stay tuned for some lenovo announcements coming soon...

The SL series really made me lose interest when it discarded the dual-latch closing mechanism.

 

What? Off-center screen and no red-and-blue trackpoint buttons on the T and R series?!?! Lets just hope engadget was still using the rumour pics (I suspect they are because their X200 pic has the 51nb logo on it...

 

I was reading some information about the W500 ( http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent...ll_out_centrino_2_laptops.html?tk=rl_noinform) : it seems to have support for switch from discrete to integrated GPU, that would be awesome if true.

I wonder if there is already some information available about the FireGL V5700 which this laptop will support : is that a good match against the Quadro series like the FX1600M or (dreaming) the FX3600M?

 

Here is a link to the official T400 and T500 datasheet:

http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/t400_and_t500_datasheet.pdf

X200 datasheet:

http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/x200_datasheet.pdf

Enjoy

 

Yep, the switchable graphic would be nice, and I can't think of any reason why it won't have that feature.
No one knows the spec of the FireGL V5700, I kinda suspect it uses the 3850(3870?!) core, and I think it would be more powerful than the FX1600m(8700GT) and little bit weaker than the 3600m.

 

If you read the datasheet that I just posted about the T400 and T500, you can see that they both have the switchable graphics.

T400 will use AMD HD 3470
T500 will use AMD HD 3650

They will both have 256mb of memory.

 

That would be great, the FX3600M has been in my dreams for months, but a 17" laptop is just too big for me and I don't think it will ever fit in a 15.4".

About the switchable graphic, I actually misread : from Lenovo website ( http://www.lenovo.com/news/us/en/2008/07/ThinkPad_SL.html) it says T400/T500 will have it, but it is not explicitely stated for the W500. I will cross my fingers. If not available, at least I hope for a smart bay with battery option, it would make the W500 nearly perfect.

 

Lenovo just annouced the new ideapad's, 13.3", 14.1", and 15.4". Anyone know when these will actually be available on the website? same time as the new thinkpads?

 

anyone know the price of T400?

 

I'm guessing around $1500-1600 when you equip some of the desirable options like LED screen, switchable graphics, 9 cell battery, etc.

If you totally maxed it out with SSD and everything then you could probably top $2.5k easily.

 

I'm looking to do some minor gaming on the new thinkpad (T500 or W500) that I get, nothing too serious as I know that this is not a gaming laptop. I wonder how the FireGL v5700 stacks up against the HD3650 and Quadro FX570M? I know if you do a search on youtube for T61P gaming you get quite a few videos of games being played on with the FX570M. I would imagine that the new HD3650 and FireGL 5700 would perform better.

 

Funny that at the second page of the folder http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/t400_and_t500_datasheet.pdf there is actually a picture of T61...

 

I'm quite sure the FireGL 5700 will be more powerful than the Quadro 570m, and of course, alot more powerful than the HD 3650.

Look at the battery life of the T400, quoted 9.8 hours with a 9 cell and 13 hours couple with the ultrabay one. Let's hope Lenovo honors their words this time.

 

Damn it STILL no centred screen or coloured trackpoint buttons...those specs do look good though

 

i actually kind of like the bigger latch and off-centered screen on the T61

 

I like the design...I just hate the off-centre screen and plain trackpoint buttons lol...oh yeah, I also wish they had made the power/volume/thinkvantage buttons like those on the X300 or at least black like on the X200

 

Hmm not that off-centered screen would bother me (though I don't really know since I don't have the laptop, yet), but clearly Lenovo must understand that it DOES turn away SOME people. Is there a reason why it is such an engineering challenge that they can't make the screen centered? Just curious.

 

I agree. Because of this off-centered screen design, I'm having second thoughts whether my next notebook would still be a ThinkPad.

Come on, let's be honest. The only reason people accepted the off-centered screen design is that it's still a ThinkPad no matter what. The truth is if Lenovo would release T and R series in both centered and off-centered design, what would you really, honestly buy, and actually like?

 

I'm thinking that it might have something to do with being able to fit the ridiculous number of antennae that are possible without compromising the thickness of the screen.
- Integrated WWAN (with GPS)
- Ultra Wide Band (UWB)
- WiMAX
- Intel WiFi Link (2x3 or 1x2)

I actually have a tablet that has pen storage to the right of the screen. Thus, the screen is off center. It doesn't bother me at all.

 

There is another good news:
" Dimensions
335.3x238x27.6x31.9mm (4/6-cell battery)". If 6-cell doesn't stick out and 3-cell bay one adds ~3h then we'll get 9-10h in a compact form!

Wonder if "Press-to-Select" feature will eventually work? I'm really pampered after using this option in HP laptop.

PS
Wait a minute!

" Display
WXGA (1280x800, 98dpi, 185+ nit)
WXGA+ (1440x900, 129dpi, 200+ nit)
WXGA+ W/LED Backlight (1680x1050, 129dpi, 200+ nit)"

Which one is a typo?

 

Clearly LED doesn't have 1680x1050 res.

 

Ok, that's it after seeing the spec sheet for the t400 I am returning my Gateway and waiting for that. Know I just hope for some kind of discount or coupon.

 

Yeah, and actually WXGA+@14'1 yields rather 120ppi while 1680x1050 corresponds to 141ppi. It's a bit messy, isn't it?
I really started to think they would offer WSXGA+ in T400... on the other hand, the W500 & X200 combo will also offer a huge fun factor

 

Its too bad that there is no HDMI or DisplayPort on the T400. The new Dell E6400 will have a display port, and that could be a deal breaker for many I think, including me.

Battery life on the T400 looks amazing though!

 

The specifications of the W500 are now out :

http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/w500_datasheet.pdf

At page 3 it says "Li-ion Battery Life 6-cell, integrated/discrete graphics: up to 5.5hr/3.8hr ". I wonder if this is an error or this machine does really support dual graphics.

Still it looks brilliant.

Does someone knows if these notebooks (T400/T500/W500) are provided with glossy or matte display?

 

Looks great, indeed!

And the bezel is so thin...

I hope they will all be matte. However, SLs offer a choice between VibrantView and Anti-Glare LCDs.

 

Lenovo updated their product photo page with hi-res pics of the new lineup:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/lenovo/product_photos.html

 

Great find, czhang.

Looks like Lenovo is sticking to the same design for the R/T series. Fine by me.

 

One of those W500's is mine as soon as they come out .

 

No error, it's switchable.

Matte only.

Nice pics, but it seems that Lenovo didn't manage to get the screen centered on the T/R/W series, so sorry for those who hoped for a miracle.

And the jacks are on the front side even on 15.4" models, otherwise are fine.

 

Look at the pic, W500 will have a built in webcam ^_^.
What's up Dreamer.

 

^^ How innovative...

Has anyone noticed this:

Well, I hope it's not as "premium" as those on T61p were, a normal, good one would do the job.

It says "200+" confused which should somewhat be an improvement over the current 175 nits if it happens to be true, of course.

 

You are making me very happy. I just discovered this machine a few days ago and it seems built according to my specific requirements.

But is the switchable thing stated somewhere on the Lenovo website? I looked for that confirmation but I couldn't find it.

Right now I would just like to see some benchmark of the video card.

 

oh please. Thinkpads are all about form-follows-function. Most of us already got over the fact of the matter. If you are that anal about it, go buy a pretty Vaio.

 

See the Lenovo T400/T500 spec sheet, page two where it says "SWITCHABLE GRAPHICS Provision for an easy switch between Discrete and Integrated graphics processing unit
which enables maximized battery life and performance." There's further mention on page three under Graphics.

 

Thanks Lew. Actually I noticed that on the T400/T500, but my doubt is if the W500 will support it, since it is not stated clearly in its datasheet, besides the possible clue in the battery life extimation.

 

It would be interesting to see how these new video cards compare to integrated ones since Intel did some work to improve the performance on the latter on the new chipset. Switchable graphics is nice but if it doesn't materially improve performace than it might be worth it to go with integrated only.

Not sure why it has to be either/or, or why it is such a difficult task to make a notebook with a centered screen. After all, pretty much every other manufacturer manages to accomplish this feat. If you are paying over $1k for a piece of equipment, a bit of symmetry is not that much to ask for.

 

Sorry for the confusion, Andrew. I was thinking you were asking about the T's not the W. My error.

 

Not a problem, I actually did the same when I read the specifications the first time...

I think integrated graphics here is more for battery saving when the laptop is unplugged. Again, it would be nice to have some benchmark of the discrete video card, however even if it is just decent it should beat easily the integrated. BTW the V5700 for the W500 is supposed to be heavily optimized for CAD and 3D modeling.

 

I saw that thing too and it can only mean three things:
1. Lenovo is lying (but at the same time Dell is also claiming that their 15" WUXGA screens in the Latitude/Precision line are 200 nits and they are lying, since they have Samsung ones (or so I think) available, along with the LG made screens.).
2. There will only be a LG screen (as it's the only 200 nits WUXGA).
3. Samsung is releasing a new batch of WUXGA screens, this time 200 nits, instead of the current 175 nits.

 

Do you have the data sheet on the R series????

 

I really like the idea of switchable graphics in W500 - simply because I opt for WUXGA and want longer battery life than one I can get from T61p.

Try this: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...ng_pages/Info/08/Montevina&ipromoID=wna00256&

 

The specs are impressive, now I can hope for a better WUXGA.

 

Anyone know anything about the ATI FireGL 5700 GPU? I've never heard of it, I looked through the stickies in the graphics forum, and I searched google but I could find no info on it. What is it based on? Expected performance? Any info?

 

That was rather a sarcastic comment there, but still we need number 4:

Dell, HP and Lenovo use the same WUXGA screens. Basically, the Samsung screen is 175 nits while the LG one is 210 nits (click LP154WU1). Most brands won't bother to list the brightness of every single screen they use or, if at all, for one or another reason, and they don't give you a choice anyway. Lenovo usually does state the brightness of every of them but some of the information is mising, which is the case with WUXGA screens, so you are left with those 175 nits in the tabook as it seems they list the lowest possible brightness for a certain screen resolution there. Dell and HP, on the other hand, give you some average or the highest possible brightness.

What are we going to see in the new ThinkPads? I don't know, and you can't judge from some sketchy and misleading pdfs anyway, but we will find out soon.

 

Ok, looks like the FireGL V5700 uses the HD 3650 (RV635/M86) core.....
A little bit disappointing. Considering HD 3650 only has 128 bit, so it can't even utilize 512Mb. What is Lenovo thinking?
Not so much to expect now.

 

so how do you compare HP DV screens to current Lenovo T or IdeaPad series? I just checked out new DV5 and the screen visually identical to previous DV gen which is bad... not much brightness and not so great contrast, but not as bad as X61 my wife uses.

 

Where did you find this? I still cannot retrieve any useful info about this video card ...

EDIT : NVM, I see now that it states M86 in the datasheet of the W500. I'm not very familiar with ATI cards, but I guess this means it will be at best on par with a Quadro FX1600M. Honestly it looks not very impressive for a machine claimed to be 'the ultimate mobile workstation and the most powerful ThinkPad ever built'

 

Well, you should not expect anything better than a mid-range card in a 15.4" notebook to begin with. Granted, there are two slightly oversized 15.4" notebooks with high-end cards now, but that's not the norm and definitely not something that you will find here. The W500 should be a balance between power and portability, not only power.

As for being "the most powerful ThinkPad ever built"... well... every next ThinkPad will be too... I like marketing.

 

I understand what you mean. It is still a good notebook, but with a better video card it could have been outstanding. I was just expecting something more from the new generation of laptops.

Out of curiosity, which oversized notebooks are you referring to? I guess one is the M860TU.