Think Fast: Lenovo Debuts New ThinkPads, Tablet
"We're continuing to push the envelope on innovation to give our mobile customers faster, more powerful and smarter ThinkPad laptops," said Dilip Bhatia, executive director of ThinkPad product marketing at Morrisville, N.C., Lenovo, in a statement. "These PCs incorporate the latest computing technologies and extra Lenovo features to make the PC experience more simple and productive."
In addition to the ThinkPad X201, which is priced at $1,199, and the ThinkPad X201 tablet, priced at $1,549, Lenovo unveiled a pair of ThinkPad mobile workstations, the first ThinkServer with models starting at prices under $500, and a variation of the X201 offering called the ThinkPad X201s.
The 12-inch ThinkPad X201 features Intel's Core i7-620M processor, with an off-the-shelf clock of 2.66GHz and even higher frequencies possible through Intel Turbo Boost technology. Lenovo is trumpeting its use of such a powerful processor in a notebook that weighs under three pounds and gets up to 11 hours of battery life, comparing the ThinkPad X201 to similar thin-and-light laptops from competitors that use slower CPUs.
Lenovo calls the ThinkPad X201s the "featherweight fighter" in its X Series of ultra-portable notebooks -- it weighs less than 2.5 pounds and gets better than 12 hours of battery life, according to the computer maker.
The ThinkPad X201 tablet is a swiveled, 12-inch device that functions as either a standard full-sized notebook with keyboard or as a pen or finger-based slate with a capacative multi-touch screen -- in keeping with Lenovo's recent pronouncements that slate-only tablets are not useful for business computing.
The X Series tablet has an Intel CPU, runs Microsoft Windows 7 with Windows Touch, and has options for tablet-typical features like a superbright outdoor screen. Unlike the forthcoming iPad tablet from Apple, the ThinkPad X201 tablet will have full multitasking with support for Flash and Java.
Lenovo's two new 17-inch W series mobile workstations are the ThinkPad W701, priced at $2,199, and the W701ds, priced at $3,799. These Intel Core i7-based units also house discrete graphics from Nvidia -- specifically, workstation-optimized GPUs from the graphics chip maker's Quadro FX 2800 and 3800 series. The new W series ThinkPads are built for computer-aided design and digital content creation, with an optional built-in color calibrator available, as well as an option for a built-in WACOM digitizer.
Meanwhile, Lenovo is banking on small office demand for its new entry-level ThinkServer TS200v, with models starting at prices under $500. The TS200v is also Lenovo's first to feature Intel's new Active Management Technology, adding appeal to managed service providers whose bread-and-butter is the remote management of customers' IT environments with as much automation as possible thrown in.
"Our ability to remotely monitor and maintain server hardware is key to our success," said Greg Donovan, president and CEO of Morrisville-based MSP Alpheon. "Lenovo's new ThinkServer TS200v sets the stage for dramatic cost savings, improved response time and new services."