A graph on the history of Thinkpads.

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Medessec · #1 Post by **Medessec** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:59 am

Heyo. Got bored again after homework- and drew this up based on the Thinkpad History page seen on ThinkWiki, and a combo of general knowledge of the Thinkpad ancestry pre-Lenovo. Had to go on the Lenovo website for the last row. Last row's a bit squeezed, but that's kinda Lenovo's fault for making the Thinkpad lineup towards the end a real pain to draw out.

http://www.medessec.info/m/ThinkpadGraph.jpg

What do you guys think? Should some Thinkpads be drawn out differently on the timeline? Is there more info that would be relevant, such as a time graph, or intervals by generation of Intel CPUs, etc?

I don't know if I'll actually make this into a solid graph in Excel or Photoshop, but I figured I'd let you guys hack it up and judge it.

YES, I know. My handwriting's horrible. Deal with it. I drew this up on my SXGA+ X60 Tablet by the way.

QWERTY Andreas · #2 Post by **QWERTY Andreas** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:55 am

I would place the X1 as successor for the X301, and the L as successor for the R series (they are very similar, when looking at the design philosophy)

pianowizard · #3 Post by **pianowizard** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 10:28 am

IMO, the 770 series is sort of the precursor to the A series. Also, the 12.1" X20 is a hybrid of the 13.3" 570E and the 10.4" 240Z (which is missing BTW).

jayton4 · #4 Post by **jayton4** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 1:01 pm

No love for the T420s? The T400s, T410s, T430s, and T440s all made the cut. Also, I think there was a T431s in there somewhere. If it were my timeline, I would have the skull and crossbones two more steps to the right. Great list regardless!

Saucey · #5 Post by **Saucey** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 3:22 pm

Very nice again man!

I'll see if I can make something up and maybe upload it to ThinkWiki.

#6 Post by **thePCxp** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 4:57 pm

I think the graph looks fine just the way it is. However, you should add a "p" on the T440, as there are T440p models out there. And yeah, there should also be an "s" on the T420, as those units are also out there.

I see that you put a skull and crossbones under the T61/p models

. I'm assuming that's because of the defective NVIDIA GPUs on those models. I suggest also adding some to the T4x and R5x models, as they experienced faulty ATI GPUs.

Andreas is right, the L series is the successor to the R series. Also, I think the Edge series is the successor to the SL series, as they are both aimed at small businesses who want an affordable ThinkPad with some 'consumer' features (I think I remember hearing thatthe Edge is the successor to the SL, but I can't really remember right now).

Medessec wrote:YES, I know. My handwriting's horrible. Deal with it.

I think your handwriting is pretty good

. Its actually not so bad.

WillAdams · #7 Post by **WillAdams** » Sat Jan 25, 2014 4:59 pm

Neat!

Just out of curiousity, how many people have read the book, _ThinkPad: A Different Shade of Blue_? I picked it up on remainder at the local Borders back when they were still around --- regret not buying all the copies they had.

#8 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:28 pm

interesting graph/spreadsheet/lineage/family tree thing you have there..
i would suggest that the T60 series might be a transition model.. inherited by lenovo but designed by IBM..
speaking of IBM are they still in buiisiness, i have not heard much of IBM since they sold out..

a little redrawing to incoprporate some of the other comments.. ?
and then transnote is related to the S30/S31 models.. i know, only sold in japan but still a great thinkpad model..

maybe its time to do something with thinkpads.com other than redirect to the forum..?!

Medessec · #9 Post by **Medessec** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 5:00 am

I suppose I could make the T60 stand out a bit more... but I like to draw a solid line between Lenovo and IBM, even though the transition was pretty gradual. I understand though that the T60 was still partially a product of IBM's hard work...

IBM is still apparently a super-massive company in POS(Point of Service... not the other one) equipment and embedded hardware, as well as higher-grade server equipment. But software is apparently their biggest bag.

and then transnote is related to the S30/S31 models.. i know, only sold in japan but still a great thinkpad model..

I completely forgot the S30/31... as well as the G50... are there any other Asia-only Thinkpads I missed that would probably be relevant to include? Although... that might be a bit confusing to someone looking at this for educational purposes.

maybe its time to do something with thinkpads.com other than redirect to the forum..?!

It would be cool... but I dunno what you'd put there. Maybe a stylized version of this graph, if that's what you were hinting at. But we'd have to like-do a competition or something to vote on what would look the best. Or do a topic to just see what people would like to have on there.

#10 Post by **BillMorrow** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 4:11 am

not hinting at anything in particular with thinkpads.com..
however erik is wanting to sell/auction off a complete 701C thinkpad with all the accessories..
and we might use thinkpads.com as a place to highlight it..

and I was also toying with a blog there but then I would have to have something to say and with me I have had very little to say on thinkpads.. lately..

but I am open to ideas..

#11 Post by **thePCxp** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 3:34 am

BillMorrow wrote:speaking of IBM are they still in buiisiness, i have not heard much of IBM since they sold out..

IBM is still in business. Last time I heard (which was recently - about a few weeks ago) they sold their low-end server business to Lenovo.

BillMorrow wrote:maybe its time to do something with thinkpads.com other than redirect to the forum..?!

That would be pretty neat

.

thomase13 · #12 Post by **thomase13** » Sat Nov 01, 2014 11:30 pm

I'd love to see this graph, but your Web site seems to be down! D:

jronald · #13 Post by **jronald** » Wed Nov 05, 2014 3:38 pm

Im impressed!
somewhere in there are the "s" series netbooks. S10 and S100 to name a couple.

Ron

Saucey · #14 Post by **Saucey** » Thu Nov 06, 2014 1:37 am

Giving my go at the graph, I'm checking the HMM of the 700 and other various models.
The HMM lists a few of IBM's portable machines, like the PS/Note I had came across, similar to the TP 350 I think?
Anyways, I saw some cool looking old designs, CL57 SX, Model N51 SX for example, they had a trackball configuration to the top right of the keyboard.
Even has some of their 'luggables'

Oddly enough, there is a ThinkPad not listed in the ThinkWiki, called the 340.
It even has its own type number, 2610.

edik · #15 Post by **edik** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 1:38 pm

T60p/T61p -> W500 directly as the W's replaced the old P's (at least early on, seems now later on the P's came back).

765 was more a 760 series than a 770 as noted, even same form factor (but 13.3"? the first TP with this?). Was an odd machine not sure was around for long or even sold many.

X32 was more like the X31 than the X40/41 (with the 1.8" Drives).

Arguably you could draw a line from the A31p to the W700 (even though it stretches quite a few years).

240X lead into the X20....

Just my observations happy to be corrected.

Medessec · #16 Post by **Medessec** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 2:19 pm

I actually haven't touched this since I posted about it... a lot of the suggestions people posted on here (including yours) are very worthwhile including in a revision, but if I decide to make it again, I'd want for it to go in a place easily accessible to everyone, as Saucey up there mentions about possibly putting it on ThinkWiki. I'd also want to make it a lot nicer and more organized.

edik · #17 Post by **edik** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 2:33 pm

Medessec

Great graph... definitely worth working on!

Shows the rich history (which is consistent).... any other brand and the graph would look psychedelic

The consistency of the line is a very interesting aspect.

Thanks
Ed

Norway Pad · #18 Post by **Norway Pad** » Fri Dec 12, 2014 2:03 am

Sorry for chiming in late on this one, there was however one thing that came to mind the first time I saw this graph. Wasn't the original 700 series, at least the later ones, considered as the workstations of the time? I might be totally wrong here, but I have always seen some kind of similarity of purpose between the 770, the A-series, and later the W series. Like your graph also states, the G-series fit in there too as an odd offspring, as that attempt to base a 'portable' desktop replacement (Yes, I do manage to carry my G40

) on a desktop CPU basis.

Btw, good job on this graph! I would sure love to see something more done with it. Timeframes, colors, etc. In the right form, this is something I would be totally willing to put on my wall.

Saucey · #19 Post by **Saucey** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:20 am

This was a much more dauntng task than I thought.

Cheers, I hope holiday break will be fun for you all.

Link to imgur, PNG image, almost 1MB, ~7000x1500 pixels
Here is the .svg file, hopefully it works, ~700KB

I'm sure I missed plenty of models. I cant seem to get much information on the 800 series, so I skipped a few.

There are way too many iSeries and Edge models to keep track of.
Feel free to edit it to your liking.

Medessec · #20 Post by **Medessec** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:33 am

Dude... incredible work. This is far more informative than my original graph, and that much more interesting. I think it can be fancied up a bit, but it's definitely something I'd print out to put on my wall or have as a wallpaper.

I'm visiting friends right now for Xmas, so I don't have any suggestions to push at the moment, but absolute thumbs up!

Norway Pad · #21 Post by **Norway Pad** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:47 am

In one word: Great!

Just what I imagined it to look like. Unfortunately I'm too clueless with drawing and editing to make something like this myself.

Saucey · #22 Post by **Saucey** » Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:21 am

Thanks.
I used Inkscape for the first time and it was a learning process as i did this.
I only know simple stuff on Photoshop so it was kind of the same.

I'll get back to it next year. But it was enjoyable.

edik · #23 Post by **edik** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 5:49 pm

Just like to say... MUCH APPRECIATED!

Great work.

This is definitely needed.

Khipata · #24 Post by **Khipata** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 1:49 pm

Thanks people for this incredible graph! Very informative and useful, especially for collectors

Could you PLEASE add pre-1992 thinkpad predecessors to this? I mean IBM 5140, L40SX, PS/note 425 and the likes? That would add to its usefulness in my opinion

Summilux · #25 Post by **Summilux** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:42 am

Great job guys, thanks for the graph and to all who chimed in to make suggestions

#26 Post by **lead_org** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 4:32 am

you will have to rewrite the history of ThinkPad soon.

Saucey · #27 Post by **Saucey** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 5:17 am

Khipata wrote:Thanks people for this incredible graph! Very informative and useful, especially for collectors

Could you PLEASE add pre-1992 thinkpad predecessors to this? I mean IBM 5140, L40SX, PS/note 425 and the likes? That would add to its usefulness in my opinion

I do want to. I got a hold of a very old HMM/PSREF that had IBM machines designated by their Machine Type and had specs. I did want to implement their prcessor, hard drive, memory, and screen size but that would be too time consuming to do for all models.
Searching the Information was very scare too, I wasn't too sure on some machines as they seemed to be desktops, at least when I looked at that information online.

I have to fix the layout so its much friendlier to add and edit models when I work on it.
Plus I gotta clean up the some of the lines, they aren't correctly aligned.
As well as finding out 240z/1124 release date, PowerPC/ RS 6000, 500 series, G50, edge, iSeries... But the bulk is done.

lead_org wrote:you will have to rewrite the history of ThinkPad soon.

Know something I don't?

The 2013 is probably least accurate year, I think I figured out the all the tablets Lenovo slapped the ThinkPad name to.
I think the Broadwell X1C is out now, not quite sure if the X250, T250 will be delayed or when the W-units will be out, but I can always put a disclaimer for them.

#28 Post by **lead_org** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:58 pm

In 2 weeks time or less, thinkpad world won't be the same again.

Medessec · #29 Post by **Medessec** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:14 pm

Probably should've PM'd you Saucey, but I got your graphs in the mail!

http://www.medessec.info/m/ThinkpadGraphSaucey1.jpg

First thing I did was tape them together. They're rolled up right now, the whole thing is really cheaply held together but it works, I might do a better job at some point. The smaller ones look good too.

Really appreciate it. It's very interesting to see how you lined them all up. Quite logical... of course I will understand the iSeries are going to be hard to nail down.

Saucey · #30 Post by **Saucey** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:11 pm

Sorry I didn't even give you tracking or PM if you got it.
Also I didn't read the part where you gave your name for the address, only until after I wrote Mr. Medessec

@lead_org, Sounds interesting!!

I'll have get ready to edit it.

A graph on the history of Thinkpads.

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