Finally, preliminary prices on the new X200*S* edition

This is from Hong Kong, so don't get too excited.

http://www.hknotebook.com/bu2008/notebooks/Slim/X200s.html

There are several important things to note:

1. This allows you to see an official full spec on a X200S. Regarding this,

- I'm glad to see that SSD is indeed not the only option (which will make the X200S drastically cheaper than Dell's E4200, and hence much better value).

- I hope that the advertized 3 hours battery life for the 4 cells battery is wrong (because I've already seen a 4.5 hours figure somewhere else, and how can it be 3 hours if the X200 is 3 hours ???).

- Look at the dimensions, the X200S is indeed thinner than the X200 (thickest place on the X200S is 28.7mm vs 32.6mm with the X200).

- Chipset and Graphic card is exactly the same as with the X200 (Intel 45 Express Chipset, and Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics)

2. The absolute price of the X200S is less important (because we know nothing of how expensive things are in Hong Kong). The important thing is that if you go to the X200 page on that same website, you can see that X200S cost 27% more money, which is kind of disappointing. Saying this, if you look at their "student program prices", you see that the X200S is just 13% more expensive than the X200, and let's hope this will better resemble the situation in the US.

 

I believe that the USA price will follow a similar pattern. In the past the "s" models (X60s, X61s) have been just slightly more expensive than the non-s versions to account for the slightly more expensive low-voltage processor and (in the past) different display panel (ultralight). Considering that the only difference that we know of between the X200 and X200s is the low-voltage processor, it is reasonable to expect the X200s to be about $100 more than the X200. That means a base price of $1299.

It is worth keeping in mind that the thinner profile of the X200s is due to a less robust cooling solution permitted by using a LV processor. So, we don't need to expect a cost premium for a thinner profile. It is actually less expensive to produce the X200s in this respect (less copper).

BTW, the price of the X200s from that HK site is the equivalent of $1,145 USD. The specification includes a 3-year warranty, turbo memory, and a 160GB HD. That is a **** good price for that spec IMO!

 

Let's not forget LED backlight with the X200S...

 

Yes, that slipped my mind! Still, that shouldn't account for too much of a premium price.

 

Any news on when this is actually coming out?? I'm getting impatient

Everything else including the X301 has been released.. it seems this is the last Montevina Thinkpad waiting to be released..

Edit: I guess there's the x200t that's still waiting too!

 

I'm getting impatient too.

There has been zero news on the X200s for weeks now.

Maybe they're waiting to clear the stocks of the old X61s, or maybe waiting for Dell to release the E4200 so they could see the price. Who knows...