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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Hybrid first hands-on!
The Lenovo X1 Hybrid isn't your typical laptop refresh. Though it looks like the X1 we reviewed last spring, it represents a stark about-face in the company's approach to battery life: the Hybrid edition ($1,599 and up) packs a second, low-power processor made by Qualcomm, along with a custom, lightweight OS based on Android. Said differently, the laptop falls back on smartphone internals when longevity life is paramount. This operating system, dubbed Instant Media Mode (IMM), functions like any other instant-on environment: it boots in about two seconds, and once you're there you can do basic things like check email, surf the web, listen to music, watch movies and browse photos. In the case of the X1 Hybrid, though, that instant-on OS also promises to double the X1's (disappointing) battery life, bringing the runtime to a max of 10 hours. As it happens, yours truly got to see an early version of the X1 Hybrid behind closed doors two months back. But you know what they say: pics or it didn't happen! So here we are, giving your our first sanctioned look. If you've ever used one of Lenovo's Android-based tablets, those customizations should look familiar: that launcher you see up there is the same one we played with on the IdeaPad K1 and ThinkPad Tablet. So, the browser, etc. shouldn't be much of a surprise to those of you who have been following along. As you can see in the video past the break, loading the OS, moving into Windows 7 and launching apps within this Android-like environment is all fairly brisk, though not without a few pauses. What else can we say? It's Android! (Sort of!) Running on a ThinkPad! But don't take our word for it: meet us past the break for the full demo.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Hybrid official: instant-on OS based on Android doubles battery life, arrives in Q2 for $1,599
Well, look at what we have here. Though it didn't arrive as early as rumored, the ThinkPad X1 Hybrid running Android is, in fact, a real, whirring product. Lenovo just unveiled the laptop, which has a fanless "Instant Media Mode" promising to double the original X1's (rather skimpy) battery life to as much as ten hours. And while we've seen notebooks with instant-on operating systems, Lenovo's done something unique by installing a dual-core Qualcomm CPU on the motherboard and building a custom OS based on the Android kernel. In fact, its launcher should look awfully familiar to the customization we've seen on the IdeaPad K1 and other Lenovo tablets. Here, too, you can check email, surf the web, organize photos, listen to music, play videos, change the wallpaper and add widgets to the three home screens, though access to Android Market is a no-go. We got to spend a few minutes with the X1 Hybrid a few weeks ago, and if first impressions are to be believed, the battery-saving prowess works as advertised: immediately after switching modes, the estimated remaining runtime jumped from an hour and 16 minutes to four hours and 19 minutes. The OS also booted in about two seconds, as Lenovo says it should. We were also relieved to learn that there's no back-door way of accessing the OS: if the laptop goes to sleep while you're in Instant Media Mode, you'll have to return to Windows to log in again. In every other respect, this is the X1 we reviewed last spring: it has a durable, 3.7-pound chassis, integrated Intel graphics and a glossy, 13-inch (1366 x 768) Gorilla Glass display with brightness rated at 350 nits. It'll be offered with Core i3, i5 and i7 processors, a 3G radio and a slice battery that adds up to five more hours of juice. It'll be available sometime in the second quarter for $1,599 and up -- about a $300 premium over the original. And no, current X1 owners can't download Instant Media Mode as an update -- as you can imagine, that whole "SoC on a motherboard" requirement makes that impossible. Hey, no one ever said being an early adopter was easy.
Lenovo's ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook targets the business set with discrete graphics and 1TB in storage, arrives in Q3 for $849
While plenty of companies will spend CES showing off their first Ultrabooks, Lenovo is already going back for seconds. The outfit just announced the ThinkPad T430u, a more business-focused follow-up to the IdeaPad U300s we reviewed back in November. More than anything, though, what has us intrigued is that it packs optional NVIDIA graphics, making this the first so-called Ultrabook we've seen with a dedicated GPU. Add in a 14-inch (1366 x 768) display, up to 1TB of hard drive storage and a modest six hours of rated battery life, and it sounds more like a full-fledged laptop than an Ultrabook. Semantics aside, with a starting price of $849 this could be a tempting deal for businesses looking to outfit their employees with something portable, well-performing and inexpensive. Not to mention, it might just be a worthy competitor to the HP Folio, our favorite business-centric Ultrabook at the moment. Just make sure IT can wait patiently -- the T430u isn't slated to go on sale until Q3 of this year.
Lenovo announces ThinkPad Edge S430 with Thunderbolt, six other small business laptops
In addition to rolling out a ThinkPad X1 running Android and a buttoned-up Ultrabook, Lenovo announced a handful of mainstream laptops aimed at the small business set. Starting at the high end, the 14-inch Edge S430 (pictured) looks the part of a traditional ThinkPad (nay, IBM box), though Lenovo's sprinkled in metal accents and whittled the chassis to a reasonably narrow .8 inches (20.3mm). As the cream of this crop, it packs Dolby Home Theatre sound, optional NVIDIA Optimus graphics, up to 1TB in storage and Thunderbolt (!), making this the first Windows PC to make use of that standard. Moving on down the line, the 14-inch Edge E430 and 15-inch E530 give you a choice of Intel Core processors and AMD Fusion APUs. These, too, can be configured with discrete graphics and 1TB hard drives, though being the less-premium systems they are, you can get them in more playful colors like red and cobalt blue. If you crave a little more portability, Lenovo's also offering smaller versions, the 11-inch E130 and the 13-inch E330. Only have $400 to spend? The budget B480 and B580 bring Fusion and Core CPUs, USB 3.0 and 1TB hard drives, at the high end. The S430 will start at $749 when it hits select markets in June, but the rest will arrive in April, with the ThinkPad Edge models going for $549-plus and the B-series laptops fetching $399 and up. Though the 11- and 13-inch Edge laptops and the B-series notebooks will only be offered in certain markets the 14-inch E430 and 15-inch E530 are slated to ship worldwide. More info in the press release, just past the break.
