x200 announced $1,199

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wolf-zhang · #1 Post by **wolf-zhang** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:11 pm

Pls refer to the original link:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/a ... aptop.html

More news should come out today.

Seems that T400&500 W500 wont be announced today.

But too good that x200 will be available in August.

Intel did a bad job again, Wimax has to be pushed later again!

Cheers anyway.

#2 Post by **gator** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:22 pm

Ah, the cat is out of the bag, finally. X-series becomes widescreen too - gone are my dreams for a SXGA+ 12" thinkpad laptop.

wolf-zhang · #3 Post by **wolf-zhang** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:27 pm

http://gizmodo.com/5025193/hands-on-wit ... s-business

wolf-zhang · #4 Post by **wolf-zhang** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:29 pm

Yep, i am afraid it will be tired for me to type on X200 for more than 2 hours. 4:3 on 12 inches screen is still the best choice in my idea.

gator wrote:Ah, the cat is out of the bag, finally. X-series becomes widescreen too - gone are my dreams for a SXGA+ 12" thinkpad laptop.

#5 Post by **JaneL** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:51 pm

Andrew's review is up at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272634

qviri · #6 Post by **qviri** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:05 pm

I think I'll skip this bezel-tastic generation...

Widescreen makes notebooks smaller! It really does!

#7 Post by **gator** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:18 pm

qviri wrote: Widescreen makes notebooks smaller! It really does!

ah, this pic makes a better point:
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/34765.jpg
(X60 on top of X200 on top of X300)

#8 Post by **gator** » Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:40 pm

nonny wrote:Andrew's review is up at http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=272634

Finally, we see displayport available in the ultrabase ... guess that will be the case for the T/R series too.

ajkula66 · #9 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:29 am

I'll take my shot of bleach shaken, not stirred, with two olives and well-chilled...

pxa270 · #10 Post by **pxa270** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:27 am

qviri wrote:I think I'll skip this bezel-tastic generation...

Widescreen makes notebooks smaller! It really does!

I'll second that. Hated the huge bezel on the X300, still hate it on the X200. Otherwise, the X200 design is fantastic. It's just that when it's so close to perfect, the small issues become huge.

bobdsmith · #11 Post by **bobdsmith** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:23 am

Widescreen is a very big dealbreaker for me.

I recomend stocking up while you still can, cause I doubt the 4:3s re coming back.

Not only does it have a thick bezel, but theres an ugly band across the top to make it look shorter which doesn't really help. Eugh *facepalm

Puppy · #12 Post by **Puppy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:35 am

All I can say is - U.G.L.Y

Trekk69 · #13 Post by **Trekk69** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:42 am

Nice!
Just read the news on Engadget!

pianowizard · #14 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:36 am

gator wrote:gone are my dreams for a SXGA+ 12" thinkpad laptop.

But on the bright side, we will never have to suffer 1024x768 again.

wolf-zhang wrote:Yep, i am afraid it will be tired for me to type on X200 for more than 2 hours.

Why? Thanks to the widescreen, the X200's keyboard will be bigger than the previous 4:3 X-series keyboards, so it's easier to type on it.

gator wrote:
qviri wrote: Widescreen makes notebooks smaller! It really does!
ah, this pic makes a better point:
http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/34765.jpg

Guys, you need to understand that the X200 is bigger than the X61 not because of the widescreen display but because Lenovo has to pack so many wireless technologies into the display bezel. If Lenovo were to make a 4:3 X-series with the same functionalities as the X200, it too would have an ugly wide display bezel and it would be bigger than the X61. My 12.1" widescreen HP nc2400 doesn't have as many wireless features, so it's only 11.1" wide versus the X200's 11.6". Incidentally, besides being smaller, this 2.81-lb HP is also lighter than the X200. So, I'm not tempted to replace it with the X200. This HP remains the most perfect ultraportable laptop I've ever owned.

Bottom line: Don't blame the widescreen. Blame the wireless crap surrounding it instead.

Puppy · #15 Post by **Puppy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:55 am

pianowizard wrote:Guys, you need to understand that the X200 is bigger than the X61 not because of the widescreen display but because Lenovo has to pack so many wireless technologies into the display bezel.

The "has to" part is a bit questionable. To be honest I don't have serious use for any of them. Instead of (unsecure) WiFi I still prefer ethernet cable at home; fast-cheap-reliable. Free wifi hotspots are rare over here. Integrated WWAN module is also useless because no mobile operator supports any standard technology over here. The only option is their custom PCMCIA card. Integrated GPS ? Why ... I'd rather have more pleasant looking design (and smaller notebook width) than tons of fancy wireless technologies without real use.

pxa270 · #16 Post by **pxa270** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:07 am

I don't buy the wireless excuses either. How big are all those antennas anyway, and how much extra wireless does the X200 have compared to the super-thin bezel X61?

Puppy · #17 Post by **Puppy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:17 am

I hope someone will publish the picture of disassembled display bezel soon or later

pianowizard · #18 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:21 am

Puppy wrote:The "has to" part is a bit questionable.

"Has to" in the sense that Lenovo insists on including these technologies. I too don't need most of them, and that's why I called them "wireless crap" in my previous post. The only thing I need is 802.11.

As I've said numerous times on this forum, 16:10 is perfect for 12.1" laptops (smaller surface area than 4:3 so in theory the laptop could be made smaller, but wider than 4:3 to allow for a bigger keyboard, shorter so it's easier to use on a tray table, and 1280x800 is more useful than 1024x768). So I'm glad to see that the X series is going widescreen. But the wide display bezel is a shame.

Puppy wrote:I hope someone will publish the picture of disassembled display bezel soon or later

I wouldn't be surprised if there's actually quite a bit of empty space inside the bezel, to allow for further additions of wireless/webcam/etc options in the future.

kosse · #19 Post by **kosse** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:22 am

Wow, I thought display bezels like that disappeared a decade ago. All other aspects of this laptop seem very good though. Too bad it looks horrible

bobdsmith · #20 Post by **bobdsmith** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:44 am

Is it just me or does no one like 1024x768 on the X series?

Also>>Pack stuff into bulkier machines, not the subnotebook!

Puppy · #21 Post by **Puppy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 7:47 am

pianowizard wrote:but wider than 4:3 to allow for a bigger keyboard

Having both "full" keyboard on 15" R51 and smaller on X31 I have to admit I really prefer the smaller one.

kosse wrote:All other aspects of this laptop seem very good though. Too bad it looks horrible

True. The bad thing is that it can not be fixed by a BIOS update

qviri · #22 Post by **qviri** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:35 am

I'd love to know what really needs so much space in the bezel. I'm not buying the GPS argument - Nokia added a GPS receiver while shrinking their internet tablets. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the X61 came with 802.11n in the standard lid. The only thing I really see is integrated WWAN as opposed to in a hump on the side, and UWB (is that even included?).

Really all this wireless mumbo jumbo is small-scale. If they put a wireless charger in that massive lid later on, I'll be talking.

I can accept widescreen when it makes laptops smaller, but the X200 is in fact larger than the X61. This is supposed to be the ultraportable, the smallest Thinkpad. As has been noted, the X series keyboard was also just fine until the X60 series shoved not one, but two extra keys on the bottom row. (How frequently do people use the menu key? Really?) It's just a shame that the X200 looks almost Eee-esque with all that bezel when it could have been a cute, small, low-profile ultraportable.

bobdsmith · #23 Post by **bobdsmith** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:58 am

Complete agreement here.

Puppy · #24 Post by **Puppy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:28 am

BTW any comments on introducing an ultraportable notebook without LED backlight display ?

ajkula66 · #25 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:34 am

I could only find myself commenting on an ultraportable with IPS, but that's never going to happen under the ThinkPad name...

Puppy · #26 Post by **Puppy** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:36 am

ajkula66 wrote:I could only find myself commenting on an ultraportable with IPS, but that's never going to happen under the ThinkPad name...

Imagine there would be a choice of an Xabc model with IPS display but 2" wide display bezel

ajkula66 · #27 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:40 am

Of course...make it 2.5" for good measure

My (now sold) pre-production X60T was designed with no bezel BTW...that piece of garbage was added later...

Troels · #28 Post by **Troels** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:23 pm

Puppy wrote:BTW any comments on introducing an ultraportable notebook without LED backlight display ?

Yes, i'm on the verge of finding something to destroy at the moment. It's horrible!
Ok, LED screens could be very bad too as what has been shown in past, but this means that i CANNOT tear off this LCD in the X200 and replace it with an excellent Boe-Hydis AFFS 12.1" WS because these are only available with LED backlight.
That means that one will have to compare the X300 "inverter"* with the X200 inverter, find the differences, and try to DIY an "inverter"* for the x200 with the new LED display.

*)=Not really an inverter since that is not needed for LED backlights. A buck converter would probably be the correct term.

Furthermore, how does the choice of not fitting in an AFFS widescreen from Boe-Hydis compare to the post on Lenovo Blogs that they are trying to find better display technologies or alternatives?
The 12.1" AFFS is available now, and has been for some time, so i'm on the verge of saying "they don't care" or "it is too expensive".
Now, tablets are always more expensive, but even then, the tablet FSC T2010 with the AFFS LCD is $1500.

I'm hoping that they won't make the mistake of missing out if a tablet edition of the X200 will come

EDIT: Wait!.. i found a HV121WX4-100 which is AFFS and has a CCFL. Probably an easy mod if it's possible to order it

mfbernstein · #29 Post by **mfbernstein** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:17 pm

Does it actually have either? Those would be actual improvements...

dsylvester · #30 Post by **dsylvester** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:05 pm

With the upgraded GMA X4500 and the DisplayPort in the docking station, can i finally push a 30" 2560x1600 display from an X-series??

Please say yes (if it's true)...

x200 announced $1,199

x200 announced $1,199

GPS and eSATA?

DisplayPort in dock = 30" LCD?

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