Lenovo – the company who bought the ThinkPad name from IBM – has announced the latest additions to its ThinkPad X-series range, and there’s some pretty impressive add-ons to be had – including support for WiMAX wireless broadband.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X201, announced over on WebTechGadgetNews, brings WiMAX support for the range, along with a 9-cell lithium-ion battery which the company claims offers up to twelve hours of run-time from a single charge – more than enough for a full working day without having to lug an awkward mains charger every where you go.
Strangely, Lenovo is bucking the current trend of pre-installing a 64-bit version of Windows – which provides support for 4GB and upwards of RAM – and is reportedly shipping the ThinkPad X201 with the 32-bit edition of Windows 7. While this will ensure a maximum of compatibility with older software – much of which doesn’t have a 64-bit build available, and a small percentage of which fails to work properly using the Windows-on-Windows 32-bit compatibility system built in to Windows 7 – it does mean that only around 3.5GB of the 4GB memory included with the X201 will be available to the user.
The X201 is powered by the 2.66GHz Intel Core i7-620M with integrated Intel graphics – so not much chance of gaming on this particular model – and the Intel QM57 Express chipset, while storage is taken care of by a 500GB SATA hard drive. Clearly aimed at the corporate – rather than home – user, the ThinkPad X201 includes Intel’s Active Management Technology, which allows corporate IT departments to pro-actively track and monitor the device even when it is switched off.
If you’re yearning for something exactly like the ThinkPad X201 but don’t work for a big corporation, Lenovo has a second model up its sleeve: the X201i. Matching the specifications of its corporate brother completely, the ThinkPad X201i makes one simple omission: no support for Intel’s Active Management Technology.
As a result, the X201i is expected to retail for slightly less than the X201: the ThinkPad X201 is reportedly launching in Japan for ¥169,000 (around $1,928), while the ThinkPad X201i will set you back ¥149,000 (around $1,700). Both models are available with Microsoft Office Home and Business pre-installed for an additional ¥20,000 (around $228).
Sadly, Lenovo has yet to confirm US pricing or an official launch date for either model, so those wanting to get their WiMAX on are just going to have to be patient.
