Lenovo ThinkPad Z Series Announced (pics)

MaxBright? ThinkPads are going to have a glossy screen? Anyone wanna buy a T series?

 

hey Zazonz, that was my reaction, but when we said that it was a surprise they'd have a glossy screen the product designers on the phone almost barfed and effectively said "no way in hell". They hate those screens. The MAXBright is simply a stronger backlight and NOT a glossy screen. The glossy screen finish is accomplished through having an extra panel in the LCD that provides the extra brightness effect and not via a stronger backlight. This'll be a Matte screen as ever.

 

WOW! Any clue when these will really hit the streets and be available at the usual internet retailers?? I was this close to ordering a T43 this morning till i saw this! This machine seems to address the few shortcomings of the T43 14".....

 

The Z60t (14-inch) goes into production next Sept. 20 and based on past experience if you order the first day it's available it'll take them a month to get it to you (at least)

The Z60m 15.4-inch screen won't go into production until October 11th, I'm guessing it'll be the same one month wait from order to arrival for that too.

I guess it's up to individuals as to whether it's worth the wait for this instead of the T43, but one thing worth noting is that the price point on this machine will be the same or less than the T and you get more features. But if you don't want the widescreen aspect ratio, this is not for you. Many traditionalists will not, but many who like the widescreen format will dig this.

 

Next Sept. 20 as in a year from now? I got the impression from the original announcement they would be available this year.

 

Huh? The machine with the smaller display costs more $$?

Am I missing something?

 

i believe he means 6 days from now....i read the original article and it says this september. this is good news as i was really wanting a T43 with a widescreen and a card reader...and the 100g drive is a real plus. i'll be ordering one asap. thanks to notebook review for keeping me from ordering the T43 and regretting it!!

 

I'm cautiously optimistic/excited about this laptop. What other laptops would be in the Z series direct competition?

 

LOL, yes, Sept. 20 2005 that is (6 days), Lenovo would go out of business if it took them a year to deliver a machine after announcing it.

 

Sounds awesome. But I am kind of wondering, though. If it's supposedly even better designed than the T43 (with the magnesium chassis), why is it cheaper? Is it because it will start out with lower specs? Hopefully the quality will prove it to be a true ThinkPad.

 

Please have a review of the Zseries up ASAP. I'd like to see how the MaxBright perform compared to the Ultrabright, as well as seeing how how it will stand up to abuse.

Thanks for such mouth watering news... I'll be buying a z60m soon! Keep up the excellent work!

Edit: why do the press pictures still have the IBM logo on the lower right hand corner when the lid is open? They must be old pictures.

 

Why do I think that this is the start of someting bad. That they will turn into a sony w/o the sexy design. Why do I feel that way. Why does that product flyer even look ghetto Chinese cheap? Like I will soon see a thinkpad in a Chinatown gift shop next to throwing stars and onxy budda figurines?

 

You're gonna tell me that when Lenovo bought the rights to the Thinkpad line they didn't buy the rights to put the IBM logo on them? That's just dumb. It's not a Thinkpad without the IBM logo.

I'm a bit worried too, but the product itself doesn't look shabby at all. That and what abaxter had said about the design having started when it was still IBM in charge makes me think that the Z series ain't gonna be too bad.

The flyer itself has way too much competitor bashing, I think. Clearly Lenovo is trying to point out that the new Z series is just as good or better as the major competitors (Dell, HP, Asus). I think it's a marketing strategy, because previously Thinkpads had this image of being a strictly business line of notebooks, not for the mainstream consumer (due to price, looks, whatever). I mean, face it - how many IBM laptops are recommended here on NotebookReview, compared to models from Asus, Dell, Fujitsu? I can see how Lenovo would like to change that.

I must say that the Windows key is a welcome change. The lack thereof is probably the thing that bothers me the most in my T42. Also, having a screen that's a bit brighter can be also nice, in case you want to work outdoors in daylight for a while.

The widescreen is not something I particularly dig into, because I'm one of those traditionalists, but I can see where it can come handy.

One thing still not clear to me is the type of the LCD panel itself. Is it gonna be the cheap TN crap with its narrow vertical angles found on the cheaper Thinkpads? Is it gonna be the quality IPS panel (FlexView)? Is it gonna be something even newer and better (like low response time S-IPS or VA+Overdrive)?

 

Hm... I hope they will give us the option of keyboard style. I personally don't like to have the windows keys.

 

I agree about the literature's heavy competitor bashing seeming less than "classy" in the way that the ThinkPads have been presented and marketed previously.

And it's almost like the literature concentrates too much on every single technical point of comparison and presents it in a way that seems too "literal" or even "desperate", without the usual style and flair? Sorry I don't mean it to sound that harsh, just can't find better words. And I guess I'm just nitpicking on the marketing literature as opposed to the hardware itself

I do wonder if the Z series is supposed to be a considerably larger desktop replacement category than the thin-and-light T series? It's just that I saw a mention somewhere about the Z being 1.6" thick, and the literature mentions other facts such as it using a 12.5mm Ultrabay Enhanced bay instead of the 9.5mm Ultrabay Slim. But on the other hand, the Z60t is listed at only 4.5 lbs, which seem comparable to the 14.1" T series system weight, how can that be??

We still have our X41 Tablet, X40, and T43 (had gotten rid of the older units such as the T40), but I'm still not sure about the Z series yet...

 

I'm having a hard time reconciling an "availability" date of Septembe 20th without seeing some reviews already. Certainly, if they wanted to build some pre-availability momentum and this product was good, they would have review units out there already.

If you were afraid that the pre-sales review were not going to be good, and just wanted to make a bunch of quick sales, you'd hold up the review units until you've got the product ready to ship.

Just my parnoid way of rationalizing the quality of the Z series. I have found the T series quite good for my "take it anywhere" style; although I have a Dell 9300 that I find more than acceptable to use at home (and at the office), but a real chore if you want to take it to Panera's, clients, on the road.

If this Z series has the quality feel of the T series (keyboard, trackpoint, decent LCD, etc.), then I could put up with some extra weight and size to have a widescreen (I like it on the 9300) and firewire and card readers etc. In other words, being more mainstream is not a bad thing...

 

With 99.99999% security I can say that you are stuck. Nobody ever makes an alternate keyboard that actually has less features.

 

Last time I was at Panera's I used my X41 Tablet, but the guy at our adjacent table was using some PowerBook

 

Lenovo bought the rights to the THINKPAD line, NOT the rights to use IBM's name on the notebooks. The risks in using IBM's name on future notebooks not designed and manufacutered by IBM themselves is way too high for such a company to take on that risk. A Thinkpad ceases to become a Thinkpad when Lenovo builds one not up to the expected quality and durability of the old Thinkpads we know under IBM. Go to Lenovo's Thinkpad website. Do you see "IBM" stated anywhere?

 

So it looks like it will be heavier (how about compared to the ASUS Z70va?) no WSXGA, no dual layer DVDRW+ -/CDRW.... I am not so sure what its advantage is over the ASUS Z70va with BT and DVI? It also sounds like it will be a lot more expensive. But I do like the track point. Being a nearly 10 year thinkpad user, I was really hoping that this new think pad would be something I would want to buy.

Does anyone want to compare it to the ASUSZ70va?

 

If you take a look at the internal pics the Z looks almost identical to the T series. I think this is just a T series with a different wrapper (with some structural improvements). So if you like the T series the Z is nearly identical with some of the edges knocked off.

 

There are no keyboard options, in fact the keyboard is identical for both units.

 

Okay, here's the explanation for higher pricing on the smaller display from Lenovo:

Q: NotebookReview: Hey Lenovo, why is the Z60m (15.4") costing less for the basic config ($799) than the Z70t (14") basic config? Is the $799 Z60m starting price versus the $1099 Z60t starting price correct or is there a mistake?

A: Lenovo: " Yes, this is the correct starting prices for the Z60t and Z60m. The Z60t basic configuration has a combo optical drive and FingerPrint Reader.. The Z60m basic configuration comes with just a CD optical drive. The 15.4W Z60m is an outstanding offering for users who want the latest technology, large/bright screen and may also need additional graphics (on higher end discrete graphics models). Its a great value for customers who want the latest and greatest, need an all in one notebook, but don't need to be constantly mobile. Its also great for someone who is looking to be freed from a desktop PC solution."

 

The product flyer I posted is not the "official" marketing brochure by any means, it was intended for the media and has a bit of "street talk" and hype in there to get reviewers/press fired up. There's no way they'd put this flyer in stores and reference the competition and in fact we've been asked to take it down

 

This looks like great stuff... particularly the 14" model.

I know that the 14" model will have competition from ASUS's W3v...and Sony's S series (just to name a few).

 

I REALLY hope so because I might be investing in some very expensive Thinkpad accessories and would love for them to serve a purpose after my T42 bites the dust.

I wonder, would not the Titanium Lid get scratched all too easy compared to the Mag lid on the T-series?

 

retail price list.....

http://www.laptoplogic.com/images/news_cont/508/z60_pricing.gif

 

The Z series are now available for order from Lenovo's US website:

http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/s...1&catalogId=-840&langId=-1&categoryId=2035724

Too bad many of the options that the press release mentioned are not available yet (titanium lid, maxbright, Pentium M on the z60m models). Hope all the availble options will be available shortly!

Lucky US customers....the Canadian website does not have them for sale yet

 

I hate to have my first post be a negative, but man, I hope that's the case about more choices.

I'd really like to pop for the z60t, but come on, give me some choices. I want to "Customize" it, not just choose one of their flavors. Let me drop the fingerprint gadget (it may have use to someone, but NOT me), choose a centrino speed I want, choose my hard drive size and memory, oh, and I'd like to be able to get XP home. They are the manufacturer -- can't they do build to order? I will pay a bit more for thinkpad quality and reliability, but don't force me into taking what someone product manager thinks is the best config for me.

Give me some options...Otherwise, I'll just buy a cheaper HP the way I want it and get a hefty accidental breakage policy to make up for the less than thinkpad stoutness.

 

Honestly, no they can't do build-to-order; never really could. You can tweak the memory and HDD space and that's about it...Thinkpad ordering has always been that way. They're not even as good as HP/Compaq's customization, much less Dell (the cream of the crop). It's more like buying a Honda: If you want ABS, you have to get the bigger engine and sunroof too, whether you want them or not.

 

I wonder when the models with higher resolution screens will come out...

 

yeah, I knew IBM couldn't (or wouldn't), but that doesn't mean that Lenovo shouldn't offer it. Just because big blue didn't offer it, didn't mean the capability wasn't there.

Still, I won't hold my breath (I'll cross my fingers, instead).

Oh, well.