Lenovo has refreshed its “X” series of ultramobile Thinkpads with the standard X200, built with speedy specs; the X200s, a spiffier, superlight version of the X200, and a touch-screen take called the X200 Tablet – the first ever Tablet with a screen that swings both ways.

ThinkPad X200

The ThinkPad X200’s moniker makes it sound like a less grunty version of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X300, which launched earlier this year against Apple’s MacBook Air – the laptop that initiated the ultramobile craze (ultramobile meaning a full-size screen and full-size keyboard, yet a thin and wide design that keeps the weight on or near 1kg).

But although the X200 (pictured below) is smaller in one respect – it’s display is 12.1-inches vs the X300’s 13.3-inches, it actually packs more hardware horsepower by dint of being built around Intel’s new Centrino 2 platform, which, with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo processor at its heart, is the latest and greatest thing in mobile silicon.

Standard memory is 2GB, expandable to 4GB.

Two storage options are available: a 160GB traditional hard drive, or a 64GB solid state (Flash memory) drive (more on Flash’s many advantages here).

At 1.34kg (and 295x 210mm) the X200 is also, strictly speaking, a tad on the podgy side to be considered an ultramobile, but you’ll still feel like you could spin it on your hand compared to the 2.5kg that an average laptop weighs in at.

One key difference between the X300 and X200: the X200 lacks a built-in optical drive, whereas the X300 came with a slimline DVD rewritable drive.

Pricing starts at $3099 (continues after picture).

ThinkPad X200s

The X200s is a smaller version of the X200, coming in at 1.12kg.

A spiffier set of options includes a Blu-Ray drive (though again, it comes without a built-in DVD drive), and a 64GB or 128GB solid state hard drive (the first Flash drive I’ve seen with a capacity I could actually see myself using. Still not sold on Flash? Read this.)

Another option is a nine-cell battery, which gives you a very full work day at 12.5 hours (Though the standard 4-cell offers an average 4.5 hours, or only one journalist day. Joking.)

Underneath the bonnet you get the small form-factor, low-voltage version of Intel’s Centrino 2 with options up to 1.86GHz, 11.n wi-fi, Bluetooth and 3G mobile broadband built-in.

ThinkPad X200 Tablet

Microsoft’s pen-computing version of Windows, and the Tablet-class, touchscreen laptops that support it, both demo brilliantly. The handwriting recognition, and conversion to digital text, and many tricks they can pull with annotations, graphics and other multimedia, are a genuine sight to behold. However, something just doesn’t translate into the real world – maybe it’s simply the price –and they’ve been widely ignored. (One leading notebook maker I spoke to put their New Zealand market share at “less than 2%”, and I suspect he was being charitable since this was at the launch of his own brand of Tablet.)

If a Tablet is your bag, do check out the X200 Tablet, which boasts the first touchscreen that can swivel either clockwise or counterclockwise. Like all Tablets, it can also be used with the display in a standard notebook position. To use the accompanying pen to write notes on the screen, it’s rotated flat against the keyboard. The dual swivel is designed to make the transition seem easier and more natural feeling; the awkwardness with other Tablets is maybe one thing holding them pack.

The X200 Tablet is relatively heavy for an ultramobile – if still featherweight for a Tablet – at 1.59kg. Other tech specs and options are similar to the standard version of the X200.

 Pricing starts at $3669.

 See also: Hands-on with Dell's Inspirton Mini 9 - portable power for $799