CES 2015: 8 ThinkPads and ThinkPad Stack *PIC*

[Czechnology]

CES 2015: Lenovo unveils 8 ThinkPads and unique ThinkPad Stack system

PC maker Lenovo has shared its plans for the ThinkPad line at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The entire ThinkPad laptop line is getting refreshed, and a new accessory system, ThinkPad Stack, is aimed to let the enterprise mix and match units to augment the mobile solution.

ThinkPad laptops
The ThinkPad line has two flagship Ultrabooks in Lenovo's offerings, and both are getting updated for 2015. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is one of the most portable 14-inch laptops, and couples a high-resolution touch screen (optional) with a thin and light rugged case (0.73 inches, 2.9 pounds). The ThinkPad X1 Carbon starts at $1,249 and will be available in January 2015.

The ThinkPad X250 is Lenovo's 12.5-inch laptop that works with the company's Power Bridge technology for flexibility while traveling. The X250 is only 0.8 inches thick and 2.88 pounds. Power Bridge is a dual battery system that allows the user to configure it on the fly for maximum battery life or lowest weight. The ThinkPad X250 starts at $1,149 and will be available in February 2015.

There are four ThinkPads in the 450 series, the T450s, T450, E450, and the L450. The T450s is a 14-inch laptop that is larger than the two flagship models noted above (0.83 inches, 3.5 pounds). It is also a Power Bridge compatible notebook for extending the battery life when needed. The T450 is another 14-inch laptop that is larger than the T450s (0.88 inches, 4.0 pounds). The L450 is a 14-inch laptop that does not have a touch screen option (the others do have touch available). It is a thick notebook and heavier than the others (0.96 inches, 4.25 pounds). All of these ThinkPads will be available in February 2015. Pricing for the T450s and T450 starts at $1,099 and $849, respectively. The L450 pricing starts at $699.

Lenovo addresses those who prefer a large screen with the T550. This is configurable with either a 15.6-inch display or a 15.5-inch high-resolution display (2880 x 1620). It comes with up to 16GB of memory, up to a TB of HDD (or 512GB SSD). It has a lot of ports and jacks to turn it into a true desktop replacement. The powerful laptop takes a hit on mobility at 0.88 inches thick and around 5 pounds. Pricing for the T550 is $999, and it will be available in February 2015.

The E ThinkPad line has two laptops, the E550 and the E450. The E550 packs a 15.6-inch display while the E450 is another 14-inch model. Neither laptop is available with a touch screen but both are available with optional optical drives. Both models can be configured with up to 1 TB of HDD or 128GB of SSD. The E550 and E450 are 5.2 pounds and 4 pounds, and 0.94 inches and 0.87 inches thick respectively. Both of these laptops will be available in February 2015 and are priced starting at $599 for the E450 and $599 for the E450.

ThinkPad Stack
This modular system is designed to allow owners of mobile systems to augment them in a stackable format. The ThinkPad Stack has four modules, and they can be purchased and used interchangeably. The modules sit on top of each other and share power and data when stacked.



The four ThinkPad Stack modules that will be available in April 2015 are:

Bluetooth speaker: for audio and conference call handling, 3.5 mm, microUSB ($89.99)
Power Bank: 10,000 mAH, dual USB, microUSB ($49.99)
Access Point: Shares 4G phone connection ($199.99 with the HDD below)
HDD: 1 TB, USB 3.0, password security

Big lineup
The new ThinkPad line is designed to appeal to the enterprise, and is diverse enough to cover almost every situation. From highly mobile thin and light devices to large and powerful, the ThinkPad line looks able to handle the needs of most companies.

The unique ThinkPad Stand seems a good fit for those needing to set up a high-powered work environment anywhere. It can keep mobile devices charged, connected, and adds 1 TB of secure storage.

Admin edit: Added PIC notice to subject line

[elray]

Yippee!

Says the Verge:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/4/749147 ... d-ces-2015

"...Even as it upgrades the technology inside, Lenovo took the X1 Carbon back to its roots. Gone are the clickable trackpad and the adaptive row of function buttons above the keyboard, replaced by the three buttons and the standard F1-F12 keys we’ve seen for years. Evidently customers want their ThinkPads lighter, faster, and brighter, but they don’t want them different. They want black boxes, and Lenovo is clearly happy to provide what its long-time, hardcore users demand."


Its refreshing to see a giant corporation acknowledge the error of its ways.
They heard us.

[Czechnology]

Maybe. It's still love to see a classic 7-row keyboard back (I don't care much for the button style but the layout).

But oh well. Might be time to renew my black box.

[jskang]

Some brief comments about the forthcoming Carbon X1, X250, T450 and T550s. Plus something called ThinkPad Stack.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/ces-2015-l ... ck-system/

EDIT: this post got put here from a separate topic and I just wanted folks to know that the link here is the same as the first post in this thread.

[Saucey]

Hmmmm...
I find it funny that Lenovo made their own version of the PowerX, the rechargeable battery pack made by Zettaly.

[Puppy]

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-CES- ... -p/1846233

L450 has FHD IPS display option while T450 doesn't

[jayton4]

D@mn, Lenovo still just doesn't get it, do they? That's fine that the trackpad isn't clickable, but they missed the point. We need separate buttons! Still sticking with my T420s. The only other ThinkPad I could consider is a refurb T430, as I can learn to get used to the keyboard, but never will I buy one with a buttonless touchpad.

[RasmusP]

Why on earth would they have only one RAM slot for the X250-series?!?!

I would love to upgrade my trusty old X200s to something with a higher resolution and I could even live with the new keyboards if it's comparable to the 230-series, but only one RAM slot is a joke. . . I guess I'll have to wait for X260. Or maybe the Librem 13" if it becomes a reality at some point. The EliteBook 820 G2 looks decent but lacks a TrackPoint...

[erik]

Why on earth would they have only one RAM slot for the X250-series?!?!

mainly because business customers and the majority of consumers want these systems as thin and light as possible and typically configure with 4GB.   business customers using 8GB are surprisingly uncommon and 16GB are almost immeasurable.   consumers using 8GB have higher numbers but not by much and 16GB are as equally immeasurable as business customers.

with notebook production costs already under a microscope, cutting out a DIMM slot can make a difference.   given the statistics above, it's an easy feature to cut out and not see any negative impact.

if 16GB DDR3 SODIMMs arrive before the shift to DDR4 memory, the X250 will support it.   all of the broadwell-U SKUs support 16GB.

I guess I'll have to wait for X260.

the X250 replacement will likely continue the pattern of single-DIMM architecture so waiting won't be of much benefit.

[600X]

16GB DDR3 sticks already exist. But so far they can only be used on AMD machines. Not sure if Broadwell supports them.

http://www.intelligentmemory.com/dram-m ... 3-so-dimm/

[RasmusP]

mainly because business customers and the majority of consumers want these systems as thin and light as possible and typically configure with 4GB.   business customers using 8GB are surprisingly uncommon and 16GB are almost immeasurable.   consumers using 8GB have higher numbers but not by much and 16GB are as equally immeasurable as business customers.

You could be right. I have had much joy from being able to upgrade my X200s (wifi, SSD, RAM) and indeed that is why it is still a great machine. . . Your points make sense, though, depressing as they are. . .

with notebook production costs already under a microscope, cutting out a DIMM slot can make a difference.   given the statistics above, it's an easy feature to cut out and not see any negative impact.

Depressing. . .

[Czechnology]

Anyone heard any word about something like T450p? I'm kinda disappointed with only T450 and T450s presented. I was expecting more from the T450.

[Dekks]

Anyone heard any word about something like T450p? I'm kinda disappointed with only T450 and T450s presented. I was expecting more from the T450.

When Intel decides to release the next non ULV Broadwell chips i guess.

[Czechnology]

Someone told me that there won't be any more 'p' models, i.e. no discrete graphics in the T series, is that true?

[Ibthink]

Certainly not true, they are just not ready yet due to the Broadwell Quadcore delay. Maybe, if Broadwell and Skylake are too close, Lenovo could just skip the Broadwell Quad-Cores and step up to Skylake.