http://www.electronista.com/articles/07 ... novo.a61e/

I am slightly doubtful about the efficiency of a solar powered computer (even the OLPC need more power than the best solar panels today can generate!), but I welcome the effort.

Official Announcement.

Well, obviously, they can't use 'em where the "sun don't shine..." (tee-hee)

Worth reading article from Matt on Lenovo Blogs.

Do they do solar power options for the thinkpad laptops?

maybe T70? i wonder what kind of battery life you would get out of that?

Surface area of the lid of a 15" T60 is a bit under 0.10 m^2. The highest solar irradiation people at moderate latitudes see is about 1000 W/m^2. (The highest Waterloo has seen yesterday was ~930.) Thus the maximum incoming radiation onto a T60 is about 100 watts. This is during mid-day on a sunny day, outside. (The screen technology will have to improve a lot.) Wikipedia tells me that conversion efficiencies can reach 30%, which would give you 30 watts, which should be enough to greatly extend battery life at load and charge the battery at idle. Most commercial panels have efficiencies closer to 12%, though, which would be just enough to keep the laptop running... but would still extend the battery life significantly even without noon sun. At the low end of the scale, 5% efficient panels would be able to add about 1/3rd of battery life at idle in noon sun, which isn't significant in real life conditions (unless you enjoy sitting outside during summer noons, reading off a Thinkpad LCD).

I think that a Thinkpad lid covered with photovoltaic cells would look pretty cool, though.

What good is a solar adapter for a desktop machine? How many desks have unfiltered access to the sun?

I had a chance to see A61 and A61e in person. A61e was even tinier and more ultra compact than it looked in pictures. Sorry I couldn't take snaps as my clumsy camera is with Panasonic for repair services.

Let me assure you on one thing, the pictures you would see on the internet do no justice about the small mass of this machine. However, since with compactness comes a little sacrifice so the former is more powerful than the latter and comes with more expansion slots (for e.g. DIMM slots) and configuration options (one e.g. like a choice of Micro or compact tower) etc. I've alot of info. about these machines but less time to post so if any interested souls cannot find anything specific what they're looking for on these machines in tcbook then please kindly ask.

By the way lenovo sees Fujitsu Esprimo Q, Acer Power 1000, Dell OptiPlex 745 uSFF (Ultra Small Form Factor) and Hewlett Packard dc7700/7700p uSFF as the main market competitors of these machines.

Thanks for the info ryengineer. It's sad that the A61e has such a poor graphics option. It doesn't even support DVI out. Do you know if there will be more USFF models released?

Yep, there will be.

At this moment, A61 is still compact as compared to other Thinkcentres except A61e ofcourse.

A61 has DVI option on select models as well, moreover lenovo has certified 10 various brands of discrete GPU's from different manufacturers that you can add in the machine.

The "solar powered option" is in fact a portable solar-powered generator: a PV cell charges a large battery with an inverter, and your system runs off that. You could probably run a small home office on this system; it will run more than just the computer but also the monitor and probably your printer, scanner, etc. as well.

You can see a photo of the system here (it's the "Solar PowerPAC II")

http://www.solar4power.com/Lenovo-refer ... power.html

These systems are made by Arise Technologies here in Canada; they call this model the NOMAD.

I ordered an A61e (without the solar option, but I do eventually want to run my office on solar) and it should be here in a few weeks. There is a very limited choice of builds; right now Lenovo's Canadian site shows just two, and I got the dual-core one with a 160-gig drive plus an extra gig of RAM, which set me back about $1000 including taxes. My only beef is that it comes with Vista only; there are no versions available with XP preinstalled although you can purchase a downgrade package. Still I might try my luck with Vista for a while and if it proves to be too much of a headache I have until next July to purchase a downgrade.

My A61e arrived today; it seems a solid machine and more attractive than portrayed in the photos (it doesn't look at all like an old VCR to me, although I wouldn't say it's pretty by a long shot...still, the ugliest thing to me is all the stickers, especially the one that says, incorrectly, "Windows Vista Basic," because Windows Vista Business is loaded on this machine). It's surprisingly heavy for its size and the case is clearly sturdy enough to put a monitor on top.

Lenovo bills this as its quietest desktop and that may be true, but compared with the ThinkPads I've been using as desktop replacements for the past seven years, it's very loud. It gives off a constant low hum and the hard disk is noisy; in comparison my T42 ThinkPad is barely audible except on the rare occasions when the fan kicks in.

As usual there was no printed manual and the assembly poster is a joke. I was able to download manuals from Lenovo's site (they are included on the computer but I ordered mine with extra RAM and wanted instructions on how to open the case and install the RAM before I booted up the computer for the first time).

I will start using the computer over the weekend and post my thoughts here if there's anything worth sharing.

Attn: ryengineer

"lenovo has certified 10 various brands of discrete GPU's from different manufacturers that you can add in the machine"

Is this as it sounds; are you saying I can swap out the graphics chipset and replace it? Do you have a detailed list of alternate GPUs and instructions for changing them?

The A61e got my attention as soon as I heard about it. However, my interest has diminished, as Lenovo seems to have quickly lost interest in it, themselves. There's little official new information being posted anywhere on the net about this model.

I was further frustrated by the fact that 3 options for the A61e, the modem, the cardreader and the expresscard are only available to corporate customers and not to individuals.

I've read various posts by Lenovo workers saying that new models and options for the A61e will be forthcoming, but there's been really nothing concrete, just rumors.

Lenovo seems to be taking the same road as other companies who have put out very small systems; they start off with lots of enthusiasm and promises, and then quickly lose interest in their own product. All you have to do is look at any other slimline or compact or small form factor computers to see that they are not being updated by their makers. I hope this isn't going to happen with the A61e.

Lenovo has the opportunity to take the lead in the SFF market, if they really want it. There are many users out there, looking for a SFF system that they can work with, and that they can expect to be able to see upgraded models on a regular basis.

If anyone from Lenovo (someone with some marketing power) reads this, maybe they can take the time to reply. Thanks for the chance to complain a bit.

Yes. Following are some certified GPU's compatible only for A61 (non "e" model):

ATI RV610Pro 256 M LP (DMS59)
ATI RV610LE 128 M LP (DMS59
ATI X1300 256 M LP (DMS59)
NVIDIA 7300LE 128 M LP (DMS59)
ATI RV630XT 512M FH(DVI+DVI, solo)

You can call your local lenovo sales office to get more information about A61/e or are most welcome to ask here.

In addition, you can find some information about A61e in the below data sheet or tcbook too:

Data Sheet.

More models and configurations are expected to be released soon in Canada.