I'm probably going to buy an x230 when they come out with Ivy Bridge (assuming the keyboard reviews are acceptably good), and I was telling a friend as much earlier today.

He told me that he'd kept up with Lenovo more or less too (he has an x120e and a W700 I think?) and that the x230 was going to have the option of either Intel or AMD processors, much like the x130e line and some of the other Thinkpad lines. He said this as if he was fairly sure of it, but I haven't been able to confirm anywhere online.

Can anyone else confirm or deny this? In the past I haven't seen Lenovo offer AMD on anything but it's more "budget" Thinkpads like the Edge series and the x100-series, but since Trinity is supposed to be pretty good (even when put up against IB), I'm curious to know if he was right.

Thanks for any info in advance!

i'd start by asking your friend where he acquired his info.

why would you want AMD over intel anyway?

If the AMD CPU can keep up with Intel to within, say, 15% or so, then the graphics are likely to be superior on the AMD despite Intel's improvements with the HD 4000 (plus it will be cheaper, usually by enough to make it a consideration) and that might make it worth consideration depending on what you intend to use it for.

I asked him where he got his info and he said he read in it a press release about upcoming Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks and Sub-13" notebooks, but I haven't been able to locate it anywhere.

this?

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Lenovo-I ... 9424.shtml

looks like what your friend read was just a rumor.   that article refers to thinkpad edge systems, not classic models.

the X230 is a business ultraportable and not intended with graphics as the main focus.   intel's HD4000 will be absolute overkill for nearly all business users as it is.

Aye -- that's probably what he heard since I haven't been able to find anything else. And as far as I know (at least), he's not privy to anything under an NDA that he could have disclosed (and he'd have told me not to tell if that was the case).

I was thinking along the lines of someone who wanted improved graphics for simple use of AutoCAD maybe, but without upgrading to a full workstation (as they'd have that at home / at the desk).

At any rate, HD 4000 looks like a huge jump up so maybe it's moot.

Thanks.

HD4000 maybe a huge jump for Intel, but seems still lags behind AMD's offering much.

OTOH, Intel's CPU smokes AMD's in traditional desktop/laptop usage.

Many trade-offs, but I don't see Lenovo bringing the Trinity to the traditional ThinkPad series (T, X, W) in this generation just yet.

Edge or IdeaPads? Probably.

Cheers.

Personally I wouldn't mind seeing Lenovo shake it up by offering AMD, I don't think anyone here would complain about having too many customization options. Though I agree with what others have said that Lenovo is extremely reluctant to make any significant to its core business line and I wouldn't expect anything that major in just one generation. X400 ?