ThinkPad X201, X201s and X201 Tablet join G455 and G555 in Lenovo shipping party

When Lenovo said the new X series would be ready in early March, it meant early March. It's only the second of the month, but the company's online retail site is already prepared to ship you any one of its Core i7-refreshed ultraportables -- whether it be the standard X201, the svelte X201s, or the multitouch-enabled X201t -- while also adding availability of the G455 and G555 machines for the budget-conscious crowd. The X201t is notable for being the first 12-inch X series unit with a touchpad, though its price is no less eyebrow-raising, with the cheapest configuration costing a cool $2,134. If you don't strictly need a swiveling touchscreen, the far saner $1,349 and $1,099 stickers are attached to the base X201s and X201 models while the new G series asks for a meager $699 investment.

[Thanks, Shedd]

[emopoops Posted Mar 2nd 2010 7:35AM]

these thinkpads are just rediculous looking. i dont like them at all.

[Steve78 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 7:39AM]

@emopoops

Do you prefer the glossy fingerprint magnet designs & glossy mirror-like screens?

[Prevacator Posted Mar 2nd 2010 7:45AM]

@emopoops
If you can't appreciate the sexiness of a ThinkPad don't comment on the articles.

[DBx Posted Mar 2nd 2010 9:18AM]

@emopoops

Whatever man, Thinkpads are some of the hottest computers out there in terms of style. They are the antithesis of Macbooks for power and functionality.

Your name has the word poop in it so I discredit you and your comment.

[Steve78 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 7:35AM]

I wonder when they will update the X301? It's getting a bit long in the tooth...

[Leindurstit Posted Mar 2nd 2010 7:49AM]

Yeah, I thought there was nothing better than the crappy X200s I had gotten, what with its failing sound card and flexing keyboard and with gaps between nearly every plastic piece on it.

Then I got a 13" Macbook Pro...

[Brother Unit No 4 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 7:52AM]

I really do hope that Lenovo has a good explanation for why the G560 is priced lower than the G555 or why it costs the same as the G455. I think they need to re-evaluate that pricing scheme.

[Prevacator Posted Mar 2nd 2010 8:10AM]

@Brother Unit No 4
The G555 has a discrete graphics chip, while the G560 doesn't. To offset the lack of a graphics chip, they put a better processor in the G560.

The pricing schemes are still a little wonky though.

[Brother Unit No 4 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 8:54AM]

@Prevacator

I thought about that. Is it the new Radeon Mobility 5000 series we're talking about?

That said, it is nice to see at least one of these OEMs selling AMD systems that aren't based on the Congo platform.

[phuz Posted Mar 2nd 2010 8:14AM]

@Leindurstit your comparing a ultra portable to a macbook pro...

[phuz Posted Mar 2nd 2010 8:25AM]

Sony Vaio Z has a great GPU for a 3lb notebook.

[theswiss Posted Mar 2nd 2010 9:02AM]

sexy device. I like the raw shape of thinkpads. But unfortunately the battery runtime ain't that nice according to laptopmag (but still 5h)...else i'll put it on my want to have list since for daily work stuff it'll be a more then enough solution. sturdy and not very commonly seen device on the streets

[Makanator Posted Mar 2nd 2010 9:05AM]

The quality of Thinkpads are top-notch, even for the entry-level models.

Pity about the position of the "Ctrl" and the "Fn" key. ):
(No... AutoHotkey is not the solution to everything)

[Aralo Posted Mar 2nd 2010 10:04AM]

I have a question for ya'll: Where do I send in news? I saw them yesterday morning popping up at the store but I couldn't find any link to send in news to engadget...

[questionexclamation Posted Mar 2nd 2010 10:05AM]

@Aralo

This feature has been available for quite a while. Anyway its written in RED on the top right hand side of the under the black engadget banner.

[questionexclamation Posted Mar 2nd 2010 10:04AM]

I think the only people who could not like the thinkpad reserved styling are mostly high school kids... In the Silicon Valley, the Thinkpad is always referred to very highly just because its good. Many companies around here distribute it as a standard along with a blackberry or two.

[Steve78 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 10:29AM]

@questionexclamation

There's a reason why banks and financial companies only use ThinkPad's...

[Ortant Posted Mar 2nd 2010 10:47AM]

Dear Lenovo,

put good, recent GPUs on your Thinkpads please.

P. S. Add higher resolution to your Ideapads while you are into it.

[M3 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 12:00PM]

@Ortant

Dear Lenovo,

Don't listen to the above poster and make your laptops into mobile heaters. We Tablet users like to be able to hold our laptops in our hands without oven mitts.

[nemein Posted Mar 3rd 2010 9:05AM]

@M3
Dear Lenovo, please ignore both the above posts and just put Optimus technology on your tablets, so we can stop these stupid arguments.

[kansei Posted Mar 2nd 2010 12:07PM]

Old news. They were available for order as early as 7am MST yesterday.. They were on Lenovo's Australian site available for order on Friday, so everyone in the ThinkPad community knew it was bound to pop up on the U.S. site very soon.

I ordered an X201s "decked out" as it were. 2.1 Core i7, 128GB SSD, Centrino "ultimate n" 3x3 agn, etc. It should be shipping on March 11th, a Thursday, with 2-day shipping. I can't wait for Monday March 15th :) :)

For those complaining about price, comparing it to a MacBook Pro, get real. I say this while typing on my 13" MacBook Pro, sitting next to my 27" iMac, so I'm an equal opportunity fanboy. Tell me where I can buy a 12" around 2.5lb MacBook Pro with a Core i7, a 1440x900 screen, a fingerprint reader, and 8 hours of battery life?

While I'm excited for the coming MacBook Pro update to the "Core" series processors, I'm not expecting them to toss a Core i7 into the MacBook Air.

Sure the graphics cards suck, I'm told the screen quality from recent ThinkPads is subpar, etc --but sometimes that is totally worth it for the features the device does have.

[M3 Posted Mar 2nd 2010 12:15PM]

@kansei

To be fair, their X200t's didn't come out at such rediculous starting prices. I expected $1600 for the base config, but over $2k means they're trying to play the role of the retailer marking up products when in short supply. Now, this wouldn't be wrong if it weren't for the fact that they know their exact supply and they control it.

[Calvin Foo Posted Mar 3rd 2010 8:49PM]

1. Ulgy
2. Steep Price
3. I will go for Dell XT2 for better design and pay 30% less than X201

[bluegene Posted Mar 10th 2010 2:22PM]

@Atkins Check out the hp Elitebooks coming out next month, specifically the 2740p, or the touchsmart tm2 if you're in the market for tablets.