What makes a ThinkPad special... a few models in the spotlight.

This thread is not about the usual appreciated ThinkPad features like the TrackPoint, the excellent keyboards, the ruggedness, the no nonsense industrial design, the rubber like surface or how one can replace virtually any part of the notebooks.

Rather, for those still new to ThinkPads, I thought I would share a few special past models which mostly only ThinkGeeks like myself would know about and appreciate.

So here we go:

1) 700T YouTube - The History of the Tablet

iPad eat your heart out. The 700T was introduced in 1992 - 18 years ago... with a SSD...


2) 701 YouTube - IBM ThinkPad 701 Commercial (1995)

Talk about an innovative and tiny ultraportable. The 701 was introduced in 1995. The wow factor of the keyboard still remains.


3) S30 http://journal.mycom.co.jp/news/2001/06/27/s30.jpg

Here's a picture of the S30 next to the already very small ultraportable X40: http://chandra.way-nifty.com/chandra_life/image2/X40.jpg

The S30 series was a very exclusive and rare ultraportable sold predominantly in Japan and a few other Asian markets. Introduced in 2001.


This is not to start a discussion about how much more innovative ThinkPads were during the IBM days. Fact of the matter is that ThinkPads were many times more expensive and much less attainable than what they are today. Recent ThinkPad developments have perhaps not made as huge a splash as in the past (maybe excluding X300 series and W700(ds) series), but while the evolution might have been more subtle, the same traits are still there and some have been improved significantly.

For the new "spoiled" generation who often seem to want the best of the best, but only pay peanuts for their ThinkPads: I'd wish you would count to 10 every now and then and appreciate the evolution ThinkPads have gone through and the fact that just a few years ago, most of you would not be able afford one, let alone be in a position to complain about a ThinkPad If you despite this, would still like more features and innovation, be willing to cough up some serious dollars along with great purchase quantities - and I'm sure Lenovo will provide.

And with that, the ThinkPad history lesson/rant is over for today. Class dismissed

 

Times have changed, and IBM Thinkpad in the early days were the mover and shaker in the laptop technology field, backed up by robust sales and heavy investment into their R&D departments. Just like it is still the king of Supercomputer industry.

In fact so many of their laptop design were so far ahead of its time, they are still considered avant garde now. And some companies are ripping off these Thinkpad technologies as something new and novel.

It is one thing to have the most advanced technology of its day, but quite another in having a market demand for it. These beautiful advanced laptop engineering mostly died a premature death as a full product, since they were expensive and there were not enough applications around to take advantage of these advanced technology. But obviously, the technology behind them was developed further and incorporated into future products that came later on. Basically, they were these avantgarde product were the development and engineering mule, like what the first iteration of Bugatti Veyron was to the VW group.

Recent trend in computer and laptop industry is actually cutting manufacturing costs and developing a high quality product at the lowest possible price (if the company doesn't want to do price skimming practice).

So Contract Manufacturing, Joint Design Manufacturing and Original Design Manufacturing are more prominent. Lenovo like all other tier one computer companies are increasing reliant on these methods to drive down costs of their laptop.

Acer basically is using these cost and market formulas in their laptop lineup, and they are doing great in the computer market. They moved up the tier one industry ladder rather quickly, while Lenovo dropped.

X300 according to David Hill, is a halo product for lenovo. It was not a product that was designed for profit, but rather a product to make people believe that Lenovo is just as capable as IBM in designing a laptop that exceeds customer expectation.

Building the Perfect Laptop

 

Funny that the X300 is supposed to be Lenovo proving they still got it when I remember reading quite a few problems about them.

I think the difference was IBM wasn't a personal computer company. Selling personal computers let them sell everything else they do, so whether the personal computers made or lost money wasn't nearly as important as it was that they be good enough to be an advertisement for the rest of the company.

I still think what they really need are stores. Stores and old school sales tactics like dropping a computer on the ground and showing the customer it didn't miss a beat. They don't even have to have a large inventory in the stores, just a point of sale, which could still allow for customized orders. The only problem would be selling the non-Think laptops in the same store (anybody know why people buy those? They seem to be just another cheap laptop as far as I've seen)

 

The non-ThinkPad lines (e.g. IdeaPad) are actually not bad. I don't find them worse than most other mainstream notebooks out there.

As for stores, that is a common Lenovo distribution model in i.e. Asia (in addition to corporate sales). Here you will find quite a few stores and showrooms, sometimes exclusively for the ThinkPad series, but more than often with sections for IdeaPad and sometimes even some of Lenovo's phones.

 

But no better either, or even different, which is where they lose me. They could say Toshiba/Dell/HP on them, I wouldn't know the difference, and at least with those you can take it back to the store which likely has a better return/exchange policy than Lenovo. The question to me would be how do you sell those alongside a Thinkpad. Everything you brag about as a selling point for a Thinkpad, those don't have, so either you have to tiptoe when pushing the Thinkpad, or not sell a single non-Thinkpad.

 

If you read the article that i linked, David did talk about the fact that Lenovo had to rush through the product for various reasons, one of which was the surprise release or Macbook Air by Apple.

Stress tests and other videos

You mean the videos in the link above?

Lenovo do have some stores around the world, but not many. Thinkpads are also sold through various retail channels, which i guess act as the Lenovo official stores.

So basically, you want a store to be just a display centre for Thinkpads? I don't think that is possible solution, as Lenovo don't just sell Thinkpads laptop.

People buy non-Thinkpad laptops, because it is a laptop that meets their needs and wants at a price that they accept. It is not like Lenovo is the only company that offers the consumer laptops.

Also, Consumer laptops market is larger than the Business laptop market. So obviously there is a market for the non-thinkpad laptops.

Price will act as the main point of difference between the general consumer grade lenovo laptops and thinkpads.

 

I had an IdeaPad Y560 for a few weeks. As marlinspike says, it didn't seem any better to me than any other "consumer" laptop. The build quality and screen made me uncomfortable enough to trade it away for a T410. I feel I got the better end of that deal because I can tell that the T410 will last a long, long time.

 

Because ideapad is ODM/JDM product, they could share the basic design and underpinnings with other consumer grade laptops.

In fact most consumer laptops are now designed and manufactured by only a few Contract Manufacturers.

The point of difference between the different consumer machines are brand, Casing design, feature set (i.e. ports and GPU), and more importantly the aftersale support. Quality wise they are pretty much the same, apart from hinges (there is a variation in quality between hinge design).

 

Admire yes. Feel strongly about yes. Brag about no. It is not my company and even so, I would not 'brag'. Please stop putting words in my mouth.

Your example about tiptoeing is the same when it comes to cars and despite the fact that many dealerships are specific to one brand, even more have both premium and mainstream brands/models under the same roof, with partitions and individual CI or not. One can argue for and against, but sales of all models will still continue if positioned correctly (sales pitch, marcom, etc).

As for taking it back to the store - this is the common way of doing it with Lenovo non-ThinkPad or ThinkPad products in many Asian countries. The North American market was not the reference point.

 

Sure, but how many people go around searching for laptop stress videos on the internet? They should sell Thinkpads to the people the way Ruger used to sell guns to police forces - go directly to the buyer, drop it on the ground, kick it around a little, spill liquid on it, and show that it still works (obviously Ruger was doing different things with the guns, these are the laptop-based suggestions)

In my area I can't think of a single retail outlet for Thinkpads, unless you count the single model of the Thinkpad Edge sold by Office Depot. In fact, this is the only Lenovo product I've ever seen in a store in my area.

No, it'd be a Lenovo store, I'm just not sure how you'd be able to sell Thinkpads without maligning the rest of the product.

But is the price any different? I just looked at a Y460 - starts at $899, and a T410i is $829. Specs look to be pretty much the same, other than the Y has more ram, but the ram option for the T makes it only $15 more.

I get that there is a market for consumer laptops, but, at least in the US, what is the market for lenovo consumer laptops? No brand cache, hard to find in stores, no cheaper than the competition, no more capable than the competition. I'll add that in 3 years of law school I've seen quite a few Thinkpads (as far as thinkpads go), many dells/acers/hps, and a single ideapad.

Maybe they're doing it differently in the rest of the world and just doing it wrong in the US?

 

You misunderstood me. I'm using "you" in the general sense - the way a Harvard man uses "one." I don't mean you personally, I mean the way a generic person. This might be an American colloquialism.

 

I see. My mistake.

 

Here in Seattle you can buy the "Edge" at several retail outlets and one of the "big box" electronics retailers occasionally offer the ThinkPad "R" series. Also, several retailers carry the "S" netbooks.

It seems almost everyone in this town has a laptop and we have more wi-fi coffee shops, per capita, than any other city in the U.S. I see a lot of Dells and Macbooks (mostly students and young people), HP, Toshiba or Acer for the ordinary consumer, Asus or Alienware for the gamers and Sonys for those who can afford them, and business people with ThinkPad "T" or "X" series. A lot of ThinkPads.

There are a couple of Apple Stores in the area and also a couple Sony Stores. Why not a Lenovo Store? The Apple and Sony stores do a brisk business and I think a Lenovo Store would be successful here too. I know I would use it, if only so I wouldn't have to wait weeks to get my order from China. Retail outlets give the buyer a place to go if they have questions or problems rather than dealing with support long-distance. It makes a huge difference.

 

Many tier one laptop companies usually offer their high end laptops to university at significant discount, Lenovo also does it but not as successful as its competitors.

Regarding, pricing in USA for Thinkpads. Lenovo in my opinion is actually subsidizing the customer in USA to the detriment to other thinkpad customers around the world. The price differential between ideapad and thinkpads in the rest of world is actually quite large.

Maybe, Lenovo should charge the US customer the real prices for Thinkpads like they do in the rest of the world.

But if i am you, i would consider this a blessing rather a mal-alignment of lenovo's marketing or sales towards the US market.

 

Hmmm....Don't know about the rest of Asia, but in India I have yet to see a Lenovo Store that carries ThinkPads. If you want a ThinkPad, you will have to ask them to order it for you - takes about 2-3 weeks and generally it is not customizable, which sucks!!!!

 

I don't know if we're not paying the real price - everything is cheaper here. Just the way it is. I would say in part it's because we don't have VAT in the price (though I have no idea if Australia does). The rest of it is it's just the way it is. If you want to figure out how much a car costs in the US based on the price they tell you on Top Gear, you can almost just change the GBP to USD and not touch the number (even back when it was 2USD to the 1GBP). From my travels throughout Europe, everything from candy bars, to gasoline, to cars is cheaper in the US.

When I said maybe they're just doing it wrong in the US, I was thinking more along the lines of they're doing the Ideapad marketing wrong. Maybe if they were widely available in stores, like other consumer laptops, I'd find it easier to understand.

 

I was referring to Southeast Asia and Greater China. Attached are a few pictures from a store in Thailand.


But it seems you are in luck:

Lenovo opens flagship store, largest in India | Thinkpads.com - News, Reviews, Coupons, Deals on ThinkPad & IdeaPad Laptop computers

Lenovo opens another retail store in India | Thinkpads.com - News, Reviews, Coupons, Deals on ThinkPad & IdeaPad Laptop computers The picture in this second link is from Korea however.

Chances are that with India's development you will see many more in the future.

 

The IdeaPads seem to be getting more available at retailers. I bought my Y560 at Fry's Electronics for $999 (USD) -- that's in the store, not online. Then there's the 9.5% WA sales tax (which includes additional county/city taxes) which is applied in the metro area. Why am I not charged state sales tax when ordering from Newegg but I am charged the tax when ordering from Lenovo? (I would have gotten my order much quicker via Newegg, too.)

 

Because NewEgg has no business presence in WA, but Lenovo does (quick and dirty version, not a complete explanation of the law...). Techincally, you're supposed to pay taxes on your online purchases at the end of the year (at least in more than a few states), but nobody does.

 

Hmmm...interesting! Thanks for the links. But if you checked out the last line of the first link, which says "...Of interesting note is that Lenovo’s retail focus will actually be on SMB and not solely on end consumers...", you will find the catch. These shops will generally carry Lenovo's consumer lines and rarely the ThinkPads. I certainly hope that they not only carry ThinkPads, but also enable buyers to customize them, but frankly, I don't see that happening. The Indian market is very price conscious and I doubt whether Lenovo has the time, money and the effort to spare to educate the customer about the virtues of the ThinkPad vis-a-vis its broader consumer-oriented lines.

From my experience (which is admittedly limited), I think the best bet is to develop a close relation with a Lenovo Authorized Dealer. Generally, he will have channels through which he can get you ThinkPads (often at a serious discount - like he did for me!) and it's likely - though I have not tested it yet - he can also help you customize the order. How precisely the last part is done remains a mystery to me.

 

@jabbajabba: Those pics are from Thailand!!!! Just 4 or 5 hrs away and ticket prices are cheap! Have good friends in BKK. Visa on arrival too! Maybe will make a quick dash there and pick up a ThinkPad!!!!! How are the prices there?

 

Prices of ThinkPads in Thailand are quite reasonable and sometimes even very cheap - although not to the same low level as found in the US. But then again which country can beat US pricing levels.

From my experience the ThinkPad prices in Thailand are about the cheapest I have seen in Asia Pacific. Keep in mind that while some keyboards are normal US English, most come with Thai Keyboards (US English with Thai symbols). Either you replace with a keyboard of your own choice or live with the extra symbols, which I have chosen to do on more than one occasion.

I'll post some pricing examples in a bit.

In the meantime, let us get back on track people. No appreciation or discussion concerning the special ThinkPad models I originally posted?

Perhaps I shouldn't have added the other comments. Seem to have spurred on too much distraction.

 

@jabbajabba: Thanks. I would probably put in my own keyboard, which I can get through IBM in India down to the exact FRU number (42T3143 or 42T3209)!

 

I guess I'm too young to have appreciated those specific Thinkpads when they were released - I do remember loving the T42 my dad was given through his company, though.

And by the way, I think a more appropriate title for this thread would be "What makes a ThinkPad special... a few models in the ThinkLight."

 

That S30 looks so darned cool! I had never seen it before. I wish they could bring back some of those form-factors (with the build qualities at a lower cost). I can imagine that machine to be a modern ultraportable or, more to the point, the ThinkPad version of a netbook, which naturally, they would rename as the ThinkNet. I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

 

...in the ThinkLight that was a good one.

MidnightSun, you must still be fairly young of age if the T42 is as old as it gets for you I was very fond of the T40 series in general. Solid and for me a typical ThinkPad.

 

having owned an X300, X301, s30, 701c, and 600 (among dozens of others), i can say from personal experience that the X30x series definitely proved their designers still "got it."   after all, Lenovo hired the entire IBM design department both in the US and Japan leaving no question as to the same people being behind the designs old and new.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't really look at laptops other than Thinkpads when looking to buy or make a recommendation, but it's just funny to me how the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry. I do think a lot of its not what it used to be talk is often nonsense or nitpicking.

Other things, like the in-your-face innovation, are backburnered because of other innovation. For instance, when you can make a 13 inch laptop weigh under 3 pounds and fit in an inter-office envelope, there's really no reason to make a 10 inch laptop, which means there's no reason to have the amazingly innovative butterfly keyboard.

 

the difference, too, is that 10~15 years ago the internet wasn't a sea of complaints.   BBSes, mailing lists, and forums were used for peers to help each other, not nitpick over the minutia.   people did complain once in a while but the whining complaints were far less.   in fact, i don't recall a single person who ever pointed at my shiny, new 701c in '95 and said it was ugly because the display bezel was thicker on the left than the right.   instead they complimented the overall design.

those of us who have used ThinkPads since 1992 probably have a different outlook than those who just came into the brand after Lenovo took over the PC division.   i see a lot of new users make complaints and say stuff about the "IBM days" that make us old-timers chuckle.   many systems that are admired today were seen as a mistake, ugly, and/or destined for failure back in the day.   now they're collectors' items.   perspective can be a funny thing.

 

Even sick in bed, I laughed hard at this. This is EXACTLY the kind of complaint you'd see on a forum today. My favorite one was people complaining about T60s having bowed lids at the back. My first thought was "how the heck did you even notice this?" Then Matt Kohut came out saying look guys it's an arch, it makes it stronger, it's designed that way and I really had a laugh.

 

Well, I believe that many people these days seem to follow a 'function follows form' mindset, which seems to make a notebook computer a flashy status symbol rather than a tool that gets work done. And, they definitely are more likely to nitpick and rail over what in all honesty is pretty minute stuff.

To me, ThinkPads are for the most part built to last. This includes the nearly decade-old T21 I'm currently using(yes, I got it working) and the thirteen year old 380ED that I've got sitting in my home office, just waiting for Win95 and some old games of yore to be installed as a side project. The T21 I've got is on the last gasps of its useful life and the 380ED is pretty much obsolete but the fact they still boot and function like the day they were first unboxed speaks volumes about the design experience and attention to detail that the IBM/Lenovo design and engineering teams really put into their products.

 

Perhaps the increased complaints has more to do with product as they are today than changing human nature . People's expectations have changed, arguably at one point thinkpads were far and away the move innovative and best designed laptops on the market. Being the best has a tendency to minimize complaints. Are they in a different position today? I would definitely say so. Thinkpads are still great, but it could be the grass is getting greener too. A lot more options to compare to, and with it, shortcomings to complain about.

 

...and to add to the above...see this. Admittedly, the referenced article refers to the iPhone in particular, but given that most laptops (including the ThinkPad) are assembled in China, a similar logic applies. Food for thought! The 'classic machines' that headlined this thread were made in a different time and under different conditions. Today, the impact of the change from then to now is visible in the product - and that includes the ThinkPad...unfortunate, but unavoidable, I guess.

 

i seen someone complained about the T43 been inferior in quality as compared to the T42, due to the fact that it was owned by Lenovo. Some people just complain for the sake of complaining, or a troll... you can't really do anything to please these people, as they will find some negative point to argue about.

 

Remember all the T500 weak keyboard posts...and then David Hill posts up the actual numbers and that it was firmer than the T60.

 

I'm currently in Hong Kong at the moment and there are a bundant of electronics stores that have Thinkpads on display, though they're usually selected lines such as the SL410, T410 and X201. I even went to the official Lenovo store that recently opened in the Sha Tin Shopping Mall, it's not a big store but it was a rare sight to see coming from the UK.

Despite it's 0% sales tax, Thinkpads are not that price competitive here compared to elsewhere. Some T410's I saw are around $11000 HKD (~$1400 USD/£945) which is pretty much similar to prices I see back in the UK. Considering you can get the T410 in the US at a ludicrous price of $899 USD you're better off buying from there if you really want a Thinkpad on the cheap!

 

Still a few months short of legality, actually

One thing that I miss from the T42 not present in new Thinkpads (which might sound silly) is the grey coloring of the top two rows of the keyboard. There's something alluring to me about the color delineation...

Technically, the T60 didn't have an arched lid. This change came with the T61 and up

If I hadn't read about this feature, I may have thought it was a defect with my machine as well. I guess I'm sort of OCD (I wipe down my Thinkpad's keyboard with alcohol + water every week so there's no "shine," and keep my screen spotless, ...), so yes, I did notice that on my own. I also noticed the unbalanced bezels, but that didn't bother me at all (I kind of like the grip thingy on the thicker left side of the screen, actually).

 

I love the S30 design as well. As for a ThinkPad netbook, the X100e is to fill that gap - even if they will not call it a netbook.

Yes I know. It seems that Indians are flocking to Bangkok in extreme numbers and have been doing so for quite some time. Everytime I arrive in Suvarnabhumi, I walk pass herds of Indians at the Visa on arrival counter

Here are a few price examples (you can get refund on the VAT when leaving Thailand, minus an admin fee):

T410i

Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor (3M Cache, 2.26GHz. up to 2.53 GHz. with turbo boost)
1*4GB DDR3 PC8500
Mobile Intel QM57 Express Chipset
500GB 7200rpm
DVD RW
Intel® Centrino Wireless-N 1000
Exp card + 5-in-1/Camera/Finger Print/Bluetooth/Modem
14.1" WXGA+ LED B/L
Window7 Pro
Battery 6Cell / 2.5Kg
3 Years warranty international carry-in




T410i

Intel Core I3 330 M 2.13 GHz
RAM 2GB DDR3
HDD 500 GB 7200 rpm
DVD - RW
Nvidia Quadro NVS 3100M
Intel 1000 BGN /WWAN Gobi 2000
Cardreader /Camera/Finger Print/Bluetooth/Modem
Battery 6 Cell
2.3 Kg
14.1" WXGA
OS No
3 Years Warranty international




X201

Intel Core I5-540M(2.53GHz. 4Threads,turbo boots up to 3.06 GHz.)
RAM 2GB DDR3
HDD 320 GB 5400 rpm
Gigabit Ethernet/ wi-fi Link 1000 BGN / WWAN Gobi
Intel graphic media accelerator HD
Cardreader /Camera/Finger Print/Bluetooth/MODEM
Battery 6 Cell
1.5 Kg .
12.1 " LED BL WXGA 1280 * 800
No OS
3Years Warranty international Carry-in
1 Year Warranty Battery




X201i

Intel® Core™ i3-330M Processor (3M Cache, 2.13 GHz)
RAM 2GB DDR3
Mobile Intel QM57 Express Chipset
HDD 320GB 5400rpm
Gigabit Ethernet/ ThinkPad BGN wi-fi
Graphic Intel GMA HD
Modem /cardreader/Camera/Finfer print/Bluetooth/Modem
12.1" WXGA LED BL
6 cell Battery
3 Years Warranty international

(Free USB DVD-RW lenovo / Bag)

 

My T60 are all arched in the back of the lid.

 

Not silly at all. I am with you on that one. I am very glad they put the red and blue colors back on the TrackPoint buttons, but I also miss the grey keys.

I asked a few of my fellow ThinkPad geek colleagues about this and they actually prefer an all black keyboard, as well as all black mouse buttons as on the X/T61 amongst others. They find the look to be more "clean". All up to personal preference I guess.

Another thing I am happy about is that Lenovo chose to make the volume and power buttons black again on e.g. the X200 keyboard, rather than the silver buttons on e.g. the X61 keyboard.

 

Inside the Box Blog Archive It’s a feature, not a defect
And no, it's not a typo, look at the date (plus I have a T60...)

 

@jabbajabba:

Those are real prices right??? Damn! They are cheap! Is this a regular price or is there a sale or something going on?

Thanks for putting them down here.

I can live with the Thai keyboard, which I can get changed (and replaced with the solid backed keyboard) in 48 hrs on my arrival back in India.

The T410i with the Intel® Core™ i5-430M Processor (3M Cache, 2.26GHz. up to 2.53 GHz. with turbo boost) which you say costs 45,900 THB ex. VAT (7%) when converted to Indian Rupees is at least 30% cheaper!

And, the X201i @ 29,900 THB ex. VAT (Free USB DVD-RW lenovo / Bag) costs as much as I paid for the R400 that I recently bought!!!

Even if I add 15% for ticket costs - it would be an 'in and out trip' and since I have a multiple entry visa on my passport, no waiting in lines and crowding the early morning Suvarnabhumi visa-on-arrival lines ;>)) I could get in on a morning flight and leave in the evening - no costs whatsoever!

Where is my phone????

 

The prices I posted are some of the better deals and probably from a sale. Nonetheless there are frequently promotions going on in Bangkok for any type of laptop, so I'd say chances of getting ThinkPads at those prices are good.

 

Just to nominate another classic thinkpad: the 600 series was head and toes above the market competition at the time (12 years ago.... 1998). It was a full powered 13 inch thin and light that was smaller and more powerful than most of the competition's ultra portables. It was the classic thinkpad in every way: thin and portable, built like a tank, and a incredible keyboard. Other than it's nasty habit of prematurely killing batteries, it was was fabulous, and could almost pass for a contemporary thinkpad today:

vs vs

 

And here's another that is nine years old now:


PC Magazine reviews IBM ThinkPad TransNote - Reviews by PC Magazine

Thinkpad's today look pretty standard relative to the competition. You did pay up the nose for the innovation, but it was great that it was there, and it was that which made thinkpad's special. You paid the prices because there was nothing comparable. Just as you paid top dollar for the classic premium thinkpad, we are paying similar top of the market prices for loaded x301s, w510s and w701s that have much less to differentiate them from the market. Noting conditions and consumer expectations are different today, still, it's that market differentiating innovation and experimentation that i miss.

 

And just to add on more from the same generation, the 240 was pretty sweet too. I'm sure its been talked about, but at 10 inches and an inch thick, it was netbook sized a decade ago:



Looking back now, I think the late nineties/early millennium was a bit of a thinkpad golden age.

 

Imagine what kind of transnote they could make today. What makes the 240 special though?

 

However, not enough people adopted these technologies, because they were expensive and most people weren't as computer literate as people today.

So pricing is crucial to gain foothold in the market, also the relative marketing and sales strategy most also be adopted to increase the appeal of these products.

 

On the other hand though, just being a laptop was expensive back then, so I would think something like the TransNote would be a lot cheaper today than the price tag it carried then.

 

Transnote is a nice machine and lot of technology got carried over to other products released over the years.

Transnote even implemented today would still costs more than the Thinkpad tablet, but functionally it doesn't do a lot more than a regular X201t, so the market for such product would be limited.