Lenovo Announces New ThinkPad T, X, and S series Ultrabooks
by Jarred Walton on September 3, 2013 5:03 PM EST
Today in the pre-IFA excitement in Berlin, Germany, Lenovo announced updates to their T, X, and S series Ultrabooks, with thinner form factors, a variety of panel options, larger trackpads, and improve battery life. As expected, Intel’s Haswell processors (4th Generation Intel Core Processors) make an appearance, and the new ThinkPad Ultrabooks will be able to offer as much as 17 hours of battery life – with an optional external battery. Here’s a quick overview of the various new products announced today.
ThinkPad T440/T440s
The T440 and T440s are both 14-inch laptops, but the T440s is slightly lighter and has more compact dimensions and is available with a slightly faster CPU and GPU. The T440s also uses a carbon fiber to keep the weight down without compromising on durability. Both notebooks also feature NFC (Near Field Communication) capability, up to 17 hours of battery life with a high capacity battery, and optional touchscreens. Models with the GeForce GT 720M/730M apparently won’t be available in North America but will be in other regions of the world. The T440s is obviously the more potent and exciting of the two, but cost will be higher. Availability is scheduled for the end of October, with the T440s starting at $1149 and the T440 starting at $889.
| ThinkPad T440 and T440s Specifications | ||
| Model | T440 | T440s |
| CPU | Up to 4th Generation Core i5 | Up to 4th Generation Core i7 |
| GPU |
Intel HD 4400 Optional GeForce GT 720M |
Intel HD 4400 Optional GeForce GT 730M |
| LCD |
14” HD 14” HD+ Touchscreen |
14” HD+ 14” Full HD 14” Full HD Touchscreen |
| Storage | Up to 1TB HDD or 512GB SSD | Up to 1TB HDD or 512GB SSD |
| RAM | Up to 12GB DDR3L | Up to 12GB DDR3L |
| Connectivity |
Mini-DisplayPort VGA 2 x USB 3.0 (one powered) SD card reader |
Mini-DisplayPort VGA 3 x USB 3.0 (one powered) SD card reader |
| Networking |
Intel WP2 + Bluetooth 4G LTE and 3G WWAN Gigabit Ethernet |
Intel WP2 + Bluetooth 4G LTE and 3G WWAN Gigabit Ethernet |
| Battery |
3-cell 23.5Wh 6-cell 48Wh 6-cell 72Wh Up to 17 Hours |
3-cell 23.5Wh 6-cell 48Wh 6-cell 72Wh Up to 17 Hours |
| Weight | 4.0 lbs. (1.82kg) | 3.5 lbs. (1.59kg) |
| Dimensions |
13.35”x9.15”x0.83” (339mm x 232.5mm x 21mm) |
13.03”x8.90”x0.81” (331mm x 226mm x 20.45mm) |
| Extras |
Up to 5-year warranty 2x larger touchpad HD webcam Optional smart card reader |
Up to 5-year warranty HD webcam |
| Pricing | Starting at $899 | Starting at $1149 |
| Availability | Late October, 2013 | Late October, 2013 |
ThinkPad X240
The X240 is a 12.5-inch laptop designed to be the ultimate road warrior. Like the T440/T440s, it includes NFC capability and optional touchscreens. It loses out on a few extras relative to the 14-inch models but it comes in a more portable and lighter package. The X240 also features Lenovo’s new Power Bridge functionality, which allows users to swap out the removable battery for the 6-cell travel battery without powering down. (It appears some models will have an optional 3-cell internal battery with the standard “travel battery” being user replaceable/swappable to support this.) Availability is scheduled for the end of October, with the X240 starting at $1099.
| ThinkPad X240 Specifications | |
| Model | X240 |
| CPU | Up to 4th Generation Core i7 |
| GPU | Intel HD 4400 |
| LCD |
12.5” HD 12.5” HD Widescreen 12.5” HD Widescreen Touchscreen 12.5” Full HD 12.5” Full HD Touchscreen |
| Storage | Up to 1TB HDD; SSDs available |
| RAM | Up to 8GB single SO-DIMM |
| Connectivity |
HDMI VGA 2 x USB 3.0 SD/MMC card reader |
| Networking |
WiFi + Bluetooth 4G LTE and 3G WWAN Gigabit Ethernet |
| Battery |
3-cell internal (optional) 3-cell travel 6-cell travel Up to 10+ Hours |
| Weight | 2.94 lbs. (1.34kg) |
| Dimensions |
12.0”x8.21”x0.79” (305.5mm x 208.8mm x 20.3mm) |
| Extras |
Up to 5-year warranty HD webcam |
| Pricing | Starting at $1149 |
| Availability | Late October, 2013 |
ThinkPad S440/S540
The S440/S540 will be available in select markets, which does not include North America. The S440 is a 14-inch laptop while the S540 is a 15.6” design; both support up to Core i7 CPUs with optional HD 8670M graphics from AMD (presumably Enduro enabled). The S series is designed for “business or pleasure”, with more multimedia friendly features like voice control, and they support Lenovo’s OneLink technology to allow docking of sorts with USB 3.0, video, power, and Gigabit Ethernet over a single cable. Availability is scheduled for September on the S440 and October for the S540 in Europe, with the S440 starting at €699 and the S540 starting at €649.
| ThinkPad S440 and S540 Specifications | ||
| Model | S440 | S540 |
| CPU | Up to 4th Generation Core i5 | Up to 4th Generation Core i7 |
| GPU |
Intel HD 4400 Optional Radeon HD 8670M |
Intel HD 4400 Optional Radeon HD 8670M |
| LCD |
14” Up to HD+ Anti-Glare Optional Touchscreen |
15.6” Up to Full HD Anti-Glare Optional Touchscreen |
| Storage | Up to 500GB HDD or 256GB SSD | Up to 1TB HDD or 256GB SSD |
| RAM | Up to 8GB (1 x SO-DIMM) | Up to 16GB (2 x SO-DIMM) |
| Connectivity |
OneLink 2 x USB 3.0 (one powered) SD card reader |
Mini-DisplayPort VGA 3 x USB 3.0 (one powered) SD card reader |
| Networking |
WiFi + Bluetooth Gigabit Ethernet |
WiFi + Bluetooth Gigabit Ethernet Optional 4G LTE and 3G WWAN |
| Battery | Up to 6 Hours | Up to 9 Hours |
| Weight |
3.92 lbs. (1.78kg) 4.23 lbs. (1.92kg) Touch |
4.65 lbs. (2.11kg) 5.2 lbs. (2.36kg) Touch |
| Dimensions |
13.11”x8.85”x0.80” (0.88” Touch) (333mm x 225mm x 20.5mm, 22.5mm Touch) |
14.9”x9.96”x0.81” Touch (379mm x 253mm x 20.7mm Touch) |
| Extras | HD webcam | HD webcam |
| Pricing | Starting at €699 | Starting at €649 |
| Availability | September, 2013 | October, 2013 |
Source: Lenovo PR
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Vigneshj - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Jarred, any words about W-Series yet - W540? I wish they don't bring much changes for keyboard on W series.JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Nothing that I've heard; probably waiting for new GPUs before the refresh? Or maybe not. Usually the mobile workstations lag behind new technology changes by around six months, so I'd guess December/January for most of the big names (Dell, Lenovo, HP) to update to Haswell, give or take.evilspoons - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Hooray, I finally have a solid ETA for buying Haswell laptops to replace some ancient Merom and Penryn Dell models at work!www.LivingSmartTV.dk - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
"Today at IFA in Berlin, Germany, Lenovo announced"Uhm, I'm here in Berlin for the IFA with danish channel "Living Smart TV" and the time is 7.30am..... the IFA is not open til later today so it's somewhat surprising to see products already HAVING been launched when the show is not even open :)
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Sorry -- I got the information from Lenovo in a pre-IFA briefing, so I assumed it was announced a the show. I guess the correct statement is announced prior to IFA?Montago - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Call them what you want, but not ThinkPadThinkPads have an excellent keyboard, these don't
ThinkPads have excellent built quality, these don't
ThinkPads are serviceable, these aren' ThinkPads neglects trackpad because everyone knows the trackpoint is superior, these don't
ThinkPads have excellent keyboard shortcuts, these don't
These alienating craptops are NOT Thinkpads
JarredWalton - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Build quality should still be good, Lenovo has been futzing with their ThinkPad keyboards for a while now, and many people actually think TrackPoint is inferior and should die (like me). A 2x larger touchpad with good gesture support is much better for everything I do at least. And what "excellent keyboard shortcuts" are missing -- for that matter, what's "excellent" about the pretty much standard keyboard shortcuts on prior ThinkPads?gobaers - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
Heresy! I can't imagine buying a laptop without TrackPoint. That means, unfortunately, that I'm locked into Thinkpad laptops.I've heard, for at first, touchpad is easier so most opt for that and get used to it. If you put some work into it, trackpoints are superior. However, if you get to a mastery level, I've heard that it goes back to touchpads.
Having used TrackPoint for so long, retraining to touchpad sounds annoying in the extreme. Besides, being able to mouse while still having hands on the keyboard, and scrolling pages at the flick of a finger, is something I'm loath to give up.
gobaers - Wednesday, September 4, 2013 - link
One more thing: whenever I see non-Thinkpad people fumble with the touchpad, I just laugh at their fumbling gestures. It just looks slow and silly.noeldillabough - Thursday, September 5, 2013 - link
I've been using Thinkpads since they were IBM machines and I still can't use the trackpad lol.