Thinkpad T540 news

So I've been trolling around, trying to get a sense for what the Haswell-bearing T series has in store this fall. Specifically, I'm keen on the T540p but there's no real hard information available thus far. However, I think I stumbled across a video showing a T540s. Anybody know precisely what this beastie is? It seems to be debadged at the normal place for showing the model designator, but it's clearly a modern form factor, and at the least on the left side it has the new rectangular power port, an Ethernet port, a VGA port, and what appears to be a USB 2.0 port and maybe a headphone port; and it looks like a 9-cell battery poking out the back (thumbs-up for that!)....

51nb.com_T540_W540.mp4_

It has the same style of keyboard as the T440s but it also has a numeric keypad. I'm really hoping Lenovo will still offer a standard T540 shell, 'cause I am more interested in Thinkpad ruggedness and performance than I am in having a Macbook Air in bento cladding. That, and I suspect I'd rather have a keyboard with a little more travel than the one of the T440s and a trackpad with dedicated buttons for the Trackpoint. Hmmm.

 

Thats a picture of an E531 keyboard. Although T540/W540 might come with a numeric keypad, it isn´t confirmed yet.

 

Many thanks for the clarification, ibmthink. Oh well. At least this still allows for the possibility that the 540 (non -s) will retain the traditional Thinkpad keyboard with a Thinklight instead of backlighting.....

 

ibmthink, you've commented elsewhere ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/695042-any-idea-when-w540-will-released.html) that you didn't think Lenovo could omit an optical drive in the W540 without losing corporate purchasing contracts. Given the extent to which enterprises install software via the network, of what value is it to keep optical drives in business machines these days? Also, would you expect the T540 corporate-end market also to require an optical drive?

 

I don't think Lenov will drop the ODD on all new ThinkPads. Although maybe lese important today, there are still customers who need one.

Look on the E431/E531: They also still retain the ODD.