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
posted Dec 21st 2008 3:02PM
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
Tethered shooting and editing in the field.
hence the super-bright display.
Because you can't use your desktop when you're on an airplane, or in a car. Simple.
Really?, REALLY? what a POS!!
Wait till someone walks by the first time and bumps/rips that other screen off.
Ugly! I would be embarrassed to carry that around.
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.
That's OK, neither of you guys can afford it anyway.
The battery probably squeezes out over 45 minutes per charge, too.
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.
"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.
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.
@ 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.
@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.
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.
@ 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.
@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.
@TheMarioBrutha: I am with you 100%, this might not be the sexiest Lenovo to hit the shelves, but I absolutely love their design
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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 :)
"Don't pout though, it probably wouldn't have fit under the tree anyway"
Err, this thing IS the tree.
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/
Wow thanks I was wondering what it actually looked like with real pics and not the mock up engadget provided.
@zioncat -- Those aren't mockups, those are product shots.
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.
Given the price-tag and features, I'd say that's spot on what they're aiming for anyway :)
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.
I say this leaves room for another great innovation -- a THIRD screen on left!
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!
uhhh Jacob, if you are conferencing with 5 agencies you'd need 5 screens...
5 screens? Easy peazy! Just make the WACOM tablet an nice hi-res display as well. Problem solved!
the main screen is big enough to use split screen.
Jacob, in coming up with an intelligent solution, you have officially failed the CIA entrance test.
That's a serious mobile workstation! Though Idea"PAD" feels a bit off, that's not a pad, it's an entire freaking desk!
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.
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.
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.
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 -_-)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
where did they hide the secondary screen? Isn't the cover too thin to hold two screens?
err...the second screen looks kinda useless...if it was landscape instead of portrait, it could be more useful. like the guy up there said, i could only see it being useful for photoshop.
Hey, guess what. That's all it's really supposed to be used for. Am I going to to drag this to a coffee shop to check my email? or am I going to use to for field editing.
lol at the comment copy/paste.
This is awesome. I can totally see a use for this myself as I sometimes work from home on my current 15" Lenovo. I need multiple screens open at one time and I could put a spreadsheet up there for reference. I'd never buy a laptop from anyone else, frankly. I like all my electronics black, like they're supposed to be.
I agree, the silver paint on things drives me crazy. I have to say my 1st gen ipod video looks best in white though...
@ eggo
That was was a useless, ignorant and reckless comment. Completely inappropriate. Why anyone ranked your comment up is beyond me.
The people like their laptops skinny, white, and covered in plastic.
@Eggo
Some go for expensive, glossy, and without drive.
@rogue
maybe because we have a sense of humor?
Being virus-free should be the determining factor in one's choosing of laptops and/or women.
...oh brother...
Good if you're a stock broker, but that's about it.
Brokers can't afford it right now.
so when did they start doing quad cores in laptops? and wouldn't that create loads of heat that would be hard for a laptop to cool?
To off center for me
That's AMAZING! A floating pen!
the specs alone make that pure hotness!
Also of note that beast has a full 10-key. I think this might be aimed at accountants/traders as well as photoshoppers
Can it wave all by itself now?
Anyone remember the 'ultraportable' IBM made a few years bag, with a small screen, but when you opened it, the keyboard sorta 'expanded' so you had a full size key board?
I think it's pretty awesome. I say throw a screen on the left side and make it a triple threat :P
Get a Desktop, does the job.
Yes i know i cant move it around though its not like i ll be envying the person lugging this gorilla around.
Woot! Now I can get my dream, of porn on the big screen and maybe some work on the small one, come true!
umm,, anyone noticed the little (big) track pad on the right side of the little regular pad,,
whats that all about?? is there a pen where you can write stuff on this???
pretty nice (as a apple fan),, very nice job IBM,,
thats to use that pen thing on, i guess like a graphics tablet, someone correct me if im wrong:)
Finally,
a Lenovo DS!
@roach does that EVER happen? I think not. serious 3D work is always done in an office at a desk. Plus there is no way that you'd be able to do serious graphics work on a 17" monitor with a tiny 10" on next to it. This notebook is purely for bragging rights and it's totally useless.
@ roach "You ignorant little virus."
"I work in the gaming industry"
Ooo, OK, but it sure as hell isn't in the human relations department.
When's the last time you had a date?
Hehe, you just implied that HR department has friendly people. You must work for your dad :)
Great, except I am left handed and this just wont work for me...
My comment exactly ;)
I wonder what this this sounds like running under full load. Something like a 747 I imagine... or a PowerMac G5.
Seriously though, this is a pretty impressive machine. I wish I had reason enough to own one.
Utter failure for me... I'm left handed. Any word on a model with the tablet digitizer on the left hand side? :P
i guess the smaller screen must be for the asian folk! hahahah! j/k yeah, its not ibm, its made in china.
I see lots of people complaining about the size of the laptop, the dual monitor look ugly, wether its sutiable for using with 3d apps blah blah etc... what you guys dont get is that lots of people prefer hardcore performance laptop and may sacrifice the look of the laptop. We would use a desktop replacement laptops rather than using a dektop PC.
Im probably guessing most of the users here complaing here, prefer small baby sized screens and with keyboard for kiddy size fingers maybe a Mac air, but again small size means some disadvantages No RAM upgrades, No built in optical drive, No built in ethernet.
1 USB port, No firewire ports. etc...
As technology keeps evolving, human always want more than what they already have, beacuase their never satified with, it is human nature. For instance mobile phones first were bricks, monochrome screens, now have slowly become smaller, they are capable of having multiple functonalites no one could have ever dreamt of...The lenovo may be a first to bring this concept, may be fat and ugly but is a new innovative design and soon it will be small as a mac air and stylish and in future there will be ""NO diffrence in usign a dektop pc or a laptop!!""
do the same with a normal duo2core cpu and a normal 9600GS card for 1500$ and this will be a hit!
The 3D crowd are mostly young geek... they cant afford a 3600$ laptop. You can model just as well on a gaming card.
Yo! We heard you liked screens, so we put a screen in yo screen so you can PC while you PC!
Awesome!!!
That small screen would be so so useful... because SO many applications have a work area (be it an image like photoshop, sequencer score, movie timeline, CAD model, lines of code, whatever) and then they have bloomin toolbars, seemingly always in the way said work area. It's like trying to paint whilst keeping your paint tins on the canvas.
Anyone who needs to preview their work fullscreen (video editing, game creation, web dev) will find this damned handy, too.
A few manufactuers are producing mini second screen solutions, Samsung's is integrated with a desktop monitor. There's some newfangled usb-display tech that negates the need for extra graphics cards.
And since Adobe (for one) apps can harness the GPU, it won't just be the CAD jockeys and the game designers who will be able to justify it to their procurement department/spouses - video editors and fashion photographers (with daftly expensive cameras outputting ludicrously high numbers of megapixels) might like it too.
People who type, watch videos or play games might not get the most out of it.
Hmmm, black ABS plastic electronics, nice... 'honesty of materials', nineties chunky gadgets that when 'whir'! : )
But I want the popout screen on the other side! Must be the way my brain works.
I was thinking of getting a small USB monitor with an integrated touch screen as an addendum to my old X61, but this new Thinkpad is very tempting.
My only concern is that Lenovo can be extremely slow to repair defective machines, and the build quality has been a bit dodgy in recent years (there was the stupid bevel glue issues on the x61 tablet amongst other things). Of the three laptops I currently own, the Sony Vaio has been the most reliable, but the Thinkpad has the better keyboard by far.
Hold my foot!!! I am defiantly looking into this!
1) Great for code monkeys and not just 3D polygon-monkeys
2) Hasnt everyone missed the point? WHERE IS THE THIRD Screen?
Imagine the flightsim fun with that config!!
Mamma mia.
That thing is hideous.
I bet it looked better on paper..cause that is ugly.
I like the idea but the execution is poor.
trying.... to stop.... myself.... bah, someone else will if I dont.
That's what she said.
it's awesome some peolpe just stay syupid i would have added 2 more touchscreens 11 pounds phf f f mines double itsok thougha screen for each girl inmybed
i am typing this on my shiny new mac book pro 15" that is maxed out (my first notebook) its connected to a second 19" screen, keyboard so i have a number pad, and a wacom. I work with the 3D application Houdini which is on Mac, Windows and Linux. I am getting used to the idea of having a SEXY laptop BUT! Houdini runs best on Linux, which i may install on my lappy. I used to run Houdini on a Linux box.
That laptop has my setup built in and it probably has another third the real world power (quad cores doesn't mean you get double the productivity)
I've posted this on the other thread. Looks fairly real to me, here's a vid on how the secondary display slides:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ty0pSI3xFo
Okay, does anyone know if there is a way to reliably run OS X on the W700 (not particularly this silly version of it)? Since Apple won't give me the laptop I want (I fully expect the upcoming 17" MacBook Pro to have a mirror-like screen) the W700 looks like the thing... but I can't/won't live with Windows.