Lenovo Thinkpad SL410 and SL510 a quick review. You can buy Yours now!
October 22, 2009
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The new ThinkPad SL510 and ThinkPad SL410 are now available to order and from first look they are a superb blend of business ThinkPad build quality with after hours entertainment features that will appeal to the pro-sumer.
<– View the new ThinkPad SL Series notebooks at Lenovo
The ThinkPad SL510 and SL410 have been built to appeal to the Small to Medium Business user (SMB) and solopreneuer and that usually means that we will use our notebooks for both business and pleasure.
The base model SL510 starts at $529, which is a bargain but to to make this a really versatile notebook you will have to spend a little more and upgrade the processor to at least the 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 and add a few more features like Webcam, fingerprint reader, a little more memory and a BluRay Drive if you can stretch.
Both the ThinkPad SL510 and the SL410 move up to rich, vibrant 16:9 high definition screens showing bright colors and reduced glare with VibrantView and Anti-glare technology. The SL510 and SL410 also support HDMI and VGA output for high definition and standard external monitor displays. As a sop to Thinkpad purists, gone is the shiny cover of the first SL Series. The new SL510 and 410 now have a matte-finish cover.
There are a whole host of connectivity options. On select models you can add 3G connectivity together with WiFi, Ethernet and optional Bluetooth.
As with the ThinkPad T400s lenovo is going strong on VOIP with an increased resolution Webcam, a microphone mute button and a much improved digital microphone for clear digital voice transmission. The new 2009/2010 SL Series will be the first Lenovo products to bundle Skype for virtually instant VOIP excess once you’ve set up your account.
The new SL Series notebooks are also some of the greenest Lenovo machines. They are the first ThinkPad laptops to use what is called post-consumer recycled materials, helping to keep waste out of landfills, and are also rated EPEAT Gold and Energy Star 5.0.
The new ThinkPad SL510 and SL410 should confound the detractors of the original SL Series who completely missed the point of these SMB notebooks. The real benefit for the Small Business is the almost built in IT department with Lenovo’s SMB service offerings include Priority Support and Online Data Backup.
The ThinkPad SL410 and ThinkPad SL510 look like an excellent blend of traditional ThinkPad build quality and durability, combined with some really cool entertainment features for after hours fun. Well done Lenovo, we liked the original SL Series, We think were going to love the new ThinkPad SL410 and the SL510.
I think for the price and quality, the new look and feel of the SL410/510 is very nice. At a local Frys, a 2GB Core2Duo model with XP-PRO & WIn7Pro SL510 is $650… WOW!
I think the SL500 looked quite nice with the GLOSS top, but I prefer the 510.
I don’t know what the T400/T500 is like on the cover – but the 510 is regular plastic… which I do prefer over the texture material used in many high end ThingPads that easily gets fingerprints and wears off.
I like the texture and look on the new U450 (14″) IdeaPad that was just released and its a toss up between it and the SL 410. The U450 has the new Lenovo modern touch-pad… Its less with looks.
Lenovo SL410 Thinkpad.. just go for it. its awesome.
i’m using it .. and i found it cool.
I got the Think Pad SL410 and got it home and started to download stuff but turned it off now it won’t come back on. the store is of no help so am taking it back. No real instruction manual with it
Never buy from a store Brain, always from Lenovo, at least you get service and warranty direct
I just got my new SL410 home. Everything works great and installation/personalization was a breeze… the one problem I’m having is the touchpad doesn’t work very well. It’s not recognizing when I’m touching it. I have to click the right click button to make it recognize the touch. Very strange. I use a Lenovo at work and the laptop works great, which is why I purchased a Lenovo, but this touch thing is driving me crazy. Anyone else have this problem?
I also have the same problem with the touchpad with my SL410.
There is no real user’s guide. In addition the screen reflects everything in front of
it like a mirror. The key board is great. The sound from the speaker mediocre to low sound quality (compared to my wife’s old dell inspiron 1300.
Recently purchased a Lenovo Thinkpad, SL 510. There is NO user manual and the company rep I spoke to was not all sympathetic. In fact, he seemed annoyed.
Unlike my new HP printer, there is no manual available on the internet either, just ads. It is very time consuming and frustrating to try to figure out the new features, ports, etc.
The salesman who recommended the Thinkpad was frustrated, as well. Had I known Lenovo could not provide a user manual, I would not have purchased this computer. I would not recommend Lenovo products to my friends, most of whom are seniors trying to keep up with the technology.
Here is your ThinkPad SL510 manual Eileen, every ThinkPad and indeed Lenovo product has a manual, its mandatory. All you have to do is either ask the right people, (hint: ThinkPadToday.com
) or just google “thinkpad sl510 manual” and it will take you straight to the download page!
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/60y3635.pdf
Hope that helps? Cheers, Ian Orford – Editor, ThinkPadToday
p.s. You salesman should now this stuff!
I’mmm back!
With the new L series coming out and its pricing. The R-Series (and SL) should be phased out. The R is slightly cheaper than a T and to modernize the R’s would just bring it closer to a T than an L in price. With that said.
Got in a SL510 recently. I actually like the SL-500 better, while I do note the improvements. The body on the inside is flimsy but a bit lighter. As people have said above – the TouchPad (originated from the T400s) on some of these SL are defective, including ours. The overall performance of the computer was sub-par. Also our SL510 had some lock-ups during boot-up… not good. The plastic on the palm-rests does pick up finger prints – much like the Lenovo 3000 series.
We sent the SL510 back. I’d still recommend it for a low-cost $600~750 computer as the Ls do have features that most notebooks don’t have… as long as the quality control on them gets better. But for the crash-cage, HD-protection, keyboard – the T is a better notebook for $170 more.
I’m also NOT impressed with the 16:9 ratio on the 15″ notebooks… but I suspect Lenovo is at the mercy on available screen size, even if they can get them non-glossy. Why? The 14″ displays have the same height as 15.6″ 16:9 displays. Unlike my wide-screen R61 15″ in which its screen is about 1″ more height.
So, the L510 (and other 15″ Thinkpads) is about 2″ wider over older 15″ models! Less space for your mouse or desktop space and also MORE odd-ball dead-space on both sides of the keyboard!
So I was able to get my client to choose the T410 over the T510 because the screen isn’t really smaller… but he’d get a notebook that is 1lb ligher (about 18%), more battery time and less space.
I welcome the future Ls as low-end ThinkPads, but I’ll go back and consider them as rugged. The Edge should go away or be an IdeaPad. According to the battery monitor, the SL510 was getting upwards of 5hrs of charge time – while my R61 only does about 1.5~2.0hours… at best.
The SL510 we got came with a basic notebook poster guide. In todays world, most people will never look at a manual. The poster is fine. It doesn’t go into memory & HD upgrades… but thats pretty easy. Unscrew cover – perform upgrade and of course Lenovo has super-detailed Maintenance manuals available.
Now, if Lenovo will just FIX the keyboard by switching CTRL Fn keys!
Thanks for the insight and commentary as usual Belard. During the late part of last year we understood the L Series to be replacing the ‘R’. However, it seems like the ‘L’ is the new ‘SL’! Don’t really see were the R Series sits now to be honest. Its a good old fashioned ThinkPad in its build quality and ruggedness but the chassis is really old.
If you still need a manual to use a laptop than you have to go to a course, everything can be found though google.
how can i view my intergrated camera on my sl410?
Hi babybang! You can refer to the ThinkPad SL410 Manual!
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/60y3635.pdf
Ian, that is a maintenance manual, *not* a user guide, you muppet.
Oh Hey, sorry Rich, I thought I had used the word ‘manual’, when you use these things all day a user guide and a manual are all the same thing! Ian Orford a.k.a Jim Henson