Details surface for future ThinkPads: X200, SL, T and R series

Hang on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen -- we've got a preposterously large helping of ThinkPad news coming at you tonight. We're talking details and photographs of the forthcoming X200, SL, T, and R series laptops, so without further adieu, let's get to know the X200 a touch better. Preliminary slides are hinting at the following hardware:

• 12-inch WXGA panel
• 45nm Core 2 Duo CPUs up to 2.4GHz
• Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology
• SSDs up to 64GB
• WiMAX / WWAN / GPS / WiFi / UWB / Bluetooth
  
• Magnesium alloy top and bottom covers
• 9.6-hours of battery life on the 9-cell pack
• DDR3 RAM
• 1.3-megapixel camera
• DisplayPort connector
• 3 USB ports
• Starts at 2.93 pounds

If we've already got you hot and bothered, you should probably grab a dry towel before heading on past the break. There's more where this came from.

Highlights of ThinkPad SL Series:

• SL300 / SL400 / SL500 models
• 13.3-inch / 14.1-inch / 15.4-inch WXGA panels (SL500 has WSXGA+ option)
• Core 2 Duo processors
• Integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD or discrete NVIDIA GeForce 9300 graphics
• ExpressCard / FireWire / 3+ USB ports
• Optional Blu-ray drive
• WWAN / WiMAX / WiFi / Bluetooth / GPS

Highlights of ThinkPad T Series:

• T400 / T500 models
• 14-inch / 15-inch panels
• Intel Centrino 2 with vPro up to 2.8GHz
• Optional 64GB SSD / 320GB HDD
  
• 512MB ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 graphics
• DDR3 RAM
• WWAN / WiMAX / WiFi / Bluetooth

Highlights of ThinkPad R Series:

• 14.1-inch R400 / 15.4-inch R500 models
• Montevina Penryn Core 2 Duo processors
• Up to 320GB HDD
• Up to 4GB DDR3 RAM
• Integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD or discrete ATI Mobility Radeon 3470 graphics
  
• 3 USB / FireWire / ExpressCard / VGA
  

As you can likely imagine, this is just the tip of the iceberg. For more proposed specifications and glances at Lenovo's (likely) forthcoming lappies, check out the gallery below.

[Thanks, Timothy]

Gallery: Details surface for future ThinkPads: X200, SL, T and R series

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[J.C. @ Jun 8th 2008 9:44PM]

Buh bye air..

[Lamp @ Jun 8th 2008 9:49PM]

yea.
not a single air will be sold from here on.
wait...really?

[Aguiluz @ Jun 8th 2008 10:04PM]

And... Here comes... You know who...

*hides*

[Aguiluz @ Jun 8th 2008 10:07PM]

@J.C.

What! No more air!

Nononononononooo!!!!







I can't breathe! HEEELPPP!!!!

*dies*

[Ace b @ Jun 8th 2008 10:41PM]

There's no air,no air...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icv6DgZ-9O4

[tom @ Jun 8th 2008 10:54PM]

*sarcastically*

X200 has 64Mb of SSD storage. woooooooooooooooo

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jun 8th 2008 11:06PM]

Now, I'm hot and bothered....

Hot and bothered by the fact that this article has absolutely nothing to do with the 3G iPhone or what color mock turtleneck Steve Jobs is going to wear for the WWDC Event of the Year.






Oh noes. I have a strange feeling I'm going to get Low-Ranked for this comment. I guess I'm able to see into the future. Please don't ban me. I'll try to do better next time.

[Michael I @ Jun 9th 2008 10:44AM]

Yes, But can it cut cake?

[iEye @ Jun 8th 2008 9:46PM]

about 12 more hours and it is iPhone2 time!

[barry99705 @ Jun 8th 2008 9:54PM]

Dude, what the hell does this have to do with kick ass ThinkPad laptops?

[Rogue_Genius @ Jun 8th 2008 9:58PM]

we have a winner! a whole 6 minutes after the article is up, the first totally on topic iPhone reference. in a post that is definitely about phones.

[Minilap @ Jun 8th 2008 10:08PM]

As a Mac user it hurts to read your posts, I don't even know how the windows guys feel about you.

[Frederik @ Jun 8th 2008 10:19PM]

Can't wait to see the price for X200. If it is reasonable, I think I am ready to switch back to the dark side.

[deyanimay @ Jun 8th 2008 10:24PM]

where is clak?

[finnith @ Jun 8th 2008 10:57PM]

There should be a Goldwin's Law for the iPhone, Microsoft and/or Apple.

[Nohone @ Jun 8th 2008 11:13PM]

From "http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/02/asus-prepping-wimax-usb-dongle-base-stations/"

iEye @ Jun 2nd 2008 7:34PM
"You will not have 1 comment from me relating to any Apple product until the 3G release"


So you lied again, eh?

[ray @ Jun 8th 2008 11:19PM]

clak would say:

But it runs on windows.


this is what all apple fanboys say when they have nothing to win.

[Mindaugas @ Jun 9th 2008 2:14AM]

Wait! There is one thing that both the Thinkpads and Iphone have in common - they are both are overpriced!

[Joe H @ Jun 8th 2008 9:47PM]

If it sounds too good to be true.......

.... its probably more than I can afford.

[Ethan @ Jun 8th 2008 11:02PM]

X200 will most likely start around $1300... $1700 if it's SSD only.

[Ethan @ Jun 8th 2008 11:06PM]

R-series and T-series will almost certainly be between 0.9x and 1.1x the price of the current R and T models. SL models will probably start at R-series prices but max out higher.

[Ethyriel @ Jun 8th 2008 11:24PM]

The R's look decidedly more expensive than before. They have dual roll cages now (at least the R500), yet they're still heavier than the T. These things are going to be tanks. But it does look like they may be holding back the latest chipsets here, so we'll see.

It looks to me like the SL are going to be the new R, with some interesting twists like flashier designs and GPS (are we sure these aren't Ideapads or 3000 series?) I wish the T's and X's would have GPS. And let me tell you, that addition could very seriously challenge Dell for some big accounts like Xerox for their service techs. Anyway, back to the SL, maybe they're trying to target college kids with this move. They've been trying since the Z and just haven't been able to get it right. I just don't get where the Ideapad is supposed to come in if that's the case.

Anyway, the T's and X's look great. I'm disappointed to not see an X400, but not at all surprised. Here's hoping they have a more cost effective refresh of the X300 around the corner.

[sinai @ Jun 8th 2008 11:35PM]

i got my x61s for ~$1100.

1.6GHz ULV Core2Duo
80GB SATA
12"
2.5 lbs
7 hour battery.

Lenovo has 20% off coupons all the time, just be a little patient.

[Jimmy Jones @ Jun 8th 2008 9:48PM]

i'll wait till they drop the benjamins on this.... I'm sure it'll be something that will definitely break the bank...

[Jerome @ Jun 8th 2008 9:48PM]

WOW very nice!

The X200 might cost 2500$ and up!

[Locke @ Jun 8th 2008 9:48PM]

Oh my....DO WANT indeed...

[vileta2 @ Jun 8th 2008 9:52PM]

Now this is something to get hyped about. I'd very much like to have the pictured ThinkPad.

[luzzio @ Jun 8th 2008 9:52PM]

Egads! Is that an actual contour on the thinkpad I see?

I love the specs.... but shamefully admit the aesthetics of this machine doesn't appeal to me.

Is the nipple patented? Tried my friend's thinkpad and the nipple beats trackpads. It'd be nice to have them on something like the Vaio ZX.

[PiperSon @ Jun 9th 2008 8:59AM]

I'm pretty sure Toshiba used to have them on their laptops... I've had several ThinkPads over the years and I miss the nipple on my MacBook Pro.

[jon @ Jun 8th 2008 9:52PM]

i wonder how much it will cost to get one of those x200 laptops

[Nomi @ Jun 8th 2008 9:53PM]

Is the x200 a smaller screened x300?

[Nomi @ Jun 8th 2008 9:57PM]

Seriously though, Lenovo needs to figure out the double mouse once and for all. OR at least provide a bigger touchpad. And, although I think Thinkpads look sleek with the cover down, once you open em, they are sort of meh. Seriously Lenovo, leave the keyboard as is, and put some gloss into it.

[Nomi @ Jun 8th 2008 10:00PM]

also, scrap the 3000 series and offer the ideapad in 13.3in and in Canada.

[Ethyriel @ Jun 8th 2008 11:28PM]

They give you gloss on the 3000 series, the Ideapad, and now the SL series of Thinkpad. Everybody else gives you gloss almost exclusively. Now stfu and let the rest of us hold onto this one last bastion of our sanity.

[Zorque @ Jun 9th 2008 12:28AM]

I don't know why you got low ranked, they're objectively ugly computers. The Ideapads look nice, I don't know why they can't spend a couple thousand redesigning the Thinkpad. Just because it's business-class doesn't mean it has to be no-class.

[RijilV @ Jun 9th 2008 12:51AM]

Granted I've been using Thinkpads for over a decade now, so I'm likely to be biased, but I *really* like the look of them.. In a word: class. While everyone else is either making monstrosities of curving plastics or listening to what over-paid idiots on madison ave tell them, the Thinkpad line has kept a very conservative non-descript look that I seriously value.

Matte black is where its at. If I wanted everyone to notice my notebook, well I'd f**king shoot myself for being some attention seeking wannabe who got a notebook to look cool at the coffee shop. Maybe nobody at a LAN party would like it, but I'm OKAY with that. When you walk into a professional business meeting a Thinkpad is what you're going to want to be setting on the table - not some shinny flashy kids toy. ...and if I'm out an about on my computer its because my pager went off and the last thing I want is some dork staring at me.

The thing is a freaking tool that allows me to get my job done, and I feel it does so in style. I equate the thinkpad to a nice benz or BMW or a nice suite.

[Zorque @ Jun 9th 2008 2:58AM]

I realize it's a tool, and it does its job admirably, they're always really nice computers. I just hate that they look like they're 40 years old. Like I said, the Ideapads are really good looking, and if they ported some of the design features over they could have a real winner. Why can't something have both utility and fashion (and why do so many people seem to disagree with me)?

[RoboDan @ Jun 8th 2008 9:59PM]

Hmm... I'm really considering selling my X61s for that X200. Sure my X61s gets 8h on the 8-cell, but 9.6h on the 9-cell X200... that's tempting.

[Mitch @ Jun 8th 2008 10:04PM]

Its all great until you see the $$$

[MRCUR @ Jun 8th 2008 10:19PM]

I'm very happy to see the new SL line will still have nVidia graphics. I'm a big fan of nVidia, so I was disappointed to see the R and T series were going ATI.

[Ethyriel @ Jun 8th 2008 11:30PM]

The SL is hardly a Thinkpad, though, so it's not all that great of a win if you ask me. On the other hand, ATI's Linux drivers are getting better and better, so it's meaning less and less to me.

[MRCUR @ Jun 9th 2008 12:50AM]

Yeah, I understand. I guess the SL line will be consumer oriented ThinkPad. I don't use Linux though, so ATI's drivers for Linux are of no use to me.

If I was going to buy one of these new ThinkPads, it would certainly be a T500. I did just buy a brand new T61 is March though, so I'll be good for a while.

[feffrey @ Jun 8th 2008 10:23PM]

anyword on tablets?

[RD. @ Jun 8th 2008 11:21PM]

YES there IS A TABLET X200!!!! woo hoo!

[Shenzhov @ Jun 8th 2008 10:29PM]

Bye Bye Air????

Ok, you do realize that the main reason people buy Macs is so they don't have to use "Ghetto" Computers using crappy, bloated, buggy Windows. So to say that just because a nice looking computer comes out from Lenovo, all the Mac users are going to run and say.

"Oh look, a nice thin light laptop from lenovo. Let me run and partake of the slow, buggy, bloated, drm laden Vista and get rid of my nice Mac." Back away from the bong and get a breath.

I'm sure this is a nice piece of hardware from Lenovo. If it comes with a nice version of Linux and the price is right, I might even consider buying one. But to have to go back into the windows nightmare....no thank you.

[Agent42 @ Jun 8th 2008 11:08PM]

when I first started reading your comment I was going to say "have you ever heard anyone say linux was 'crappy, bloated, buggy'"

but then you mentioned linux at the end...

I run my laptop with a small win XP partition for running windows only software and games, then the rest is for Ubuntu or Fedora, depending on my mood when I periodically upgrade.

[Velorium @ Jun 8th 2008 10:44PM]

I'm feeling the need to smash your head with a brick.

& I /own/ a mac...

[David @ Jun 8th 2008 11:03PM]

@Velorium:
me too

@Shenzhov - you can put linux on yourself (apparently its free!!!)
or you can hack os x on, its quite easy.

and I don't get what you mean by drm-laden.

[BigD145 @ Jun 9th 2008 1:27AM]

The only things that typically don't work when putting OSX on a Lenovo is the sound and maybe the WiFi with an Intel chipset. Other than that, multiboot away!

[Rob @ Jun 9th 2008 2:14AM]

Guess what vPro is? Yup, more DRM.