ThinkPad Twist Announced -- Windows 8 Convertible for $849 on October 26th

Lenovo is releasing a ThinkPad version of the IdeaPad Yoga 13 -- kind of, except this is a 12.5" screen instead of 13.3" screen. Other than that things are very similar. Here's the official press release for the Twist:

Specs:

Processor - Latest 3rd Generation Intel core-I processors up to i7
Operating System - Windows 8 Standard or Windows 8 Pro; Windows 8 multi touch-enabled Display/Resolution
12.5 inch HD IPS Display w/ Touch Sensor (1366 x 768) 350 nit; Gorilla glass with anti smudge coating
Video Graphics - Intel® Integrated Graphics
Memory - Up to 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz
Storage - 320/500 7200RPM (7mm) HDD ; 128GB SSD
Sound - Dolby® Home Theater® v4; stereo speakers; built-in dual array microphone (combo jack)
Integrated Comms - 2 USB 3.0 ports; RJ45 connector; 4-in-1 slot; mini-DisplayPort; mini-HDMI
Connectivity - Gigabit Ethernet; Bluetooth 4.0 + ABGN WLAN; WWAN Optional; USB 3.0; HDMI
Camera - 720p high definition camera
Battery - 7 hour all day battery life
Weight - 3.48 pounds (1.58 kg)
Thickness - 0.79 inches thin (20 mm thin)
Software -
Lenovo Solutions for Small Business powered by Intel Small Business Advantage; Lenovo Cloud Storage by SugarSync
Price - Starting at $849

 

lenovo should have announced this earlier before I bought X220.

 

Meh, I think the X220 is still a better product - matte wins always, IMO.

The 350 nits is nice though. This is the start of affordable Win8 devices. Exciting times!

 

Not only the screen is brighter, it's more portable as it doubles as a tablet.

 

Agree that the glossy screen is a disappointing choice, and the glossy bezel is pretty horrible. However I like the price point and the rest of the features, a digitizer would have been nice to have as well.

 

This ThinkPad Edge is missing:

-AMD A8/A10 APUs
-matte display
-optional 1600x900 res

What's an Edge without a little AMD APU?

Sent from my SPH-M580 using Tapatalk

 

X220t was about the same device as this, wasn't it. Same 12.5" screen, same ~3.5 pounds weight, but also pen support, 16GB RAM option etc.etc.

 

Edge will never be offered with high resolution panels, just like Dell's Vostro line and HP's ProBook, nobody at the 400-500 dollar entry level business computer cares about screen resolution.

 

Not sure Im liking those rounded screen corners and glossy keyboard plate...
Other than that, bring in HD+ and X series tablets will have run for their money

 

As the industry moves to higher resolution displays in smartphones, tablets and laptops, the Edge should get 900p/1080p optional displays along with the rest of its competitors. Why not? I'm hoping the display standard gets elevated a bit. Its pretty common and supposedly not costly. You mention $400-500 but that is the entry-level price. Some are ok there but often businesses want choices. When you start adding quad core cpus/apus to the Edge model and maybe even a discrete gpu, it'll cost around $700-800. So yes, the Edge should use high-res high-qual panels to stay competitive. It now has a touch-enabled IPS display which happens to be 12.5" and 1366x768 AND its a "convertible laptop." That hasn't been done on the Edge before.

The HP ProBook 6475b A10-4600M (7660) has a 1600x900 matte display but it costs almost $800 at that point. This weighs 4.5lbs and is not a convertible. Maybe if it had just the high res display and everything else stripped down and swap in the A10 yourself? Edge should at least match this res tho.

 

What's the deal with all that bezel space at the bottom of the screen? So ugly.

 

This is not true at all. You can get some Edges here in Europe, the S430 and the E530, with an HD+ Display. Also the 15,6" Vostro is here available with an FHD screen. Butonly on higer configs.

 

Of course it's a better product...it's a higher-end product in the same lineup. Lenovo still sells the X230t for people who want to pay more for nicer hardware. This thing starts at $849; the X230t starts at $1149. The E420 didn't kill the T420, and the Edge Twist won't kill the X230t.

 

I'm waiting for a proper x series Win 8 convertible tablet, this is pretty much just a cheapened x230t.

 

Pretty much. Although it does hint at the future X240T - it looks like future Thinkpads will be inheriting the X1 Carbon's touchpad (I hope it's glass though and not a cheapened version). As for the screen, it's good that Lenovo is finally starting to use Gorilla glass panels with multitouch, although the glare might be bad. I really wish they could use 12.5 inch FHD panels...or at least something higher than 1366x768.

 

Looking forward to this model actually. Isn't the X230t like around 4lbs? If so this is 0.5lbs lighter. I'm liking the starting price; maybe with coupons it'll be around $700 soon after release.

 

The twist comes in a lot thinner than the X220T... almost as thin as the X1C.

"The ThinkPad Twist is .79 inches (20mm) thick and weighs 3.48 pounds (1.58kg)." - Lenovo unveils slew of tablets with keyboards, laptops with touchscreens | Ars Technica

A compelling feature, imo. It takes hard drives as well.... so there's the possibility of cheaper upgrades to SSDs.

 

If it's in any way similar to Thinkpad Tablet (the first, Android one), it is bad.

But the major issue with all these convertible devices, despite their many virtues - they are too heavy and too low resolution screen to use as tablets for reading (not all web sites will render well in 768px wide screen, and desktop browsers typically dont reformat pages to fit). So most will end up being used as laptops, especially as the purchaser's joy from the new toy wears out, which is what was happening with convertible Tablet PCs for the last decade. And for laptop use, a matte screen and extra features of X230T are nice to have.

Considering that 13.3" Nec LaVie Z with 1600x900 screen and i7 ULV weights less than 2 pounds (i.e. same ballpark as latest iPad with cover attached), still claiming long battery life, there is plenty of fat that needs to be removed from the tablet-o-laptops before they become serious alternative to separate laptop + tablet .

 

Did you see the model number from Lenovo's site?
It looks like it was formerly named the "S230u" before "Twist"- isn't that an IdeaPad designation? Strange.

(Though I do hope that the T440/W540 inherit that touchpad too- if the case design stays the same I'm going to upgrade my W520 with it.)

 

^^ Yeah S is the IdeaPad netbook designation, like the S10 and the later S205.

 

No,it is not. It is also an IdeaPad designation, but "S" is also used for the premium-Edge ThinkPads (like ThinkPad Edge S430 here in Europe)

 

S230u was the old designation for the Twist. Lenovo in the next generation will be moving away from model number designation, and instead uses name like ThinkPad Twist, ThinkPad Helix (real machine), etc... T series and W series name could even be dropped (my uneducated guess).

 

this form factor looks like it could be a real winner- the build quality and screen resolution would have to be on par with the T or apple before I would consider spending money on one.

 

Whats that? Ok, I found it

Is this already decided? And why?

 

ThinkPad Flex, ThinkPad Griddy, ThinkPad Gritty, ThinkPad Creak, . . .

 

They should not hire you for the product names...

 

¡¾¼´½«ÉÏÊС¿ThinkPad Helix£º¿É²ðжµÄÅäÖÃi7µÄƽ°å±Ê¼Ç±¾¡¾¸ßÇå´óͼ¡¿_ThinkPad(Ô­IBM)±Ê¼Ç±¾ÂÛ̳

No TrackPoint buttons. I don't think this will end well.

 

They integrated them into the Trackpad.

 

Spoiler

 

You want it, you just don´t know that.

 

Newer is always better™

Brought to you by: Change for the sake of Change Inc.

 

Nah, thats not really fair. It is a tablet, not a traditional laptop.

 

. How do you use the Trackpoint without the buttons? ... Tap to click? lolfail.

 

I suppose that's like the trackpoint on the Thinkpad Tablet keyboard dock.

I wouldn't panic right now since this is still marketed as an Ultrabook, the proper corporate Thinkpad design will remain for the next couple of years.

 

After the infamous keyboard layout changes in the corporate Thinkpads, I'm not so sure anymore.

"Oh, that Pause/Break button, who uses that? I don't have it on my Mac, get rid of it!". "What, 5 physical mouse buttons, of them 2 pairs are doing the same. It's not minimalistic, it's over-engineering, nobody in my MBA class ever needed anything like this. Drop it now!"

 

Yes, but they did it manly because they git so good feedback on the new keyboard with the original X1. We will see if this new button-system will work properly. If it gets bad critics, Lenovo wouldn´t put it on the business-line. If it gets good critics we will see.

 

People (or more like Reviewers) complained about the lack of a touchpad on the X200. So Lenovo gave the X201 a nice little touchpad. Then they started complaining about it being too small. So Lenovo gave us the horrible Clickpad. Now Reviewers still complain about it's size, so Lenovo decides to remove the Trackpoint buttons in favor of a bigger Clickpad.

Remember everyone, you brought this on yourself.

Anyways, I really hope this stays an Ultrabook/Tablet thing, because the moment Lenovo decides to remove the Trackpoint buttons from the regular X/T/W-Series, I'm switching to HP.

 

Is the hard drive user upgradable?