Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 - image courtesy LaptopMag

The forthcoming ThinkPad SL410 and SL510 models were spotted in China only a few days ago, and the folks at LaptopMag have already put the 15.6-inch SL510 through its paces.

What I didn’t expect with the SL510 was a more evolved, and arguably mature, design. Gone are the highly tapered edges, glossy finish, and even the sore-thumb pulsing LED. In an odd move, the system status LEDs on the outside are no longer on the LCD cover, but on the front of the bottom clamshell. The rest of the SL510 is pretty much what you expect and I encourage you to check out the full review at LaptopMag.

As I sit here and think about the “grown up” ThinkPad SL Series, something rapidly became clear to me: this is the replacement for the venerable R Series. There were no refreshed R Models on the leaked 2010 roadmap found four months back and I really can’t blame Lenovo. The R Series was the cheapest way into ThinkPad’s unique features, but with the growth of Windows’ competency, lack of differentiation between T & R Series, and rock-bottom notebook pricing, the R Series just doesn’t make sense anymore.

Source: [LaptopMag]