daily driver and bumped the hard drive to a 512GB and maxed out the memory to 16GB. The only disadvantage with the memory is that it cannot be expanded if you went with the 8GB configuration instead. I would recommend you max it out at 16GB. If you don't go with the larger storage one key feature this has is a microSD slot to provide you with an expandable option.
In conclusion I would say if you are on a budget and looking for ultraportable go with the ThinkPad X280. Despite it not having a higher resolution compared to its competition and still weighs the same as the Lenovo T480s I still would give this device a 4 star rating out of 5. I think you will not be disappointed.
