Business and pleasure mixed into a fun and inspirational package. The touch-swivel Windows 8 Lenovo ThinkPad Twist is a solid performer with an excellent working fascia for many scenarios. It’s not a consumer tablet though and there are one or two characteristics to be aware of but at a starting price of $899 for a Core i5 variant (959 Euro, 899 Euro street price) we think it offers solid value for money.

Read the full review…

Since 2006 I’ve owned three swivel-screen laptops and one of them, the Gigabyte Touchnote, became completely ingrained in my mobile computing life. The Lenovo Twist is a similar size and weight but it offers quite a bit more. We’re talking about a useful and desktop-capable Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hybrid HDD and 5-point capacitive touch. This little Ultrabook Convertible is running Windows 8 and also includes a great set of ports. To top it off there’s an IPS display. Out of the box it’s an extremely exciting form factor and it looks and feels both stylish and strong. My first thoughts were ‘I need this Ultrabook.’ After 4 hours of testing I’m still very positive but there are a couple of things that are annoying me.

The full review of the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon was posted last week but today I’ve got a slightly more laid-back version for you as I talk you round this fantastic Ultrabook on video.

See below for video, go here for the full review or check out our Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon information page.

What a pleasure it has been to test this high quality Ultrabook. What a disappointment it is though to see software affecting the experience. The Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1 review is below.

Model tested: 3460-2SG S, a European model with 3G that retails for about €1749 and about $1750 when configured at Lenovo USA.

Hector, a UMPCPortal reader, has sent us a review of the Samsung Ativ PC 500T keyboard dock. Don’t forget to subscribe to Hectors YouTube channel here. Follow him on Twitter here and check out his blog here. Thanks Hector!

The Samsung ATIV XE500T has been somewhat a bit hard to find in-stock, that goes for other Clover Trail devices that we were supposed to see released in October. I was able to get a hold of the ATIV keyboard dock which again  has been in short supply at the moment. The keyboard dock works great, but not without some cons. Read-on for the review, images and a review video.

Hector, a UMPCPortal reader, has sent us a great owner review of the Samsung Ativ PC 500T along with some really useful videos. For anyone considering a Clover-Trail based tablet or ‘transformer’ convertible, this is a must-read; Especially the battery life section!

Don’t forget to subscribe to Hectors YouTube channel here. Follow him on Twitter here and check out his blog here. Thanks Hector

We’ve got our hands on the Sony VAIO T13 Ultrabook which has so far been quite impressive. In addition to having one of the the most unique designs in the Ultrabook market, the T13 is also one of the cheapest 13″ Ultrabooks you can get your hands on. The build quality is quite impressive  and it resumes nearly instantly from sleep. The T13 will soon be launching with a touchscreen and Windows 8 making this a better time than ever to see if it’s worth waiting for.

The 15” Samsung Series 9 2012 with Ivy Bridge has been a pleasure to test. It’s a stylish Ultrabook with potentially very long battery life and a great 3D performance boost over 1st-generation Ultrabooks. The screen is good and bright and the keyboard a pleasure to use. But all is not perfect. A surprising lack of CPU Turbo under battery load, a strange touchpad action and too many ‘micro’ ports takes some of the shine from the Series 9 but despite that, it sits in a unique position in the market. There are cheaper Ultrabooks in the 15” bracket but you won’t find a 1600×900 screen for this price or weight.