IBM's 'transformable' ThinkPad 570 debuts

IBM announced its much vaunted ThinkPad 570 Monday. The 570 uses Mobile Pentium II 300MHz, 333MHz, and 366MHz processors, up to 64MB RAM, a 6.4GB hard drive, a built-in v.90 modem and all the standard I/O ports, in addition to a 12.1 or 13.3-inch TFT display.

The transformable notebook has as an option the UltraBase, which latches onto the bottom of the notebook and accommodates ThinkPad 600 bay devices ranging from DVD-ROMs and Imation SuperDisk LS-120 drives to additional hard-disk drives, Iomega ZIP drives and batteries. The 570 model is also compatible with 560, 380 and 390 replicators.

At first glance, the ThinkPad 570 is a three-spindle notebook with a 13.3-inch active-matrix display and weighs just less than 7 pounds. "But, within a half a second, the core segment with keyboard, pointing device and display pops out for a 3.5-pound ultraslim mininote alternative," said one source.

The ThinkPad 570 will ship with Windows 95, 98, or NT, Norton Mobile Essentials and Norton Anti-Virus beginning next week.

Pricing will start at $2,699 (£1,645), while the UltraBase will sell separately for $99.