Two new notebooks being introduced this month from Lenovo Group Ltd. promise more performance and extended battery life not available on previous models.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X60 and T60 series offer dual-core processing through Intel’s Centrino Duo mobile technology that draws less power than previous X and T models and improves battery power by 37 per cent with up to 11 hours of run time.
“Customers have been asking for extremely great performance [from their computers] but (also) have it in a mobile package,” said Ryan Wires, Lenovo (Canada) Inc.’s national ThinkPad sales specialist.
With dual-core processors, customers are able to run more applications at the same time and increase productivity for users that have large multi-tasking environments, he added. In addition to better performance and increased battery life, Wires said other new features include increased durability.
The ThinkPad T60 measures an inch thin and weighs 4.8 pounds and includes a ThinkPad shock-mounted hard drive to protect against any shock should the notebook be dropped. As well, new to the T60 is the ThinkPad Roll Cage, an inner armour chassis that offers airbag-like protection for the inner components of the notebook.
The latest version of Lenovo’s ThinkVantage Access Connections also comes preloaded with the T60 and X60 that helps mobile users switch between any available network connections. Version 4.1 supports all of the newer wireless cards on the market, including the 802.11a,d, and g Intel cards.
Like previous models, the T60 and X60 series will also have fingerprint scanners built in for increased security.
Also new, said Wires, is Lenovo’s System Rejuvenation technology, a tool that is part of the company’s Rescue and Recovery that does ongoing backups so the notebook can recover itself to the last backup should any viruses or system corruptions occur.
Michelle Warren, IT industry analyst with Evans Research Group in Toronto, said the introduction of these two new notebooks from Lenovo helps make 2006 the year of mobility in Canada.
“The rugged features [of the T60 and X60] will open the door to enable mobile technology to reach different parts of the office where desktops are traditionally found,” Warren said.
She added that companies like Lenovo that continually release new mobile products at reduced prices only help to entice customers to become mobile.
However, Warren wished that the Canadian models of the T60 and X60 would have an embedded wireless wide area network antenna that would help improve network coverage in accessing the Internet and offer increased roaming. That feature so far is available only on U.S. versions.
Warren said Dell Inc. also offers a similar product to Lenovo’s. Both feature Intel’s Centrino Duo mobile technology but she added that the Dell Inspiron 9400 is targeted more to home users and the gaming community while the Lenovo ThinkPads are targeted at the highly mobile business user.
The ThinkPad T60 and X60 are available now. The former starts at a price of $2,649, the former at $2,999.
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