Thinkpads Forum

Some pictures from lenovo library:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38381753@N00/

Seems like Matt or David is writing a blog entry.

Probably Matt since the pictures are tagged Inside the Box and not Design Matters.

I see the thinklight was relocated. I hope that the blue glow of the thinkvantage button can be disabled as it could get seriously annoying. The bottom LCD bezel is larger than I'd prefer, though I'd like to see more pictures before making the final call on that.

Yeah, same here, there are a few issues I see with it, but I want more pictures before I make a final call on anything except for the keyboard. Its too deep in to suit my preferences. Hopefully the TrackPad-less version pushes to toward the user some. I only want about 2 inches of space there, like on the X series.

I love the texture of the new keyboard, looks fantastic - so is the rubberized finish (and upward facing speakers) as in the 600X. Seems as if the volume buttons are back to the T2x days too ... markers on the keyboard bezel for the ports is a very neat idea. I also like it that the metal hinges are painted black (maybe to reduce glare?).

Except for the ble LED, this machine looks fantastic. The design is very clean and spartan, very true to the thinkpad design. Juding from this pic, the panel is TN, I was kind of hoping to see IPS make a return, that'd make this a (almost) dream laptop.

This machine will sell like crazy if they include a regular HDD in there. Eventhough I hate widescreens and wont buy one now, I do feel that Lenovo has done a really good job with the X300 ... I am going to keep my eyes open for 26th, cant wait to see reviews!

Well, whats up with the two parrelelogram shapes on the top bezel LCD?
Why are the speakers on the top instead of bottom? They also changed the Thinkpad Logo and got rid of the series denoter...

I dunno, I liked the contrast of the hinges...

The ThinkVantage button and lights for audio look cool, but yeah, it would be nice to disable that.

The ThinkPad Takes On The MacBook Air
from the battle-for-the-skies dept.
posted by Zonk on Thursday February 14, @08:31 (Portables)
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?s ... 14/1239212

bobdsmith wrote:Well, whats up with the two parrelelogram shapes on the top bezel LCD?

WiFi antenna, I think...

The display bezel looks even bigger than on the MacBook Air, which is a bit of a letdown. One of my favorite design aspects of the X40/X60 was the ultra thin bezel.

When you are complaining about the thick bezel you have to consider, that they have to integrate many antennas in the notebook cover today.

@Business Week Article
I like Steve Jobs' grinning
At the least, he was faster.

bobdsmith wrote:Well, whats up with the two parrelelogram shapes on the top bezel LCD?

In earlier models, you could tell whether or not a system was pre-wired for wireless by feeling for those strips along the upper right edge of the bezel (I think they were actually decals). Don't know if those that you see are just continuing a tradition or if they serve a function.

David Hill calls thinkpad X300 The Pursuit of Perfection or a thinkpad he believes to be the best ever made.

ryengineer wrote:a thinkpad he believes to be the best ever made.

And I agree with him wholeheartedly.

I'd like to see a tablet version of the X300 !!

Also, did you notice the amazing differences in battery life when running Vista versus XP? (See the pics on the first post of this thread.) Over an hour, in some configurations much more! You'd think that Vista would offer *improvements* over the old OS. Isn't that what a new OS is supposed to do? Unfathomable...

Sorry - but I don't see what is so exciting about this thing.

50% slower than my X61s.
Weighs more
Less storage (I have a 160GB 7200 RPM drive)
Less battery life
No real dock - just a USB dock.

Yes - it has a DVD drive (on some models) and a larger display.

Does not seem like a good compromise to me. If it were lighter than an X61s - then maybe.

awolfe63, for people who are used to or don't mind 1024x768 resolution, the X60s/61s is a great laptop. But for me (and many others), 1024x768 is simply unacceptable. If someone gave me an x61s as a gift, I would advertise it for sale on this forum within five minutes because it would not be useful to me at all.

The X300 is very exciting because it's the world's first-ever sub-3lb laptop with a display resolution higher than 1366x768. Specifically, it will have 1440x900, which is infinitely better than 1024x768 and also significantly better than 1280x800. "Infinitely" is not an exaggeration, because one can comfortably view two windows side by side on 1440x900, but that would be impossible with 1024x768. (It's barely possible on 1280x800 though it's a pain.) The ability to view two windows side by side is critical to virtually everything that I do. Also, many websites and documents are much wider than 1024 pixels across, and viewing them on a 1024x768 would require lots of scrolling. One would need to scroll much less on a 1440x900 screen.

Good to see the X300 Series gets its own dedicated thread now!

[quote="pianowizard"]awolfe63, for people who are used to or don't mind 1024x768 resolution, the X60s/61s is a great laptop. But for me (and many others), 1024x768 is simply unacceptable.

After 7 or so years at SXGA+, I expected to have the same reaction - but I found that the smaller display was worth it for when I want to use a subnote. I find that it is the number of pixels of height that makes the most difference to me - thus a 1280x800 is not really any better than 1024x768. 1440x900 could make more of a difference.

Seems like a lot to give up though. They could have given us all of the features of an X61s with the new display at under 3Lb. if they had stuck to 28mm think instead of 24mm.

awolfe63 wrote:After 7 or so years at SXGA+, I expected to have the same reaction - but I found that the smaller display was worth it for when I want to use a subnote.

I envy you. Life would be easier if I didn't mind XGA, but I do. In fact, I despise it!

awolfe63 wrote:Seems like a lot to give up though.

From my perspective, not much. In response to your list of shortcomings: I never care about CPU speed, because PIII and above is always enough for me when I'm on the road. As far as weight, the X300 without optical drive is only 0.2 lbs heavier than the X61s; I don't mind that. For storage, I never need more than several gigabytes while traveling. The X300's battery life is good enough for me. And I hate docks anyway.

True, true. Most times you don't need a heavy machine on the road. I on the other hand use my X61s exclusively, and DO worry about these sorts of things...max power in as small as possible.

I really don't think that X300 and X61s have the exact same target market...simply because of the fact that X300 has an integrated media drive, but it somewhat limited in the respect of HDD and CPU speed.

X61s is small, powerfull, kick-you-know-what-machine, meant for people on the go, who travel light.

X300 is more of a crossover laptop, that one can carry around and browse Internet (an expensive sport at prices we're hearing right now, but that's a whole another ballgame) as well as conduct a presentation for a Fortune 20 company with.

Don't get me wrong, I happen to like both machines, although I haven't tested the X300 yet, but from what I'm gathering it does seem like a step in the right direction.

What I'm trying to say is that I would tend to believe that both can be kept in the product line, and continue to sell quite well, without jeopardizing each other's future and/or target market.

Just my $0.02

True, true...the X61s hasn't even been out for a year, as it is...

ajkula66 wrote:What I'm trying to say is that I would tend to believe that both can be kept in the product line, and continue to sell quite well, without jeopardizing each other's future and/or target market.

Let's not forget that besides the X300, there will also be the 11.1" X200 which is going to be even smaller and lighter than the X61s, so it's possible that the X200 will replace the X61s. In order to justify keeping the X61s, I think Lenovo would need to make it more different from the X200/300, for example by making it 10.4" with XGA (a la the 240Z, S30, Vaio X505 and Sharp MM20) so that it's the lightest (how about 1.5 lbs?) and smallest Thinkpad imagineable.

I hardly use optical drives, and I strongly prefer portability when I am traveling. The lighter it is, the less I have to carry. So I am more interested in X200. I hope it is a fast laptop under 2lb. 11" is fine for documents and other common tasks anyway.

I think it's a step in the right direction as well. You can have an optical drive without bringing an Ultrabase or an external USB/FW drive. That makes it much more portable and manageable. On days you want to travel as light as you can, just swap the drive with a travel bezel and you saved yourself 0.4 lbs.

The only letdown is the CPU, though. While the LV is no slouch, I wish there was a little more power. Especially if the X300 is slated to replace the X60 series. Should make the standard Penryn T9000 series processors available.

Another deciding factor is of course price. Those with shallower pockets need to wait for SSD prices to come down.

Guess I'll stick with my X61 (and external USB DVD burner, ugh) for a while...

The X300 is NOT intended to replace the current x-series but rather to sell along side it.

Also, according to the businessweek article, Lenovo is not expecting to sell mass amounts of the X300 at this time. It is more of a flagship product. Also, the X300 will be getting a refresh in August which may be the time when they add the mechanical HDD and probably a new processor option:

At the same time, the marketers began exploring Kodachi's sales potential. The original estimate was that Lenovo would be able to sell 130,000 units of Kodachi and a follow-on version, due out in August, over 12 months. But the sales force came back with a stunningly low estimate: just 60,000

X300 should be about $1000 cheaper with an 120GB SATA drive. Here is a spec chart that lists both SSD and 120GB HD as storage options.

http://www.engadget.com/photos/secrets- ... ou/641839/

$1000 is a killer deal for a 64gb ssd that has the same performance is the memtron. The memtron 64gb pro, which has the same performance, is $2000 and 3.5in size.

They finally did away with the archaic flat ribbon cable between the LCD and main body.