Hasta La Gadget!

Thinner than some netbooks and more potent than four or five of them combined, Lenovo’s ThinkPad T400s aims to hit some sort of sweet spot in between weak ultraportables and battery-draining 15-inchers. The 14.1-inch lappie measures in at a remarkable 0.83-inches thin and boasts a starting weight of under four pounds. Within, you’ll find Lenovo’s heralded roll cage technology, a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor, your choice of a 128GB SSD or 250GB HDD, a 9.5mm slim DVD burner or Blu-ray player, a multitouch trackpad, Ethernet, WiFi, optional WiMAX / WWAN / Bluetooth / ultra-wideband, a 34mm ExpressCard slot (or 5-in-1 card reader), a battery good for six hours and VGA / DisplayPort outputs. There’s also support for the company’s ConstantConnect and Protect technology as well as a built-in USB / eSATA port. In a surprising move, Lenovo decided to actually tweak the keyboard that has become a staple of the ThinkPad line; it increased the size of the Delete and Escape keys and tightened up the spaces between the keys to “help avoid crumbs that would otherwise fall below the keyboard.” You can check the full release just past the break, and you can call one your own starting today for $1,599 and up.

Continue reading Lenovo intros well-connected 0.83-inch thick ThinkPad T400s

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo intros well-connected 0.83-inch thick ThinkPad T400s originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo is apparently slimming down its T400 series ThinkPads, with the new T400s being caught in the wilds of technologyland. Despite looking nearly a century old in these hands-on shots, the laptop seems to be pretty modern under the hood, with SSD, DisplayPort, eSATA, WWAN, a 14.1-inch WXGA+ LED backlit display, 5-in-1 multicard reader… the list goes on. It’s all packed in at around 0.83-inches thick (including a built-in disc drive), and under four pounds, which makes Apple sound a little silly for crowing about packing a little SD card slot into its latest unibody lineup. Word is that the build quality hasn’t been traded in for the slimness, and while there’s no word on price, hopefully it won’t be too much more than the T400, which currently starts out at $750.

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo’s ThinkPad T400s in the wild, still waiting on an official debut originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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About a year ago Lenovo’s ThinkPad X300 launched as a direct competitor to Apple’s slinky MacBook Air. Over that time, the ultra-slim Thinkpad with a face for business has come to either match or dominate the MBA in nearly every category except the sexy. Now you can tick off one more as the X301 brings a new multi-touch trackpad option with fingerprint reader. In the typical befuddlement that seems to greet every new on-line spec on the Lenovo store, the new TouchPad is listed as a $9,969 option. Too rich? They maybe the $8,402 bump from a 1.4GHz to new 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo SU9600 processor will interest you?

[Thanks, James C.]

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X301 now with $9,969 multi-touch trackpad option originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo said Monday that it will label eight ThinkPad laptops as “semi-ruggedized,” after those laptops passed special tests designed by the U.S. military to measure the toughness of a notebook.

The ThinkPad X200, X301, X200s, X200 Tablet, T400, T500, R400 and SL300 have all received the special designation, which was arrived at after all eight passed some specialized military tests. However, they have not been officially designed as “ruggedized,” which can also mean compliant with the MIL-STD-810F tests set up by the U.S. government for testing notebooks under a variety of conditions.

(A press release announcing the changes was posted on Engadget. Lenovo representatives could not be reached for comment, or for confirmation.)

Lenovo also said that it would equip its ThinkPad T400 laptop with an optional high brightness, wide angle screen. Prices will begin at about $1,350.

It’s not exactly the most extensive round-up, but photographers looking for suggestions on a laptop to pair up with their DSLR would do well to check out Rob Galgraith’s latest comparison, which takes a look at the late-2008 MacBook Pro, the Dell Mini 9, and a pair of Lenovos (the W700 and T60). Not so surprisingly, he didn’t have too much positive to say about the MacBook’s switch to a glossy-only display, but other than that, he found that it mostly held up against its predecessor. It apparently wasn’t able to match up against the two Lenovo offerings, however, which came in at number one and two in both color accuracy and viewing angle tests. The W700, in particular, proved to have color accuracy “on par with a fine desktop display,” a feat enabled in no small part by its built-in calibrator. He was also especially impressed by the Dell Mini 9, which actually beat out the MacBook in terms of color accuracy, but fell a bit short in viewing angle tests. The fact that it also fits nicely in a DSLR bag certainly doesn’t hurt things either. Hit up the link below for the complete breakdown.

[Via thegadgetsite]

Filed under: Displays, Laptops

Laptop display comparison awards top marks to Lenovo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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