Lenovo debuts ThinkPad T400s business thin-and-light laptop; 0.83 in. thick, under 4 lbs.
Lenovo today announced the new ThinkPad T400s laptop, a thin-and-light notebook for business users that features solid state drive storage and falls between the featherweight ThinkPad X300 and its T400 predecessor.
The ThinkPad T400s sports a super-slim profile, just 0.83-in. thick at its thinnest point. The under-four-lbs. laptop, which has a 14.1-in. widescreen LED screen, SSD storage and the company's "Top Cover Roll Cage," a carbon-reinforced fiber shell like that on the X300.
[ZDNet Image Gallery: Lenovo Thinkpad T400s]
The T400s weighs almost 20 percent less than its T400 predecessor, and Lenovo will have you know that it's "much thinner and lighter than the Dell E6400 and HP 6930P laptops."
Specs and a video highlighting the changes, after the jump:
- Choices of Intel 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo processors (standard voltage) and graphics
- Choices of SSD up to 128GB; or 250GB HDD storage
- 9.5 mm slim DVD burner or Blu-Ray player
- Ethernet, Wi-Fi and optional WiMAX3, WWAN, Bluetooth and ultrawideband connectivity
- 34mm Express Card slot or 5-in-1 multimedia card reader
- Support for Lenovo's ConstantConnect and Protect technology, which allows integration of a BlackBerry smartphone and ThinkPad laptop
- Nearly six hours of battery life with six-cell battery
- Supports up to two monitors via a Display Port and VGA connector
- Meets Energy Star 5.0 criteria
- Built-in USB/eSATA port
Lenovo is also introducing three new peripheral ptions for ThinkPad T400s laptop users: the ThinkPad Port Replicator Series 3 ($149), ThinkPad Mini-Dock Series 3 ($199) and ThinkPad Mini Dock Plus 3 ($229), which feature small footprints, one-step "rip and go" docking, and multi-monitor support via USB, Display Port and eSATA.
I had a chance to preview this laptop last week in person, and I can certainly attest that it's a good mix of form and function -- the T400s is the right mix of performance and portability, not shedding features quite as aggressively as the X300 while maintaining a fairly light weight.
Lenovo T-Series marketing manager David Critchley showed me the system's revamped keyboard, in which Lenovo made the delete and escape buttons much larger (since they're used "700 times each week," he says), tightening gaps between keys (to prevent crumbs from falling in) and setting the larger, multi-touch touchpad flush with the palm rest, differentiating it with a textured feel.
The company also improved the fingerprint reader to allow one-swipe power up.
Other improvements include a two-megapixel camera and a doubled maximum volume level for VoIP, which can be manipulated by a toggle switch just above the keyboard. Dual digital microphones and LED speaker/mute lights -- as well as a Fn+F6 hotkey to activate VoIP -- round out the package.
Here's a video of Lenovo designer David Hill outlining the changes:
The ThinkPad T400s laptop is available starting today on Lenovo's site and through its business partners, starting at approximately $1,599.