The Upcoming ThinkPad X230, X230i, T430, T430i, T530, T530i and W530?

As far as we know, W530 will have a chiclet keyboard

 

It will. Lenovo has publicly shown that much.

 

I have done quite a few years in product management and I wonder about the research, or likely in absence of such, just the argumentation.
desktop/notebook/netbook/laptop are dying, volumewise. what will remain of these [the keyboard crowd] will be the demanding niches: sftwr devel, game, medical, professional writers/editors/, people who must produce/edit/collaborate large docs & presentations. in other words, what we formerly would call the "workstation" market. If that be the case, they are goofing... they should be going high-end. leave the low-end with cheap tablets.
imho

 

you lenovo.... and i've been waiting for this laptop for months now.

 

They are dying in a very peculiar way, with every magazine announcing their death, yet volumes actually growing, and still far exceeding volumes of all tablets. I don't think now is the time to announce tablet's victory. People are trying to replace a keyboard for 100+ years, and the pursuit of a more efficient input device is far from over, especially nowadays, when text input is used by an average person more frequently than even 20 years ago.

What tablets have shown so far is not that it's a great form factor all around, or it's better than a laptop. Merely that consumers are willing to sacrifice the keyboard, and any means of precise control, and cut the screen size in half or more, and drop all software for much more primitive versions, and so on, if that results in dramatically, 2-5+ times, better mobility, and especially if presented in a nice case (iPads is still synonymous to tablet for most people) and quite cheaply. The previous, more modest and far less mobile, attempt was called "netbooks", and even that was a major success (for a few years, anyway).

With laptop vendors, finally, starting to get the lesson and pay attention to size and battery life, it's not unthinkable that the "tablets" in between phones (portable) and laptops (powerful with keyboard and precise cursor control in a separate plane from the screen) may join the PDAs and netbooks on a dusty closet shelf.

Anyway, as much as hate the new keyboard layout, Lenovo is yet to make it completely unusable, but the direction is disturbing. Hopefully they will reverse the course in T/Wx40, or at least keep Insert/PgUp/PgDn/Home/End buttons separate for the foreseeable future, and avoid piling them up to the right of Enter key as HP and many others do.

All that said, I suspect they could have actually done the research, and found that the vast majority of Lenovo users don't care the slightest about these keyboard particularities. Especially if the key travel is good, alpha-numerics are in the right positions, and TrackPoint is normal. Keyboard in X1 is quite OK, and many love it.

 

Total deal-breaker. I'll hang on to my W520 until it dies a slow death!

 

Chiclet keyboard? Yuk

No 4:3 screen, then 16:10 went away and now the great keyboard goes? I have sincerely never seen a chiclet keyboard that typed as good as my T61 keyboard does. Leave the chiclet keyboard to Apple: all things to avoid in a single brand!

 

Even though it's very likely that the Ivy Bridge ThinkPads will adopt chiclet keyboards i'm more intrigued on whether it will allow backwards compatibility with the previous keyboard. I mean if it's anything like it was when the T400 came out with the flexi-perforated keyboard that caused some people to use T6x keyboards as a substitute instead then there could be some hope for the traditionalists.

 

here's my prediction: some might try to swap physical hardware and some might be successful.   however, all would run into BIOS issues since 6- and 7-row keyboards have completely different mappings.

again, that's just my prediction.   if this comes true then it's purely a coincidence.   feel free to pop some popcorn in the meantime.

 

I have an 13 yr old Thinkpad I1452 and an E420. For a long time I thought that they have the same type of key boards until someone here mentioned that the latter has a chiclet one. That probably shows that the difference between the old and new keyboards is exaggerated. On the other hand, the old key board is more noisy. None-the-less, both are very solid.

 

I'm sorry but how can you _not_ notice? It's completely different.

 

This will most likely not be possible. The classic Keyboard won't fit into the new ThinkPads, due to height restrictions. It was mentioned somewhere in this Thread before. So Keyboard swapping will not be an Option.

The new Chiclet Keyboard WILL be better than the classic one, however. If you don't believe me, go try the X1. It has the same Keyboard as the new ThinkPads will have.

I am NOT saying that I like the new Chiclet. I actually hate it and I'm not sure whether I'll ever buy another (new) ThinkPad again. I really hope that my 600X and my Future X201 will last a lifetime.

The EDGE Series Keyboard are nothing like the X1's, even if they look the same. The X1 has the best Notebook keyboard in the World, whereas the EDGE ThinkPads have even worse ones than Acer. (Acer used to produce the worst Keyboards in the World)

Trust me, I have already typed on one of those EDGES, and I hope I will never have to do that again. *shiver*

So to summon things up again: The new Keyboards will be better than the current ones, but at the Price of leaving the traditional ways. This doesn't have to bad, but if Lenovo gets too used to doing things like this, they might one day go too far, if you know what I mean.

 

The ThinkPad keyboards I've had in the past have been very good to great. Any time you change something that's been done the same way for a long time there's going to be some apprhension. I will reserve judgment until I use one.

 

thinkpad keyboards are overrated by thinkpad users. I recently tried the Samsung series 7 keyboard, it feels on bar if not better than the thinkpad keyboard.

 

The old ThinkPads used to the non-plus-ultra, but the current ThinkPads (X220 for example) have really fallen in Keyboard Quality. The X2207T420 etc. is nothing compared to the old 600X.

That is probably why Lenovo decided to change the Keyboard.

 

you might be surprised about what people try and where people find success and failure on the new systems in terms of swapping hardware.   height restrictions won't be the issue.

for many users it's not the shape and tactility of the keys but the change from a 20-year-old 7-row layout.

 

What about those of us who find that shape and tactility of the keys is the difference?

I would be one of those people, myself; for some people, it may be a combination of both.

 

absolutely.   i'm in the same camp and enjoy nothing about the X1 keyboard.   give me a traditional 7-row or give me nothing at all.

islands are for vacations, not keyboards.

 

LOL. Uh, get used to tropical breezes.

 

Currently there's this thing going on that's called "Consumerization". Not only Lenovo is "consumerizing" their Products, HP now also offers a 11,6" Business Subnotebook, thereby moving away from the traditonal 12". Even Apple will dump their Pro line and focus more towards the Air, IPad and IPhone.

All of this is supported even more by the "bring your machine to work" hype.
I guess all that's left for us classic ThinkPadders is this: Getac B300-X Premium - ok2.de

 

No Trackpoint, no Classic 7-row keyboard, XGA (really?), the price (?, a bit expensive). That is no alternative for a ThinkPad. It´s not a Businessnotebook, its a rugged Notebook, something completely different.

 

I have a T420 and a 600X.

I prefer the T420. It's got a more even key feel, stiffer backplate on the right hand side of the keyboard, and a slightly shorter throw (which I prefer.)

Keyboard feel is highly subjective. You can't state in absolute terms that "ThinkPads have fallen in terms of keyboard quality" any more than I can state that the T420 has "the best keyboard of all time." Both are borderline-nonsense blanket statements.

Currently? I'd say that trend started about 6 months after the release of the 5150.

 

I have to agree with you there. Prior to purchasing my Acer 3820TG, all I had ever heard was that Acer Island keyboards suck. I have used it for the past 2 years, 8 hours dayfor a job that is largely writing and I love it. The large flat island keys allow my to fly along, expressing my thoughts as fas as I can form them with narry a mistake. Subjective? Without a doubt.

 

so when are these things being released? i dont think i've heard a date yet...

 

First week of June were what the rumors said. As for me, I won't have any use for a laptop until August, so I'll place my order in late July once I have sufficient funds.

 

I recommend everyone pay attention to various tech websites at midnight EST tonight for further information on all of this

 

This statement is true, though I feel ThinkPad keyboards are getting worse. The new generation ThinkPads keyboards are not as good as the _60/61 series ThinkPad keyboards. And yes I have an X220T, I've also used the T420, T520, W520 and vanilla X220. It's a partial reason why I'm selling my X220T. Also the palmrest material changed, it feels worse.

 

Nice.

 

So early June it is... yet we still don't know any details about which CPUs are going to be in the X230.

 

Lenovo announces ThinkPad X1 Carbon, calls it the world's lightest 14-inch ultrabook

Lenovo announces 2012 ThinkPad lineup, including Ivy Bridge and revamped keyboards

 

Regarding the X230, I wonder if it will only accommodate only 7mm tall drives like the previous X220.

Also I wonder what Nvidia Quadro GPUs will be featured on the W530

 

I don't think they'll go backwards.

 

T series getting Thunderbolt boyssss

 

I was hoping the T430(s) series wld get an option for Full HD display

 

"The X230 and X230t start at a princely $1,179 and $1,479, respectively."

Lenovo Announces the new ThinkPad X230 Ultraportable

Lenovo Unveils new ThinkPad Lineup with Intel’s Ivy Bridge, new Keyboard Design

Lenovo Unveils 9 New ThinkPads, Complete With Ivy Bridge, HD+ Screens

Lenovo refreshes its ThinkPad T, W, L and X lines with Ivy Bridge processors, slightly retooled keyboards -- Engadget

Lenovo announces 2012 ThinkPad lineup, including Ivy Bridge and revamped keyboards | The Verge

Lenovo ThinkPad laptops T, X, L, W series grab Ivy Bridge - SlashGear

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Hands-on: The New King of Ultrabooks?

Lenovo intros new Ivy Bridge ThinkPads, including X1 Carbon ultrabook | Crave - CNET

Lenovo announces the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, a 14-inch Ultrabook with Ivy Bridge, optional 3G and a 1600 x 900 display -- Engadget

Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon: The Ultralight, Semi-Rugged Carbon Fiber Ultrabook

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook revealed - SlashGear

Lenovo announces ThinkPad X1 Carbon, calls it the world's lightest 14-inch ultrabook (hands-on) | The Verge

Maximum PC | Lenovo Reveals ThinkPad X1 Carbon Ultrabook, Claims World's Lightest 14-Incher

Lenovo Packs 'thinnest' ThinkPad Ultrabook With 4G LTE | PCWorld Business Center

 

I guess the tabook.pdf thinkpad model reference document for June will hopefully be updated for full official specs (GPUs in the W530 line, 7mm or 9.5mm drives in the X230, etc)

 

My next laptop would be the Lenovo X230t

 

Please continue discussion in this thread, thanks.