Lenovo's Olympics-inspired laptops revealed

Yeah, you may have thought those Santa Rosa, er, Centrino Pro-based ThinkPads were hot stuff, but they ain't got nuthin' on the future eBay value of the svelte new Olympic-inspired iteration. Shortly after Lenovo unveiled its 2008 Beijing Olympic torch design, the firm has already thrown down snapshots of its Olympic laptop, which certainly looks dashing in its own right. The stunning red and black case design is accented with a motif similar to that found on the torch, and the spiral designs actually seep beyond the external casing right onto the palm rests and around the LCD's bezel. Unfortunately, not much is know about the internal hardware that these presumably finely trained machines will sport, but early details suggests a 12.1-inch XGA display and Intel's L2400 Core 2 Duo processor will be in the mix. Additionally, mum's the word on pricing and availability, but you can rest assured that this bad boy will be one hot commodity whenever it lands in limited quantities. Click on through for a few more glamor shots.

[Via Engadget Chinese]

[Michael Katz @ Apr 28th 2007 4:11PM]

You do realize that Lenovo makes the thinkpad.....IBM just doesn't make them anymore. The thinkpads still exist. What the heck are you smoking? Just because it says lenovo on the lid doesn't mean it can't be a thinkpad.

[zed @ Apr 29th 2007 5:07AM]

When the battery explodes THIS will be the torch.

[davidlg16 @ Apr 28th 2007 3:36PM]

12" with a trackpad? no way, probably gonna be a 14"

[Michael Katz @ Apr 28th 2007 4:11PM]

And why couldn't a 12 inch have a trackpad? Hell...10 inch laptops have trackpads.

[answr42 @ Apr 28th 2007 4:06PM]

Last time i checked, Intel never made a L2400 Core 2 Duo... The L7k series is the low voltage core 2 duo processors.

[snife @ Apr 28th 2007 4:27PM]

Michael Catz - i think its you thats been smoking - those of us who know ThinkPads know its not a ThinkPad and we make a big distinction between them and the generic Lenovo rubbish (ThinkPad it not a brand name for all lenovo laptops - only the good ones), it looks like one of the Lenovo 3000 Asia only models with a new paintjob.

The Lenovo 3000 is a 12" system with a touchpad so it is possible but the real question you need to ask is why you would ever buy a system without a trackpoint.

[Michael Katz @ Apr 28th 2007 4:46PM]

If you are going to reply to me...and put in my last name....clearly be smart enough to spell it right. The fact that you misspelled it AFTER it was already written out for you, invalidates anything you may say. I do agree that the thinkpad name is not 100% the same..but I have an old IBM thinkpad and a new Lenovo c3000, and have no quality differences with either. I treat my laptops with respect and take good care of them, but like i said....i have no issues with them.

[myscrnnm @ Apr 28th 2007 6:21PM]

"You do realize that Lenovo makes the thinkpad.....IBM just doesn't make them anymore. The thinkpads still exist. What the heck are you smoking? Just because it says lenovo on the lid doesn't mean it can't be a thinkpad."

I might ask the same question of you. You can tell from the design that it's obviously not a ThinkPad-branded notebook. And looking at the inside, Lenovo still retains the "ThinkPad" logo at the bottom right, and it's also absent.

[davidlg16 @ Apr 30th 2007 1:07AM]

it's probably not a thinkpad because thinkpads have no trackpads on their 12" models...mr cat

[Michael Katz @ Apr 28th 2007 4:51PM]

If you are going to reply to me...and put in my last name....clearly be smart enough to spell it right. The fact that you misspelled it AFTER it was already written out for you, invalidates anything you may say. I do agree that the thinkpad name is not 100% the same..but I have an old IBM thinkpad and a new Lenovo c3000, and have no quality differences with either. I treat my laptops with respect and take good care of them, but like i said....i have no issues with them.

[Irfan @ Apr 28th 2007 4:42PM]

thinkpads still have thinkpad written on them even without the IBM logo dont they? these only say lenovo with no mention of thinkpad.

my 12" x31 thinkpad has a trackpoint, i couldnt live without it, and cant see how theyd fit a decent sized trackpad with proper mouse buttons.

[snife @ Apr 28th 2007 5:30PM]

I apologise for not getting your name right but i hardly think using a c instead of a k on something that is irrelevant to my points invalidates anything i say (these are casual comments on a board so I dont generally check my spellings or grammer)

You are in the minority if you believe there is no quality difference between a ThinkPad and a Lenovo 3000 - they are not in the same league - if you treat your laptop with perfect care then it won't matter (although Lenovo 3000 features are limited in many other ways and the lack of TVT technologies leads to a higher TCO for any business) but most people do not treat laptops with care - a laptop is a tool which gets carried around so should stand some abuse.

Its not a case of ThinkPads and Lenovo not being 100% the same - they are in no way related. ThinkPad design and development is still handled mostly by the same team which were with IBM with quality and features consistent with the ThinkPad Legacy, Lenovo 3000 are a completely new range which are picked from the shelves from some generic Chinese/Taiwanese box builder by the old Lenovo China and encased in a Lenovo shell which is designed by Lenovo China with some input from the US Design team - they have more in common with a Dell or Acer than they do with a ThinkPad.

[Axiom @ Apr 28th 2007 5:15PM]

Looks like a Y-series

[tekdroid @ Apr 28th 2007 6:08PM]

Lenolympico. For those who wear their Olympic pride like a badge of honour (and who want to be different).

[rod @ Apr 28th 2007 7:04PM]

Note to self: ignore Michael catzes's posts.

[werdna @ Apr 28th 2007 7:12PM]

so these ones will explode into flames on purpose?

[Gloomy @ Apr 28th 2007 8:55PM]

they have themed system for everything now

check this ferrari-inspired system, it even have a carbon fiber mouse!

http://www.a-power.com/product-3619

[L.Rawlins @ Apr 29th 2007 10:02AM]

FAO: Notebook manufacturers.

The 90's called, they want their VGA port back.

[BoogeyMan @ Apr 29th 2007 2:21PM]

@Michael KATZ
do you really think people care whether your internet ID on a blog site is spelled correctly or not?
CATS, KATZ, CATZ, it doesnt make a g**damn difference on the 'net, and certainly doesn't invalidate an argument. People have better things to do than to check the proper spelling of your ID which is misspelled anyway...

[Andrew H. @ Apr 29th 2007 11:55PM]

pfft... in a couple weeks there will be knock-offs on the streets for half that price. (and of course half the battery life)