Back in 1999, I officially gave up on the desktop computer. Since then, my personal machine has always been a desktop replacement quality laptop. I enjoy being able to take a powerful box wherever I go. This past December, I felt a need to get a portable machine that supported Windows 8 with multi-touch. I’m floored by how light a desktop replacement can be! I wound up with a Lenovo X230 tablet. The thing is small- 12.5” screen. I equipped it with a slice battery so that I can work a full day away from a power source. You can also easily enhance the box to make it a wonderful workhorse. I picked up the I5 configuration with the basic memory and HDD. About 2 hours after receiving the unit from Lenovo, the machine had:

• 16GB RAM (Crucial)
• 256GB mSATA SSD boot disk (Crucial)
• 512GB Samsung SSD
• Screen protector
• Windows 8

When in its docking station, the machine drives a 27” Planar touch screen over DisplayPort and a second regular 27” Acer monitor over a USB to DVI display adapter. For the past several weeks, I’ve been using this setup to get stuff done wherever I go. I’m impressed with how small and light the X230 is. Travelling with this little machine has been pleasant. It’s easy to get work done with it on a plane, including writing code. This machine also runs virtual machines like a champ, which has been helpful for me to get my experimentation done and in just learning new stuff.

I will acknowledge that this laptop is not for everyone. For me, it met some important requirements:

1. Support multiple HDDs: I frequently rebuild my system due to the amount of beta software I tend to run. Keeping apps on one disk, data on another means I just need to reinstall my apps—the data is automatically available.
2. Support a lot of memory: I use VMs a lot. 16 GB seems to be a good min bar for support, though I would have preferred 32 GB as is supported on the W520.
3. Weighs little: I wanted something that was light. I’m getting older and the W520 kills my back when I carry it in a backpack. The x230 is just tiny—and the power supply is super small too!
4. Airplane friendly: I like to write code on planes. The W520 wasn’t comfortable to use in coach. The X230 is alright in those small seats.
5. Docking station: I don’t want to think about reconnecting monitors, USB, keyboard, mouse, microphone, and more when I want to sit at a desk with bigger screens to get “big things” done. Most of the light and portable machines don’t support docking stations. The X230 does.

Given what is coming out for ultralight laptops over the next 6 months, the X230 still looks like a great option. If you are doing Win8 development and need a touch device, or just want a nice, light development machine, I highly recommend this little beauty.