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

Summer 2012.

 

Using a Thunderbolt Display from Apple with all the dock features, I have to say it's no different than a dock. Except a dock covers power in the single connection.

Would be awesome if Thunderbolt could provide power to the laptop in addition to the data transport.

 

I don't think they are able to make the 6 cell thinner with the current design and they probably aren't doing a redesign since the X220 chassis is new this generation.

Also, probably not happening, but I would like to see an X230s that is sub 3 pound with the 9 cell. It's perfectly possible, Panasonic's SX manages to do that plus an optical drive.

 

Well see if Ivy Bridge is drastically more power efficient, then I would get the X230 Tablet 3 cell battery, I wouldn't need the massive 6 cell battery currently offered. I'm sure Commander Wolf would agree with me on this one.

 

saw this today: Welcome to PTCRB

I don't know if that is any indication of how soon the W530 might be available though.

 

Not just when one moves it! I've had the drive pop out when I set the laptop down on a bed or similarly-soft surface. It's really a pretty bad design all around. That, and moving to a 12.7 mm bay and not releasing an updated caddy for ages. I ended up replacing the bay drive with a slot-loading drive and getting a third party caddy, but neither of those should be required.

 

Technically the new refresh should has a new chasis like: t510/520, t500/t61.
I would like more powerful video which i doubt will happen. It's a shame that if you want strong graphics for gaming, you need to resort to a consumer-grade idea pad. Unless they offer a thinkpad with strong graphics, my next notebook would like be an asus G series - extremely fast and fairly inexpensive.

 

the new refresh will bring a new keyboard too.

 

All models?

If rumors are true, quad core mobile ivy bridge CPUs will be announced at the end of April. Would Lenovo announce W530 then (with quad core CPUs) or just after all of the mobile ivy bridge CPUs have been introduced in June?

 

not all but a few.

 

Are you allowed to tell us more without getting in trouble?

 

How about i just message you on facebook. But i will give a hint for people to decipher, think of T400s keyboard.

 

Are they putting the X1 keyboard on all of the new ThinkPads?

 

How is the typing-feel of the new Keyboard? Good?

 

Can anyone please confirm if Lenovo is going to offer a thinner version of X220T tablet later this year? I already have Thinkpad Tablet but I also want a tablet that I can use to install Linux.

 

I'd think they have to announce (if not show) something when a new Intel mobile platform gets released. With the quad cores that would be a W530.

Besides, Lenovo is one of Intels biggest customers for mobile stuff, so it'd be in both their interest to somewhat coordinate product announcements and releases.

 

Lenovo has, at least in the past, coordinated T-series releases with Intel platform updates. The W-series usually follows along shortly afterwards, along with the X-series.

With this year's delays, though, who knows?

No one who can speak freely knows anything for certain, just rumors

I haven't heard any rumors of a thinner X220 tablet, though. I wouldn't count on it, since Lenovo doesn't typically redesign a chassis every generation, and the X220 generation was just refreshed.

 

Phew... if that means minor ergonomical changes (backlit keys?), that's OK.

I just hope it won't be an ill-designed chiclet layout... but... if you say this new keyboard is going to be available on some models only... then maybe it's actually going to be a chiclet thingy. Like Lenovo did with the X1. Oh dog...

 

Have you folks seen Revised Ivy Bridge launch schedule confirmed ???

 

what would be the difference between the t430 and the t430i? what does the "i" change?

I"m currently looking at the S430. It will have good speakers if its anything like the E420s and i'm hoping will have at least a gt 640m discrete graphics i don't know why lenovo would decide to use up more power while performing less with anything form the fermi line.

I'm also waiting on news of the t430. I don't have one but i really like the look of the t420s. The t430u looks good but it just doesn't look thinkpad look. Maybe the new t430 is the actual successor to the t420s. If its under an inch thin, then i will probably purchase the t430.

I like the s430, but i'm the kind of guy that always gets his laptop banged up no matter how much i try to take care of it so i need an actual t series for the military specs.

 

The "i" designation usually mean a budget configuration model, so typically you're stuck with the base graphics card and a limited choice of processor options to choose from. But apart from that everything else is the same to that of a normal model, I have a T420i and it's virtually no different to that of a base T420 except for the lower price tag at the time.

 

thanks a bunch for the clarification! damnit i wish ivy bridge wasn't delayed. the mobile and desktop cpus will be out april 28th but it looks like the i5s and dual core will have to wait untill june 3rd. Most of the thinner thinkpads and edges use dual core so it would be a longer wait i think.

 

i ordered a t420i with the 1600x900 panel and they just sent it with a regular t420 chassis

 

There is one T420 chassis. (Lenovo should just drop the stupid "i" suffix.)

 

i meant there was no 'i' written on the bezel, it just says t420

 

I so want a W530 with 3720QM and thunderbolt for eGPU, that 400mhz buff on the cpu is awesome considering ivy bridge is already 10-20% faster clock for clock and it should be more power efficient

 

But of course! The "i" is never printed on the bezel.

EDIT: I was wrong. See photo below.

 

..................

 

Insert Justin Bieber singing Never Say Never.

 

That would be really stupid of Lenovo. The X220T tablet is the #1 thing that could benefit from the thinner design. It is a tablet after all!

What prevents them from porting the Ideapad Yoga design to X220T? It is way more robust than the swivel screen design. So, they basically have the design but fail to implement it in their higher margin business-grade line?

 

Lenovo generally does a design refresh every 2-3 years and we just had one.

We don't know if the Yoga is actually better than the swivel or not. If anything Lenovo would want to hold off until they see how the Yoga does before they implement it on their business lineup.

 

If Lenovo thinks along these lines then that thinking is precisely why Lenovo is not Apple and don't have a similar market size. None of what you listed is a customer's problem or a technical bottleneck. Artificial constraints are what's killing innovation in many of these companies.

 

I think he was referring to classic thinkpads, i.e. business machines where it's important to have some consitency. Lenovo has enough consumer stuff that is updated every couple of months and getting them a market share bigger than Apple's?!

 

Is the chassis on the w530 going to be thinner? I am really close to pulling the trigger on a w520 but if I would definitely weight for a less bulky model

 

haha very nice play on words

 

And that's an excellent thing.
Business consumers are risk averse buyers want proven designs that won't possibly hamper their productivity.

Besides, it's not as if Lenovo were "killing innovation"
The company does release this form factor, but just not through their business line since it would be too risky (yet). Now that there are mainstream "sub-Thinkpads", might as well use them to test novelties.

 

I want a T430s. Or a T430 with a profile similar to a T420s.

 

Me too... but the delays made me opt for the very tangible T420s. I know the T430x s gonna have double the battery life, and I will have buyers remorse. LOL!

 

.......PSed?

 

In my opinion, I don't think the w520 is really bulky at all given that it is a mobile workstation. I've owned thinner laptops before, and one of issues I have consistently had with them is that they can't handle too much heat. Since I wouldn't be dragging around a w520 everywhere and it would be sitting most of the time on a desk, I feel that it is a good size.

 

if they aren't releasing the 's' models anymore, maybe its a sign that the standard models will be getting slightly thinner?

 

Models that we are practical certain exist like the X230T aren't on the list either, so a T430s probably exists but has not gone through PTCRB yet.

On the topic of the W520, I believe its the lightest of the 15 inch mobile workstations. It's not that bulky for what it offers at all.

 

Hello guys,
Is there any chance that new T530 will get a numeric keypad? It's what I'd really love to have and the only reason why I haven't upgraded to T520 so far.
Any rumors?

 

If they do that to the T series , I'm buying a Mac!

 

LOL
What's so bad about the numpad?

 

It shifts the home row, trackpoint, and touchpad way out of center making them harder to use.

 

The keyboard is a major component of the ThinkPad Line. Slight changes to it have not been well received over the years due to their impact on the typing experience. Besides that num pad trend seems to be dominant in the consumer space which I avoid. To make such a drastic change to the keyboard would certainly change my typing experience... To the extent that I would seek other viable options... I've owned business line (or similar) computers from Dell, Sony, HP, and etc., but have not owned a Macbook. From what I hear their keyboard is good not great, so if I have to go with good it might as well be accompanied by a great screen etc... One man's opinion... and we all know what opinions are worth... LOL!

 

I agree. A numbpad on anything smaller than a 17 inch laptop sucks and is totally ugly. Displaces everything.

 

Indeed. I really, really hope the core Thinkpad line avoids adding numpads in favor of ergonomics.

 

They may add the numpad as long as they keep the rest of the keyboard centrally aligned with the display. (That's how I use my desktop keyboard: the portion on the left of the cursor keys is centrally aligned with the monitor.)

Now, if you look carefully, you will see that the ThinkPad keyboard already has an embedded numpad: