Thinkpad X60 — the Tablet Goes Ultraportable 122
Rovi writes "Lenovo had a gift for Thinkpad fans this season- they finally released the successor to the X41 Tablet. The Thinkpad X60 Tablet weighs in at about three and a half pounds and has great tablet functionality. The updates from the older model include a 2.5" hard drive (the X41 used a 1.8"), automatic screen orientation, and an Intel Core Duo processor. For performance seekers some serious upgrades are available, such as a 120GB 5400RPM hard drive, 100GB 7200RPM drive, SXGA+ monitor, or up to 4GB of RAM."
But will it... (Score:4, Interesting)
Just asking.
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Emperor Linux provides preloade X-series thinkpads (Score:2)
Although Emperor Linux claims that they have many of the key laptop specific features working out of the box, I've found that not to be the case. Sleep, hibernate and dial-up modem capabilities never worked for me from day one. Also, you have to pay the Redmond Tax
Re:Emperor Linux provides preloade X-series thinkp (Score:2)
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Want toast? Make your own heatsink and launch Doom 3.
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Well, if it's like the earlier models, it's selling with pre-installed linux in Asia, but in the US you'll be able to buy it only with MS Windows installed, and you won't be able to find the drivers for the proprietary components that don't work with any of the online linux distros.
One of my questions would be whether it can handle languages like Mandarin and Arabic. Most computers sold in the US don't have software that do such things sanely, since everyone kno
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linux support? (Score:2, Informative)
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http://www.emperorlinux.com/systems/tablet/ [emperorlinux.com]
They also have a new "Wasp" tablet using the Panasonic Toughbook series.
The pricing on these models is a little higher (especially with upgrades), but the warm fuzzy of not running proprietary software should be worth it.
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Lenovo != IBM (Score:3, Informative)
I will say.. (Score:5, Informative)
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Yes, IBM sold the Thinkpad line to Lenovo. But the IBM logo continues to appear on Thinkpads, including the X60 [unhunter13.free.fr]. Apparently IBM also sold the temporary right to use the IBM logo to "sustain sales momentum" [zdnetasia.com].
So it's a natural mistake to look at a Thinkpad and infer that IBM still plays some role in its development and deployment. Like many such branding exercises, Lenovo's use of the IBM logo is just a bit dishonest.
IBM? (Score:2)
Speaking of,what is up with the ibm logo on that picture of the tablet?
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Just to clarify, since the parent post might have been misleading, there IS support for the tablet under GNU/Linux. I'm quite happy with my X41 tablet running gentoo (had to install from a knoppix live-USB though), the thinkpad buttons and screen rotation work fine, and support for high precision tablet coordinates and pressure sensitivity work great in GIMP, Inkscape and Xournal (minus pressure since Xournal doesn't use that). Hibernation with Suspend2 seems to work fine too.
What isn't really available,
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If it's because you don't want to fork out the cash for Photoshop/PSP/Painter, that's understandable. But OpenCanvas (the old free version that allows networking) is far superior to anything The GIMP could crap out.
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1) It's no longer updated (in the free version anyway), whereas The
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I'm getting one of these X60 tablets, and I plan to run Linux on it. Do you have any links to information that would be useful to me? How much effort did it take for you to get all this working?
Well, there's stuff like XStroke, but this post [tieguy.org] doesn't sound very encouraging. One thing I have found
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I'm getting one of these X60 tablets, and I plan to run Linux on it. Do you have any links to information that would be useful to me? How much effort did it take for you to get all this working?
Thinkwiki was very useful for me (even though their installation guides were for a different distro), though I'm not sure how much x60-specific info they have. That and the gentoo handbook were the main resources I used. Screen rotation "just works" with newer video drivers, X, xrandr, etc., but the tablet itself was a little tricky, since I needed to compile a patched version of linuxwacom to get the on-demand rotation support.
This probably won't be an issue for you unless you are installing gentoo, but
Re:linux support? (Score:4, Insightful)
I ran Debian on a Toshiba M200 (1.6ghz Pentium M, 2 GB RAM, 7200rpm HDD, dedicated NVidia video card). Good specs (at the time) for a 4 lb system, plus the tablet features. It was fast enough, and had a high res (but small) display so it was my primary dev system, although like the x60, it's a convertible, not a true tablet (big difference).
I never did focus on word recognition since I consider it awkward, and I didn't end up exploring the MS tablet integration features (some of which sound interesting) much before the XP partition died of a virus. Unfortunately, under Linux it was a challenge keeping the stylus, touchpad, rotation, power management, and video out working (or not). Not to mention the proprietary SD card reader. I'm no expert, but it was an unreasonable amount of very frustrating try-this, scanning outdated bulletin board conversations, etc work, and the implementations kept changing so if one thing is fixed, another breaks. This was 2004 - 2006, btw.
I did use it for some occasional drawing, and it was nice to be able to fold it down for some situations.
Having a vendor supported model would be a tremendous boost for Linux, and people like myself who want full vendor support. The kernel and the environment are of course separate, so it would really just take a 'certified' list of open source friendly hardware.
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I can't speak for this tablet, but I do know that Lenovo as a company not only supports Linux on their desktops, they ship it as the default OS for their domestic-consumption PCs.
I'm working on a systems integration project for a small nation in the South Pacific. The Chinese government provided all the IT equipment through its foreign aid programme, and every Lenovo machine we received had Kylin linux [kylin-linux.com.cn] installed, along with a
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I write these lines on a compaq tc4400 and I love this device. The convertion into a tablet was for me just a gag. However, meanwhile I use the device mostly as a tablet. The way to operate directly on the screen feels very intuitive.
However, from day one I said goodby to linux.
BTW: It ru
Automatic screen orientation... (Score:5, Funny)
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If you use a Clay Aiken signature pen the screen will turn all rainbow-colored.
Great commercial. (Score:5, Insightful)
IBM versus Toshiba? (Score:5, Interesting)
My question is, how does the Core Duo 1.8Ghz Low Voltage CPU performance compare to the standard Core Duo 1.8Ghz CPU in the M400.
Re:IBM versus Toshiba? (Score:5, Informative)
My understanding is that they should perform identically. The low voltage one was just able to pass the test at that voltage where the "normal" one would have failed the test at that low voltage. They make them all the same, then bin them based on which tests they pass. The exception to this is if they have high demand for 1.6 GHz chips but are producing lots of extra 1.8 GHz chips they may re-mark them and sell them as 1.6 chips (which is why sometimes the slow speed grades overclock so well).
This is my understanding. It's a bit like military spec chips. They perform identically, they are just designed for different conditions (in this case, less voltage).
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Very poor graphics compared to Toshiba (Score:2)
What he failed to mention though, was that this resolution was already very poor and uncompetitive in a well-featured tablet PC back in 2004 !!! As a clear fan of his X41t and X60s, I think he's reviewing the new Lenovo through rose-tinted spectacles.
I looked at the X-series along with many others when I was researching for my own tablet PC some 2+ years ago (before that I had a Thinkpad), and the Toshiba Tecra M4 [notebookreview.com] tablet came o
A high-res screen is an option (Score:2)
What he really failed to mention is that the X60t has a choice of three screens: a regular 1024x768, a 1024x768 touchscreen/outdoor readable, or a 1400x1050 SXGA+ screen. Granted, it still has Intel graphics, but a 6200 isn't that much better, and since the X60t is (much) lighter and smaller than the Toshiba it's worth it.
Of course, the downside is that the SXGA+ screen is backordered or something -- according to Lenovo's website, my X60t isn't scheduled to ship until February. : (
Lenovo (Not IBM) versus Toshiba? (Score:2)
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IS this new? (Score:2)
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The NON-TABLET X60 (such as your X60s) has been out for a long time; the TABLET X60 just came out.
3.5lb - is too much - give me 2 pounds (Score:1, Informative)
Some companies (Apple, IBM(Lenovo),Acer, etc) just do not know how to build small and light. If Sharp, Sony, Fujitsu, Samsung can build 2 pound laptops and lighter why cant Lenovo and Apple?
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Most of those ultra-light "executive jewelry" machines are lightly built and lightly used. The boss uses it to mangle his email on the road, and mostly carries it around to show others he's important enough for the company to blow three grand on a useless piece of junk for him to tote around. Apple and IBM build laptops designed to last, and so they weigh an extra pound over the ultralights. If you're footing the bil
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What has become of the 3 year warranty? (Score:1)
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I purchased a 3 year local depot drop off repair service contract as well as Lojack for Laptops. They added about 170$ to the cost but if the unit is dropped, broken at least I can go somewhere locally and get it fixed, they know who I am, what the terms of the agreement are and so on. And if it's stolen or lost, Lojack makes and a
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Lojack for Laptops sucks. It's Windows only and requires IE. Plus they reserve the right to terminate the contract if your computer doesn't connect to their servers after x days.
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Totally different animals.
No 3 year warranty = no Lenovo for me.
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Long overdue? It's in the wrong sales channel (Score:2)
Moreover, Lenovo clearly has a demarc between consumer models (N series, V series, etc.) and their corporate customer brand (Thinkpad). I have to wonder how they're going to support a consumer model like this out of the corporate channel sin
Re:Long overdue? It's in the wrong sales channel (Score:4, Informative)
I'm an individual, and I've generally gotten very good service from IBM on Thinkpads that I and my family own. I've never been stuck on hold. That's a great thing right there. The worst incident I ever had was when a rep sent me the parts to replace my own LCD panel, and she did that at my request, not fully realizing that I didn't have a clue. To IBM's credit, they took all the parts back once I realized I was out of my depth. Then they took the Thinkpad back and fixed that too. And all under warranty.
I'm sure other's mileage may vary, and surely there must be some bad experiences out there, but I've found Thinkpad service to be top-notch, so much so that there are only two brands of notebook that I buy these days: Thinkpad and Apple. (Apple, because that's what you need for OS X).
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Color me cynical but when I hear something is long overdue I wonder if it's been thrown together quickly out of desperation. This model or models which check in at 4+lbs are not ultraportable. One would think that with a smallish screen it would come in a little lighter.
Lenovo has been doing quite well, so I don't think this could be called a desperation move. 4+lbs is a bit hefty but you could always use the 4 cell battery which allows the unit to come in under 4 lbs. On the screen, this is certainly not smallish for an ultra-portable - average perhaps. I'm willing to accept the extra heft in return for the durability of the materials used to construct the tablet.
I have to wonder how they're going to support a consumer model like this out of the corporate channel since obviously there are zero corporations out there who are going to stock their inventories with this.
Although I've heard some horror stories regarding the standard "depot" service, I've also heard a tot
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Granted, a tablet is not something that most people really want or need, but let Lenovo worry about selling enough of them. The tablet, while not a huge success, has carved it
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Uhhh... (Score:2)
laptop or Electrovaya tablets.
...up to 4GB of memory... (Score:2)
Might be worthwhile to wait for Santa Rosa platform in April/May. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino#Napa_platfor m [wikipedia.org]
Battery life (Score:1, Offtopic)
Does anyone have a laptop/tablet that can last for 4 to 6 hours on a battery. I'm sick of 5 minute battery life, and would be willing to use a 300mhz laptop if I could use it to read on for 4 or 5 hours.
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As an owner of an Inspiron e1705 with a core 2 duo T7200, and an geforce go 7900gs cross flashed with the 7900gtx bios and overclocked while attached to a WUXGA display, I can confidently say that I love my laptop, and because of the dual 8 cell non-exploding lithium ion batteries it still has great battery life. Although it's a little heavy, it's still nothing like what laptops used to weigh! Hell, my first laptop weighed more than my desktop.
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SXGA+? (Score:2)
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Application software fares somewhat better, most apps under linux handle high DPI reasonablly well, but there are still a lot of windows apps which were designed using
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I've ordered one of these with the SXGA+ display. On Windows, you'd be right because it doesn't have a resolution-independent display. However, I think I'll be okay because I plan to use KDE on it.
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Is BIOS broken? (Score:2)
(Short story: Lenovo disabled hardware virtualization in BIOS, one of selling point of Core processors)
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Slashdot demands a laptop that can play PenQuake and DoomWrite for hours on end AND at a minimum of 10sps (strokes per second).
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If you plan to run Linux on it, on the other hand, the onboard video is perfect -- yay Intel GPL video drivers!
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Toshiba has a Tablet PC in their Tecra lineup now with an option for an NVIDIA graphics board. They hide it pretty well though. You have to actual go to the "Customize" screen to see that the NVIDIA graphics are an option.
Tecra M7 is the model. This link probably won't work but I'll give it a try anyway: Tecra M7 [toshibadirect.com]
I'm typing from one right now! It's great.
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Until you get to the two grand range, it seems like Lenovo is adverse to using decent 3D videocards even in their regular laptops. I know you can still run Vista without the fancy 3D effects, but the lower-end 3D chipsets don't take that much power.
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Now, a machine like that with OS X running on it...
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Talk to me in about a month or so (when my X60t -- ordered a week ago -- finally arrives). I'll actually be able to tell you whether OSX86 [osx86project.org] works "well enough" on it.
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assthetics - the study of a (usually female) person's J-Lo rating
asthetics - ???
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Re:asthetics dont count anymore ? (Score:5, Funny)
>Taste is in the eye of the beholder.
Indeed.
And vision is in his mouth.
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also be aware that if you are an american that:
we're the only ones with fat people
we're mostly illiterate
we're the only country that burns fossil fuels (and thus are the single country responsible for global warming)
we
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Because if we don't buy the laptops they will use them in their missiles?
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Why would anyone buy a computer from a company that's owned mostly by the Chinese Government?
Not everyone. I just upgraded to a P3 1.13Ghz T23 from a 800Mhz T22b because I can't located a T4x that is made out side of China. I love my Thinkpad, but I love my freedom even more. Hey, US is far from perfect but China is much closer to hell, unless you're part of the ruling class.
For web browsing, emailing, and ssh my T22 worked great with Debian Sid and T23 is the same. SXGA+ is great but unfortunately I think my T23 will be the last Thinkpad I'll own. Despite the pretty name, Lenovo is still a
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