Thinkpad Tablet coming..?

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#1 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:39 pm

This was sent to me:

*****START*****

A TabletPCBuzz.com reader, from the education sector, wrote in about seeing an IBM Tablet PC. She wrote in seeking some advice and we asked if we could share what it was she saw. Disclaimer: We have not verified this with anyone from IBM. That said, here is the text from her email:

WE are trying to decide what tablet to purchase for students 5-12 grade and met with a leasing agent who had just gotten the IBM tablet from them that morning. (He also had the toshiba R15, M200, a motion and an HP 1100 so it was great fun!)
He said the IBM is due out May 15. It is 12 inches but looks smaller..looks just like the thinkpad...had a 1.5 or 1.6 processor...it was about 3.5-4 lbs...it felt like the lightest one and was as thin as the motion slate....has a feature to partition off the image we would load and allow us to "reimage" little johnny's from his own laptop....it has 2 batteries in the battery attachment so it gives it 8 hours....it was very thin...

We really liked it....the issue for us and the teachers is the IBM (a little scary that it is the first year) and the light weight or the R15 and the big screen..both had comparable pricepoints..IBM was pricing between $1500-1600..with the slice included...

We asked for some pics, but she did not have any. She has a follow-up meeting with their contact on Monday and will try to get some more info and pics.

If its' anything like their existing Thinkpad line, it should be a fantastic Tablet PC.

*****END*****
believe it or not..

#2 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 10:49 pm

Wow, if this is true that we'll see an IBM tablet soon, depending on it's specs, I just might break my vow to keep using my 760XD until it dies (or until I can get a newer ThinkPad without having to pay for it myself.)

admsteiner · #3 Post by **admsteiner** » Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:02 pm

I'd think that more news would have leaked...launch date less than a month away? Unless that's the paper launch date.

A 3.5-4lb tablet at $1,600? Seems a bit cheap for a TP...I'd have expected more.

Aside from those two skeptical points, I'm already drooling.

--Adam

eigh · #4 Post by **eigh** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 12:28 am

ya i just made a thread in the wrong forum here about that same post on tabletpcbuzz.com (oops!).

im very excited. i was going to get a 2379 fvu, then i decided i would like a tablet pc. now an ibm tablet pc, super wow!

i can hardly wait to see what it looks like (and how much its gonna cost

)

Batuta · #5 Post by **Batuta** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:42 am

#6 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:20 pm

Well, you do have a point. It's just been a while since IBM released a new tablet. Hopefully, it will be every bit as rigid, if not more, and cool as those old greyscale tablets.

#7 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:42 am

more info:

I wasn't sent any pics from my source, but a source with a friend who is a VP at IBM verified that what was on TabletPCBuzz.com was accurate and passed along these additional specs:

* The tablet should be announced first week in May
* It is an X41...it will have a titanium case
* 1.6 processor with 512 in one slot (not sure but it will probably have options from 1.5 to 1.7 processing speeds)
* probably 2 usb ports
* 1 firewire
* 1 memory card slot
* internal microphone
* battery options
standard gets 4-5 hours
extended life - 8 hours and a little more money

* the ultra bay or slice will costs extra and is really thin.
* base price approximate $1600: not yet fixed
* screen resolution is as good as the Motion (which IBM does not see as a competitor for the X41 since one is a slate and the other is convertabile) and better than the Toshiba or any other tablet or slate
* 40GB harddrive option for 60GB
* between 3.5-4 lbs
* about 2/3 the thickness of the Toshiba M200 with slightly smaller footprint

from the same source..

eigh · #8 Post by **eigh** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:55 am

morrow, i must know, is this a tablet, a hybrid or a convertable?

tablet - no keyboard, basicly a giant pda

(note, tablet attatches in the center of the base, not at one end of the keyboard like a convertable does)
hybrid - special detatchable keybor with touchpad, other than that, you can detach the keyboard and it works just like the tablet

convertable - attatched keybaord, a notebook that has a touch screen that can turn around and fold over the keyboard, so you can hold and write on it like its a tablet (as defined above).

i hope to god its a convertable. if its a hybrid, those are dam expensive and it should cost more than 1600$. if its a convertable, other table pcs with those specs (toshiba m200) are going for 1800 right from toshiba.com.

i hope to god its a convertable (thats what im looking for, and an ibm tablet pc would pwn) and i hope its still 1600ish.

eigh · #9 Post by **eigh** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 8:31 am

screen resolution is as good as the Motion (which IBM does not see as a competitor for the X41 since one is a slate and the other is convertible) and better than the Toshiba or any other tablet or slate

http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc.asp

i may be only speculating, but in taht sentenc it says "ibms screen res is as good as motion and the motion is no competition since ONE IS A SLATE AND THE OTHER IS A CONVERTIBLE. from the link i posted above shows the mtion computers as slates/tablets.

WHICH MEANS IBM IS MAKING CONVERTIBLES. PRAISE THE HEAVENS!!!!!!

now curse the depths of hell i hope it doesnt cost more than 1600 (before any discounts).

edit: why do they list it as an x41 case, whats so different from the x40 line. arent the x41's supposed to be better than the x40's

Batuta · #10 Post by **Batuta** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 10:49 am

eigh · #11 Post by **eigh** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:25 pm

Batuta wrote: WHICH MEANS LENOVO IS MAKING CONVERTIBLES. PRAISE THE HEAVENS!!!!!!
in this case.

well now wait a minute, i thought the change over hadnt happened yet. i thought it would be happening during the summer.

Batuta · #12 Post by **Batuta** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:11 pm

mattfromomaha · #13 Post by **mattfromomaha** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 1:21 pm

IBM or Lenovo, still the same design team.

Batuta · #14 Post by **Batuta** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:42 pm

#15 Post by **K. Eng** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:32 pm

mattfromomaha wrote:IBM or Lenovo, still the same design team.

At least in the short term. I don't know if the people working for the IBM PC division will stay once everything transfers to Lenovo. I know a large portion of the design work goes on at IBM's Yamato lab in Japan. With so much animosity between China and Japan these days who knows what'll happen.

I predict no major changes in the near term (next three years), and I'm looking forward to the ThinkPad T50!

eigh · #16 Post by **eigh** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:12 pm

K. Eng wrote: I predict no major changes in the near term (next three years), and I'm looking forward to the ThinkPad T50!

i look forward to the T1000, then ill ask:

http://www.keithtarrier.com/fafs/12-gov ... -large.jpg

to go over seas and kick its butt before it tries to take out sarah connor.

fake edit: i wonder how much battery life the liquid cop gets?

Edited by Moderator: That was a nasty shock to anyone on dialup. Don't post images outside the forums provided for them without putting a warning in the subject line. Use links instead.

edit: noted, sry about that, i forget not everyone has cable or something better than dialup

benplaut · #17 Post by **benplaut** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:42 am

i doubt the May 15, but i think that eventually IBM/Lenevo will make tablet TPs... there are the next obvious step in the "bussiness designed" line...

i wonder what they'll call it...

P43? (pad...)

stgreek · #18 Post by **stgreek** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:02 am

Batuta wrote: Fact is that its management which specifies long term guidelines and that management is now Chinese.

And since when is "Chinese" referring to a disease or something? Chinese are far more technically advanced than the US in quite a few fields. Levono is not stupid enough to turn the Thinkpad line into a mass-production low-cost line, they know that what keeps Thinkpads in business is their quality. If they keep the costs low and make it more profitable, it is good for everyone.

jonnnny · #19 Post by **jonnnny** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:21 am

Oh nice, I've always wanted a ThinkTab

#20 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 3:25 am

how about calling the new ibm/lenovo tablet the "X-Pad"..?

eigh · #21 Post by **eigh** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 8:29 pm

hmmm, that would be fitting since it is said to be after the x-41 case design.

god i just want it announced already. i keep making plans about what im going to get with it, BUT I DONT KNOW WHAT ITS COMING WITH, GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Batuta · #22 Post by **Batuta** » Thu Apr 28, 2005 4:40 pm

Thinkpad Tablet coming..?

Thinkpad Tablet coming..?

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