W701 gone from Lenovo's site; W701ds, W510 remain. Refresh?
Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2010 5:34 am
If you're trying to buy a new W701 from Lenovo these days, this is what you'll be looking at.
There are still plenty of refurbished (and the occasional new one) available on Lenovo's outlet site, but they're all pre-configured, so you can't have one built to your specific desires. Does this mean that we're looking at a hardware refresh sometime in the near future?
I was never impressed with the W701 and I am writing this on my trusted T60p, which recently received a new heat sink and continues to perform superbly. However, it serves solely as my backup machine to my 27" iMac at home, but as it is my only notebook, I'm using it on a daily basis while on the road until the end of the year (Tax-free shopping in Munich's Marienplatz is truly a beautiful thing
).
I, for one, would LOVE to see a successor to the W701/W701ds sooner rather than later, as Apple's MacBook Pro's will see their own refresh in the first half of 2011 and which will likely include a massive overhaul to stay ahead of the competition. Come on Lenovo, let's see a killer ThinkPad W series even though Apple promises to beat back everyone else with ever lighter-weight MBP's equipped with IPS screens, solid-state flash memory (a la MacBook Air) and the elimination of the optical drive, which I would welcome with open arms.
Then there is the consolidation of most of the I/O (FireWire/mini-DisplayPort/some of the USB ports) with Intel's forthcoming Light Peak technology (CES can't come soon enough
). USB 3.0 and eSATA may already be obsolete before they even hit the market in any meaningful way if Light Peak takes off and delivers on its promises, which would be nothing short of revolutionary.
2011 sure looks like a tremendous year, perhaps even more so than 2010 has been. Any thoughts, insight, or insider knowledge?
Happy Holidays everyone!
There are still plenty of refurbished (and the occasional new one) available on Lenovo's outlet site, but they're all pre-configured, so you can't have one built to your specific desires. Does this mean that we're looking at a hardware refresh sometime in the near future?
I was never impressed with the W701 and I am writing this on my trusted T60p, which recently received a new heat sink and continues to perform superbly. However, it serves solely as my backup machine to my 27" iMac at home, but as it is my only notebook, I'm using it on a daily basis while on the road until the end of the year (Tax-free shopping in Munich's Marienplatz is truly a beautiful thing
).I, for one, would LOVE to see a successor to the W701/W701ds sooner rather than later, as Apple's MacBook Pro's will see their own refresh in the first half of 2011 and which will likely include a massive overhaul to stay ahead of the competition. Come on Lenovo, let's see a killer ThinkPad W series even though Apple promises to beat back everyone else with ever lighter-weight MBP's equipped with IPS screens, solid-state flash memory (a la MacBook Air) and the elimination of the optical drive, which I would welcome with open arms.
Then there is the consolidation of most of the I/O (FireWire/mini-DisplayPort/some of the USB ports) with Intel's forthcoming Light Peak technology (CES can't come soon enough
). USB 3.0 and eSATA may already be obsolete before they even hit the market in any meaningful way if Light Peak takes off and delivers on its promises, which would be nothing short of revolutionary.2011 sure looks like a tremendous year, perhaps even more so than 2010 has been. Any thoughts, insight, or insider knowledge?
Happy Holidays everyone!
