Thinkpads Forum

So, the SL series was the only one that got a refresh before Calpella comes out early next year, in the form of SL410 and SL510.

Although not very popular among the enthusiasts of the forum, the SL series has some appeal. On an Israeli notebook forum I frequently recommend them to users on a budget who want something more solid than the average consumer laptop. With matte screen options, HDMI, trackpoint and some elements of Thinkpad design, the SL series are fairly unique.

Unfortunately, in the refresh, the series seems to have lost some of its appeal.

From a brief look at the specs and some first reviews, the advantages that I see:

* Somewhat lighter
* Available with more powerful GPUs (HD4570 vs 9300M)
* Available with Win7 preinstalled, no need to pay for Lenovo's "free" upgrade from Vista
* DDR3 instead of DDR2 - a bit more future-proof, esp. considering DDR2 prices are on the rise and DDR3 prices are falling
* eSATA available

The downsides:

* 16:9 aspect ratio - wider and shorter displays. All of them seem to be capped at 1366x768, whereas previously 1440x900 and 1680x1050 have been available on SL400/SL500 respectively.
* SL410 only seems to have glossy displays at the moment (may change)
* All batteries are of newer design - no longer compatible with T/R/Z standard 6/9-cell batteries

While the additions are nice, none of them seem crucial (maybe eSATA is the coolest one, if you need it). Unfortunately, the downsides are in the areas where SL series shone in the past. The availability of matte high-res screens on a laptop in that price range was a huge selling point for some who value these aspects, and now it's gone.

You can add a SATA 300

Ah, good catch.

Although the chipset (which is the same chipset) supports SATA 300, it does seem that Lenovo has been shipping it with SATA 150 drives in the earlier models and SATA 300 drives in the refresh.

Then again, we are talking about mechanical drives, which are limited by the mechanics more than by the bus, so actual performance gains must be marginal, if any.

dr_st wrote:
Then again, we are talking about mechanical drives, which are limited by the mechanics more than by the bus, so actual performance gains must be marginal, if any.

Sure but what about SSDs !?
I've an Intel X25E on a marvellous T60 15' IPS which works wonderfully but SATA 150 is infuriating me
SSDs're a major improvment plus a major pleasure to use

Rochefort wrote:Sure but what about SSDs !?

No SL series laptop comes preconfigured with SSD. And if you want to fit an aftermarket drive, then, like I said, the chipset already supports it even in the earlier SL series (as indicated in slbook).

dr_st wrote:No SL series laptop comes preconfigured with SSD. And if you want to fit an aftermarket drive, then, like I said, the chipset already supports it even in the earlier SL series (as indicated in slbook).

If I correctly read the slbook, only SL 410/510 are SATA 300, the previous ones are SATA 150
Anyway ,I'm "dreaming" of an Arrandale thinner W 710 (I don't dare dreaming of a SATA 6/USB3 )

Look at "Chipset". They all say:

Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset (Memory Controller Hub),
ICH9M I/O Controller Hub (SATA 3.0Gb/s, USB 2.0, PCI Express® 1.1, PCI 2.3,
ethernet MAC), LPC bus (IT8752 Super I/O)

The chipset is the same on the SL410/510, as on older SL and also Tx00/Rx00/X200/X301.

You're right but the SATA disks are SATA 150 on SL 400/500 and SATA 300 on SL410/510
I don't know why !??

Because these are the disks Lenovo chose to ship.

Also T400/T500 have SATA150 disks. But lots of people upgraded to aftermarket SATA300 HDDs/SSDs.

dr_st wrote:But lots of people upgraded to aftermarket SATA300 HDDs/SSDs.

Yes but are they working on SATA 150 or 300 ?
Why, for instance, the W700 Serie are on 2,5' SATA 150 HD or 1,8' SSD SATA 300 !??
Thanks a lot for your so quick answers

As far as I know, and there have been quite a few threads discussing it here, as well as official statements from Lenovo:

On the ICH7M Thinkpads (T60/R60/X60/Z61) the chipset is the limiting factor to SATA150
On the ICH8M Thinkpads (T61/R61/X61) Lenovo limited the SATA controller to SATA150, even though the chipset supports SATA300. This is what infuriated many customers. Lenovo's official reason is that the SATA-PATA bridge for the Ultrabay could not handle SATA300, so they just locked everything to SATA150.
On the ICH9M Thinkpads (T400/T500/R400/R500/X200/X301, and I also assume SL series), there is no limit in the chipset or BIOS, but Lenovo's original drives shipped firmware-locked to SATA150. Aftermarket drives can reach SATA300.

dr_st wrote:Aftermarket drives can reach SATA300.

Hi
Thanks a lot
Are you sure of that ?
******
Do you think the next Arrandale W 710 will be thinner ?