Lenovo's rumored ThinkPad netbook will launch at the start of the next year, a leak today says. It's now purportedly named the ThinkPad X100e and may ship on January 5th, just ahead of CES. System specs are only guessed at but may not necessarily cling to the Atoms found in the IdeaPads; instead, it's speculated that Lenovo may use either Intel's CULV processors or an AMD Athlon Neo.
An image of what is believed to be an upcoming Lenovo ThinkPad netbook, the x200e, has surfaced online. While the company has only said it's considering the concept, the leak suggests the computer is real and appears to have a cosmetically different form factor and that it may still use Windows XP.
Lenovo today began shipping two of its ThinkPad SL series notebooks with Windows 7. The SL410 and the SL510 have 14-inch and 15.6-inch LED-backlit LCD screen, respectively, while sharing the same processor options. Either can be had with dual-core Celerons to Core 2 Duo CPUs.
Lenovo today became the latest PC vendor to enter the multi-touch game with updates to both the ThinkPad T400s and the X200 Tablet. Both now recognize at least two fingers and, besides being better-suited to Windows 7, have a new companion app known as SimpleTap that provides quick finger-driven shortcuts to simple but important tasks like changing the volume, toggling Wi-Fi or putting the system to sleep.
Sony has quietly pulled the VAIO TT from its lineup. The move ends Sony's current participation in the ultraportable world and comes without any sign of an immediate replacement. Dropping the system leaves only the Atom-based VAIO P and VAIO W with screens below 10 inches in Sony's lineup.
PC maker Lenovo has began recalling certain batteries used in its ThinkPad notebooks, Chinese daily DigiTimes reported on Friday. The possibly affected notebooks include the ThinkPad R60, R61, T60, T61, X60 and X61, though the issue isn't thought to be safety related. Some of the batteries may not be able to be charged or suffer from irreparable damage, Lenovo said. The company has provided users with a downloadable diagnostic tool that will show whether their battery qualifies for a replacement.
The economic crunch is making a major impact on the viability of solid-state drives in notebooks, according to new research from iSuppli. As prices for the NAND flash memory that form the heart of these drives have in some cases more than doubled -- 128 percent for a 2GB chip -- the costs for the SSDs themselves have gone up proportionately, making it difficult or occasionally impossible to offer an SSD option in a given notebook. The jump is the result of a known shortage triggered by the economy, as companies producing memory deliberately cut production to raise prices and save money.
Lenovo on Tuesday launched an anticipated refinement of one of its most important notebooks in the ThinkPad T400s. The 14-inch notebook takes advantage of both an LED-backlit display as well as the same, small and light drive cage used in the X301 to shrink both the thickness and weight of the T400 without compromising its feature set. It measures just over 0.8 inches thick and is 20 percent lighter at just under 4 pounds, but can still fit a DVD or Blu-ray drive as well as regular Core 2 Duo notebook processors.
New images show there may soon be an addition to Lenovo's ThinkPad T400 notebook range with a new, slimmer model, the T400s. Its 0.83-inch thickness represents a noticeable reduction from the T400's 1.12-inch design. Specs will be shared with the range, according to SOBlog, including a choice of 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a 14.1-inch, LED-backlit display with a 1440x900 resolution. Due to the T400s' slimness, users won't be able to upgrade from Intel's integrated 4500MHD graphics processor, however.
Lenovo is developing a version of the ThinkPad X200s that would use a processor fitting roughly into the CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) category, a leak says. Instead of the SL-series Core 2 Duo processors that have pushed the price upwards on the system, Lenovo is said by Fudzilla to be using an ultra-low voltage 1.2GHz Celeron M chip that would drop the price substantially. It would also have relatively modest specifications with 2GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive.
Lenovo is considering making a netbook under the ThinkPad name, the company's Worldwide Competitive Analyst Matthew Kohut said in an interview late Thursday. While nothing is definite, the researcher noted to Australian magazine APC that Lenovo is "exploring" a step up above the IdeaPad netbooks released so far. What this would entail isn't specified, though he explains that pressure exists to create a more business-friendly netbook and that screen sizes may go up.
Acer has launched itself into direct contention against systems like the MacBook Air and ThinkPad X301 with the release of the Timeline series. The notebooks have screens at 13.3, 14 and 15.6 inches but use ultra low-voltage Core 2 Duo and Solo processors to keep the systems light and, combined with LED-backlit displays, extend their battery life well past other designs. Acer's smallest system weighs just 3.5 pounds, and battery life measures as much as 10 hours with an optional 80GB solid-state drive; even with a rotating hard drive, systems still net as much as 8 hours.
Intel is now known to be launching significant updates to its notebook processor line on Monday that should be headlined by an upgrade to the processor line central to Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad X301. An update list obtained by CNET has the semiconductor company upgrading its Core 2 Duo S to include a 2.13GHz model, the SL9600. The chip is a significant update over the previous 1.86GHz ceiling but should still preserve an identical 17W of peak thermal power consumption, 6MB of Level 2 cache and the 1,066MHz system bus.
Lenovo on Wednesday afternoon said it would reorganize itself into major divisions in a bid to improve its focus. At the highest level, the company plans to create a group that handles "mature" markets, such as Japan and North America, as well as a second group that handles "emerging" markets like Lenovo's native China as well as Africa, the Middle East and other areas where PCs are less widespread. Previously, Lenovo had organized itself into much smaller groups based on continents.
Lenovo is gearing up a competitor to Sony's VAIO P, a leak from within Lenovo's Beijing offices shows. The Chinese Engadget branch has obtained an image which shows a very wide but narrow netbook-sized PC that, like Sony's system, would have a trackpoint for control. The system would, however, have a tan leather back like the ThinkPad Reserve Edition and also appears to have a camera and controls to either side of the display.
Lenovo on Monday announced that eight of its ThinkPad notebooks, including the X200, X301, X200s, X200 Tablet, T400, T500, R400 and SL300 meet the US military's ruggedness standards, proving that each of them is particularly resistant to vibration, dust, pressure, humidity, temperature and dust extremes. Some of the models also bring along added protection measures inherent to their designs such as an airbag-like protection system, anti-skip hard drives and a roll cage. The most popular ThinkPad, the T400, also gets an optional low-glare, high-brightness 680-nit display to make it more viewable in direct sunlight for use in the field.
Intel is developing a new Core 2-based processor that would bring ultraportable notebooks to non-premium prices, leaks from within the company at CES have revealed to CNET. The contacts say the processor will be faster than the Atom processors for netbooks but less expensive than the Core 2 Duo S or ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo processors that currently inflate the prices of systems like Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad X301, which regularly start at prices of $1,800 or more.
As anticipated by earlier reports, Lenovo on Monday officially launched the first dual-screen laptop. The ThinkPad W700ds offers a 17-inch screen along with a secondary 10.6-inch display that slides out from the main screen. Measuring almost 40 percent of the 17-inch primary screen, the 10.6-inch second screen slides out from the PC cover behind the primary screen. While it gives users extra screen real-estate measuring approximately the size of a Lenovo IdeaPad S10 netbook, it only adds less than half of an inch in additional thickness to the mobile workstation over its predecessor (the ThinkPad W700 mobile workstation).
Dell's Adamo notebook may win a thinness battle with the MacBook Air but may be priced out of contention, yet another leak suggests. The American company is said to be using extra-thin 3.5mm (0.14in) LCD panels supplied by LG Display and Samsung to help reach its target of having the world's thinnest notebook. The screen will adopt a conventional 16:10 aspect ratio rather than the more recent 16:9 displays. Separately, at least one model is known to use a 13-inch display and points to a 1280x800 resolution as a result.
A leak of a 45W power adapter on Wednesday has revealed key details of Dell's Adamo notebook ahead of its official debut. Since changed to anonymize the description, the entry has previously described the power brick as designed specifically for the "Adamo Thirteen," confirming that at least one Adamo model will carry a 13-inch display and that the future system won't use any processor more demanding than the low-voltage Core 2 Duo chips used in Apple's MacBook Air, Lenovo's ThinkPad X301 or similar systems.
Computer maker Lenovo will unveil a new, unique notebook at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January in the form of the ThinkPad W700ds. The dual screen PC sports a 17-inch main display and an attached 10.6-inch secondary display that comes out from the right side. Aimed at photographers, graphic artists, application developers, and those who work in CAD fields, the W700ds also differs from the standard, single-screen W700 in that it offers a less costly 2.26GHz Core 2 Quad processor as well as the 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme chip that serves as the main CPU in the standard notebook.
Lenovo on Tuesday announced it will soon introduce a security feature that will allow users to lockdown their Lenovo ThinkPad notebooks just by sending a text message. The feature, called Lenovo Constant Secure Remote Disable, was developed in conjunction with Phoenix Technologies, which specializes in embedded technologies like the computer BIOS hardware.
Carrier AT&T and PC builder Lenovo say they have collaborated on a project meant to drive down the cost of 3G broadband on notebooks. Buyers of Lenovo notebooks in the ThinkPad T, X and SL series will get a free 30 days of AT&T's DataConnect service, if they sign up for a two-year contract; more critically, models with the necessary Ericsson module will not cost any more than a regular version, which the companies claim will save as much as $150 per computer. The arrangement is being targeted mainly at small- to medium-sized businesses.
Intel is developing a Celeron M processor with the performance of a regular notebook processor but the extremely low energy use of an Atom, a leak from CHW suggests. The 1.2GHz Celeron M 722 would be one of Intel's first budget notebook processors to be built on a 45 nanometer manufacturing process and would consume just 5.5W of typical power, putting its performance closer to that of the 4W but simpler and slower 1.6GHz Atom N270.
Samsung used IFA to claim the limelight with its X360 notebook. The system is consciously pitted against the MacBook Air and is described as "lighter than air," carrying the same 13.3-inch screen as its Apple counterpart but weighing a slightly lighter 2.8 pounds. Samsung reaches the goal by using a slower, ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo processor which sacrifices performance in return for smaller, cooler components and battery life between six to 10 hours.
Lenovo on Monday will launch an update to its ThinkPad X300 series that shows the PC maker's second response to the MacBook Air. The X301 expands on the earlier model by using Centrino 2-era ultra-low voltage Core 2 Duo processors to ramp up speed while also extending the battery life over the earlier system, which used a lower-clocked version of the same custom processor used in Apple's system. Clock speeds are unmentioned but in prior leaks will involve both 1.6GHz and 1.83GHz processors; regardless of speed, the system should perform about 20 percent faster than the original X300, Lenovo claims.
Lenovo on Tuesday pushed into an unfamiliar area with the ThinkPad W700. The system is the PC builder's first 17-inch system and is unusual in its focus on artists, designers, and other visual editors that would often choose Macs instead; the area to the right of the trackpad includes a stylus-oriented digitizer that can be used for precise drawing in content creation tools. It can also be mapped for the entire screen and serve as a full trackpad replacement.
Nearly all information about the tablet version of Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 has been leaked to the web today courtesy of a product page from Hong Kong Baptist University. The school shows the computer (known as the X200t) to be based on Intel's upcoming low-voltage 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo, which is known to consume just 17 watts but have much of the performance of a regular processor. It will also use faster GMA X4500 integrated graphics and come with 2GB of Turbo Memory flash cache to reduce load times for data from the 160GB hard drive.
Windows Vista's architecture is actively hindering SanDisk's ability to roll out its next generation of solid-state drives, says company chief Eli Harari. In statements made just after his company produced disappointing quarterly results, the executive says that Vista is "not optimized" for using flash memory as its main storage and that the hardware managing data traffic needs to be redesigned to generate the expected performance; a patch for Vista itself would be ineffective.
In addition the ultra-portable X200 and U330, Lenovo on Tuesday morning announced its new Centrino 2 ThinkPad SL notebooks as well as new IdeaPad notebooks. The trio of black-glossy covered ThinkPad SL notebooks, targeted to small- and medium-size business includes the SL300, SL400 and SL500; all offer built-in high speed mobile broadband connectivity along with Centrino 2's 802.11n networking, the latest Core 2 Duo processing, and new software that helps with data recovery, Internet connection setup, and a new optional service package featuring on-line data backup and on-site warranty repair. Some models also offer the now-in-vogue (but optional) Blu-Ray DVD player and optional webcam as well as support for HDMI/VGA for both high-quality and legacy connectivity to external video displays.
Lenovo tonight had its turn at upgrading to Centrino 2 with two new notebooks that are billed as blurring the lines between ultraportables and full-power models. The ThinkPad X200 is Lenovo's first major X series update since the X300 but is smaller than both the X300 and its rival MacBook Air while keeping many features and only thickening a tenth of an inch to 0.8 inches. Although it uses just a 12-inch display, the X200 still finds room for up to a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo on the new Intel platform as well as up to a Blu-ray optical drive.
Samsung tonight said it has started mass production of 128GB solid-state drives based on multi-level cell (MLC) technology that should dramatically reduce the cost of switching to flash storage in notebooks. By using a new implementation of the format, the Korean firm says it has managed to provide inexpensive storage without hurting the relative speed that would otherwise need a faster but expensive single-level cell drive: any of the new drives can read at 90MB per second and write at 70MB per second, making them faster than most any notebook-class rotating hard drive and faster than earlier SSDs.
Lenovo late yesterday confirmed the existence of the ThinkPad SL and provided first details about the new notebook line. Effectively an equivalent to Dell's Vostro line, the portables will be aimed at individuals and small companies that want more professional notebooks than the IdeaPads but still want some of the home-friendly features: the systems are set to have HDMI output and a more stylized look than the all-black, utilitarian look of most ThinkPads today.
Lenovo's ThinkPad X200 ultraportable today has been almost completely detailed through a new leak. The 12-inch notebook now appears set to replace the X61 and, while holding a keyboard as large as for the X300, is small enough to drop the larger system's trackpad in favor of the ThinkPad's characteristic trackpoint. It also has to drop support for an optical drive but should weigh even less than the X61 at 2.9 pounds.
Dell's foray into the mini-notebook market has been dubbed the new "Dell E" series, which will include two different screen configurations: the 8.9-inch model is designed to take on the Asus Eee 900, and the 12.1-inch "E Slim" may be a rival to the MacBook Air and Lenovo X300 (and its successors), according to Engadget. Defining a new product category called the "Mobile Internet Device" for 30 minutes of web experience (vs. 3 min on an Smartphone: "iPhone" pictured), Dell says the new Atom-based mini-notebook line is designed to bridge the content/usability gap between cell phones and full notebooks. The light-weight "mini-Inspiron" notebooks, first revealed earlier this month, tout "no moving parts" with flash-based drives, DDR2 RAM configs, 802.11g WiFi access (with WiMax expected sometime after October of this year), user-replaceable batteries, 'instant-on' functions for quick/convenient access, full-size keyboards, and a built-in low-res 0.3MP Web camera; they will be available with "limited configurability" and limited colors starting in August with a second version due in the second quarter of 2009.
Specifications have been learned for two upcoming Lenovo notebooks, according to Notebook Italia. Both are said to be intermediary computers for the transition to Intel's Centrino 2 platform, and a replacement for Lenovo's current ThinkPad R61. Each has the option of a Core 2 Duo or Celeron M processor, matched to a PM45, GM45 or GL45 motherboard; the systems also support up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 320GB 5400rpm hard drive or a 200GB 7200rpm drive. Wireless technologies should include options for Bluetooth, WiMAX, and 802.11b/g or a/g/n.
HP's performance label Voodoo PC today launched a complete overhaul of tis designs with systems that directly challenge the design aesthetics of the MacBook Air and the Mac Pro. The Envy 133 notebook joins both the Air and the ThinkPad X300 in the newer class of ultra-thin but still fast portables: the use of an LED-backlit screen and a carbon fiber chassis help the Envy measure 0.7 inches thick at every point while weighing under 3.4 pounds. A new generation of Intel's notebook platform helps reach these dimensions while still supplying speed, the company says. Voodoo's design is also the third after those from Apple and ASUS to sport a multi-touch trackpad with support for pinching and scrolling.
Much of Lenovo's upcoming ThinkPad line has been slipped late yesterday through Engadget. An escaped presentation reportedly confirms the existence of the X200 ultra-slim notebook and suggests Lenovo will offer much faster performance even a smaller system than the X300. The 12-inch X200 is set to use Intel's full-speed but low-power Core 2 Duos at speeds up to 2.4GHz; a combination of solid-state drives (up to 64GB) and an optional nine-cell battery pack will boost battery life up to 9.6 hours. The system will have a DisplayPort connection and options for 3G data, GPS, ultra-wideband, and WiMAX.
Samsung late on Sunday promised what it says is a breakthrough in solid-state drives with the launch of its first 256GB SSD. The drive offers twice the capacity of the Korean firm's previous 128GB SSD but is also much faster. The 256GB edition reads sequential data at 200MB per second, twice the rate of the original model, while also seeing an even greater increase in write speeds: where the earlier drive writes at 70MB per second, the new SSD writes at 160MB per second. This comes in a chassis that is also described as one of Samsung's thinnest at 9.5mm (0.37in), making it suitable for very thin and light notebooks.
Lenovo is taking a jab at Apple's MacBook Air with a commercial for the company's new ThinkPad X300 ultraportable. The ad, posted on YouTube, shows the MacBook Air sliding out of its infamous document envelope, while the anonymous hands fumble with connecting a USB hub, several accessories – including the USB Superdrive – before cramming the computer and previously mentioned accessories back into the envelope, tearing it.
Lenovo today signaled a change in its philosophy by pulling the last notebook in its signature T series with a standard ratio display from its lineup. The PC builder has withdrawn the 4:3 ratio, 14-inch ThinkPad T61 from its store and now offers all its mid-size notebooks, including the 3000 and IdeaPad series, only in a widescreen ratio. Lenovo hasn't explained the decision but is considered one of the few computer vendors in North America to continue selling standard-ratio designs.
Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 is just the first wave of a new line of ultra-thin notebooks at the company, says an apparent leak from Gizmodo. Timed to coincide with the launch of Intel's low-power Centrino 2 platform and processors in September, the line will scale down to a 12-inch X200 but will also move upwards to a 14-inch X400 and even a 15.4-inch X500, supplying a similar case thickness but at the user's choice of screen size.
Seagate may pull a lawsuit as its trump card if solid-state drives (SSDs) threaten to undermine its conventional hard drive business, company head Bill Watkins has said in a new interview with Fortune. The executive alleges that both Intel and Samsung are violating patents dealing with the interaction between computers and storage and that a formal complaint could follow that would either force them to change their technology or else compensate Seagate for their purported infringement.
Dell's Latitude E4000 series will more explicitly target the same very thin, advanced technology field covered by Apple's MacBook Air and Lenovo's ThinkPad X300, according to leaks continued today by Engadget. While both the E4200 and E4300 will offer thinner LED-backlit, 12-inch displays, the E4200 will be far thinner than earlier Latitudes and will measure between 0.6 and 0.8 inches thick and will optimally weigh just 2.2 versus the 3 of its challengers. This will in part come from its storage: the E4200 will require either a 32GB or 64GB solid-state drive instead of a conventional hard disk.
At least one major computer manufacturer is encountering an unusually high rate of failure among notebooks equipped with solid-state drives (SSDs), according to a report by analyst group Avian Securities. Declining to name the company in question, manager Avi Cohen of the research firm claims that a major PC manufacturer is seeing returns of at least 20 percent and as much as 30 percent of the SSD systems it sells. Most of these, or up to 20 percent, are from drives which failed outright, though Cohen doesn't say whether this stems from the storage itself or the controller chip, which manages data transfers between the SSD and its host computer.
Regardless of the recent added pressure from the ThinkPad X300, Apple's MacBook Air is in such high demand that the company is having trouble maintaining the device in stock, according to checks by Ars Technica as well as daily updates from the Mac producer's retail availability page. Both major outlets as well as many smaller, regional shops claim to be selling entire shipments despite receiving new units each day; Apple itself continues to list extended shipping delays for direct orders and ranks the Air as its strongest-selling computer more than a month after early shipments began.
Lenovo tonight preempted its own schedule and officially launched the ThinkPad X300, its own attempt at the new 13.3-inch ultraportable class effectively launched by the MacBook Air. The release system largely matches early details and exchanges speed for expandability while ranging between 0.9 and 0.7 inches thick and weighing as little as 2.9 pounds. Using the small CPU package as the Apple system, the X300 is clocked at a lower 1.2GHz but gains a drive bay that allows for an internal DVD burner or extended battery as well as three USB ports and gigabit Ethernet. It can also be upgraded to the same 4GB of memory as bulkier notebooks.
Samsung may double the capacity of its Flash SSD solid-state drives twice by the end of 2008, flash memory marketing chief Michael Yang says. The Korean company has already announced a 128GB version that it now expects to ship in the third quarter (a slight delay from its earlier first-half prediction) but now says it may roll out a drive that would top 250GB, roughly quadrupling the 64GB of storage found in SSDs for computers such as the MacBook Air or the imminent Lenovo ThinkPad X300.
Details have surfaced about the final specs and pricing of Intel's first small form factor Montevina platform processors for notebooks that point to the first likely upgrade for the MacBook Air as well as for future ultraportables, say notebook builders. The slip confirms earlier claims and points to two low voltage processors that are now known to be the most likely candidates for the upgrade. The 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SL9300 and the 1.86GHz SL9400 will be close in clock speed to the existing 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz processors but should still boost performance while reducing the power draw.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 does well but falls short of Apple's MacBook Air in key areas, says a new review by Walt Mossberg. Due for release on February 26th, the X300 is found by the journalist to offer more features, though it was significantly bigger, heavier, and more expensive than the Apple notebook. Prices start at $2,476 for a bare-bones model or $2,799 for a ready-to-run version with a half-size battery; while appropriate for the cost of the 64GB solid-state drive, the system has no option for a traditional hard disk to lower the system to Apple's starting $1,799 price tag, Mossberg notes. The likely most popular X300, which comes with a DVD drive and a full-size battery, will retail for close to $3,000.
