Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Performance Testing

I am really, really enjoying using both the HP 2730p and the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet PCs. I’ve said this before and will say it again, these are both excellent additions to the ranks of Tablet PCs. I’ve posted benchmarks, but as I said in that post, I’m not a fan of using benchmarks to gauge things. I much prefer to see how a Tablet PC performs in my real world scenario. The emphasis there is on ““my real world.”

Most of the work I do demands very little processing power, but when I hit those tasks, the need for power is there. The heaviest demands I place on a Tablet PC are in just a few areas. They include:

• Processing audio for GBM podcasts.
• Processing video for GBM InkShows, Shortcuts, and work at the theatre.
• Importing scripts into OneNote so that I can use them for note taking.

For this testing, I also included the Lenovo ThinkPad X301 notebook along with the Lenovo ThinkPad X61 for comparison. The HP 2730p and the ThinkPad X200 Tablet PCs are running the newer Intel Core2Duo L9400 rated at 1.86GHz.

The Lenovo X61 is running an Intel Core2Duo L7500 rated at 1.60GHz

The Lenovo ThinkPad X301 is running an Intel Core2Duo U9400 rated at 1.4GHz. One noticeable difference here is that the X301 is running an SSD. All the other machines are running spinning hard drives.

One other significant difference between the machines is that the HP 2730p has 3GB of memory installed. All others have 2GB.

These results are merely what I’m seeing based on my workflow. I don’t offer them as any conclusive result of how one machine will compare to another. In fact, given the variables that would be almost impossible. I will say this though, as I’ve said before, the new Intel processors are a real step up in performance.

Video Processing: I processed a 2 minute and 10 second video file (3.76MB) using Windows Movie Maker

• X61: 3:30 minutes
• HP 2730p: 52 seconds
• X200: 1:02 minutes
• X301: 1:09 minutes

Audio Processing: I processed a 521MB wav file using the application Levelator which equalizes sound between multiple sources.

• X61: 13:51 minutes
• HP 2730p: 8:15 minutes
• X200: 8:56 minutes
• X301: 8:20 minutes

Printing a Script to OneNote: This is a task I do quite a bit, as I love to take notes directly on a script I’m working with. The file I printed is a 284KB Microsoft Word document that runs 135 pages.

• X61: 2:50 minutes
• HP 2730p: 1:28 minutes
• X200: 1:30 minutes
• X301: 1:29 minutes

Check out these InkShows and other posts for more on these two Tablet PCs

• GBM InkShow: Interview with Lenovo’s Mika Majapuro on the ThinkPad X200T Tablet PC
• GBM InkShow: Lenovo X200 Tablet PC Hands-On Video Review
• GBM InkShow: First Look at the HP 2730p Elitebook Tablet PC
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Testing Webcams
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Testing Webcams in Slate Mode
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Windows Experience Index Scores
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Side by Side
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Weight
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Outdoor Viewing
• Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Benchmarks
• GBMPodcast #61: The Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout Continues