The X300 Could Usher in a New Generation of ThinkPads

An anonymous reader writes "The ThinkPad has long been a favorite of IT departments everywhere and is the preferred notebook for legions of no-nonsense users. As times have progressed the ThinkPad has improved but the X300 marks the most significant change in its design since the butterfly keyboard. While we've already discussed a few leaked specs, official news of big changes like LED-backlighting (the first on a ThinkPad) and a widescreen display accompany a number of important but smaller design tweaks. Current thinking is that these changes indicate that the X300 is the first step in a series of larger changes to the ThinkPad. The notebook has already received a number of favorable reviews, but the other changes - the ones that will ultimately trickle down to the rest of the ThinkPad line - are perhaps more interesting than this specific $2500+ notebook."

I will wait for the second generation.

[cyfer2000]

I will wait.

They need to have somthing better then integrated

[Joe The Dragon]

They need to have something better then integrated video at $2500+ and even at the $1500+ price range.

Put in a ati hyper memory or nvidia Turbo Cache card in or use the 780G amd chip set Integrated graphics with Side-port memory as local frame buffer.

128mb - 256mb+ of system ram just for video in vista is a big hit and a joke at $1500+

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[jg1708]

How do you propose they get the extra heat out? Also, from what I have read, the X300's battery time is not all that great. The extra hardware would be one more power drain.

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[ynososiduts]

Why would you need that much dedicated VRAM in an office laptop? Set the Vram to 32MB and be done with it. I don't get why everyone is complaining about notebooks aimed at office work not having a dedicated video card, when modern integrated graphics are more than adequate. What is especially bothering is that this is slashdot, Intel has open source linux drivers, and everyone seems to be pushing the proprietary Nvidia and ATI graphics soultions.

Advert?

[NotZed]

Mate, it's just another laptop. What's so revolutionary about that?

Sounds like advertising to me.

I do like thinkpads myself, but the only thing revolutionary about the X300 to me is it's exorbitant price.

Why would I need to?

[Rob Simpson]

LOL, Have you ever used Vista?

The X300 [lenovo.com] comes with XP.

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[tecmec]

I think you'd be surprised. It really doesn't take much video horsepower to run Aero smoothly. I've not seen any modern integrated video not be able to handle it (and handle it well, at that). A notebook with a ULV CPU, does [b]not[/b] need anything more. There is no such thing as a sub-15" gaming laptop.

Re:Ruining a legend?

[tecmec]

Nobody said anything about a backlight keyboard. There is no backlight keyboard. The [i]screen[/i] has an LED backlight, but that's hardly new, even for a Thinkpad (see x60s and x60s)

My GOD what a terrible video review!

[spoco2]

The Cnet one linked to above [cnet.com] has a guy trying SO HARD to do a 'TV presenter's voice'... And noooow, liiiive from Hollywood coooomes some dick doing a TERRIBLE video review.

Urgh, stick to text.

Why is this here?

[TiberSeptm]

I'm trying to figure out why this is news. It sounds like some minor tweaks to the x300, plus the OP seems ill-informed on what technologies have been used in thinkpads before.

Re:LED Backlight

[cleatsupkeep]

Oh come on, on slashdot you don't have to be right to get a +5, you just have to SOUND informative. Which you did, hence you are at +5.

Anonymous Coward

[Lunatrik]

I can only begin to guess who the "Anonymous Coward" that posted this story might work for....
Go Go Slashvertisements!

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[blackirish]

Not only is integrated graphics good enough now, it also saves a whole heck of a lot of power. My Thinkpad T60 with discrete graphics gets an hour less runtime on battery than an identical T60 with integrated graphics. In a portable design with a SSD drive, LED backlighting and a bunch of other power saving features, just why would you want a power hungry graphics chip?

Re:Advert?

[GarfBond]

Seriously. LED backlighting? Wiki tells me it's been on some VAIOs since 2006 and on MacBook Pros since 2007. Widescreen displays? Pretty much every manufacturer in 2007 (including Lenovo, for that matter), and a large few in 2003-2006, and as far back as 2001 for Apple. Revolutionary time for Lenovo? More like playing catchup and/or letting high-end features stay in their high-end (the X300 is a $2500 machine after all).

Smells like astroturfing, or the dumbest kind of fanboyism, to me.

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[exploder]

The world isn't divided between corporate users and gamers. Scientists and academics value a capable, durable, no-nonsense machine like the Thinkpad series, and often need a fair bit of graphical horsepower for visualizations.

Re:LED Backlight

[bhtooefr]

I'm going to guess you have the 8-cell battery.

Just think - they're getting 4 hours out of (IIRC) a 4-cell. Half the size of your battery. Then it doesn't look so bad.

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[amirulbahr]

Why on earth would ThinkPad users want or need this? Integrated Intel Extreme graphics are more than sufficient for portable use. Heck, they can even run popular modest games reasonably well. For the savings in size, power use, money, going with Intel integrated graphics is the CORRECT design decision.

I'm starting to wonder if I really want to associate with a Slashdot crowd that would mod parent insightful.

Shopping for a new notebook (ThinkPad or MacBook)

[ahaning]

I've been looking around for a new notebook recently after my 3 year and 3 month old T42 with a 3-year warranty started to have problems due to the BGA [wikipedia.org] method of attaching the mobile Radeon 9600. See this thread at thinkpads.com [thinkpads.com] for more info.

I really like the durability of my ThinkPad but this experience has left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. My 9 year old Gateway Solo 2500 still runs fine except that I've had to replace the hard drive a couple times.

As a student and employee at a higher-education institution, however, the 34% discounts available to me on ThinkPads still makes them pretty attractive. Couple that with opting for SuSE Linux and I've got a pretty well-priced notebook.

I am not ruling out a MacBook, however. Now that they come with Intel processors, I can pretty much have my pick of OSes other than OS X installed.

Could be better

[Richard_J_N]

As a longtime thinkpad user (since the 770, now with a T60), there are several things Lenovo have got wrong:

- No line-in for audio. This is a big problem for doing audio recordings
- No enough ports (only 3 USB, no firewire)
- Widescreen. Ugh. Repeat after me, laptops are for documents, not for movies. "Widescreen" just means "missing the top and bottom of the display" - it should be renamed "shortscreen".
- Lid catches: IBM used to have two, carefully balanced; Lenovo reduced this to one as a deliberate measure, but it is now harder to open with a single hand.
- side-mounted ports for ethernet - so the cable gets in the way on the desk.
- Windows keys (used to be absent) - making the Ctrl and Alt keys too small.

Thinkpads are generally quite Linux friendly (see thinkwiki.org), but still, can't we have the nice Intel i810 cards on the high-end models, instead of crippling them with useless ATI cards?

The older models (eg 560, 770) were very well engineered, and seemed to have been designed with a little more "love". The T60 is not a bad machine, but it doesn't inspire affection and delight in the same way.

Re:They need to have somthing better then integrat

[ynososiduts]

LOL, Have you ever used Vista?

Yes, I have. Disable Aero or upgrade RAM, and the problem is solved. Compiz Fusion works fine on my dell D420 with a GMA 950/Core Duo/2 GB RAM in it, so the intel chips aren't laking in the 3D model area. Oh, if you are going to do CAD work or other visualizations then the "geared toward being portable market" isn't for you. Get a T60.

my thinkpad

[sentientbrendan]

the X61s by far the best designed laptop I've seen. It isn't pretty, but it is high powered processor wise and light. I think it is a shame that more companies don't look after the practical usability of laptops, but instead tend to focus on making 6+ pound behemoths with huge screens that you will never be able to move off your desk.

Really, if you want that kind of hardware, get a desktop. As far as real laptops for mobile users go, thinkpad is the reigning king.

Re:I will wait for the second generation.

[andy_t_roo]

don't you mean "I don't get it. Finally we have a computer Microsoft can Trust, and you are still whining!"