ThinkPad T Series

ThinkPad T Series

T20 - The first in the T series
Developer
Type Notebook computer
Release date 2000

The ThinkPad T Series is a line of laptop computers introduced by IBM in 2000. After the transfer of the consumer computer division in 2005, they were marketed by Lenovo.

History

One of the IBM ThinkPads before the sale to Lenovo.

IBM introduced the T Series as part of their ThinkPad brand in 2000.[1] The laptop was meant to cater to users working with multiple networks and in different environments. This resulted in the development of the IBM Embedded Security Subsystem.[1] From the time of its inception, the series was designed to balance speed and mobility. Despite a 14.1” screen, similar to desktops at the time, the titanium composite body on the laptop was designed to keep the weight as low as possible.[1] Users were also given options to swap components for mobility, like a DVD player, writeable CD drive or numeric keypads.[1]

The ThinkPad T20 was released by IBM as the successor to the ThinkPad 600 laptops.[2] Despite the weight of 4.6 lbs (2.09 kg), the T20 had a 14.1-inch (360 mm) screen making it the lightest laptop offering with that screen size.[3] With the addition of an internal 8x DVD-ROM drive, the weight remained as low as 5.2 lbs (2.36 kg).[4]

In October 2000, the ThinkPad T20 was upgraded and released as the ThinkPad T21 laptop with the Intel Mobile Pentium III (800 MHz) CPU.[5] The 14.1” TFT display offered a higher resolution of 1400x1050. The hard disk space offered was a 32 GB – high for the time.[1]

The ThinkPad T30 was released in May 2002, with options for the Intel Mobile Pentium 4-M processor with the Intel 845MP Mobile Chipset.[6] Additional options included the ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 video controller with 16 MB graphics memory, a 14.1” TFT display with a resolution of 1400×1050, and 1 GB PC2100 RAM.[7] This was complemented by a 60 GB hard drive and a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, making it a powerful laptop.[8]

Announced in March 2003, the ThinkPad T40p represented the first in the T Series’ ‘performance’ class of laptops.[9] The ThinkPad T40p offered ATI Mobility 9000 with 64 MB VRAM, a 14.1” TFT display with 1400×1050 resolution, a maximum of 2 GB PC2100 RAM, and a 60 GB hard disk.[10] The design was followed by the T41 and T41p and the T42 and T42p (ATI Mobility 7500, 9600, and FireGL T2), with almost complete parts interchangeability, except for the fan (normal or p-series), keyboard (14.1" or 15"), screen (14.1" or 15"), and screen inverter.

Launched in April 2005, the ThinkPad T43 and T43p laptops were the last T Series laptops manufactured by IBM.[1][11] The major improvement was a move to lower-cost DDR2 RAM and a bus speed increase from 400 MHz to 533 MHz. The CPU also was the first to have the XD bit, making it the first Thinkpad that could run Windows 8.0 and 8.1.

In December 2004 Lenovo of China announced the acquisition of the IBM PC division[12] including the ThinkPad brand (at the time, 40% of the PC division was working in China.) ThinkPads were being made by Lenovo's arch-rival Great Wall Technology.[13]

Lenovo released the ThinkPad T60 and T60p laptops in February 2006.[14] While designed by and manufactured by Lenovo, the T60 and the T60p still featured the IBM logo on the machines.[1] In May 2007, the T61 and T61p laptops slowly phased out IBM logos in favor of the ThinkPad logo.[15] It also was the first T Series notebook to adopt widescreen resolution as a mainstream option; the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio screens was also offered as an alternative at the time but mass industry adoption of the widescreen standard meant that it was the last ThinkPad of its kind to use the 4:3 standard.

The naming convention for the T Series was changed by Lenovo following the release of the ThinkPad T400 and T500 in July 2008.[16] The Txxp models (like the T61p) were replaced by Lenovo’s ThinkPad W Series laptops.[17] Designed as mobile workstations, the W Series grew to become Lenovo’s line of performance-oriented laptops.[18] The T Series remains Lenovo’s premier line of laptops, aimed at corporate and enterprise users.

Specifications

Recent 15" models available from Lenovo are:

Model date of release(US) Dimensions (mm) Weight CPU Chipset Memory Graphics
T510[1] January 2010 372.8 × 245.1 × 35.8 (max) Starting at 5.89 lbs/2.67 kg Up to Intel Core i7-620M -i7 (2.66 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1066 MHz FSB, 35 W) Intel QM57 Up to 6 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Up to 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

 Intel Integrated Graphics

NVIDIA NVS3100M Discrete Graphics

T520[1] February 2011 373 × 245 × (31.8 - 35.6) Starting at 5.74 lbs (2.6 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-2860QM (2.50 GHz, 8 MB L3, 1333 MHz FSB) Intel QM67 Up to 16 GB DDR3 - 1333 MHz (2 DIMM Slots) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA NVS 4200M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T530[19] June 2012 245.1 × 372.8 × (31.8 - 35.6) Starting at 5.56 lbs (2.5 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-3820QM (2.70 GHz, 8 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM77 Up to 16 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (2 DIMM Slots) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA NVS 5400M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T540p[20] November 2013 380 × 253 × ?? Starting at 5.45 lbs (2.47 kg) Haswell-M DualQuadCore Intel QM87 DDR3 - 1600 MHz Intel Integrated Graphics
T550[21] Jan 2015 TBC Starting at 5 lbs (2.26 kg) TBC TBC DDR3 - 1600 MHz Intel HD Graphics 5500

Recent 14" models available from Lenovo are:

Model date of release(US) Dimensions (mm) Weight CPU Chipset Memory Graphics
T410[22] January 2010 333.5 × 239 × [27.6 to 31.9] Starting at 5.0 lbs/2.23 kg Up to Intel Core i7-620M -i7 (2.66 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1066 MHz FSB, 35 W) Intel QM57[23] Up to 6 GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Up to 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

 Intel Integrated Graphics

NVIDIA NVS3100M Discrete Graphics

T410s[24] January 2010 337 × 241.5 × 21.1 Starting 1.77 kg with optical drive Intel Core i5-540M (2.53 GHz, 3 MB L3, 1066 MHz FSB, 35 W) Intel QS57, Standard Volt (35 W), Small Form Factor Up to 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 on two slots Intel Integrated Graphics

NVIDIA NVS3100M Graphics

T420[25] February 2011 340 × 229.8 × (29.9 - 30.4) Starting at 4.9 lbs (2.24 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-2620M (2.70 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1333 MHz FSB) Intel QM67 Up to 16 GB DDR3 - 1333 MHz (2 DIMM Slots) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA NVS 4200M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T420s[26] February 2011 340 × 229.8 × (21 – 25.9) Starting at 3.94 lbs (1.78 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-2640M (2.8 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1333 MHz FSB) Intel QM67 Up to 16 GB DDR3 - 1333 MHz (2 DIMM Slots) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA NVS 4200M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T430[27] June 2012 350.5 × 232 × 29.9 Starting at 4.77 lbs (2.166 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-3520M (2.90 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM77 Up to 16 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (2 DIMM Slots) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA NVS 5400M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T430s[28] June 2012 343 × 230 × (21.2 - 26) Starting at 3.94 lbs (1.78 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-3520M (2.90 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM77 Up to 16 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (2 DIMM Slots) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA NVS 5200M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T430u[29] September 2012 340 × 236 × 21 Starting at 4.08 lbs (1.852 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-3517U (3.00 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM77 Up to 8 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (1 DIMM Slot) Intel Integrated HD Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT620M (1 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology

T431s[30] March 2013 331 × 226 × 20.6 Starting at 3.6 lbs (1.63 kg) Up to Intel Core i7-3687U (2.1 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM77 Up to 12 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (4 GB soldered, 1 DIMM Slot) Intel Integrated HD 4000 Graphics
T440s, T440s Touch[31] September 2013 331 × 226 × 20.65 Starting at 3.5 lbs (1.59 kg), +0.14 kg for Touch Up to Intel Core i7-4600U (2.1 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM87 Up to 12 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (4 GB soldered, 1 DIMM Slot) Intel Integrated HD 4400 Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT730M (2 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology (in some markets); HD+, FHD IPS Screen

T440, T440 Touch[31] September 2013 339 × 232.5 × 23 Starting at 3.7 lbs (1.68 kg), +0.14 kg for Touch Up to Intel Core i7-4600U (2.1 GHz, 4 MB L3, 1600 MHz FSB) Intel QM87 Up to 12 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz (4 GB soldered, 1 DIMM Slot) Intel Integrated HD 4400 Graphics

Discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT720M (2 GB VRAM) with Optimus Technology; HD, HD+ Screen

T440p[32] November 2013 339 × 232.5 × 29.5 Starting at 4.0 lbs (1.81 kg) Haswell-M Dual&QuadCore Intel QM87 Up to 16GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz Intel Integrated Graphics
T450s[33] February 2015[34] 331 × 226 × 21 1.58 kg 5th Generation Intel Core i5 or i7 Up to 12 GB (1 DIMM) Intel Integrated HD 5500 Graphics

Reviews

PCWorld said that the ThinkPad T20 “packs a bigger screen, a more comfortable keyboard, and a larger set of useful features into a smaller package than any of its competitors.”[35] The Web site epinions.com said that the ThinkPad T20 was “worth the wait” giving it 4.5 stars out of 5.[36]

In a review of the ThinkPad T60, Notebook Review called the T Series laptops the “flagship of the ThinkPad brand”,[37] aimed at corporate professionals.[1] Some of the T Series characteristics as listed by notebookreview.com include durability, security, usability, and performance.[38]

The ThinkPad T410 was awarded 4.5 out of 5 stars by Notebook Review upon release.[39] The review noted the centering of the screen, eliminating the thick bezel on one side and the thin bezel on the other.[40] The review indicated that the pros were the speed, battery life, and wide selection of ports.[41] The cons were minor distortions on the screen when flexed, and the high pitched fan.[42] WIRED also reviewed the T410 laptop positively, saying that “Lenovo’s thoughtful ThinkPad is a near-perfect machine”.[43]

The PC Advisor review of the ThinkPad T510 called the lack of alterations to the traditional design a good thing.[44] It also highlighted the professional appearance and ‘sturdy build quality’, indicating that this makes the laptop stand out from others in the market.[45]

The T420 and T520 laptops were different from their predecessors mainly through an upgrade to Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors.[46] The T420 received a total score of 85% from the Notebook Check web site.[47] The fan noise was noticeably reduced, as indicated by a reviewer from PCWorld.[48] The T Series laptops, the T420, the T420s, and the T520, have been lauded for their battery life – up to 30 hours with a 9-cell battery slice.[49]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "The History of the ThinkPad". IBM. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
  2. ↑ "IBM ThinkPad T20". With the ThinkPad T20, the follow-up to the popular ThinkPad 600 series, IBM sets a new standard for travel notebooks
  3. ↑ "IBM ThinkPad T20". With a travel bezel in its modular bay, the T20 weighs only 4.6 pounds, the lightest we've seen for a notebook with a 14.1-inch (360 mm) screen.
  4. ↑ "IBM ThinkPad T20". Even carrying the internal 8X DVD-ROM drive you get at this price, it still weighs only 5.2 pounds.
  5. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". The T20 transformed in to the ThinkPad T21 in October 2000, with all the main enhancements being the brand-new Intel CPU to as much as Intel Mobile Pentium III 850 MHz, a higher resolution 14.1” TFT display having 1400×1050, as well as hard drive capacities as much as 32 GB.
  6. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". The real game changer was in fact the roll-out of the ThinkPad T30 in May 2002. This T30 had a choice of specifying the Intel Mobile Pentium 4-M processor to as much as 2.4 GHz running together with the Intel 845MP Mobile Chipset.
  7. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". Together with the ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 video controller with 16 MB graphics memory and a 14.1” TFT display with as much as 1400×1050 resolution and the option of 1 GB PC2100 RAM, it was a real sharp performer.
  8. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". You could stipulate a 60 GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drive combo for the UltraBay and with its Intel AC’97 Audio this particular fantastic compact notebook computer was capable of running your films back in the hotel after a hard day?s work.
  9. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". The moment the ThinkPad T40 was announced in March the year 2003, we saw the earliest of the ‘performance’ workstation specific ThinkPad’s
  10. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". the ThinkPad T40p with the ATI Mobility FireGL 9000 with 64 Megabytes ram, a 14.1” TFT display with 1400×1050 resolution, still only 2 MB PC2100 ram as maximum, but with a 60 Gigabyte 7200 RPM Hard Disk for speedy data access.
  11. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". The actual ThinkPad T43 as well as ThinkPad T43p were the very last pure IBM ThinkPad’s, being introduced in April 2005, with Lenovo concluding the acquisition of the trademark in May 2005.
  12. ↑ "Sale of I.B.M. PC Unit Is a Bridge Between Cultures". New York Times. December 8, 2004.
  13. ↑ "IBM Sells PC Group to Lenovo". ZSNet. December 8, 2004.
  14. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". The very first Lenovo owned T Series were the ThinkPad T60 along with T60p released in February 2006, although these were nevertheless sporting the IBM badge, and also had been needless to say designed within ThinkCentre Global Head Quarters in Raleigh North Carolina, as all ongoing ThinkPad’s even now are.
  15. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". the T Series range had dropped the IBM brand with the T61 plus T61p in May 2007
  16. ↑ "ThinkPad T Series - History and Development". the very first ‘real’ Lenovo ThinkPad’s arrived with the ThinkPad T400 and T500 in July 2008.
  17. ↑ "Review Lenovo Thinkpad W500 Notebook". Until now the Thinkpad T-Model from Leonovo, which was enhanced after the short ending -p, set the standard for professional users with high performance demands. After a complete overhaul of the Lenovo product lineup, coincident with the launch of the Intel Centrino 2, Lenovo is now starting a few new notebook series. Among them are the new mobile workstations with the labels W500 and W700, which are meant to replace the Thinkpad Txxp models.
  18. ↑ "Review Lenovo Thinkpad W500 Notebook". The new W-series is ultimately designed specially for professional graphic designers who want maximum performance paired with practical mobility.
  19. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T530 Datasheet".
  20. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T540p Notebook".
  21. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T550 Notebook".
  22. ↑ "Lenovo T410 and T510 Datasheet".
  23. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T410: Built for Business".
  24. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T410s Datasheet".
  25. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T420 and T520 Datasheet".
  26. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T420s Datasheet".
  27. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T430 Datasheet".
  28. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T430s Datasheet".
  29. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T430u Datasheet".
  30. ↑ "Personal Systems Reference Lenovo ThinkPad T431s Notebook".
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Personal Systems Reference Lenovo® ThinkPad® Notebooks September 2013 - Version 442".
  32. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T440p Notebook".
  33. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T450s Spec Sheet".
  34. ↑ "Lenovo Unveils Latest ThinkPad X1 Carbon to Celebrate 100 Millionth ThinkPad".
  35. ↑ "IBM ThinkPad T20". Although it wears the third-highest price tag in our two-spindle notebooks roundup, the $3699 ThinkPad T20 is worth every penny. It packs a bigger screen, a more comfortable keyboard, and a larger set of useful features into a smaller package than any of its competitors. It should delight ThinkPad fans and newcomers looking for a lightweight notebook hampered by few compromises.
  36. ↑ "ThinkPad T20 Review".
  37. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Review". The ThinkPad T-series can be thought of as the flagship of the ThinkPad brand, it's squarely targeted towards business users and professionals.
  38. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Review". Durability, security, usability and performance are all important characteristics of the ThinkPad T-series.
  39. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Review".
  40. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Review". Once opened, ThinkPad fans will notice that Lenovo finally centered the screen, so no more thick bezel on one side and a thin bezel on the other.
  41. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Review". The full-redesigned Lenovo ThinkPad T410 offers quite a few enhancements over the previous generation T400, including less keyboard flex, an updated keyboard, a nicer touchpad, huge improvement in port selection, and better component access through the chassis.
  42. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T410 Review". Cons: Screen shows some distortion when flexing, High pitched fan could be annoying
  43. ↑ "Lenovo's Thoughtful ThinkPad Is a Near-Perfect Machine". Wired. September 15, 2010.
  44. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T510 review". Since Lenovo bought IBM's PC and notebook business, not much of the ThinkPad's iconic design has changed, and this is a good thing.
  45. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T510 review". The Lenovo ThinkPad T510 notebook has the same business-like look, the same sturdy build quality, and most of the features that make ThinkPads standout from other business laptops.
  46. ↑ "Review Lenovo Thinkpad T420 Notebook". Essentially, the Tx20 laptops only differ from the previous models, called T410 and T510, by a hardware refresh to the new Sandy Bridge processors.
  47. ↑ "Notebook Check - T420 Review".
  48. ↑ "PCMag - Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Review". The fan near the vent spun consistently even while typing this review, but it didn't get annoyingly loud.
  49. ↑ "Lenovo ThinkPad T420s, T420 and T520: up to 30 hours battery life". Battery life is up to 15 hours with the 9-cell pack on the T420, or up to 11 hours with the 9-cell on the T520; the T420s can last up to 10 hours with both the 6-cell regular battery and snap-on battery slice. Alternatively, pair the T420 with the optional 9-cell battery slice and it will run for a ridiculous 30 hours.

External links

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