What if Lenovo was to make a ThinkPad branded netbook?

[Marin85]

Ignore this...

[mattbiernat]

personally if i was going to buy a netbook i would be looking for something so small that would have to convince me not to take my 13 laptop. a perfect situation is library where i could use a netbook for checking my email once and listening to music for few hourse while studying. if you really need a full size keyboard then there are other options such as x61 or x200. i mean if you increase the size of the keyboard then it is really a notebook and not a netbook. size, price, weight and "the reason not to take my regular laptop" is my most broad definition of a netbook.

[pianowizard]

Personally, what I'd love to see is a 240Z with newer innards...1024x768 on a 10.4" is good enough for me...

I couldn't agree more! Today I finally received the 240Z that I won on eBay almost two months ago (because the seller didn't pay enough postage ). The official maximum RAM is 192MB (64MB onboard + 128MB in slot) but the seller modded it to raise it to 256MB. The CPU is 500MHz PIII, which is barely enough nowadays, but I tossed in a 100GB 7200rpm HDD, so the system runs Windows XP SP3 acceptably well. I've said at least 50 times on this forum that 1024x768 on 12.1" or larger screens is too low for me, but I agree with George that for a 10.4" screen, it's okay. At least that's higher than most netbooks' screens (800x480 or 1024x600). The keyboard is also bigger than most if not all netbook keyboards, allowing me to type fairly comfortably. With the 3-cell battery, it weighs only 2.92 lb, which is actually 0.02 - 0.04 lb lighter than the three 240's I had before.

BTW, I had an S30 for a short while and like this 240Z more (just because it's prettier).

[TheRedFox]

You know... regardless of whether Lenovo marketed it as a netbook (with intel atom or via cpu) or an ultraportable / subnotebook (with core 2 duo), I think that a laptop built in the same style as an S30 (yes, including the weird keyboard bevel), with a 10.4" screen, it might just be one of the coolest things ever! of course an Ideapad S10 with a trackpoint would also be awesome.

[mazzinia]

Well, I must say that while now it's a trend (netbooks), all this is just not original. Panasonic is selling in Japan a Let's Note model with a 10" screen and less than 1kg model since various years.

The form factor is always kept identical, and more or less is the weight and screen, while the innards are upgraded with better cpu etc etc.

http://panasonic.jp/pc/products/r8e/

Used, keeps a quite high price too. I've seen tons of those sold as used in Tokyo... being a good rival for corporate Thinkpads while keeping an higher price. Now the link is to the latest model with a SU9300 cpu, still older models have way more power than any atom or via based solution that now is on the market.
Yes, has a 1024*768 screen (and for a 10" should be enough), 2 x usb 2.0 , 1 x RJ45, 1 x modem, video out & Dsub15, 120gb 2.5" sata hd, up to 3gb of ddr2, 1 x pcmcia, 1 x sd,
229 mm× 187 mm× 29.4 mm, 0.93kg with the battery

[pianowizard]

Well, I must say that while now it's a trend (netbooks), all this is just not original. Panasonic is selling in Japan a Let's Note model with a 10" screen and less than 1kg model since various years.

And don't forget the HP Jornada and the Toshiba Libretto lines, both introduced in the late 1990s. The Jornadas were much smaller than today's netbooks and were often referred to as handheld PCs, whereas the Librettos were very similar to the netbooks. Few people knew about these tiny computers, partly because they weren't marketed well enough and partly because some of them were very expensive. Asus was the first manufacturer to have really popularized netbooks (namely their Eee PCs), through aggressive marketing and low prices.

[bill bolton]

Panasonic is selling in Japan

The Japanese technology market is quite different to just about anywhere else in the world.

Cheers,

Bill B.

[TheRedFox]

yeah, I like the let's note r series of panasonics too. actually the 12" t series as well.
unfortunately, no trackpoint, and also used old panasonic notebooks generally sell for way higher prices than used thinkpads.

[rek]

I was seriously looking out for the new HP 2140/2150 netbooks to come out, looked at the dimensions.. then compared them to a cheap older X40. Since most netbooks have widescreen and thick bezels there isn't actually much at all in the size (only an extra few centimetres in depth) so decided to get a bargain X40 instead.

Managed to find a nice condition X40 (in my sig) with an ultrabase and DVD/CDRW combo drive for AU$300 (about 200 USD) It came with an 8-cell battery, I would have preferred a 4-cell but at the price I wasn't complaining.

[TheRedFox]

I don't know if the older tiny PCs are really comparable with netbooks. It seems to me that the point of a netbook is that it's an ultraportable, but cheap. this description doesn't really fit something like the Panasonic R series. that's more of an ultraportable. I mean just about every laptop used to have a 10" screen. I believe that the Thinkpad 560 series were considered mid-range laptops, and they had 12" screens. the 10" 240 series were just ultraportables, not subnotebooks. the AST Ascentia 810N was I think average size in it's day (10.1 or 10.4 inch 640x480x16 display, forget which. i486 generation). but since resolution standards have increased. something like a 640x480 10" notebook isn't really acceptable. the minimum resolution that is okay for a regular laptop is XGA, and that would be hard to see on a 10.1" display for many people. that and technology has made things lighter, so that a 12.1" laptop, provided it weighs under 4lb (under 5lb in the past), is quite acceptable as an ultraportable.

wow. sorry I ranted guys.
tl;dr - standards have changed. 10" notebook used to be ultraportable, and average before that. the Panasonic R series wasn't so much a pregenerator of the netbook trend, more of a relic from the history of notebooks. the ASUS eeePC was pretty much the first widely available netbook.

[pianowizard]

I was seriously looking out for the new HP 2140/2150 netbooks to come out

Thanks for mentioning the 2140/2150, of which I wasn't aware. I just looked up the specs and was pleasantly surprised that they will offer a 10.1" 1366x768 option! That's the highest resolution available on any netbook, and the pixel density of 155.1 dots per inch is more acceptable than the HP 2133's 167.6. This HP 2140/2150 will be the ultimate netbook IMO.

[OldManClayton]

I don't understand why people like uber-high resolutions on such small screens. O_o Even if you have good eyes now, looking at something so cramped will make it so you don't in the future.

[pianowizard]

I don't understand why people like uber-high resolutions on such small screens.

Because the 800x480 to 1024x600 available on most netbooks severely reduces one's productivity. Some people don't mind that, but others do.

O_o Even if you have good eyes now, looking at something so cramped will make it so you don't in the future.

Quite the contrary. Ever heard of "use it or lose it"? If one doesn't use one's high-acuity vision while still young, one might lose it sooner.

[OldManClayton]

Sure you should use it, but some resolutions are too high for the space they're given. Straining your eyes is different from using your high-acuity vision. I wasn't speaking particularly about the netbook that was being talked about, that may not be too bad. I can see wanting something higher than 1024x600. But I know I've seen netbooks with such small screens and such high resolutions that it hurts my eyes. It was kind of off-topic, I suppose, since I wasn't referring to any netbooks that were being talked about.

[mazzinia]

the Panasonic R series wasn't so much a pregenerator of the netbook trend, more of a relic from the history of notebooks

Why do you consider them to be a relic? That product line is still active and very successful too (only issue I can see with those is the fact that the magnesium shell color tends to fade away with the time, as I've seen on some of the used models on sale)

[TheRedFox]

Why do you consider them to be a relic? That product line is still active and very successful too (only issue I can see with those is the fact that the magnesium shell color tends to fade away with the time, as I've seen on some of the used models on sale)

yeah that was worded poorly. I meant that it's a notebook that's left over from the days when 10.4" was ultraportable rather than subnotebook. like the thinkpad 240 series.

[OldManClayton]

Too bad nothing ever came of this:

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2006/04/30 ... the-works/

[mattbiernat]

yes an 8" tablet/netbook would have been an interesting competition if priced appropriatly. anything over $399 and it wouldn't be a netbook but just a really small tablet.

[OldManClayton]

I'm not sure if I'd want something quite that small, but I confess it would be interesting.

[TheRedFox]

I think it'd be cool to have a notebook that was actually the size and weight of a notebook
something like the Sony Vaio X505. making it a tablet would be even more appropriate. it'd need to have like 13.9" screen with an 8.5:11 aspect ratio! not that it's related or anything, but wouldn't it be cool? i suppose it'd need a bevel to some extend, so in that respect, maybe 13.4" or something would make more sense... maybe a more regular aspect ratio too. 8:5 or something


anyway...

[hausman]

I think it'd be cool to have a notebook that was actually the size and weight of a notebook

How about a ThinkPad that really is a notebook?

http://news.videoboys.tv/media/2/20070615-ibm_think.jpg

I have one of these but unfortunately IBM no longer stocks the paper refills.

Admin edit: Image link converted to URL. Please follow the forum guidelines on the size of embedded images (less than 50KB) in future!

[LondonConsultant]

Well, I'd order a ThinkPad netbook if Lenovo ever releases one. My dream netbook would have the same form-factor as the IdeaPad S10, but with all the usual ThinkPad styling including TrackPoint. And a slim bezel around a matte screen. It doesn't need to be high powered (Atom, 1GB RAM, XP, etc is fine for a netbook). And perhaps only 2 versions, eg 40GB SSD or 160GB HDD. Sign me up...

[OldManClayton]

If the S10's corners were boxified and it had a trackpoint, it would be fairly close to a thinkpad netbook. Not quite though.

[felixgogo]

From http://lenovoblogs.com/yamato/?language=en

Having worked on Lenovo’s entry into the new netbook genre, tell us what new goals and hopes you have for the future.

“Personally, I think we took a step forward with this project. Now I want to develop the ThinkPad with the same sense of efficiency and speed. Of course, we’ll keep ThinkPad quality just as it is today.”
“I want to create a cutting edge netbook that has the traditional essence of a ThinkPad.”

I'm starting to get a good feeling about this......

[OldManClayton]

Haha, yes!

[felixgogo]

Having looked at the X60 maintainance manual at length, I still think a netbook could be built from raiding the parts bin. Use the X60s motherboard, the x60 keyboard, a express card type SSD, the 11" screen from the U110, or the 10" one from the S10, a new case, mounting the mobo to be further under the keyboard. Try to retain the existing X6* battery mounting, and I reckon this would a new netbook class - one Sony are clearly gearing up to dominate. this machine would be almost the same dimensions as the HP2133, but be something else. With Trackpoint of course!

So Lenovo would not be 'canabalising' existing sales - they would be mounting an attack in a new class - the high end netbook.

I can dream......

Of course I could just not bother and carry on using my brilliant X60s with SSD. But I do like to wonder 'what if...'

[OldManClayton]

I'm sitting here with my X61, and I'm not sure about the keyboard size fitting something like that. It already fits the 12" screen, and I don't know if it cooperate with any smaller size without some fun hack'n'smashing together. The motherboard is already squashed enough to warrant a missing optical drive. (Yea, I realize it was because of weight too, but I'm sure they stuffed it full) They aren't manufacturing x6x parts anymore, so it would be just as efficient to build a new thinkpad netbook from scratch, if not more so. Just my thoughts...

[felixgogo]

You're probably right - but I was basing my comments on the actual size of the motherboard - and the fact that it is not as deep as the X6* is. In fact it is just under 6 inches deep from the front edge to where the mobo ends. The keyboard is also 6 inches deep from the rear of the machine to the front edge of the trackpoint keys.

So moving the keyboard directly above the mobo, you would end up with a box 6 inches deep and 10.5 inches wide. You might have to make it slightly thicker granted.

What would you have to lose to allow this to happen? The fan and heat exhaust, the SATA drive. Hence my comment about a SSD in a smaller format like expresscard.

I keep posting these ideas in the hope someone from Lenovo reads it and makes 2 prototypes. One for me, and one for you 'OldManClayton' - as we seem to be the ones most keen to get a Thinkpad X10!

[OldManClayton]

Sounds great to me! Hey Lenovo! Over here! We'll test your thinkpad netbooks!

[felixgogo]

http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=Pq22TaLJ

My 'take' on the new Thinkpad Netbook.......