Lenovo's ThinkPad Reserve Edition?

There it is, Lenovo's ThinkPad Reserve Edition. According to our trusted insider, it's just the staid, ThinkPad design wrapped in cowhide. YeeHaw! Still maybe there's more than meets the eye, eh?

Gallery: Lenovo's Thinkpad Reserve Edition?

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[Zadillo @ Jun 8th 2007 8:07AM]

Hrmm, so how do you remove the battery? Or dock with an ultrabase? Or do you essentially have to remove the leather to take the battery out?

I imagine Lenovo will clean up anyway selling this to high-paid execs who need exclusive leather ThinkPads.

Is it really going to cost $5000 though? I remember a previous rumor saying that, but I can't imagine that price being realistic now if it's just a leather cover over it.

[Jon @ Jun 8th 2007 8:13AM]

I am sure the leather would be removable. If this was cheaper I would get this, unless Vaja starts cranking out X-series cases.

[Gain_Bijou @ Jun 8th 2007 8:19AM]

Pretty lame if its just a leather wrapped x61

[Thomas Ricker @ Jun 8th 2007 8:42AM]

Could be but the fingerprint sensor is where it was on the X60. Odd.

Thomas

[Pasukin @ Jun 8th 2007 8:26AM]

Here's a shot of an X60 shown on a similar angle. They look the same to me...

http://shop.d-nexus.com/images/lenovo_thinkpad_x60_notebook_1_s.jpg

[周鹏 @ Jun 8th 2007 8:48AM]

Wow!It will be a pretty notebook in the future.Look like Lenovo is proving a great tradition from the style of 1999.

[snife @ Jun 8th 2007 8:48AM]

As i've said on the ThinkPad forum, its about more than the machine like John Smith said, you have to think like the way Vebra do mobile phones, the technology is nothing special but its looks and support are.

[NHAnimator @ Jun 8th 2007 8:49AM]

Takes me back to 5th grade when I wrapped my school textbooks in grocery bag paper.

[Mike @ Jun 8th 2007 8:56AM]

This is a joke post right? Maybe Lenovo is kidding with all of us?

[TJM @ Jun 8th 2007 9:13AM]

Thinkpad taco.....Lenovo have really pulled out a chalupa here - not at all linke them - they must have come into a a good deal on cow hide and panic bought- not at all in keeping with their main mission.

[noob @ Jun 8th 2007 9:14AM]

um...extra service and support? what 3 years complete accidental protection and next business day on site service not good enough for ya?

[John Stracke @ Jun 8th 2007 9:21AM]

Wouldn't the leather block heat flow?

[Jon @ Jun 8th 2007 9:34AM]

It would, unless there are cut outs at the bottom to aid airflow.

[clearsense @ Jun 8th 2007 9:50AM]

Must be annoying when you don't get the 8-cell battery - you get a nice flap of leather at the bottom!

[Rachel @ Jun 8th 2007 10:14AM]

I am a dirty fucking spammer: [e-mail]

[Ignacio @ Jun 8th 2007 10:19AM]

Personal opinion: ugly, zero evolution in design.

I know some people just love the ThinkPads' classic design but... I use a ThinkPad R50e at work (I'm typing this post in it) and a white MacBook at home and it is literally night and day. This thing looks so... ancient? Is that the word? It is simply that every time I open it, and look at the side vents when plugging the mouse, the screen latches/hinges/bezel I think: it's 2007. Why does it have to look like that? Maybe it is what 'defines' a ThinkPad but... I really don't see the appeal.

I'm only talking about the outside design, not the inner HW though.

[snife @ Jun 8th 2007 12:01PM]

The word you are looking for is 'classic', ThinkPad design evolves, it does not change (i'm not including the Reserve Edition as I think brown is a mistake), they aren't trendy and they are not meant to me but you pull one out and people know you mean business, the R50e was the lowest-end ThinkPad of its time so you miss much of the niceities of the T and X series and dont really benefit from aspects such as accessory compatibility. I've never had a mac, they have excellent design, I do like them and i would like one to play with but they are not business machines. The small touches like hinges, screen bezel, and latches are designed to work, protect the ThinkPad and give longevity, something which Apple doesn't really worry about in their form over function approach to design.

[Teetdogs @ Jun 8th 2007 10:24AM]

Thats it? What a stupid design I was thinking that maybe the actual case would be made out of hardened leather, this just looks like a stupid cover that would have to be removed everytime you needed to change the battery. IMHO thinkpad has gone down hill since being sold to lenovo, i dont think this would have ever been released by IBM. One of the main selling points of my thinkpad is sleek black design that screams Hey I'm a badass machine this just screams I have to much money and I like stupid shit.

[SuperChuck @ Jun 8th 2007 11:04AM]

Wow. That's ugly.

[Blayne @ Jun 8th 2007 11:44AM]

I agree that this thing is ugly. You can't just use expert craftsman and high quality materials if the design doesn't meet the same standards. If they need a good example of how to use leather in notebooks, they should look at Asus' offerings which I often drool over when I come across them.

[snife @ Jun 8th 2007 12:06PM]

I disagree, ASUS's implmentation looked quite nice but it had to be very thin leather to stick on the way it did so I would be concerned about how it would look in a years time after heavy use but I think that the ThinkPad will age well.

I'm not saying its a great design, its simply not and Vaja would have done a much better implementation if contracted for such a thing and the leather should almost definitely have been black but I do think it is a nice way for Lenovo to offer a sense of exclusivity without straying too far from the ThinkPad ethos.

[Charles Hanna @ Jun 8th 2007 1:04PM]

I agree with John Stracke - that poor Lenovo's going to fry. I doubt that the leather has vent holes - that would look kind of crappy, anyway. Perhaps they need to collaborate with Thermaltake to line the leather with their iXoft cooling pad product.

[MSM @ Jun 8th 2007 2:09PM]

This picture seems much more worthy of the $5K

Check http://www.h4cker.com.ar/blog/?p=116

[Damien G Walter @ Jun 8th 2007 3:27PM]

Nice of Lenovo to provide such an effective way of spotting overpaid idiots.

[M @ Jun 8th 2007 4:40PM]

It took Lenovo "generations of craftsmen" to come up with this bullshit! Great innovaton just wrap stuff in cowhide.

[Dustin @ Jun 8th 2007 11:51PM]

Guys the real thing hasn't even come out yet.

www.thinkpadreserve.com

[x11 @ Jun 9th 2007 1:15AM]

真的没啥好说的

[Alexander Wunderlich @ Jun 9th 2007 5:48AM]

This sucks. They had me salivating with the teaser site, and all they did was party-wrap one of their laptops with cowskin!

Whats next? A special edition Crocodile skin wrapped x61 with Panda fur mouse pad?

[pika @ Jun 9th 2007 8:59PM]

How does the heat go out?

[John Smith @ Jun 14th 2007 11:25AM]

It's a lot more than just a leather wrapped thinkpad. Think services and support waaaaay beyond the usual warranty-depot repair.

[mark wright @ Jun 19th 2007 12:26AM]

No touchpad?