Our friends at Laptoping have come across a Lenovo document that shares some details on the yet-unannounced refreshed ThinkPads. Expectedly dubbed the T420 and T520, the new machines will feature some updates, new processors, and should appear in February.
The changes are all no surprise to those who have watched the ThinkPad space closely. Of course both the T420 and T520 get sped up with Intel’s 2nd generation Core processors (aka Sandy Bridge) and the T520 chassis was a new 15.6-inch design on the T510, so it will remain unchanged. The good news is you still can get the high color gamut, Full HD (1920×1080) display on the T520.
The T420 also gets a new chassis, as the 14-inch T Series did NOT move to a 16:9 ratio display last generation and Lenovo has been warning us 16:9 is inevitable. That’s right: all ThinkPads except the X Series are officially switched over to 16:9. There’s still not much on the expected refresh of the X Series, which is also due for a chassis update, so that is likely still coming.
The good news is that you aren’t stuck with crappy 1366×768 HD resolution on the T420, but can opt for a reasonable 1600×900 HD+ resolution panel. I’ve used this size/resolution panel on the HP Envy 14 and it was a pretty decent experience; you may miss the vertical resolution, but at least it doesn’t look like 1998 with a low res screen. The new T420 chassis is also supposed to be thinner and lighter, so it looks like there are changed beyond the screen ratio.
Unfortunately there are no other details, like pricing, though the official launch should be in February. This is one detail that could have been changed since this document was created some time in late 2010, but time will only tell.
As always, you can find the latest ThinkPad T420 deal & coupons at LogicBuy.
Source: [Laptoping]
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Thinner and lighter.
14″ HD+ and 15.6″ FHD; I couldn’t cope with any less vertical res than 900 px. I hope the new 14″ Edge series gets the higher resolution screens as an option, but somehow I doubt that.
No mention of batteries…
I will be getting Apple Macbook Pro since they are likely to keep 16:10 and offers a high resolution option. There is so much crap one can take from Lenovo.
You wish. As you’ve seen, all iMacs and Apple’s displays have gone to 16:9, even though there’s a huge market for 16:10 especially in the professional video- and picture editing circles.
So did the Macbook Air, which is the most recent laptop.
Which is sad, I’d even take 4:3 over 16:9.
Will there be a thinner/lighter T420s released at the same time?
I wonder if they could even do a T520s (thin/light with a FHD screen, best of both worlds)…
Another thing, is there physically enough room to squeeze in a numeric pad on a chassis housing a 16:9 15.6″ screen? That would be perfect.
T400s chassis is too new. They will ride that one out for another generation or two.
T520s could be doable, but nobody would buy a premium, thin & light 15-inch from Lenovo. Changes to the classic ThinkPad line are meant with nearly solely the interest of their large accounts (e.g. large corporations).
When is Lenovo going to give up on that cheap plastic and use aluminum for the ThinkPad casing?
THAT… would bring back this old ThinkPad road dog.
Until then, my MacBook Pro can beat the crap out of a ThinkPad any day, any time, any test.
What I like the most about unibody MacBooks is how you can actually dent them like a cheap piece of tin
Not that Im arguing about desire to have metalic ThinkPad.
Aluminum is so tacky, only way to do even worse would be to chrome the whole laptop.
You think that aluminum is tackier than plastic?
Wow… Do you wear jeans to work or a suit?
Matte black > aluminum > glossy plastic
And since you’re so interested, I usually wear jeans and a t-shirt to work.
Most of the time I work from home though, where it can range everywhere from plain boxershorts to a wedding dress, when the right mood hits.
>that cheap plastic
Oh, those cheap carbon fiber reinforced polymer cases of ThinkPads are just pathetic.
Crappy resolutions, pass
Looks good
I just saw the new T420 on a video of a demo for Intel VPro, and it looks like Lenovo shrunk the screen height to achieve the 16:9 aspect ratio. I think this hurts the aesthetics of the 14.0″ Thinkpad, and a smaller screen area is a loss in value for consumers.
看起来不错
Crappy resolutions, pass
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