Lenovo ponders a ThinkPad business-class netbook

Lenovo ThinkPad X series

Lenovo ThinkPad X series

Right now Lenovo’s netbooks all fall under the company’s consumer-oriented IdeaPad brand. But a Lenovo executive told APC Magazine that the company is thinking about releasing a netbook as part of its business oriented ThinkPad line, although he stopped short of saying that Lenovo will definitely be bringing sucha  device to market.

Today HP is the only company that’s really selling a netbook with premium/business features (if you consider anything with a 10 inch screen, sub-$500 price tag, and Intel Atom CPU a netbook). The HP Mini 2140 case is made of professional looking magnesium alloy and aluminum, and the laptop features an accelerometer which shuts down the hard drive to prevent damage in the event of a fall.

It’s not clear what kind of premium features a Lenovo ThinkPad netbook would have. It could sport a faster processor, fingerprint reader, or maybe even a pointing nub instead of a touchpad to make room for a larger keyboard. Of course, the Lenovo exec didn’t offer any details here.


Posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009, 12:43 pm by Brad
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  • Mikez
    I see an optical drive in that picture.
  • ToniBorgetto
    The picture is of an X300 or X301 (13.3"). The other X-Models (12") don't have optical drives.

    I really hope Lenovo brings out a Thinkpad netbook soon, I'll buy it without thinking twice. Just for getting a trackpoint and not having to deal with these annoying touchpads any longer.
  • zima
    Same here... Lenovo, give me something on "netbook-grade" cpu/etc. (almost nobody needs more when on the go...) but in the form close to X61/etc. (nvm great keyboard and clit; imagine...extended X-series 9-cell battery with Atom) and I'm getting it the first day it's available.

    PS. Equipping it with one of those new, sunlight-readable PixelQi screens would be a HUGE bonus.
  • ToniBorgetto
    And let's wish that Lenvo will get some inspiration from Thinkpad history, e.g. the 10" S30:
    http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/File:S30_4e.jpg
    http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/File:S30_5b.jpg
  • vēer
    Eh, my dream "netbook" would be X200 squeezed in 9"/10" frame, all that power...!!!
  • John Morris
    Oh yes! Finally I'd have a reason to think about asking for a new notebook to replace my Thinkpad X31. Designing this should be simple. Start with what is important and unique about a Thinkpad, the keyboard and embedded pointer. Take that keyboard and size out a display to cover it and you have a product composed almost entirely of awesome.

    Build one with the butterfly keyboard and there isn't a word to describe the techno lust that would inspire.
  • BoloMKXXVIII
    Hear this Lenovo? The customers want. Don't dissapoint.
  • BoloMKXXVIII
    It would help if I learned to spell. :(
  • REMF
    as ever my perenial comment:

    11.6" screen

    flush fitting 6-cell battery

    AMD Congo or nVidia Ion platforms
  • Canada
    yeah, or simply get an x61s for ~$550...
  • zima
    Which is more like ~$1000 in many places. Plus extended battery...which, because of overkill hardware, still doesn't give the battery time ultraportable should have.
  • chaburchak
    I already have two netbooks, but I'd have to have one of these anyway. Especially if they use an actual Thinkpad keyboard. I still go all gooey when typing on my old Workpad z50, it's the best keyboard I've ever used. Here's hoping Lenovo gets its butt in gear and makes this happen.
  • oddone
    I'll gladly add my voice to the chorus here. Make it live up to the name and legacy that is ThinkPad, and Lenovo should have no problem selling these at all.
  • I have been gnashing my teeth because I can't stand trackpads. Please let this rumor come to fruition.
  • DougC3
    The x61s is only 0.2 inches wider than an Eee 1000HE and it has a 12 inch screen. If Lenovo keeps the 0.4" bezel on a netbook they could easily squeeze in an 11 inch screen or bigger (granted, the extra vertical pixels of the x61s account for some of that 12 inch measurement).

    And I concur that the TrackPoint could not be more appropriate for a netbook. In fact, let's face it: The X series is the granddaddy of the netbook.
  • ToniBorgetto
    The trackpoint could also easily help solve the so-called "Bezel-Madness" (huge masses of plastic around the display).

    I suspect a main reason for all the useless plastic is that you need to have space for the touchpad (which is still ridiculously small in many cases). So you have to make the case horizontally larger than necessary, which would be ok with a 4:3 display, but not for widescreen 16:10 or 16:9.
  • SteveE
    Lenovo is the only vendor of non-spastic keyboards, even a reduced-key ThinkPad keyboard would be more productive than anything produced by the other manufacturers. Productive users (not web surfers) CRAVE the TrackPoint - ALL touchpads are silly, almost as bad as a mouse. How can anyone want to life their hands off the keyboard, and then call themselves "productive". I can't code that way. We really need a ThinkPad Netbook with the TrackPoint. How they could skip that in their first Netbook model is a mystery. I'd buy one right this minute, IF, it had a TrackPoint!
  • Rich
    Must have a trackpoint or it is not a ThinkPad. I cannot understand why Lenovo has not offered either a ThinkPad or IdeaPad with a trackpoint. What an exclusive! If it is a ThinkPad it should be configured for both the business or consumer user.
  • Antonio
    Dell had or has a laptop with a trackpoint, but it sucked when I used it. Trackpoint has always been the way to go, but when Dell implemented it, it wasn't on par with IBM/Lenovo.
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