Announced; ThinkPad S431 Ultrabook

Today, Lenovo announced a new (budget) ThinkPad Ultrabook, which shares the design of the ThinkPad Helix and the Edge Series (it looks very much like an Helix). According to Lenovo, it will cost 699 $. See:
Lenovo’s $700 ThinkPad S431 Touchscreen Laptop Hands-On, Black Finish Optional?! - Channel Pro SMB
Lenovo ThinkPad S431 eases legacy look for Windows 8 touch - SlashGear
Lenovo Newsroom | Lenovo ThinkPad Laptop Delivers High Style and Performance to Image-Conscious Small Businesses

Some pictures:



(The last picture shows the 15" S531, which isn´t announced yet)

Some technical details:
- 14" Display (no infos about resolution), Touchscreen optional)
- New 5-button Trackpad, Backlight Precision keyboard
- Alumium Lid, silver or black
- Onelink-"docking"-port, Ethernet, 2x USB 3.0, SD-Card
- New hinge (which lloks very much like Mac-hinges or the hinges from Ideapad U-Series), which opens 180°
- 500 GB storage, 8 GB memory, 9h battery life (although this is the typical Lenovo battery claim)

So, pretty much a Ultrabook version of E431 / E531.

 

Thank you for the great news. I hope this time lenovo will offer only HD+ resolution at base and will release it in south-east asia.

 

I'm hoping that they don't ruin it with a 1366x768 display...

 

^^^ QFT

[10-chars]

 

lol, Thinkpad for the image conscious. I'm waiting for the Thinkpad for the usability-conscious to return.

 

Hmm, I dunno. There's something wrong with those round corners.

 

Don't think that will ever happen.

 

Will this come with hdd led activity?

 

Just hope it actually makes it to the U.S., the S430 never did despite being announced here last year. The price point makes it appealing, I imagine it'll have a 1366 x 768 display though to keep it at that price. The T431s has to have some product differentiation from this and the screen resolution is likely one.

 

Look on the bright side. Thin bezels!

 

I think these machines (S431 / S531) have maybe a market, they fit good into the portfolio and they have some interesting features (OneLink Docking etc), but I think they should be "Edge" branded rather than just "ThinkPad" branded. They don´t come with the Edge branding, but they are still in the same category (just look at the Lenovo forums, S and Edge series share the same sub-forum) and they still target the same market ("SMB-customers), thats a bit confusing.

Depends how you define a ThinkPad for the "usability-conscious". For me it has never disappeared. And the new designs are made for Windows 8 (with Touchscreen, better TouchPad and special WIndows 8-keys on the keyboard), so, if you use Windows 8, then the new designs will be more "usable". But if you define a ThinkPad for the "usability-conscious" with a 7-row keyboard, than thats indeed not going to return.

 

I like the idea of using the Edge branding for something like this, the ThinkPad brand is becoming so diverse the name will be meaningless as a way of identifying laptops.

I'm mostly referring to the 7 row keyboard and the trackpoint buttons when I talk about usability. Considering the S series doesn't seem to be geared towards serious business users, I suppose they can make it as consumer-y as they wish. Of course, if this is some kind of play to take share away from Macbooks in the designer space then Lenovo is going to need a lot of help.

 

S431 is probably belong to Edge group, as the predecessor S430 has Edge title. But I wonder why lenovo had to use "S" prefix instead of using "E" (Edge). It will sounds better if they just name it E430s/E431s.

 

I hear you; 1024x600 is so much easier on the eyes

Do you mean, you don't think that will ever happen - again - or do you think they never were??

All the world loves an optimist; especially a cynical one!

Seriously, it's becoming harder and harder to avoid the observation that the Thinkpad brand has lost its significance inside Lenovo, much less among the buying public. From articles I've read in Asian business publications and elsewhere, it appears Lenovo has its sights set on Samsung-like multi-category, worldwide, ultra high volume distribution strategy (minus, it would seem for now, the vertical integration) such that the entire legacy TP line has neither the volume/profit potential nor the image the "new Lenovo" values. Let's hope there are a few sentimentalists among the enterprise-class individual computing product line management executives that will allocate enough of an R&D budget to enable the T's and W's to hold on to their legacy virtues in the name of preserving a modicum of brand "integrity" (a quaint term likely muttered by ex-IBMers as they carry their boxes of personal items and their severance checks out of the building under a Security Escort!!)

I mean, I've never even been a big personal TP fan but I've always had immense respect for the brand and the products and I'm still scratching my head wondering who decided for us all - and I mean all - that even well made, reasonably powerful, flexible, durable notebook computers are no longer "relevant" in the world of work, now and in the future. I don't think our customers or bosses are more than willing to settle for the best analysis, creativity, engineering and manufacturing quality and productivity you can squeeze out of a tablet/hybrid to satisfy their insatiable demands for all other (non-personal-computing) products and services for the rest of the decade!

Or maybe this is just a bad (and relatively boring) dream we'll wake up from one day and look down at our computing device and find the marvel of versatility and power we got so hooked on in the '90s and '00s is back below our fingertips...sigh..

 

Lenovo has already diluted the Think brand, I highly doubt they will ever go back to the 06-07 era when IMO they were making the best.

Given the way the laptop market is now, cheap and cheerful, why should Lenovo buck the trend?

 

They might if people were willing to pay those prices, which they clearly are not.

 

Some of us are, I wonder if they could do a custom run with classic interface for us. It would be like an early Christmas.

 

dream on...

 

lol, what in the world was that. very creepy dream on.

 

A bit OOT: you should watch the movie if you haven't, it's a no-nonsense horror movie just like the thinkpad classic

 

Clearly you have that backwards.

 

More infos on the S431:


- 1.78 kg
- HD and HD+ displays
- No WWAN
- Announcement: 4th June

 

Seems like some more diluted info
Looked at the parts info:
Screens are made by AUO and CMI (none of which are LG or Samsung).. As with the T430s, atleast LG and Samsung Panels were available, no such luck here.

Plus only 1 memory slot. Apparently dual channel doesn't mean anything these days?
Also 46 Watt Hours of battery isn't something to ride home about.

 

The LG panel was the WORST panel for the T420/T430(s), because it was the one with the screen-door effect.

The S431 uses the same panels as the T431s, and these ones are actually better than the ones used in T420/T430(s): Review Lenovo ThinkPad T431s Ultrabook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews And they suffer apparently no screen-door effect.

 

I had the T430s for about a month or so and it had the Samsung Panel 1600x900 and it went back to lenovo. It wasn't all that to ride home about. I found the Dell E5430's 14inch LED Panel to be better (not sure which one they used as I don't own one).
With regards to the S431, I will believe you when you say that it doesn't have the screen door issue but at 1600x900 that is less of an issue than it is at 1366x768.

I have yet to hear about the battery life. I would assume that the 46WHr battery it has probably lasts between 4-5 hours, the 6 hours statement on the website is a bit much. I can't get my HP Envy (with a 52Whr battery) to last around 6 hours.
I am however intrigued by the S431. The main reason why the T430s went back was because of the shabby build quality surrounding the trackpad. It was creaking and crackling with every movement of my palm and I don't have a 10 pound palm when its resting so it went back.
Any mention of the build quality? Any owners?

I m in the market for a lappy because the HP Envy I've got is nice and all but the lappy does get a bit hot.

Thanks.

 

I love when classic sayings evolve. Originally "write home about" but who writes home anymore.

 

I like how the 'lenovo' logo is less visible. The two logos from before made it look really awkward.

 

I did not see any screen door effect on the AUO panel on my T430. I know my eye sight is not good, so I asked my preteen boys to look for the screen door effect, and they did not see it either.

 

Quite frankly, I am extremely disappointed by the specs of it.There is absolutely no reason that it does not have a Haswell CPU.

 

ThinkPad S431 Service Update Training RTPW1180 - All Specs of the S431, FRU removal videos etc.

Very interesting to read and watch.

 

According to lenovo page, the estimated ship date is 7/22/13. So we won't see any reviews before that date (except maybe some well known reviewer that could get the machine earlier).

 

Same, if it had 4th gen proc I would be tempted to order right now before reviews come out. Then again with the 4th gen ultrabooks Intel is mandating touch screens (which I could not care less about)

 

I've been watching the s431 for weeks, the only review I could ever dig up was this one. It looks like an attractive purchase at this price (~$600), but now after reading this thread I am wondering about the quality of the display.

 

That is review on display machine, probably is not as robust as for sale machine.

Display quality of 1600x900 panel might be same with T431s.

S431 is kinda butchered after T440s info was leaked out. Poor machina

 

The successor of the S431, the ThinkPad S440 Touch, is already on sale in Germany:
Lenovo Thinkpad Edge S440 20AY006EGE / 20AY006E
Lenovo Thinkpad Edge S440 20AY001DGE / 20AY001D

 

germany again? so lucky you guys :hi2:

Judging from the specs, not much different than S431. Hope we can see review of S431 soon.


Any news of haswell edge?

 

so its already a week. still no review . im quite agree on ur opinion that this series is killed by t440s. but t440s still long way till release date.

 

I just got mine on 7/31. Here's a quick review.

Overall, the quality of construction appears to be pretty good. Screen resolution is just okay in my opinion, good but not fantastic; I went for the 1600X900 upgraded screen and avoided the crappier base display at 1366X768. For 50 bucks, it was an absolutely worthwhile upgrade. It is not a touchscreen; I would have liked one but it wasn't a deal breaker. A little disappointing to see Germany get one with a touchscreen and Haswell, though.

I did not get the solid state drive model since I already had a Samsung 830 SSD from my previous notebook that was wiped and ready to go in. I would just get the base model with the 500GB HDD and swap in an aftermarket SSD from Samsung or Crucial. Boot times are very fast with an SSD. I haven't timed it, but I'd say 15 seconds or less.

I stuck with 4 GB of RAM. It is a low voltage DDR3L RAM card. More than enough for my purposes right now, though I may upgrade to 8GB later and get a card from Kingston online. There is only one SODIMM slot.

Keyboard has a nice, solid feel, and the Trackpad works very well. Keyboard is backlit with two brightness levels.

I got the Core i5 version for the CPU; I'm not going to be demanding as far as tasks, so there was no need to spend on an i7. They are indeed 3rd Gen and not Haswell, which is kind of puzzling considering it's a new model. I don't think the performance difference will be significant, but the increased battery life and efficiency would have been nice.

Speakers are what they are. The Dolby Home Theater suite has some nice settings to play around with, but like most all laptop speakers they're not going to set the world on fire, especially on a business model.

As for ports, 2 USB 3.0s, HDMI, headphone jack, and ethernet, as well an SD card reader and Lenovo's One Link connnection for their docking station. Don't have the One Link station yet so can't really elaborate on the functionality or utility.

Overall, I find it to be a very nice, sturdy little ultrabook that's more than adequate for my needs. Disappointing that the U.S. did not get touch or Haswell, and Lenovo's website was a little misleading in saying that touchscreen models were available (they're not). Overall, I'm pleased with my purchase, though I think if you have not pulled the trigger on one already you might want to wait for the Haswell T440 or the touchscreen S440 (if they even release that one in the States).

 

@ SouthSideMIke:
Thanks for the review.

Couple of questions:
* How long is the battery life for normal usage?
* How is the display color? Is it dull or crisp?

 

I'd say you could probably get 5 hours with screen at a reasonable brightness level. Their website says up to 6, but I imagine that test was probably done with low screen brightness and/or in airplane mode. I've been getting between 4 and 4.5 (closer to 4) with the brightness level turned up to about ~80%.

Battery charges very quickly once plugged in.

Colors look okay and not too oversaturated, and the display is reasonably crisp . Definitely not the best I've seen, and the colors can look a bit washed out at times depending on the website I'm on. Overall, not too bad, and I'm certainly glad I chose the upgraded screen. Viewing angles I would rate as just okay.

 

@SouthSideMIke:
thx, one more thing, does your S431 has discrete VGA (amd radeon)? If so, is there enduro or optimus feature like in the driver?

 

SouthSideMike: do you use the trackpoint?

I'm really curious how well the trackpoint buttons work, now that they're not discreet and part of the trackpad. i.e., left vs. right click, and middle click (scrolling with trackpoint). Do your clicks ever get misinterpreted? Does it feel natural after you've used it a bit?

 

Nope, I do virtually no gaming anymore, so I just got the integrated Intel graphics.

It took a little bit of getting used to. I read the tutorial just to familiarize myself with all the gestures, and I would say it feels pretty natural now. But generally I like the clean look of the new trackpad.

 

Is there any truth to Lenovo's claim that it's a 14" display hosted in a 13" chassis? Also, any chance you could do a quick video review of the S431?

 

Would anyone here be able to figure out if the S431 being sold on their web site in Canada is touch screen or not? I think there's a US model that is but on the website here, it does not mention it at all.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...e?home=ibmeppfriendca&affinity=ibmeppfriendca

S431:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=9ED1FC9094E47F1A633FF59E68A00C33

 

touchscreen is s440 touch.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

Sorry, crosspost: http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...kpad-t431s-review-discussion.html#post9352286

 

Bump. I must have asked something way too difficult...