There has been a massive increase in the number of thin and light 13.3in ultraportables coming onto the market recently. We've seen the likes of the and , the and of course the to name but a few, not to mention all the new models we saw at IFA.

Durable and rugged; Gorilla glass screen protection; Spillproof; backlit keyboard; Excellent connectivity

Not the slimmest or lightest; Weak battery life; No IPS screen option; Reflective screen

It's not often that we get excited about a laptop aimed primarily at business users, but Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 is an exception; the 13.3in ultra-portable might be less than 2cm thick, but it still squeezes in some clever features and plenty of high performance hardware.

Click on one of our top pick pages below to see which were selected as "Best in Class" by our seasoned tech editors. We give credit to Lenovo's designers for adding a touch screen to the X1 Carbon while keeping the dimensions just as slim and trim as in the previous version.

The X1 Carbon that Lenovo shipped out for review is likely the fastest Ultrabook yet. The Broadwell Core i7 is certainly a step ahead of the other devices we have tested, and the included PCIe SSD is basically the fastest drive offered today.

The Lenovo ThinkPad series is currently celebrating its 20th birthday, and today we have their new ThinkPad X1 Carbon on the chopping blocks. After all these years still producing some of the best business and casual laptops available the X1 Carbon looks to improve on its older sibling, while...

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is attractive and solidly built, with an excellent touchscreen and a great keyboard. However, we'd like to see more ports and a removable battery at the very least. As it stands, this ultrabook is too expensive for widespread deployment.

Attractive design; Solid build quality; Superb touchscreen; Excellent keyboard; Fast battery charging; Mobile broadband with wireless hotspot support

Only two USB ports; Non-removable battery; Proprietary power connector; Expensive

As classy as it may be, this business ultrabook comes tough to recommend due to its hefty price tag and lackluster lasting power.

Slim build; Top power; Decent screen; Business features; Lightweight

No Ethernet; Poor battery; High price; Fiddly trackpad

The recommended retail price of the X1 is R15,000 – likely to raise a few eyebrows for a device with no optical drive, very limited hardware customisability and a touchpad from hell.

Lenovo is aiming for a touch of style with its Lenovo ThinkPad X1 ultraportable, a laptop to take on the Apple MacBook Air - UPDATED 5 MARCH 2012