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

Please show me this 15", 3lb tablet that is as powerful as an X220...I am drooling at the thought.

 

My thoughts exactly. With the last keyboard change before this, Lenovo published some articles where they described how they investigated keyboard usage to come up with big escape keys and big delete keys, etc. This change does not seem that thought out.

No grouping in F keys is a nightmare on any keyboard I have used. Chrome Javascript debugger, Visual Studio uses F keys a lot. Without the gap, you always have to look what you are pressing.

I will also miss the back and forward buttons, they were really great on the ThinkPad keyboard.

All in all, I would like to see what study this change is based on, because I doubt one even exists. There is no way this new keyboard can be more productive!

 

Yeah. As I've said several times in the past, I really don't mind the island keys, as long as the 7-row layout is kept. Hopefully we'll see it remain on the core X- and T-series, but we'll see.

 

Thanks for the link! I didn't know about April 23. Hopefully, we'll at least get some sort of a high level description of the laptops that Lenovo is going to offer soon.

I have roughly $2K - $3K to spend on another decently spec-ed tablet. My decent spec includes:

• a thin tablet (doesn't have to be Ultrabook thin but thinner than X220T)
• screen 12+ inches
• can run Debian/Ubuntu system (Windows will do too)
• i5+ CPU
• battery lasts for 5+ hours

So far there are no tablets on the market that meet this spec. If new Thinkpads don't meet this spec either I'll spend my money elsewhere. For example, Yoga is a good candidate. I probably come across as too demanding but I've never returned my hardware or bugged companies about petty problems like palm rest, minor scratches, dead pixels etc. So, I don't think I'm the worst customer either.

 

Well unfortunately, the X220T fulfills everything there but the thin part, partially due to it offering full voltage CPU's in the US X220's. I believe erik has the only X220 with a ULV i5 in the States. Unless Apple decides to turn the MBA into a tablet you are outta luck. Even with the ULV i5, the chassis is no thinner. Hopefully they'll offer a X230s Tablet.

 

What I honestly don't understand is this. Out of all laptops which one do you think needs the thin form factor the most? Isn't it obvious that it is the convertible tablet one?
Yet, look at the market:
Fujitsu T901: great screen + Wacom but it's thick
Fujitsu Q550: thin but it has an under-powered Atom CPU
HP EliteBook 2760p: thick
Asus EP121: thin but runs out of juice in 2.5 hours

Yeah, I can already see the hordes of laptop designers throwing rotten eggs at me. But come on, look at it from the customer's point of view.

 

I am not refering to a tablet but the 15" 9 series from Samsung

But the point is not that the X2xx is super heavy or super thick (Allthough I find it thick for a 12)

The point is that nothing changes, the evolving X200 to X230 is minor and I havent looked, but I would think weight havent changed a bit (Except for the possibility to use mSATA instead of a 2.5")

Edit: One thing I can see they changed is that its not using a less powerful cpu like the one I had in mine (I7 620LM) but that might be intels TPD improvements

 

I kind of like the back and forward buttons too, but can't say I'll miss them a whole lot because I often forgot about them and never used them when touch typing.

Lenovo definitely will have done a bunch of testing and studies before making a change to the keyboard if that happens. I think they know what's at stake and they literally test and vet even the smallest changes to ThinkPads.

On the plus side, with a chiclet keyboard you do get slightly more top surface area on the key which can improve typing accuracy. And it's a little easier to blow dust and crumbs out from between keys. An important aspect to us snackers

 

The 15" series 9 is 3.3lb, has a crappy shallow keyboard, lacks ports, using an ULV CPU...

 

Do you have one?

I'll take that as a no. Let me know if you have any questions. I actually have one.

 

the X220/X220T with 3-cell batteries are the same thickness as the X200s/X201s/X200T/X201T.   ULV models aren't any thinner than standard, just slightly lighter due to the different fan assembly.   because the X220 series was already designed so thin there was no need for a separate 's' model chassis.   all one needs is a smaller battery.

on the second point, my mom's X220 has a celeron 847 and that's technically ULV given the 17W TDP.   besides my i5-2537m and the one at lenovo HQ, that makes three known ULV X220 systems in the US but only two personally owned.   perhaps the X230 will bring more ULV options.   just don't expect ULV models to be any thinner if they are offered here.

 

So you must get killer battery life with th eX220 w/ ULV with the 6-cell then, right? I mean, I already get 6 hours websurfing on my X220 w/ i7.

 

Anyone knows about the touchpad of the X230 series? Any physical buttons?

 

Considering the the response to the X220's trackpad, I would hope they have the brains to include them.

If the engineers and designers are still in charge. If some dumb executive pulls out a picture of a Macbook and says "make it more like this," we're screwed.

 

The L530 still has physical touchpad buttons, so I would say you can hope.

 

Well, it is a very difficult situation with the X220/X230. If they want to keep the trackpoint, then there really is no room to include buttons on the trackpad. If they did, the trackpad would have such a tiny tiny area as to be almost unusable. I say give people the option of no trackpoint, but a larger, nicer trackpad, or trackpoint only, or both but compromise with the smaller trackpad (like it is now). I highly doubt this would happen, but I can dream...just like I can dream of them offering a higher res 12.5" IPS screen on the X230.

 

Have you contrasted the 15" S9 to any of the recent TPs... There is a desire for such info, I'm sure... If you have time to do so I for one would love to read of how it compares... 300+ nit HD+ screens are very intriguing to say the least...

 

So... with some Photoshop on this image, it looks like that may or may not pan out: imgur: the simple image sharer

There's space for two full rows that aren't accounted for. Either they're going to use the same keyboard across all models, which would mean that there's more wasted space there that should've been used for a touchpad, or it's a full keyboard. There's also the possibility that the original image isn't a correct representation.

 

The screen is plenty bright. At 340 nit I tested it poolside yesterday and even in direct sunlight you could still read what was on the screen. You wouldn't use it like that. Under the umbrella it was very good.

The screen itself is certainly better than the T420, T420S 1600x900 screens. It is actually very similar to the 1440x900 screen I had on a T410S. Similar color, contrast and unfortunately viewing angles. It isn't the best. It's a good all purpose screen but it is nowhere near the level of the 13.3" screen on the NP900X3B. That baby will blow your socks off.

 

How does the typing experience compare?

 

Compared to the best keyboards in the industry? HA! I think you know the answer to that.

There is no comparison.

It isn't all bad. It's backlit and useful for what I need when traveling and such. When I really need to slam out pages of documentation, I'm typically using the keyboard at my desk.

If you have further questions on the second gen Sammy's, post them at Samsung Laptop Forums - Samsung Notebook Computer Discussions. The ThinkPad folks here might not appreciate this discussion here.

 

Thanks and will do on the future questions!

 

So is anything I said incorrect? I am saying you cannot compare them because they are very different in philosophy. Lenovo could make a similar machine, and I wouldn't buy it because some people want full-powered, small footprint machines w/ tons of ports and an amazing keyboard.

I am not saying it is bad, I am saying it is unfair to say "Make the X220 thinner and lighter because Samsung has a 15" ultrabook."

 

Never mind.

http://www.lenovo.com/images/products/nps/laptops/W530.png

Good game.

EDIT: Actually... It looks like the cutout is the same shape. Maybe we can plug the old one in after all.

 

The color of the keys looks a bit weired. A bit too dark in comparison to the keyboard in the L530.

 

Might be because it's preproduction. The rounded chiclet keys look really out of place on a ThinkPad.

Also, it looks like they remapped the media control keys away from the arrow keys. ;___;

You guys think we can drop the W530 mobo into a W520?

 

Doubtful. I guess we will have to deal with it.

Lack of seven row keyboard makes me sad, but I do prefer these chicklet keys over the older keys.

 

Are they back lit? Seems that if we have to give up our seventh row that we should at least gain back lighting.

 

I think so. The X1 does have a blacklit keyboard.

 

Differentiation of “Isolation” - Design - Lenovo Blogs

Lenovo, I am disappoint.

 

I'm going to remain doubtful that we are going to be able to fit the old keyboard in. The top edge of the current keyboard assembly is a bit taller than the rest in the region of the power/volume controls, from the image of the W530 the new one doesn't seem to be. Also, the chiclet keyboards are supposed to be thinner.

For the X230 touchpad buttons. I'm pretty sure they are coming back. The new keyboard is sadly a 6 row, which would open up enough space for touchpad buttons.

I'll change that then. "Make the X220 thinner and lighter because Panasonic has a 2.4 12 inch ultraportable, SV CPU, 1600x900 screen, drop tested 30 inch, 25mm thick, and also packs an optical drive." If it didn't have the horrible circular touchpad, was available a few months earlier, and didn't start at $2k, I would probably be using it instead of my X220.

I think the X series should be a few hundred grams lighter. It's very much possible. Especially considering they don't make the "s" variant anymore.

 

I suppose that means there'd be a gap, which is easier to fix than if there was an obstruction. Some alterations to the keyboard bezel would then be necessary, at the cost of warranty... unless the keyboard bezel is transferrable from the W520 to the W530.

As for height... I dunno.

 

Yes. You used the word crappy. I don't think there's anything about the second gen Samsung Series 9 machines that are crap. But that's my opinion based on real ownership.

 

And then some.

4:3 > 16:10 > 16:9
Legacy kbd > Chiclets kbd
7 rows > 6 rows

Go Lenovo, go!

Spoiler

... to hell.

 

Don't forget about the UltraBay batteries and the 7mm drive on the X220.

 

I prefer chiclet keys over the legacy keys. If they have good enough travel... it doesn't matter what construction the keycap is...

But, ditto on 16:9 and the seven row keyboards, however.

 

For Lenovo to ditch their keyboard... I really they're really scared to be left aside by the all-chiclets competition (including HP on their business laptops); scared that their chiclets-blinded customers will point out the Thinkpad's traditional layout and say it looks so outdated.

 

Nice find... again. Not happy. So now the question is whether to wait for the W530 or just get the W520.

Again, the differences are going to be...

• Ivy Bridge Processor
• NVIDIA Quadro 1100M/2100M
• Chiclet Style Keyboard (with 6 rows)

... right? Can we expect any changes in screen options?

If those three are the main changes, I'm really, really tempted to wait for a major price drop on the W520 and just go with that... Ugh.

 

The W530 looks also a bit thinner on the picture.

 

The major notebook manufacturer who still uses 16:10 is Apple.

It's unfortunate to see 16:10 going away... I myself prefer 16:9 these days because that's the only aspect ratio people make wallpapers for - especially when one is browsing DeviantArt.

 

The screen looks wider than 16:9, which is weird. If it is supposed to be 16:9, then maybe the image makes it look thinner.

The front underbevel is evidently missing though.

 

Island KB on ThinkPad... they finally ruined it all.

 

I'm mainly interested in them keeping the 4 group spacing on the Function keys, rather than cramping it all together

 

Already today there is looooots of dead surface on a 15.6in machine, in particular if the keyboard doesn't have a numpad.

So what kind of idiot would make the keyboard even smaller, creating more dead area and compromise the usability? I mean look at those palmrests and speakers!

 

Actually, not having the numpad helps with the symmetry. This helps when you're trying to use the laptop on your legs because you don't have to position it asymmetrically.

 

Well, I've gone with ThinkPads for over a year now, basically because the design of the current Latitude looks more like a cheap consumer machine than a professional business class notebook, and absolutely fallen in love with the Lenovo/ThinkPad keyboards. That would be my main reason for staying with Lenovo - but if they go to those awful 'chicklet' keyboards, I am gone. My first Thinkpad was a T43p some years ago, and the keyboards, especially the T60/61p models, were simply awesome.

I hope Lenovo leaves a great thing be and not 'follow the competition'.

 

The one and only change that ruins ALL thinkpads, nice job, Lenovo.

 

having the numpad on my ThinkPad W701ds sucks big time.... LOL

 

What's so bad about chiclet? I think the differences between chiclet and traditional keyboards are less significant (outside of aesthetics) than what most people think.

 

Who says all thinkpads have been changed? And by the way, the X1 keyboard is really nice. Much better than most of the keyboards on the market. Certainly better than the one I am using right now.

I'm making an assumption here. I am assuming the X1 keyboard was the basis for the coming changes and that they'll be backlit and high quality.

Maybe the speaker grills have some buttkicker subs under them.