Hasta La Gadget!

Lenovo’s surprise reveal of the ThinkPad T431s, complete with the first major shift in design for some time, has been followed up with the more mundane stuff: when you can get it, and for how much. The ThinkPad T431s will drop in the US and Europe come April, Lenovo has confirmed today, with prices kicking off at $949 for the 14-inch notebook.

In the UK, meanwhile, the T431s will start at £1,119; it’s unclear why there’s such a significant price disparity between US and UK pricing, but one possibility is that Lenovo won’t offer the more entry-level spec variants in every country. Either way, the core specs are the same: up to 12GB of memory, a choice of HDD or SSD storage, and a 1600 x 900 display with useful anti-glare finish.

Connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports and a docking port, for dropping the ThinkPad into one of Lenovo’s desktop hubs. There’s also a 720p HD webcam, optional integrated WWAN with mobile hotspot feature, and Bluetooth 4.0, together with up to 9hrs of battery life.

However, it’s in the general design that the notebook has seen the most departure from ThinkPads of before. Lenovo says the refreshed aesthetic – which features a “streamlined” keyboard, thinner display bezel, and larger, smoother trackpad – are the result of thousands of hours of customer research spread over nine months.

Lenovo’s ThinkPad T431s gets priced and dated is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Select ThinkPad owners may be making online purchases simply by tapping a compatible credit card to an embedded NFC reader before 2013 is through. Lenovo reps confirmed that the tech would be coming to a yet-to-be-announced array of NFC-enabled ThinkPad tablets or Ultrabooks sometime this year — processing partnerships are still in the works, so we don’t have any details to share there, but if all goes to plan, you could be submitting your card details securely and with ease very soon. The company shared the news during today’s Expand conference in San Francisco, shortly after unveiling two new ThinkPad models, including the T431s Ultrabook. Lenovo hasn’t confirmed whether that model will offer tap-to-pay support, too, but we certainly wouldn’t rule it out. We’ve seen contactless payments in plenty of smartphones, of course, but widespread tablet and laptop implementation has yet to arrive.

Follow all of Engadget’s Expand coverage live from San Francisco right here!

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Wireless, Lenovo

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During my discussions with Lenovo’s team about the research involved in reshaping the ThinkPad line, they clued me in on the beast you see above. That, friends, is cutely referred to as the ThinkPad Terminator edition within Lenovo’s walls, and it’s essentially a prototype T431s that’s stripped of its retail garb. The lid’s paint is torn back in order to expose the edges that enable wireless radio transmissions to be sent and received, while the bottom has been left in its rawest form. Think of this as the space shuttle before its paint job, or Mr. Schwarzenegger before his green room appearance.

The goal here was to showcase the underlying rigidity of the machine, without the retail coat of paint covering up the magic within. Obviously, Lenovo has no immediate plans to actually ship this thing, but I can assure you I’m begging the team to reconsider. Looking to join the cause? Go ahead and give ’em an idea of the premium you’d pay in comments if these were released in limited quantities. Or, just enjoy the gallery below.

Follow all of Engadget’s Expand coverage live from San Francisco right here!

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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Lenovo’s taking the wraps off of its newest ThinkPad here at Engadget Expand, but in fact, the T431s represents more than just a minor spec bump. It’s actually the first ThinkPad borne out of Lenovo’s latest “clean sheet” development initiative — an 18-month process that the company briefed me on here. Regarding the laptop at hand, the 14-incher boasts a slimmer, sexier and more understated design, all while remaining very much a ThinkPad. It’s being classified as an Ultrabook, yet it still meets the Mil-SPEC 8 standard for rigidity and durability. In other words, the weight loss isn’t coming at the expense of ruggedness.

As for specs, it’s rocking a 1,600 x 900 matte display with 250 nits of brightness, integrated Intel HD graphics, a 720p front-facing webcam, 4GB of RAM (with optional upgrades boosting it as high as 12GB), a 47WHr (three-cell) sealed battery, an optionally backlit keyboard, Bluetooth 4.0 and built-in support for both WiFi and WWAN connections. It measures in at 13.03 x 8.89 x 0.8 inches while weighing 3.6 pounds, and it’s easily one of the sturdiest Ultrabooks we’ve had the pleasure of wrapping our paws around.

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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Source: Lenovo

This week the thinnest-ever T Series machine to come to the Lenovo ThinkPad series has been revealed in the ThinkPad T431s. This machine is bringing on both a thinner and a lighter form factor than ever seen before and works with a lovely backlit keyboard, 5-point TrackPad, and an overall sleeker look as well. Up front you’ve also got edge-to-edge glass across a 14-inch HD+ 1600 x 900 pixel display and a smaller bezel than ever before – it’s hot!

Inside the ThinkPad T431s you’ll find a third-generation Intel Core i7 processor (with options for other i-family architecture if you wish, i5 if you’re feeling like you’d like less than the top amount of power to back you up). You’ll be working with Windows 7 right out of the box (with option for Windows 8 if you wish), and you’ll have Intel HD Graphics as well as Dolby Home Theater v4 for boosted graphics performance and improved video and audio performance top to bottom.

With this machine you’ll have the option of booting up 40% faster with Lenovo RapidBoot 2.0, you’ll have USB 3.0 ports galore for your 10x faster than USB 2.0, and you’ve got your very own built-in Fingerprint Reader that can be used to turn on the machine and log in with just one swipe. Inside you’ll have self-encrypting drives for protecting data in case of theft or loss. This protection comes as part of the Hardware Password Manager suite in the machine for full-fledged “security at your finger tips.”

This machine has Lenovo Mobile Access with WWAN support, always-on USB port for powering up your mobile devices without needing to power up the laptop itself, and Mobile Hotspot for sharing your wifi, WWAN, or ethernet wirelessly. Up front you’ve also got a 720 HD camera with Face tracking, Polycom Ready for voice clarity and video communication, and a full build meeting Mil-SPEC 8 standards for ruggedness, durability, and high quality hardware.

This machine will be out soon and we’ll have pricing information real soon – stick around for the full push!

Lenovo ThinkPad T431s revealed as “real shift” in T-series design is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.