ThinkPad Netbook, fact or fiction? ThinkPad T100 or X100?
April 28, 2009
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ThinkPad NetBook, the awesome truth or nothing more than a empty rumor?
We give you an insight now, and tell you how the secret ThinkPad NetBook design team are thinking, and the design statements a ThinkPad NetBook is likely to make.
This will be the NetBook that will set the mini notebook benchmark and put Lenovo firmly at the top of the NetBook heap. We believe that Lenovo is readying an enterprise class NetBook design to satisfy pent up demand for a business class ThinkPad quality NetBook and claim the top spot in the sector.
Matt Kohut, Lenovo’s Worldwide Competitive Analyst admits it’s an area that Lenovo is exploring but he won’t at this stage comment one way or the other. “Watch this space, that’s all I can say.” says Kohut.
When somebody says watch this space, especially Matt Kohut, then you know there is a prototype sitting on his desk!
So what will the new ThinkPad NetBook look like? It has been rumored that the newsmall scale Thinkpad will emulate IBM’s WorkPad Z50 Mobile Companion from the mid 90’s, a thin 1.2kg mini-laptop with an 8.2 inch screen which ran the Windows CE Pro platform. Some commentators believe that the ThinkPad NetBook (X100 or T100?) will be a modern re-interpretation of the WorkPad Z50.
Well not so. We believe that right now the ThinkPad NetBook will either be an upmarket model to rival the Sony P Series that will use the same technology found in the X301 but with a 12″ screen, or, it will be a 12″ NetBook similar in form to the IBM ThinkPad 240x, with an UltraBase option which will include an optical drive, and maybe a modern incarnation of the wonderful IBM ThinkPad 701 with its slide out ‘Butterfly’ keyboard!
Matt Kohut and his team could also be looking at the option of a two model line up. A high end, super light, super slim ThinkPad NetBook that uses the same carbon fiber technology as the X301 and comes in under 1lb and 1″ and a price point of under $800, and a less expensive version that will be similar in construction to the T Series range with a $5/600 price point.
Both will utilize the same UltraBase with a choice of optical drives, extra storage, and DisplayPort technology built in.
Two models, a ThinkPad X100 NetBook and a ThinkPad T100 NetBook?
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The only real doubt in our minds is whether the ThinkPad NetBook design team will go ahead with the ‘butterfly’ keyboard option due to cost considerations. With a 12″ screen, and the near full size keyboard that could be built into a 12″ ThinkPad, they will probably only go ahead with the butterfly concept on a 10″ screen model.
Imagine this, a super slim, ultralight ThinkPad NetBook with TrackPoint, ThinkLight and camera built into the top bezel, a full size keyboard with the superb trademark ThinkPad feel, and a lightweight UltraBase for extra connectivity, storage capacity and access to an optical back at the Office, Home or Hotel room?
Bliss! After the spectacular success worldwide of the IdeaPad S10, we can’t wait to see how the ThinkPad NetBook translates the original NetBook ethos into the ThinkPad brand.
In the summer of 2008 we gave you the lowdown on the new ThinkPad SL Series, we were the first to break the news of the ThinkPad T400 and T500 and we broke the story on the ThinkPad W Series.
Watch this space ThinkPad fans, we will be digging out more news on the new and forthcoming ThinkPad NetBook over the coming weeks!
[...] Lenovo use the Athlon Neo chipset in its new ThinkPad NetBook or stick with the Intel Atom [...]
What business users needs a netbook? Please, Lenovo’s got a netbook series already – IdeaPad 10 – and doesn’t need to mess with its premium line any further (hinting on the SL-series). They should better focus on customer support and getting their models slimmer again. The T400 is already too heavy, I reckon.
i know one thing, i would buy one in an instant
Me too super, me too, I have an IdeaPad s10 right now which is superb, but a ThinkPad T100 NetBook? Yes please!
[...] convention when we said the proposed ThinkPad NetBook would either be called a ThinkPad T100 or the ThinkPad X100 in our ThinkPad NetBook expose last April and the follow up in [...]
X100 is CULV.
Well you could be right Edi! Now that would be interesting because it would certainly remove all the Intel and imposed limits on NetBook design and specifications. Its one of the reasons we don’t think (hope), they don’t with and Atom chip, even the forthcoming Pineview.
[...] convention when we said the proposed ThinkPad NetBook would either be called a ThinkPad T100 or the ThinkPad X100 in our ThinkPad NetBook expose last April and the follow up in [...]