Lenovo readies ThinkPad X220 with Sandy Bridge, IPS panel

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Lenovo is preparing to introduce a new ultraportable notebook, the ThinkPad X220. Although a product page isn't up yet, the system's spec sheet has been discovered on Lenovo's site. The 12.5-inch machine will be offered with a slew of high-end features, including an optional 1366x768 IPS display and five full-powered Intel Sandy Bridge Core i3, i5 or i7 processors.

The total package weighs less than three pounds and includes up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 160GB to 320GB of mechanical storage and 4GB to 160GB of flash storage courtesy of Intel's 310 Series. There doesn't appear to be any discrete graphics options so you'll be stuck with Sandy Bridge's on-die chip -- though that's not necessarily a bad thing in the case of Intel's HD 3000.

Connectivity includes DisplayPort and VGA outputs, three USB 2.0 ports (one "Always On") and one optional USB 3.0 port, a 54mm Express Card slot, an SD card reader, and various WLAN/WWAN Intel Centrino wireless adapters. The ThinkPad X220 gets up to 15 hours of runtime with a nine-cell battery and that's boosted to 23 hours with an external battery pack.

Lenovo notes other business-friendly features, such as a quiet keyboard, microphone and speaker mute buttons with LED indicators, a 720p webcam, as well as the ability to adjust the mic's sensitivity for a single person or conference calls. There's also a new buttonless touchpad that we've found pretty finicky, but we'll reserve final judgment for our upcoming review.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/42710-lenovo-readies-thinkpad-x220-with-sandy-bridge-ips-panel.html

 

[Jesse]

I got excited when I saw the IPS Panel in the title, and immediately disappointed when I saw the resolution.

 

[madboyv1]

When I saw it was the "X220" I knew what to expect in terms of screen resolution, so my excitement has not wavered yet. This may be the first ultra portable I really truly want, assuming the performance is where I think it should be for that kind of hardware.

Techspot team, I do hope you'll do the usual photoshop and excel tests (like you've done in the past). for fun you should make it cry through the FFXIV benchmark too, along with the usual game tests. =)

 

[pcnthuziast]

On a 12.5 screen I think that res is decent.

 

[Sarcasm]

Damn, and I just got my T410 recently. Lugging this thing back and forth to work is starting to be ummm... Not fun. Oh well.

 

[Guest]

Another laptop spoiled by that useless 16:9 ratio screen. Anything under 800pix vertical is useless.

 

[Guest]

..said the old guy. lol

 

[Guest]

I want a way to hide product announcements for laptops with such low screen resolution and phones without physical keyboards.

 

[Guest]

I agree with the "old guy". While I value the 16:9 aspect ratio, I think manufacturers need to start giving us more flexibility in terms of rotating the screen (or creating convertibles, ie flipping the screen completely into tablet mode).

I understand that today's younger consumers trend toward video and other more passive computer activities so the standard 16:9 is the new stodgy status quo in manufacturing which keeps the undemanding masses content. There are benefits, however, as far as development, going through PDF/Docs, reading eBooks, etc... that a screen rotation would solve.

Having said that, the new ThinkPad X220, especially considering the phenomenal battery life and IPS display, seems like a win for the end-user and a step in the right direction.

 

[madboyv1]

I too still look at 1600x900 screens and go "hey, there's 300 pixels missing on the height". Of course, I come from the Thinkpad T43p, which had a 1600x1200 15" screen. GOD I loved that real estate.

When I want to read PDFs/documents more comfortably, I'd turn my entire laptop sideways and tell the graphics drivers to turn the screen 90 degrees whichever direction. Worked quite well for me, as I always have a wireless mouse or wireless presenter handy with me, and the system was self standing. =3