Thinkpads Forum

lightlamp wrote:can this drive an external moniter? Up to what resolution?

At least 1920x1200.

Regarding driving an external monitor, I was quite disappointed when I saw the X300s docking solution. Not only is there no DVI, it says max resolustion is 1280x1024. It would be a pain if you could only run 1900x1200 if plugged in directly to the X300 itself. You would then have to plug and unplug the unit each time you moved your unit.

I don't think anyone uses a 15" external monitor anymore so I think the video out on the USB dock is quite useless. Hopefully the spec sheet is wrong and it can output to something higher.

Too bad too that there is no native Ethernet on the dock either. Not sure how efficient a USB to Ethernet adapter would be if you wanted to run full Gigabit ethernet.

mattbiernat wrote:it would be just nice if they had an option without touchpad.

There may well be a touchpad-less palmrest created, just like the part that is available for T4x machines.

bobdsmith wrote:BTW, im surprised there are guys out there that use both, sorry i misrepresented the population ^_^. As for the TrackPad people out there, does the Point get in your way? Even if its disabled? For me (I use the Point) the Pad just gets in the way and is annoying even if its disabled. Just wonderin...

Not at all - I have to say that my general pointer usage during a given day is about 65% external mouse, 35% touchpad, and I never find the trackpoint an inconvenience when I'm typing.

lightlamp wrote:can 1.2 ghz do good video conference, tv streaming, and occasional video editting?

1.2 GHz is not the maximum limit, thinkpad X300 is going to use SFF chip, rumour has it that it's the same chipset that apple used in Macbook Air and as Intel makes these chips more widely available; later refreshes of thinkpad X300 can be configured with faster processors.

Impressive.

The only improvement I can think of would be a discrete GPU, but that will probably have to wait until GPU makers create more energy-efficient graphics parts.

I have read that the price ($2600-2700) is as impressive as the specifications.

Well actually, I didn't see an SD card slot in the specs...I've been moving away from flash USB to these things, and the slots on my X40 and X61s really helped. Don't want to have to buy a USB attachment....

And also, Whats with the slope into the keyboard on the bezel? Not only is that ugly, imo, but it seems to push stuff into the keyboard. Not fun if you spill liquid there...

Puppy wrote:I really hope for an X70 ... lets wait

wait im lost here... isn't the X200 suppose to be the "new" name for X70?

This speculation is getting out of control, there will be afaik;

X200, X300 12" and 13,3" all wide
T400, T500 14" and 15,4" all wide
W500, W700 15,4 and 17" all wide
R400, R500 14" and 15,4" all wide

look here

small print:
I reserve the right to edit this post tomorrow re. R series.

Edit: added R (as threatened)

So the X T and W series. What distinguishes them?

Dead1nside wrote:So the X T and W series. What distinguishes them?

from what andy posted it's mostly size and weight.

Still...whats up with changing the naming system? I'd understand X100 or X100 after they passed X70, 80, and 90, but jumping to the hundreds so suddenly?

bobdsmith wrote:Still...whats up with changing the naming system? I'd understand X100 or X100 after they passed X70, 80, and 90, but jumping to the hundreds so suddenly?

its the same reason that they put ugly silver buttons on my T60...

Is the name that big a deal? If you ask me, using screen size to determine a computer's name (X300, 13", T400, 14", etc) makes more sense than an arbitrarily increasing number (X61, T42, etc), but it's the computer under the name that matters. Let's be thankful that Lenovo hasn't adopted the same gibberish as other companies--I don't want to have to remember what D45-G339XTi Ultra means.

j-dawg wrote:Is the name that big a deal? If you ask me, using screen size to determine a computer's name (X300, 13", T400, 14", etc) makes more sense

but the X200 suppose to be 11.1" - that doesn't make sense either... it should be called X1110. by the way, name goes with reputation. try asking coke to change its name.

andyP wrote:X200, X300 12" and 13,3" all wide
T400, T500 14" and 15,4" all wide
W500, W700 15,4 and 17" all wide

I hope they keep making tablets and 4:3 displays!

mattbiernat wrote:by the way, name goes with reputation. try asking coke to change its name.

That's probably why they're keeping the "Thinkpad" bit.

I think they're trying to make it like car model names. Focus, Fiesta, Mondeo. They denote size and with size comes general performance. So W are very large powerhouses, T are your balance between size and weight and power, and X is as much power as they can fit into a certain screen size. Screen size denotes chassis size.

Lets assume, then that the screen size is reflected in the numbering. What happens when they make the next wave of product? X310?

In my opinion, the best method (assuming we choose to ignore overlay due to nostalgia) would be:
[family (as in the 6 in X61s)] [model (the X)][revision (the 1)][screen size, subtract 10 inches, round (a 2 because of 12.1)][any special signifiers, such as T for tablet (the s)]:

so an X61s would be:
6X12s
an X40 would be:
4X02

I'm fairly new (first computer=X40 when it came out) and haven't checked historically, but ive noticed that products come in waves (X60 and T60, X40, T40) and therefore that would get a higher significance factor and get moved left.

But thats just me.

I prefer the older numbering scheme.

In reference to my prior post, I meant as in you have the same name for the car but they're distinguished by year. That'll be shown in the serial number or model type.

I dunno, a model year has come in pretty handy to be in the name...
X1s, model 2007 vs X61s
(yes i love that exmple)

X is a continuation of X-series and 300 could mean anything, remember former IBM PCD is owned by a Chinese company now and from the things I've learnt about their culture from reading and naming schemes of other lenovo products in China is that they mostly name their products after some emperors in history, an important date or century in their calendar, birth year/date of a king or queen and so on.

Some may also argue that lenovo stole it from Dell's ultraportable Latitude X300 series.

Yeah, imagine if the US named products like that.


George W Bush milk or 1776 toasters...

mattbiernat wrote:

j-dawg wrote:Is the name that big a deal? If you ask me, using screen size to determine a computer's name (X300, 13", T400, 14", etc) makes more sense

but the X200 suppose to be 11.1" - that doesn't make sense either... it should be called X1110. by the way, name goes with reputation. try asking coke to change its name.

Well, maybe there are some discrepancies, or maybe I'm just wrong, but it seems to be based on screen size to me, by inches over ten. So an 11" X-series would be an X100, ignoring the digits after the decimal point. I dunno why they called it X200. Probably I'm just wrong.

BMW and Mercedes used to name their vehicles by series name and motor size, as well as some additional information; e.g., a 325i was a 3-series with a 2.5-liter motor, a 540i was a 5-series with a 4.0-liter motor, and a 323xi was a 3-series with a 2.5-liter motor and all-wheel-drive. A Mercedes 560SL was an SL-class with a 5.6-liter motor, etc. Some of these really packed the information in--a 500SEL, for example, was a 5.0-liter (500) S-class (S) with fuel injection (E, for Einspritzung) and a long wheelbase (L).

These days, BMW and Mercedes still more or less adhere to the naming system, but there's a little more wiggle room. For example, when BMW added twin turbos to its 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine, it saw fit to name the car 335i, though the displacement was still 3.0 liters. The present 330i has a 2.8-liter motor, and the 525i has a 3.0-liter engine. Mercedes also fudges the numbers sometimes; the new AMG "63" cars (SL63, CLK63, S63, etc) actually have 6.2-liter motors, but are names 63 in honor of the classic 300SEL 6.3, itself a self-acknowledged "violation" of the numbering system.

So anyway, now that I've explained something nobody cared about, I think Lenovo is sort of trying to do the same thing, though, as Matt has pointed out, this appears not to be true for the X200. Well, I think it makes sense, though as people have pointed out, it'll make it hard to increment model numbers for upgraded editions.

bobdsmith wrote:Still...whats up with changing the naming system?

It's to unify the naming systems of the Thinkpad and the non-Thinkpad lines.

I like this new system much more than the old one. You just look at the name and know what the screen size is.

Are there any release dates for the new machines (particularly X and T series) ?

Nothing that I've heard of...but I get a hunch that they are trying to clear their current inventories of product, so that they dont get left over when they release the new ones. Expect sales. Current prices to be lowered. Also, maybe a few months?

Very nice article, and nice photos. Great to see the battery returning to the front.

I guess the lack of clutter on the bottom was the motivation behind the USB dock. It occured to me this idea will be more feasible when USB 3.0 lands. Perhaps like with the SSD, the X300 is pushing the envelope for the future.

I really want to see launch pictures and then reviews about battery life and performance of the SSD.

Feb 26. Remember.

Slightly less than 2 weeks. Whoever gets one, post pics, we implore you!