So, are there any new Thinkpads on the way?

Two strikes against Lenovo... 16:9--come on, I'm not watching videos all day/this is supposed to be used for business--and NVIDIA crap. Guess I'll have to see what the future T430 holds before I recommend patronizing Lenovo again...

 

I think the biggest advantage of dp over hdmi is the fact that there is no loyalty payment involved in using it as oppose to hdmi. Also, hi resolution LCD I.e. WQXA monitors have either dual link dvi or displayport input, no one uses hdmi input for these LCD.

VGA been an analogue system is susceptible to signal degradation and intereferences, which makes them unsuitable for high resolution work. LCD technology are designed for digital signal and use of VGA ports adds to cost of producing LCD monitors (as you have to back convert the analogue signal in VGA back to the digital signal used for displaying image in LCD).

VGA produces no benefits other than convenience of been backward compatible with old devices (which they are alot of, but many are expected to reach the end of their useful life). Given that CRT display is no longer used by consumer at large, there is no real point of keeping VGA. The space for the VGA port can be used for another displayport or a fourth USB. Obviously, there is a need for converter (ideally made available during purchase of laptop), so that those people whom still use VGA equipped devices.

 

I agree. I can't understand why comapnies are willing to risk their business with Nvidia again. I'm certainly not buying a laptop with Nvidia chips ever again.

 

The AMD 6000 series are supposed to be the most powerful laptop graphics you can buy. Look at the the M17x with Sandy Bridge on the main page. I wish Lenovo switched to AMD graphics, performance per watt is especially good with AMD.

 

well maybe the move to 16:9 format will bring some less atrocious screens to the 12-14 inch TP series;
say what you want but good contrast is gentle on the eyes, after a day of sitting in front of a monitor with decent contrast when I want to use my x200s's screen I feel my eyes starting to bleed - and it's all text documents, I am not talking about media content.....

 

@cosma12...true, but still the 16:9 format would be a problem for work (producing documents). Documents run top to bottom and not side to side, which is where the problem will lie. But if this is the way the cookie crumbles, there is not much that can be done.

I have read here and elsewhere that the 16:9 screens are easier and cheaper to source. This, if true, is likely to be because of the demand pull. I can accept that.

But that also means that if the 16:9 format is fast becoming ubiquitous, then it is probably - at least to some degree - a reflection of how laptops are being used or are being perceived as being used - primarily for video/ media consumption.

Does this mean that more folks are tending to consume video/ media than producing documents on their laptops? I find that hard to accept. So, the question stands: Cost aside, why the move to the 16:9 format? And, why across most - if not all - categories of laptops?

 

Simple most people today view their laptop as multi-function devices, in which they can use it for both work and entertainment. Furthermore the demand for LCD is driven by consumer laptops, which usually have multimedia orientated features.

LCD companies currently view laptop LCD as a low ROI product, since these companies are in the bottom of the value chain. So their interest is to decrease wasteage per production run and want to squeeze as many panels out of each sheet of glass as possible. I don't think any of the generation 8.5 or generation 10 LCD production facility produces LCD panel for laptops, they are mostly focused towards the higher end tv market (I.e. 40 inch + LCD panel). Any excess capacities they have in these plant can be turned to manufacturing photovoltaic panels.

 

wonder there will be thinkpad 11 inch. something like x100e. but not the edge series.

 

A Zacate-based x100e would be nice.

 

I don't see much differences between the x100e and the thinkpad edge series.

 

With the exception that the x100e is 10 inches, and the smallest edge is 13 inches

 

in some countries (i think China) edge E10 and 11 are also available.

 

Lucky them.

 

well not really lucky if you consider that the price of Thinkpads cost lot more than that of the US market.

 

I suppose so. But I would love to see more 10/11 inch notebooks on the market (non-Atom based).

 

Hopefully the next round of new product releases would include some of these smaller ultraportable machines. Personally I think Lenovo would most likely respond to the market demand for these products.

 

Any news if a refreshed X201 tablet will be released around sandy bridge ? I could be tempted to upgrade my X201T i7

 

usually, the tablet comes a month or two after the normal ultraportable version is released. So i would guess it would be during March to April next year.

 

Good, hope I can use my ultrabase still

 

most likely not, since the new X series is rumored to be a 12.5 inch based machine, which means a totally new Ultrabase will be used.

 

Got a link to that rumor?

Oh and btw do sandy bridge motherboards have Express slot 2.0 ? Would be aweome for my external gfx card

 

Read the entire thread and check for Erik's answers and youll get your rumors

 

Not only in China, also in Europe. (writing this on a Edge 11,6")

 

Probably not, but do you have an external gfx card with EC 2.0 in the first place? I don't think any products have EC 2.0 yet.

 

X201 uses expresscard 2.0.

 

Any rumors/leaks of W720/ds?

 

How do you know that?

 

Because lead_org owns a crazy number of thinkpads.

 

that's probably my fault.   i inadvertently passed incorrect information for current-gen systems and left lead_org repeating bad info.

pci-e 2.0 should be available in the next generation of systems.

expresscard is a dying standard though so don't expect it to stick around much longer.   like everything, it will eventually be replaced.   my crystal ball says 2012 but don't take that as fact.

 

PCI-e 2.0 is in all the current machines too, right?

I think having all these ports in laptops is getting quite cumbersome, so it's natural to see some unification of those in the form of Lightpeak. Right now there's USB 2.0 and 3.0, Expresscard 34 and 54, Compactflash, SDHC, MemoryStick, eSATA, Firewire 4, 6, and 9 pin, gigabit ethernet, audio in and out, sometimes they have 5 or 7 channel audio, VGA, Displayport, HDMI, Blu-Ray and DVD drives, even coax for cable TV in some laptops, and of course power. It's impossible for laptop makers to deliver all these ports without making the laptops themselves 3 inches thick and weigh 10 pounds, so I am anticipating a heavy push into Lightpeak from mid-next year on. Hopefully it will be backwards compatible with USB 3.0 as rumored and adapters will be cheap to convert Lightpeak to HDMI and Displayport and VGA.

 

i've been told that current-gen systems are supposed to handle 500 MB/sec over expresscard but haven't been able to confirm this myself.   nothing on the market can reach this speed yet except perhaps a vidock or some sort of expresscard SSD that i've never seen. – 500 MB/sec would be expresscard 2.0.

lightpeak will certainly change the game.   at that point everyone will set their 16:9 animosity aside in favor of fast data transfers.   the days of asking "how fast is X standard and is my system limited for some reason?" will be over.

for manufacturers, the biggest benefit would be in not having to join all the various alliances and organizations for each port/socket design.   less certifications, less ports/sockets, and less headache means less-expensive products and smaller designs.   it's a ways off but i can easily see it happening.