DailyTech - Lenovo Rolls Out ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, ThinkPad Tablet 2 for Windows 8

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Gadgets Lenovo Rolls Out ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, ThinkPad Tablet 2 for Windows 8
Brandon Hill (Blog) - August 9, 2012 1:14 AM

41 comment(s) - last by Mint.. on Aug 12 at 10:21 AM

Lenovo celebrates the 20th anniversary of the ThinkPad

Lenovo is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ThinkPad brand with two new products that are aimed at business users. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon is Lenovo's most recent vision for the ultrabook platform while the ThinkPad Tablet 2 is an x86 based touch-enabled device for Windows 8.

As its name implies, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon makes extensive use of carbon fiber to enhance strength while still providing a lightweight platform for business travelers (it weighs less than three pounds). The machine packs in a 14" display (1600 x 900), third-generation Intel Core processors, RapidCharge technology (allows the battery to recover up to 80 percent of its capacity within 35 minutes), glass touchpad, and built-in 3G connectivity.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon comes with the usual array of ports including two USB ports (only one of which is USB 3.0), a 4-in-1 media reader, and mini DisplayPort.

^{Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon}

“Very few brands are fortunate enough to become an industry icon with loyal fans who are passionate about each generation of ThinkPad products,” said Peter Hortensius, president, Think Product Group, Lenovo. “With that in mind, we’re excited to debut the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the pinnacle of our ongoing quest to push the boundaries on great design and engineering. It meets the demand for an extremely thin and light laptop with the performance users need to accomplish their professional and business goals.”

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon starts at $1,299 and will be available later this month from Lenovo.com.

The ThinkPad Tablet 2 is built on the tried-and-true formula of a 10.1" screen (1366x768), 10-hour battery life, and a relatively thin profile (0.39" thick). The tablet will be powered by Intel processors (sorry, ARM) and will come in Wi-Fi, 3G, and 4G LTE models. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 will also be available with a keyboard dock that features Lenovo's redesigned keyboard layout (for better or worse).

^{Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2}

The ThinkPad Tablet 2 will be available in October to coincide with the launch of Windows 8. Pricing will be revealed at that time.

Source: Lenovo

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RE: .

By Reclaimer77 on 8/9/2012 10:02:16 AM , Rating: 2

How does that make it "less quality". For such a small screen, anything over 720p is just an added bonus. Not a MUST HAVE feature or else the entire product is crap.

I'm getting so tired of seeing every new product trashed outright simply because of screen resolution, regardless of anything else. Lenovo ThinkPad's, for those in the know, are the best things out there. If you want an overpriced toy to show off to people, fine, go get your high res Macbook for twice the money.

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RE: .

By Apone on 8/9/2012 12:15:27 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
I'm getting so tired of seeing every new product trashed outright simply because of screen resolution, regardless of anything else.

I agree as well but also I think screen resolution is one of those factors that seem to be neglected when customers are mulling over whether or not to pull the trigger. Customers I've spoken to admit they look for raw CPU speed (ugh, the gigahertz race has been over), HDD storage size, thinness factor, cost, and RAM.

When I'm at SBUX, I always see at least one or two people struggling to navigate between overlapping program windows because they do cut & pasting, comparing data/research side by side, etc. and I think computing productivity could be increased if there was less jumping between windows which is what a higher resolution would remedy.

quote:
If you want an overpriced toy to show off to people, fine, go get your high res Macbook for twice the money.

Agreed and it's possible to get ultra-high resolution on a reasonably-priced Windows notebook. It's also funny you mention Macbooks, considering their ridiculous prices, I checked and you can't even get WUXGA 1920 x 1080 resolution for their 15.6" MB Pro; That tops out at a mediocre 1680 x 1050 res and you would have to opt for the 17" in order to get 1920 x 1080.

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RE: .

By TakinYourPoints on 8/9/2012 8:28:59 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
I agree as well but also I think screen resolution is one of those factors that seem to be neglected when customers are mulling over whether or not to pull the trigger.

Another thing that gets overlooked is aspect ratio. The fact that Macbooks and only a few other high end notebooks are 16:10 while the bulk of the industry goes 16:9 is ridiculous. The loss of vertical desktop space on anything smaller than a 27" 1440p display is a huge negative, and it is exponentially worse once you get to laptop screens.

The only thing I really dislike about the Lenovo x220 is the 16:9 ratio, if it was 16:10 it would be so much better.

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RE: .

By amosbatto on 8/10/2012 8:07:37 AM , Rating: 2

Unfortunately all PC makers (Lenovo, Dell, HP, etc) have now dropped 16:10 on their laptops. Only Apple continues to offer 16:10 screens on their laptops, but I wonder how long it will last, seeing as some of its laptops are now 9:16. It seems that there was a plot to switch everyone to 9:16 to promote HDTV. I investigated the claims that 9:16 is cheaper to produce than 10:16 because you can cut more screens from the same sheet, but found that it isn't true. It is clear that consumers want taller, not wider, screens, but the industry refuses to offer them. I searched everywhere for a new 14 inch 10:16 laptop with a high resolution screen. Apple does offer a 14inch 10:16 screen, but it is low resolution (1280x800), so had to buy a used Thinkpad T410 to get a 1440x900 screen. I really miss the 3:4 screens of a decade ago. I have an ancient Dell Latitude with a Pentium III processor which has a beautiful 1400x1050 screen. It was so much more productive to use that tall screen. I just can't stand working on 9:16 screens with their cramped vertical space.

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RE: .

By TakinYourPoints on 8/10/2012 5:48:02 PM , Rating: 2

The only Apple laptop that is 16:9 is the 11" MBA, and that seems to be because they tried to get as small a chassis as they could without shrinking the keyboard. Everything else is 16:10.

There are also a few HP laptops with 16:10, but those cost more than higher specced machines like the rMBP. It is a shame that 16:10 is going away for so many other companies, it really is important in something as small as a laptop display.

Regarding your search for a good 16:10 display, yeah, the 13" Macbook Pro does have a bad display, but that laptop is the redheaded stepchild of Macs.

The 13" Macbook Air does have a 1440x900 display. It is a great laptop, better in practical use than the standard 15" MBP in many ways. It is light, screaming fast thanks to the SSD, and OS 10.8 is a nearly perfect OS for laptops when combined with the multitouch trackpad.

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