Aside from pushing several ultrathin laptops and flashy hybrids aimed at the consumer market, Lenovo continues to produce reliable devices with a core focus on satisfying the business market. By unveiling the Thinkpad S531, the company's first 15.6-inch Ultrabook, the Chinese computer maker tries to embrace the growing bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement that has taken the corporate world by storm.
Lenovo announced the new Thinkpad at the London Fashion Week; an interesting venue for a high-profile computing release. Nevertheless, the Ultrabook offers its own stylish appeal, sporting an aluminum cover that comes in silver or graphite black, as well as a spill resistant backlit keyboard.
The company was also quick to point out that the Thinkpad's beveled edges "give the illusion that the PC is floating over the desk"; although this design feature sounds better in principle than it is in reality.
Beneath the hood, the Thinkpad S531 has many features that should appeal to the corporate community. Lenovo claims that the laptop will offer a 15% performance boost over its predecessor, and it will also boast an impressive 9 hour battery life perfect for those long commutes. Interestingly, these performance metrics will be met without Intel's new Haswell processor, but instead using the 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge architecture.
On the storage front, the Ultrabook can be configured with up to 500GB of internal storage and 10GB of memory. According to the product page, it will feature USB 3.0 ports and the ability to connect to a ThinkPad OneLink Dock, which offers gigabit Ethernet, additional 3.0 ports, and dedicated video.
The S531 retails for £575 ($900), and is now available through the company's website.