We
caught wind of this dual-screened
ThinkPad last week, but now we've got some more details to get your mouths watering -- and your wallets running for cover. The W700ds comes with your choice of Intel Core 2 Quad processors and combined with the
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M GPU. RAM maxes out at 8GB and you can stuff a total of 960GB of SSD / HDD storage into this bad boy. The primary 17-inch screen is supposedly the brightest on the market, and if there wasn't already enough to make you drool, it packs an integrated WACOM digitizer as well (
like its single-screened sister, the W700). However, this 11 pound package starts at $3,600, so you'd better be ready to break out the piggy bank come January when this beast is set to ship. Don't pout though, it probably wouldn't have fit under the tree anyway. Check out two more pics after the break.
[Thanks, Brian K]
Read - Lenovo to release ThinkPad laptop with 2 LCD screens
Read - Lenovo Mobile Workstation Now Offers Dual-Screen Display
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
gage @ Dec 21st 2008 3:07PM
Really?, REALLY? what a POS!!
Wait till someone walks by the first time and bumps/rips that other screen off.
ben @ Dec 21st 2008 3:15PM
Ugly! I would be embarrassed to carry that around.
HunterXI @ Dec 21st 2008 3:19PM
I KNOW... that thing is hideous, and the aspect ratio of that second screen looks absolutely useless.
There's a word for this thing... atrocious.
Mark Anderson @ Dec 21st 2008 3:49PM
That's OK, neither of you guys can afford it anyway.
AVG @ Dec 21st 2008 4:06PM
The battery probably squeezes out over 45 minutes per charge, too.
roach @ Dec 21st 2008 4:09PM
Yeah it is ugly, but if I happened to be on the road and I need to do some serious 3D work, this thing is one pretty looking beast to have.
AVG @ Dec 21st 2008 4:12PM
"if I happened to be on the road and I need to do some serious 3D work"
Which accounts for at least 0.000000005% of the time any laptop is used.
Ruben @ Dec 21st 2008 4:32PM
Guys, this isnt suposed to be pretty. The 1000 or so people that will buy something like this dont give a rats ass how pretty it looks. They care about functionality, and this looks to have it all.
Besides, Lenovo isnt going to make hundreds of thousands of these to sell at Best Buy. You order one, and they make it.
This is a workstation. Not a toy. And for what it is, it looks very impressive.
Now run along children and go play with your netbooks.
roach @ Dec 21st 2008 4:46PM
@ AVG
You ignorant little virus.
I work in the gaming industry and we have a program that allows us to work from home, but working from home limits us to working on lighter type of works. This machine is strong enough to be be a workstation and portable enough to bring home to work (or travel). What is even better is this machine always has the most updated game built and tools.By the way there are over 200 people in my company alone and the previous company had over one thousand people. And there is also the visual effects industry that might also be interested in this machine... a potentially big market for a unique "ugly" machine.
AVG @ Dec 21st 2008 4:50PM
@roach
There have been extremely powerful laptops for very many years now. Adding a screen does not make this a more powerful machine than the others. If you have been unable to find a very powerful laptop that can handle your workload, you aren't looking hard enough. "What is even better is this machine always has the most updated game built and tools." What?
@Ruben
The ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE? You think Lenovo manufactures a laptop to cater to a thousand people? No. It will take many thousands to make this worth its weight in design, manufacturing, and whatever other shit goes into taking a laptop from concept to reality.
TheMarioBrutha @ Dec 21st 2008 4:54PM
Some would argue that the ThinkPad has a timeless design. It's function over form. Personally, I think that they are the best looking computers on the market.
roach @ Dec 21st 2008 5:09PM
@ AVG
If you ever visit a game studio, you will notice everybody (beside office folks) have dual monitors. One screen for the apps (3D), the other screen for other apps (photoshop), game tools and a game viewer. And some of us uses (like myself) wacom for photoshop work or regular input method. And it's been this way for a long time.
Ruben @ Dec 21st 2008 6:08PM
@AVG: This is a niche device, and niche devices usually have light sales. This thing isn't going to sell well, and its not supposed to.
Sometimes, companies manufacturer devices for a specific purpose just to be the leader in that field. Sure, they don't recoup their costs, but they become the "best" in that field, and most of the time, thats the point of making such a device.
And those 1,000 people could be companies, who order 50+ units. But in the end, there will not be many people buying this. Its just a fact.
Mitch @ Dec 21st 2008 6:47PM
@TheMarioBrutha: I am with you 100%, this might not be the sexiest Lenovo to hit the shelves, but I absolutely love their design
UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 21st 2008 7:56PM
I have a solution for everyone who thinks this is crap...
... DON'T EFFING BUY IT. The world does not revolve around you.
That is all.
utahnkid @ Dec 21st 2008 11:55PM
Some of you are defending this like it's your first born..
You should be WAY more concerned about the whole not-having-a-life thing.
McPOW @ Jan 3rd 2009 4:13PM
it is a real joy to see all the douche bags beaten out from their hiding holes to come make asses of themselves in this thread. classic.
Jon Doe. @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:16AM
Or, maybe you can be careful enough to have the entire laptop on the table. What you break out a 17" laptop on a plane that doesn't fit on the damn tables anyways.
Naaaa that would require personal responsibility and we don't need that. Better to complain about the product. Let me guess? An iFucktard...right? If it ain't Crapple ware it is shit mentality.
Cassini @ Dec 22nd 2008 11:42PM
I don't think it's ugly. It's all business. Besides, you wouldn't have the secondary screen out all the time, anyway. With the second screen slid in, it looks perfectly fine. And the thing is, it's not symmetrical with the second screen there, and people love symmetry, so that accounts for part of the negative reactions. It looks "off" because we've never seen the likes of it before, but if you had it at your disposal, I'd bet you'd get used to it real fast.
When I first saw the W700, I thought, "Why would you want a Wacom pad built in?" But now after considering it for awhile, I could see how handy that would be without having to carry an external one around... and the other screen just adds that much more. Great solution.
jack @ Dec 21st 2008 3:07PM
Now...THAT"S a beast. I mean, it's cool and all...but I doubt you'd carry around 11lbs of computer with you. Why not just buy a desktop for that price?
i must be missing something here
Jesse S @ Dec 21st 2008 3:24PM
Tethered shooting and editing in the field.
maveric101 @ Dec 21st 2008 5:54PM
hence the super-bright display.
Arkenklo @ Dec 22nd 2008 9:28AM
Because you can't use your desktop when you're on an airplane, or in a car. Simple.
grull27 @ Dec 21st 2008 3:09PM
Agreed, Jack. This is beast! They must have had some innovative minds to think of this. I would just would about the strength of that 2nd screen. I don't want it coming off by accident one day because well it's a laptop so it's going to be going places. Great concept, let's just see how it plays out. The price is a bit steep but hey, it's something new.
Endeavour @ Dec 21st 2008 3:11PM
That IS a revolutionary new form factor, isn't it?
Not sure about how usable it might be... probably good for moving all the Photoshop palettes to the small screen.
BTW, any word on the color gamut of the big screen? I've heard that the regular W700s screen is not very good in color reproduction...
Skyride @ Dec 21st 2008 4:23PM
In my experience laptop displays normally have way to low gamma settings or massively over-saturate the image. Although considering this laptop is aimed at the people who would appreciate that sort of thing, im sure its alot better.
I'll stick to my desktop with 2 professional CRT's though thanks :)
eggothewaffle @ Dec 21st 2008 3:17PM
"Don't pout though, it probably wouldn't have fit under the tree anyway"
Err, this thing IS the tree.
PH0ENIX @ Dec 21st 2008 3:18PM
Here are photos showing more details, including how the secondary screen stores inside the laptop, if anyone is curious (I was):
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/First-Look-Lenovo-ThinkPad-W700ds-Mobile-Workstation-Laptop/
zioncat @ Dec 21st 2008 4:11PM
Wow thanks I was wondering what it actually looked like with real pics and not the mock up engadget provided.
Joshua Topolsky @ Dec 21st 2008 7:55PM
@zioncat -- Those aren't mockups, those are product shots.
Denver_80203 @ Dec 21st 2008 3:19PM
At 11 pounds I think they went too far this time. Looks like a third screen could pop out the other side as well down the road.
It would certainly have it's applications in a professional field but, not a very practical consumer machine.
Sarig @ Dec 21st 2008 3:54PM
Given the price-tag and features, I'd say that's spot on what they're aiming for anyway :)
FILA @ Dec 21st 2008 3:19PM
so i guess that screen has to slide in a and out. dont kno how well this will catch on. be nice thou to watch a show in the corner or something or to have your widgets on, but this wouldnt be for me.
Noz @ Dec 21st 2008 3:20PM
I say this leaves room for another great innovation -- a THIRD screen on left!
Jacob @ Dec 21st 2008 3:52PM
I challenge your tri screen machine with my quad screen machine, another display at the top of the main display! And it's for super secret CIA spies who need to video conference with 5 spy agencies at once!
Mobius_1 @ Dec 21st 2008 6:49PM
uhhh Jacob, if you are conferencing with 5 agencies you'd need 5 screens...
dmglouis @ Dec 21st 2008 8:11PM
5 screens? Easy peazy! Just make the WACOM tablet an nice hi-res display as well. Problem solved!
Jacob @ Dec 21st 2008 9:19PM
the main screen is big enough to use split screen.
Mobius_1 @ Dec 22nd 2008 6:39AM
Jacob, in coming up with an intelligent solution, you have officially failed the CIA entrance test.
Imperor @ Dec 21st 2008 3:22PM
That's a serious mobile workstation! Though Idea"PAD" feels a bit off, that's not a pad, it's an entire freaking desk!
Justin @ Dec 22nd 2008 12:26AM
Actually, it's pretty darn small for a tablet. If they want to target graphic designers with this, then I think they'd have a better chance if it was more like the recent tablet PC designs, but with a proper, Wacom-like digitizer.
Jacob @ Dec 21st 2008 3:23PM
eweek has a slideshow of the screen in action. I'm wondering why they didn't make it a tri screened machine, it looks like it could have fit.
Regardless this isn't very practical. I'd prefer a real desktop but some people might like it.
Skyride @ Dec 21st 2008 4:26PM
Normally graphics chips only have space for 2 outputs. Its a hardware limitation. Only exceptions to that rule are a few of the Quadro and FireGL cards.
Nihility @ Dec 22nd 2008 4:15PM
Hook up a third display to one of those silly USB to DVI things that keep popping up on Engadget ;)
Such a low res screen wouldn't lose anything from it and you can do the 3D on the Big one. (I'm madly in love but I cannot has -_-)
Wiigee @ Dec 21st 2008 3:24PM
its supposed to be like a travel desktop for pros. not a coffeshop email checker. Its not meant to be carried around other than between the airport and your hotel or job site. thats why its so heavy and as some say ugly.
also if apple made thin i know you all would be praising it and its $10,000 price tag.
tha-don @ Dec 21st 2008 3:45PM
that's so true. i was thinkin the same thing as soon as i started reading comments. although, $10,000 is a little ridiculous. apple will prolly only charge $9,999 once their version comes out.
but really that just comes down to how amazing apple is at advertising. if i owned a company that was capable of selling everything at a premium+, i would prolly overcharge too.
XGM @ Dec 21st 2008 8:33PM
If Apple made one, it would overheat all the time... I had to sell off my MBP because it would be over 85 C and couldn't render for more then 2 minutes before it shutdown due to overheating.
Chris Dunning @ Dec 21st 2008 3:36PM
Wow. I'm a Mac guy, and have been for several years, but this puppy is mighty drool worthy. Built in Wacom and secondary display are huge plusses.
GenoMalice @ Dec 21st 2008 9:18PM
LOL I read "plusses" as pu**ies the first time I glanced at your comment
...P.S. It's pluses...I think:S... even that sounds wrong... nevermind!
axerlzx @ Dec 21st 2008 3:41PM
where did they hide the secondary screen? Isn't the cover too thin to hold two screens?