So, where are the new Lenovos?

Did I miss something? Aren't the current models getting a bit long in the tooth?
How about some rad battery tech and improved screens w/ LED backlites?
What's the expected new product release for the T-series?

 

Early 2010, possibly January.


http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/19/leaked-lenovo-roadmap-shows-calpella-laptops-coming-january-2010/

 

if lenovo uses the updates in january as a platform to finally offer some decent screen options on the t-series, i will pee my pants with happiness

realistically, though, i don't expect the t-series to change too much - of course, they'll have the new arrandale cpu's and internals, and i'd expect to see the recent improvements on the T400S to be applied to all the new t-series - other than that, i don't expect too much new - would love to be surprised though!

 

if i were buying a new laptop in the next 3-6 months i would wait for it to include USB 3.0.

 

so your saying i shouldnt buy a new laptop this week?

 

If you don't want to or are not able to wait the expected 4-5 months for the new models to debut.

But, then again, that's how technology always is.

 

i wouldnt personally because most of the parts are kinda old.

if you care about price and still want great performance, buy now.

if you want new tech and dont care about price, i'd say you should wait.

 

The T400 is about a year old now, which puts it at a little over 2/3 of the way done with its production run (according to the roadmap, at least). Really, it still has quite a bit of life left in it.

Of course, the advantage of buying one later in its production is that they are now significantly cheaper than they were when they were first released. You can expect the price of the T410 to jump back up once it comes out.

But yea, the primary determining factor here is time. 4-5 months is a long time. If you can afford to wait that long, I would seriously consider holding out.

 

You could even hold out for a price reason because there is bound to be better deals when newer models come out .

 

so i should just get a laptop from bestbuy , and then give it to my sister when a better lenovo comes out?

 

It's completely up to you. Some laptops at Bestbuy are actually quite a bit more powerful than the T400 (though none are as durable).

Keep in mind that in a couple of years, the T410 will be just as outdated and obsolete as the T400 will be.

 

If you really need a laptop right now just get the t400...there are sales and decent outlet deals pretty often.

 

Same way to do this as always. If you NEED it now, buy it now. If you don't, then wait.

There is ALWAYS something new coming.

 

1) We don't want exploding batteries in ThinkPads. Better safe than sorry

2) improved screens w/ LED backlight?
It's not about the backlight, it's about the type of panel. TN will suck regardless of what backlight is has.

@wilse: Yeah, that's the optimistic view. I guess the realistic view is more like even worse TN crap with Bla bla bla LED / 1000 nit / -5 contrast / 16:9 and 1366x768

I would be happy if Lenovo would just announce a succesor of the T400 in a 4:3 formfactor. Since Lenovo is apparently too incompetent to order 4:3 components I suggest they leave out the panel, so we can all order that nice 14 inch 4:3 1400x1050 IPS / AFFS panel that Boe-Hydis has.

 

Actually the LED backlight can improve your viewing experience by increasing color gamut, contrast, and brightness. Although panel type also can affect color reproduction, it's viewing angles that are the main difference. Although not all of this is applicable to laptops, it's a very good source for screen information:

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/specs.htm

Too bad no ODM will go back to 4:3 since it costs them more and as you know money runs the business world, not what people want.

 

Yeah, and if people are willing to wait 2 months AND pay $300 premium for a 4:3, like with the T61, that simply says this:

-There is money to be made

LED backlighting doesn't do a thing to the viewing angle problem.

 

Much of the reason for many manufacturers switching to widescreen is shearly because widescreen is cheaper to produce which lowers the cost of ThinkPads but touts that widescreen is better than it really is which manipulates you into thinking you are getting more value for money.

 

Thank you, yours was the sole helpful comment.

 

There is always money to be made, but they can make more money now with widescreen since people still will buy. If they switched to 4:3, they have to shift production of the bezels, hinges, and numerous other parts. The demand simply isn't high enough to even warrant a $500 premium for that screen.

I realize the backlight doesn't affect viewing angle, that's why I said the main difference in the panel is the viewing angle. I use a privacy screen which cuts off viewing angles anyways, so it's not that important. A good RGB-LED would improve the screen's color gamut for any sort of photographic or video reproduction, hence why I don't feel that there is significant problems anymore. That and TN panels are still far cheaper to produce.

 

That's nonsense. They already made the T61 4:3. Al what was needed to continue production was a stockpile of parts, what is easy to do when you produce them already. With the exact same parts they could have made the T400 4:3. Boe-Hydis still has the 1400x1050 screen, there is still demand and I don't think Lenovo lost on those overpriced 4:3 T61's. So I don't see a rational decision behind the murder of the 4:3 ThinkPad by Lenovo.

 

The simple fact is, you can't see all the costs that Lenovo has to deal with switching production back. As I said before, by switching to widescreen format, they've put in their initial cost so that in the long run they will save more money than by sticking with 4:3.

As has been discussed many times in this forum and Lenovo's forum, no other companies use better panels, so why should Lenovo? They don't care about the little group that would pay the $500 premium for a better screen simply because they can make more money catering to the general public. The majority of the population don't know about different panels and hence Lenovo can get away with using cheap TN panels.

I understand your desire for an IPS screen but unless you're ready to experiment on your laptop, I don't think you'll ever have IPS on your laptop.

 

Now there are two posts in this thread that I find somehow funny so I will comment on them and I will ignore the rest.

There is no such thing as a 14.1" IPS/AFFS panel for notebooks. The SXGA+ "display" on the Hydis site is not only a TN panel, but is one of the most horrible and lowest quality TN panels that could potentially exist and is actually an antique from the ice-age of TN technology. It virtually has no contrast ratio, no viewing angles, it hardly even has brightness.

Moreover, Lenovo was indeed competent enough to use that piece of junk (BOE-Hydis HT14P12) in some of the T43, T60 and even T61 models.

 

If I were looking at the T400 for purchase and could really use a new computer now, I'd buy it. The T400s was recently released and they'll have the upcoming touchscreen enhancement for that. There's definitely nothing within a 6-month time frame that's going to make you regret buying a T400 now. Though there might be some new stuff come Winter 2010 from Lenovo it will not be a major update to the T-series.

 

Whaaa? More details, please! I tried searching, but could not find any information.

What about all the ?10 models with the calpella chipset mentioned earlier in this thread? It's not clear yet (at least not to me) whether the machines will be essentially the same, but with the newer chips/motherboard, or if they'll get further upgrades to make them current (like ESata, newer keyboard, etc). In theory, that's coming up well within that 6-month period...

 

Not many details have been released about them yet, so noone's quite sure.

However, chances are they will get the new keyboard, something similar to that of the T400s. But, because they're still Thinkpads, don't expect many visual changes.