 If you've watched basically any video featuring me in the last couple years, you're probably aware that I absolutely love the Surface Laptop and think it's nearly the perfect then in light. But this right here? The ThinkPad X390 is stirring some unfaithful thoughts in me. But is it good enough to sway me away from Microsoft? And is this segue good enough to get you to check out our sponsor? Guys, today's video is brought to you by GlassWire. You can see your current and past network activity detect malware and block badly behaving apps on your PC or Android device. Use offer code LINUS and get 25% off GlassWire at the link below. The build quality of the ThinkPad X390 is some of the best that I've seen in a thin and light laptop. The chassis is made entirely of magnesium, which means it's not only stiff, but also light with just 2.8 pounds of heft. The overall look is simple and to the point, which might leave some of you craving a bit more flair, in which case the XPS 13 or Surface Laptop will greet you with open arms, but at the end of the day it just comes down to your preference. The I.O. here is considerably more all rounded than the competition, sporting a couple USB-A ports, Type-C, full size HDMI, and Thunderbolt that pulls double duty as a ThinkPad Connect port to help please your IT guy. Also according to the spec sheet there is an SD card reader but I don't see it here or here because it's actually behind the screen right there. Now one thing I will complain about is Lenovo still offers a 768p display as an option. Guys it's 2019, $300 laptops come with 1080p IPS displays now. This should not be an option on a laptop with a starting price of over a grand, especially since the lower price will tempt a lot of corporate buyers to the detriment of their employees. Anyway, you should shell out the extra $180 for the 1080p touch display. Although it isn't the brightest or most shockingly colourful display I've ever used, it has a nice matte finish that effectively removes over headlights, is colour accurate enough to do some light photo editing, and generally just got out of my way when I needed to do work. Now speaking of accomplishing work, this keyboard gets it done. It's really got it all. Loads of key travel, good tactility and solid key stabilisation. I personally don't like laptop keyboards that require quite this much force to actuate but even then it still gets a solid A and for those of you that like hammering keys it's probably more an A+. Except for one problem, when trying to hit G, H or B I sometimes hit this annoying red skin tag that hasn't been useful for years. I know there are people out there that swear by the track point who are furiously typing, no Alex, with the track point I can keep all my fingers on the keyboard while using the mouse. Well dear mouse nipple warriors, I have a trick that's about to blow your frigging mind. Put your fingers on the home row and while keeping your left thumb on the space bar, move your right thumb down to the track pad. Now this is a bit more difficult on a think pad because the top of the track pad is sticking up with the stupid track point buttons but using this method I can effectively mouse around a word document without my fingers ever leaving the keyboard. Lenovo. I know you guys are too stuck in your ways to remove the track point, people will complain but they're probably just a vocal minority and you should have the balls to just put on a larger proper track pad. And I say proper track pad because this one is just okay. The feel is pretty good although the plastic top doesn't feel quite as nice as the glass ones found on most other ultrabooks. The X360 does use Windows precision drivers but no matter what I tried there was still some funky mouse acceleration leading to the cursor just cruising right past the destination and leaving me confused. This was bad enough that I first assumed the display had some serious response time issues but after testing the X390 is within 2ms of the Surface Laptop 2 and XPS 13, well within the era of our tests so I guess it's just down to bad driver support or something. Where the X390 can claw back some points though is in upgradability. Just 5 screws gives you access to the insides where the storage can be upgraded and that's about it. The RAM is soldered but at least you can replace the 48Wh battery if it starts giving you less than the 8 or so hours of battery life we got in our testing. Also the whole keyboard assembly is replaceable which is cool. And if you want to be cool, be like me and replace your shirt with this one from LTTstore.com. Anyway, our machine here is equipped with an i7-8565U 4 core processor that's rapid in lighter tasks and capable in more demanding ones like video editing or light CAD although not so much that I'd recommend it if someone solely plans on doing that. If I was speccing this for myself I might save the $185 and get the i5 model. There's absolutely no way I shell out the $224 for the i7-8665U. All you get is an extra 200MHz turbo. Now as for pricing, this is where Lenovo shenanigans become very annoying once again. The base price of this machine as configured is a bit over $2300 and for that just don't buy it. The thing is, laptops on the Lenovo website are almost constantly on sale, meaning our X390 can currently be had for $1400, making it a compelling option compared to the Surface Laptop 2 and Dell XPS 13. Which brings us nicely back to the original question, is the ThinkPad X390 good enough to take place of my daily driver laptop? If given the choice between the XPS 13 and X390, I'd take the X390. The better I.O. is part of the decision but there's just something about the XPS 13 that doesn't light a fire in me when I use it. So then the Surface Laptop 2. This is where things get a bit trickier. The ThinkPad is a bit faster, has way more I.O., better serviceability and might even have an edge in build quality but it loses in two key areas, screen and touchpad. The 4x3 1504p display on the Surface Laptop 2 offers a lot more screen real estate, while not significantly increasing the overall size of the device. The glass top trackpad doesn't make it feel like I'm drunk while trying to click on icons. This leads to what I consider an overall much more enjoyable laptop experience on the Surface Laptop 2, which is why it will remain my daily driver. At least until the new Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 arrives in our studio. It also has a taller screen and looks mighty tempting so get subscribed to make sure you don't miss that review. And also so you don't miss more bad segues. This video is brought to you by FreshBooks. FreshBooks Cloud Accounting Solutions work anywhere with the FreshBooks mobile app. You can create professional looking invoices on the go, snap pictures of your receipts so you don't lose them and stay on top of important conversations. Never miss an update, see when a client has viewed their invoice or when an invoice has become overdue. Start your 30 day free trial now at freshbooks.com forward slash tech tips. So thanks for watching. Bye.