Lenovo ThinkPad SL300 gets examined up close

Lenovo's new ThinkPad SL300 may not stand out too much from the ThinkPad pack, but it's budget-friendly price will no doubt help it attract its share of curious potential buyers, and NotebookReview has now offered a few pics and impressions to give them an idea of what they may be in store for. As you might expect, Lenovo had to cut a few corners to keep the price down, and the build quality looks to have take some of the biggest hits, with it described as "durable" but with minor flexing all around and even some squeaking around the TouchPoint buttons. On the upside, the system's fairly high-end specs delivered some impressive enough performance, and the included 6-cell battery managed to last for a full four hours with the WiFi enabled (turning it off resulted in an extra 30 minutes). Still undecided? Then hit up the link below for plenty more pics and impressions.

[coolpal @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:51PM]

I like thinkpads... but for some reason, this one is plain boring.. even to me..

pal :)

[phanbouy @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:57PM]

i'm not your pal, guy

[JR @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:06PM]

Hey, maybe she's not a guy, buoy.

[bob sakamano @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:47PM]

phanbouy want to form an alliance

[tosk04 @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:52PM]

I'm not your guy, buddy.

[John P @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:56PM]

Oh, I'm excited, I just got an SL400 and it has yet to arrive in the mail. But I needed a budget price laptop with nice performance, and I really don't care if it looks boring or not. Also, four hours of battery really sounds nice to me.

[tom @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:28PM]

Ahhh...utilitarian it is.

For the price, quality and performance, this one does beat the most of Dell model. Plus it has Trackpoint/Trackpad, plenty of safety features and HDMI. Being a small business laptop, it doesn't need to look flashy and colour cover and out-of-the-box bloatware. It just needs to be functional and reliable.

Not a lot of Dell owner could brag about their laptop.

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:56PM]

If you get it in the next week or so, I'd be interested in hearing your comments on it here. I'd be especially interested if you've used a Thinkpad before.

Anyone here actually have one of the SL series and care to share what they're like as oposed to the traditional Thinkpads?

[StalematE @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:01PM]

they never cease to be bland in the style department. but i guess it doesn't really matter how the hell it looks if it runs shitty.

[HunterXI @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:50PM]

What the hell is there to examine? All damn ThinkPads look alike!

They all have that horribly anachronistic '90s look. Seriously, Lenovo, couldn't you summon the common sense to ditch IBM's old loss-making design styles?

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:10PM]

Most Thinkpad owners don't want the attention of anyone coming over curiously looking at what they're working on. i.e.: sensitive business information. ...as opposed to flashy laptop owners like Macbooks that enjoy the attention to the "creative" project that they're working on. i.e.: crap, wanna-be screenplay or remix of the crap song they recorded in mom's basement.

[Algae08 @ Sep 4th 2008 9:22AM]

Why would Lenovo want to ditch IBM's design styles, to compete with the likes of Dell, Sony, Apple, and any other notebook manufacturer who puts R&D into style? Thinkpads are in a class of their own. Sure it's not a huge fanbase, but it's a hugely loyal one, and it's growing. It's understandable that the style doesn't appeal to everyone, but understand where their consumer base lies.

[John Bailey @ Sep 4th 2008 11:47AM]

You say old, I say classic.

[PynkFloydd @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:53PM]

Sweet! Thanks guys! ...it's between this and the X200 for my next laptop. I'm still undecided but, I'm leaning more towards the X200 unless the SL300 can prove durability. There's not many laptops like the Thinkpad X series where you can beat your mugger silly with the reinforced rollcage, accidentally get their blood all over your keyboard letting it drain from the awesome drain channels and still go on with your day!

I

[cletus @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:12PM]

I think it looks alot better than the R series at least. But word is this is a re-done Lenovo 3000, which was not of the greatest quality.

[substance90 @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:19PM]

I want to see these specs in a 10 incher or even better a 8.9''.

[k2001 @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:42PM]

I truly amazed me how thinkpad line look identical if they are not setting next to each other. Only when they are sitting in front of you then can tell the different, otherwise are look the same.