Lenovo S70, the ThinkPad X300 'c' model? (Updated with Pics)

[Saucey]

Hello everyone, I was going thru eBay and I stumbled across this ThinkPad and I find it quite odd.
I couldn't find the information under Lenovo's support site... I sort of looks like an X300, has some sort of low voltage Core 2 Duo.
Unless they switched the clearplate on the front... I dunno what it is.

Now that I got your attention, anyone ever had an IBM PS/2 Note 425? It seems like a TP 750 that had its trackpoint yanked from it. I'll post some photos once it gets delivered.

Edit: It seems that there is a few X300 stuff sold as S70 comptable.
So my guess is that its a region specific one? I'll be bidding on it.

[JohnD.]

Hi Saucey,

It looks like a x300/x301 machine. The black hinges, the display LEDs on the side and the back ports remind me of my x301. I don't have the machine with me at work but I will check it when I get home. It's interesting since I have never heard of an S70 model number.

I am curious also about the Note 425 that you are getting. I will look forward to the pictures that you will post of the machine.

John

[ajkula66]

It looks like a x300/x301 machine. The black hinges, the display LEDs on the side and the back ports remind me of my x301. I don't have the machine with me at work but I will check it when I get home. It's interesting since I have never heard of an S70 model number.

Agreed.

A 1.2 GHz CPU would make me believe that it's a X300 of some variety, and not X301.

It can very easily be a pre-production unit of some kind, I've seen my fair share of them and several were purchased on feebay while I was still using it years ago.

Do keep us posted...

[ansible212]

Searching for the 'motherboard' (6477E1U) in the description suggests it's an X300 engineering prototype, e.g. the following on 51nb.com:

http://forum.51nb.com/thread-992445-1-1.html

(Motherboard appears to be the machine type.)

[Saucey]

I got the unit home, this thing looks new! Time for me to give it a shiny palmrest, keys, and for the paint to rub off on the edges of the lid...
Oh well. Now, I never owned an X300, I've only had a few glances of them or X220, so I may be wrong from what the differances are.
Visually the only thing different is the LCD bezel, its a smooth glossy one, luckily the WXGA+ LCD isn't glossy!
Also on the bottom there isn't a standard Machine Type sticker, here is what it says instead:
Kodachi-1 SIT BOX
M/T: 6477 MODEL:E1U S/N:ZZG5364
-Barcode lines-
*1S6477E1UZZG5364*

Kodachi is Japanese for small or short sword, it also says SIT sample on the battery.

It came with a 120GB HDD, swapped it out for an SSD because well, Netbooks and Ultrabooks should come standard with them imo.
The DC jack seems be finicky, it will disconnect if moved slightly. It wouldn't accept another AC adapter to charge the battery (either a T61 or X61 unit).
Plug in the adapter it came with, battery charges, breath of relief for me, still is finicky hehe.

Sorry for some of the bad grainy/shaky photos, I used my phone as my normal point and shoot camera seems to be AFK.
Click here for the gallery, otherwise click the photo if you want to see in 1500x1200.


WXGA+ looks very nice, it does get very very dim for nighttime using!
BIOS seems to be like all other ThinkPads I've noticed. At first I thought I had a single core unit but under an OS it shows two 1.2GHz CPUs.


Neat blue ThinkVantage light, I'll find a way to light it up more often!
The glossy panel seems to have scratches, I wiped it with a microfiber cloth but they are still there.
Might have to use car was to take out most of the scratches, or just wrap it in vinyl!



It has an interesting sticker on the installed RAM, I added the Samsung one on the right.
The keyboard seems very firm, some flex from the left side of the keyboard.
I really like the direction bumps on these! Are these swappable to T61 or X61 units?
The palmrest and keyboard bezel has that smooth painted surface like most ThinkPad lids, downside is that it'll attract the oils from my hand.

I used Lenovo's System Update on this and it downloaded just about all the drivers, the middle scroll seems to not work at the moment.
Downloading updates for Windows, hopefully it'll fix it, if not some rummaging through Lenovo's site or around here will solve it.

[ajkula66]

Very nice catch! Congrats!

My crystall ball says that sometime in the future you'll be taking over my second place on this forum as a member with the most "pre-production" ThinkPads, past or present...

[Saucey]

Thank you kind sir!

[Tasurinchi]

Very nice catch indeed. Enjoy that TP!

[RealBlackStuff]

Have you figured out yet if it is a prototype X300 or X301?

As to the buying price on eBay: too high if you ask me.
I'm sorry to say that you yourself have driven that price up and up!
Before I place a snipe (= automated bid in the last few seconds) on an item, I always first check the bid-history and hit "Show automatic bids".
And from checking selling prices for such an item (and not to forget experience), I know what my max. bid will be.
In your case, it looked like: http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... wauto=true
May I suggest you also look into 'sniping' instead for the future?
Personally I've been using this for several years now with great success: https://www.esnipe.com/

[Tasurinchi]

Must be an X300, pics above shows DDR2 RAM.

[lead_org]

nice catch. It is a dead giveaway that this is an initial prototype with the shiny screen bezel it uses.

Now you just need to get David Hill and Peter Hortensius to sign the laptop, along with a copy of the issue of BusinessWeek Magazine that had this laptop on its front cover. This thing will be a collector's item (it is a collector's item even without the signature).

[Saucey]

Thanks for the tip RBS!
Yeah... it was pricey, I wanted to stop at $180 and $230 days before, but I decided to put in $260 at the end.
I guess they wanted it just as much as me.
I think the premium comes from the seller describing it as flawless.
There isn't any grime inside the speaker covers.

Now to find David Hill and Peter Hortensius...
It is an X300 pre-production, DDR2 ram is needed...

[rkawakami]

Kodachi is Japanese for small or short sword, <snip>

It's also Lenovo's codename for the X300 system:

https://www.lenovo.com/news/au/en/2008/02/new_x300.html
http://intel-core.livejournal.com/45168.html

[Ibthink]

Very nice find indeed! Congrats to a very special X300.

Also, interesting to see the name. "S70" - maybe the X3xx-Series was intended to be in an extra new Series called "S-Series". Also, "70" - this is still the old naming sheme.

[600X]

That looks like a great machine. Would you mind taking pics of the sides?

If you ever consider selling it again, I'll happily take it off your hands. (huge X300 fan over here)

[Temetka]

That is a nice looking Thinkpad you got there.

I have to admit, it gave me that "I want a Thinkpad" twinge. BUT, since they don't come with backlit keyboards and aren't free from clients, I'll stick to my Dell's.

May it serve you well.

[Saucey]

That looks like a great machine. Would you mind taking pics of the sides?

Sure, here are some. I didn't take any of the lid closed, but it seems to have the same lid other than the inside screen bezel.

If you ever consider selling it again, I'll happily take it off your hands. (huge X300 fan over here)

I think this laptop will be depreciated by the time I'd want to sell it. I believe the X300 was one of the nicer 'thin' Lenovo machines.
13" screen is just perfect for a 16:10 display, I seem to get only 2 hours of battery life though, I think I should change the power scheme to battery life... or just get a new battery and ultrabay battery.

Also, interesting to see the name. "S70" - maybe the X3xx-Series was intended to be in an extra new Series called "S-Series". Also, "70" - this is still the old naming sheme.

Yes, I am somewhat confused about the Edge, L and S series laptops. The S-Series seem to be sleek/slim redesigns of the L series. I may be wrong but that is what I percieve from them from the looks. They might be different inside (as long as they aren't anything like the SL400c I'll be fine with that)

BUT, since they don't come with backlit keyboards and aren't free from clients, I'll stick to my Dell's.

I have yet to use a backlit keyboard, but I do like the luxury when looking at Macbooks.
I've heard good things about the E6400, might grab one of those in the end of the year.

[Temetka]

The E6400's are nice machines. They are built very well and have a nice solid feel to them.

If you do grab one, I think you'll like it a lot.