Lenovo's IdeaPad U300S flaunts its trim frame at Computex

So-called Ultrabooks were all the rage at Computex 2011, and ASUS, LG and Compal weren't the only ones to stake a claim -- this Lenovo IdeaPad U300S is another contender in the ultra-thin, sub-$1,000 notebook game.

ThinkPad Edge E420s now shipping for $699, E220s coming in April

  you've forgotten about Lenovo's pair of new Edge machines! Sure, they've taken a while to get to market, perhaps having been inconvenienced by a little hiccup with Intel's Core 2011 chipsets, but the first of them is now well and truly on sale and the other is looking eager and ready to go too. The 14-inch E420s is up on Lenovo's web store, starting at $699 with a 2.1GHz Core i3-2310M CPU, while its 12.5-inch sibling, the E220s, is expected on the 8th of April, judging by the roadmap doc we've uncovered below. The E420s touts what Lenovo calls an Infinity Glass display, meaning simply edge-to-edge glass, alongside a fingerprint reader, a fetching new matte black lid, a HD webcam, 4GB of RAM and 250GB of HDD storage at a minimum, and a 48.8Wh battery. A 1366 x 768 resolution is your only option, unfortunately, though you can spruce up performance by quite a bit if you opt for the i5-2410M, which does 2.3GHz at default speeds or 2.9GHz when only one of its two cores is pushed to the limit ... or should that be to the Edge?

[Thanks, Chris and Abdu]

Lenovo

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 review

Admit it, when you look at the picture above, all you really see is a laptop with a design that hasn't changed much in the last ten years. It's true, based on its professional aesthetic alone, the ThinkPad X220 can't really be distinguished from the other X Series laptops Lenovo's released pretty much on an annual cycle, but there's much more than meets the eye with that there ultraportable. The 12.5-inch machine is filled to the brim with the latest and greatest technology, including a new Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor, an IPS display, and a six-cell battery. And if you look even closer, Lenovo's made some small tweaks to the touchpad and keyboard, which make more difference than you'd ever think. The point is, that all-too-familiar ThinkPad can deceive you with its boring business looks, but it's arguably one of the best laptops we've ever tested. Hit the break to find out why we think it's so laudable.

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 review

Look and feel

We've already established that the X220 has the ThinkPad look and feel that laptop users have grown numb to over the years, and while it may be understated and plain by today's standards, we still think there are parts about it that are pretty timeless. The matte black plastic body gives the system a uniform look, which sure does beat the plethora of mismatched systems out there (see a system like the ASUS U30Jc), and the lid is still blanketed with a rubbery coating. Obviously, the laptop industry's move to metal exteriors makes the X220 look a bit more sissy than rival business lappies (i.e. HP's EliteBooks and Dell Vostro), but as we've said before, it really is still tough as nails. The metal hinges keep the screen wobble-free and the bottom of the case feels tougher than most.

Yet despite its rigidity and powerful internal organs, the X220, like the X200 and X201 that came before it, is still incredibly light. The 1.25-inch chassis weighs just 3.6 pounds, and that's including its six-cell battery. Strapping on the slice battery adds an extra 1.16-inches in thickness and an extra 1.4 pounds to the overall package. The upside is that the extra battery fits pretty flush with the system, and thus doesn't block any of the important ports -- things like a trifecta of USB jacks, an Ethernet port, headphone connector, and VGA / DisplayPort sockets. There's also an ExpressCard 54 and four-in-one card slot. We should also note our review unit came with a single USB 3.0 port, but that's only available on certain configure-to-order models.

Keyboard, touchpad, and screen

Lenovo's always made some of the best laptop keyboards out there, and the board sitting within the X220 is no different. The curved keys provide just the right amount of feedback, and the spacing is almost perfect for touch typists like us. Actually, thanks to the slightly expanded 12.5-inch screen, Lenovo was able to work on the spacing quite a bit, and though we didn't have an X201 to compare it to, the deck is far from cramped. On top of that, there's absolutely no flex to the panel, although we did find the Z key on our review model to be a bit loose – we had to snap it correctly back in place, and even then it wouldn't register our keystrokes on occasion. We're hoping this issue isn't widespread and is just a review unit glitch, but it's hard to tell with so few of these out and about. As you can see from the pictures, Lenovo's also shrunken down the function row, though the ESC and Delete keys still remain oversized.

As with most ThinkPad's there's no shortage of navigation options on the X220 -- unsurprisingly, Lenovo's still not giving up on its pointing stick and touchpad combo. The famed red nub resides smack in the middle of the keyboard, but the bigger news is the new ClickPad -- effectively a touchpad with integrated mouse buttons. The pad itself still has those slightly raised braille-like bumps, but because the buttons are integrated, the surface is longer and wider than the previous X200. (Lenovo says it's actually 45 percent larger now.) That said, the 3.0 x 1.95-inch pad still isn't as spacious as we'd prefer, and it makes for a pretty restricted experience. The pointing and clicking functionality isn't half bad, but the multitouch sensitivity was lacking. Even when we updated with new drivers, it wasn't all that responsive to two-finger scrolling or pinch-to-zoom gestures. So, ironically, despite the two modes of navigation, we actually opted to add a third into the mix – our Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX.

As soon as you open the now-latchless lid and power on the system, you'll notice a shockingly crisp blue background on the 12.5-inch matte display. The IPS 1366 x 768-resolution screen doesn't just display great looking colors and images, it also pays off in incredible vertical and horizontal viewing angles. Regardless of the angle we put this thing at, we were able to make out what was on screen. Naturally, we wish there was a higher resolution option, but we'd still say this laptop's display is pretty close to perfect, especially in comparison to the cheap, glossy panels we see on so many machines these days.

You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but Lenovo has poured a commendable amount of blood, sweat, and tears into a few new video conferencing aspects, so we figured they were worth a deeper look. The 720p webcam served up crisp images of our mug in Skype – so crisp, in fact, that our caller was quick to point out our lack of makeup – and the new noise canceling mics, which are designed to suppress keyboard noise, proved superior to the one on our MacBook Pro. We recorded a quick bit of audio on both systems, and while we could make out the clicking of the keys on the ThinkPad, it was certainty less noticeable than the recording on our MacBook Pro.

Performance and graphics

The X220 is the first laptop we've reviewed with Intel's new Sandy Bridge 2.5GHz Core i5-2520M processor, and like the Core i7-powered MacBook Pro, the power surge is noticeable. When it came to using the ultraportable for our everyday tasks -- writing this review in Microsoft Word, chatting in Trillian, checking our Twitter feed in TweetDeck, working with ten or so tabs open in Internet Explorer 9, and doing some light photo editing in GIMP -- the entire system was incredibly zippy. We'd even say it felt faster in everyday use than older Core i3 or i5 systems, though we could attribute some of that snappiness to the system's 320GB 7,200rpm hard drive and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. On that note, the X220 will be available with SSD options and even Lenovo's RapidDrive solution, which pairs an SSD and regular hard drive. Either way, our review unit was fast and wouldn't have you waiting around to load documents or programs.

On the graphics front, Lenovo's stuck it out with Intel's lowly integrated HD graphics, and the truth is the IGP will be perfectly fine for light video editing or HD playback. Still, the benchmarks below show that Intel's definitely been able to pack some more graphics punch into its new HD graphics options. It's no discrete card, but you weren't really planning on using this one for gaming, were you?

	PCMarkVantage	3DMark06	Battery Life
Lenovo ThinkPad X220	7635	3517	7:19
MacBook Pro (Core i7-2720QM, Radeon 6750M)	8041	10262	7:27
ASUS U36Jc (Core i5 / NVIDIA GeForce 310M)	5981	2048 / 3524	5:30
ASUS U33Jc-A1 (Core i3-370M, GeForce 310M)	5574	1860 / 3403	5:10
Toshiba Portege R705 (Core i3-350M)	5024	1739 / 3686	4:25
HP Pavilion dm1z (AMD Zacate E350)	2510	2213	5:02
ASUS Eee PC 1215N (Atom D525 / NVIDIA Ion 2)	1942	181 / 2480	5:42
Dell Inspiron M101z (dual-core AMD Neo K325)	2572	1311	3:35
Notes: the higher the score the better. For 3DMark06, the first number reflects score with GPU off, the second with it on.

We should also impart that the standard voltage processor doesn't leave you with a sweaty machine. The X220 stayed relatively cool during our usage, and even when we fired up some Hulu, it didn't start to warm our laps.

Battery life

Usually we lump the battery life section together with the performance and graphics, but in the case of the X220, it deserves its own section. Why? We've never seen an ultraportable -- or any laptop for that matter -- last this long on a charge. Just with the 63Wh six-cell battery, the system lasted seven hours and 19 minutes on our video rundown test, which loops the same standard definition video with brightness set at 65 percent. In typical use, we were actually able to squeeze out about eight hours of run time with that cell. Let's repeat that: eight hours.

And that's just with the standard battery. So what, you ask, about that whopping slice battery up there? What does that add? About another seven hours, if you can believe it! That's right, on our video rundown test with both batteries strapped on, the system ran that standard definition video on loop for 14 hours and 30 minutes. Technically, that means this system could last you an entire flight from New York to Taipei. Yep, it's a lot of cord-free time, but don't forget that that slice will set you back an additional $179 and add a bit of weight to your carry-on.

Software

As per usual, Lenovo's loaded up the X220 with a plethora of its own ThinkVantage utilities, including power controls, fingerprint reader configuration, and enhanced backup and restore. Interestingly, not all of these are actually installed on the system, so if you opt to use one it will take you through a short download process. We actually appreciate that as well as the fact that the system doesn't have any other third-software programs preloaded. In fact, the system came with a pristine desktop -- rare in a world cluttered by bloated pre-fab machines.

Wrap-up

It's true, from afar the X220 could be mistaken as a five year old laptop -- one that couldn't last longer than four hours on a charge, and would be considered sluggish by today's standards (most likely because it would have been running Vista!). But in fact, that laptop is now the longest lasting and fastest ultraportable we've ever tested. How's that for unexpected? When you consider that it packs some of the fastest speeds and one of the nicest panels we've ever used, there's no denying that the X220 is worth its $889 starting price, or the $1,299 our review unit costs. (By the way, that price doesn't include the extended battery, which pushes your total northward by $179.) Plain and simple, the four pound system requires no performance, durability, or endurance sacrifices, and that's not something we can say very often when it comes to the many ultraportables out there. Sure, there are flashier looking options out there (Apple's MacBook Air and ASUS' U36J come to mind), but hey, good luck getting those to run for 15 hours on a single charge.

Intel and Lenovo release the Classmate+ PC for the kids

Thinking that netbook up there looks exactly like Intel's latest Classmate PC with a Lenovo sticker smacked on? Well, you'd be entirely correct. Lenovo and Intel have teamed up to bring out the Classmate+, which is indeed just a rebadged Classmate PC (or Intel Learning Series reference design). The 10.1-inch netbook doesn't have Intel's fresh Atom N570 processor, but it has all the other netbook essentials, including an Atom N455 CPU, Windows 7, 1GB of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi, and three- and six-cell battery options. However, like most of the other Classmate PCs, the Classmate+ won't be available directly to consumers -- they will be sold in bulk to educational institutions or agencies, primarily in the developing world. And the Classmate+ is off to a great start -- 158,000 are already set to be deployed this spring in Buenos Aires. See kids, netbooks are far from dead! Hit the break for the full press release / specs and the gallery below for a few more images of the lunch box-like laptop.

Lenovo Classmate+ PC press shots

Show full PR text

Lenovo and Intel® Extend Digital Learning with New Lenovo Classmate+ PC
Brings schools effective, affordable PC technology as part of Intel Learning Series
First PC deployment of 158,000 to improve learning for students in Argentina

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. and SANTA CLARA, CALIF. – March 10, 2011: Today, Lenovo and Intel Corporation announced the Lenovo Classmate+ PC, a purpose-built laptop designed to improve learning for students in grades K-8.

The Lenovo Classmate+ provides schools an affordable, child-friendly complete hardware and software solution. Based on the Intel Learning Series reference design, the PC will come pre-loaded with the Intel Learning Series software suite, specialized educational software and a variety of teaching resources. This spring, the Organization of Ibero-American States will deploy the first wave of 158,000 Lenovo Classmate+ laptops as part of its Conectar Igualdad 1:1 computing program, which will equip students throughout the country with PC technology.

"As the fastest-growing PC company in education, we are committed to creating education solutions that improve schools' efficiency, as well as leading initiatives to evaluate how technology can measurably improve learning outcomes," said Michael Schmedlen, Director of Worldwide Education, Lenovo. "Our work with Intel to offer products like the Lenovo Classmate+ PC will create more opportunities for K-8 administrators, teachers and students to realize the benefits of technology-enriched 1:1 learning experiences."

"Lenovo is the first multi-national company to offer the Intel Learning Series classmate PC for the global education market," said Kapil Wadhera, General Manager, Education Market Platform Group, Intel. "We are thrilled to welcome Lenovo to the Intel Learning Series Alliance and to work with them to extend the platforms to benefit more students and teachers around the world."

Intel Learning Series Momentum Continues
Since its introduction, more than 3 million Intel-powered classmate PCs have shipped globally. The Lenovo Classmate+ laptop is designed for how children learn, based upon years of Intel's ethnographic research in education and Lenovo's heritage in this segment. The PC combines a modern design with ruggedness, full PC functionality and enhanced performance. The configurations pass rigorous testing with their drop-resistant exteriors and spill-resistant keyboards.

The Lenovo Classmate+ PC offers a full computing experience, equipped with an Intel® Atom™ processor, Ethernet and WiFi Internet connectivity, Windows 7 operating system and high-capacity storage up to 250 GB or solid state drive options. It also comes with a 10.1 inch LED backlit screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera, multiple USB ports and a 4-in-1 card reader to support viewing multimedia.

Lenovo Launches Learning Environment to Rewrite Technology-Led Curriculums
The new Classmate+ PC is a part of Lenovo's new Learning Environment, a model for how technology in education works in a classroom and 1:1 environment. The Lenovo Learning Environment, which is located in the company's Customer Innovation Center at its U.S. headquarters in Morrisville, N.C., provides a place to evaluate educational technology, offers professional development resources for teachers and serves as a feedback lab for students testing Lenovo PCs.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo's business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.

For the latest Lenovo news, subscribe to Lenovo RSS feeds or follow Lenovo on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Intel Learning Series
The Intel Learning Series brings together a strong ecosystem of PC manufacturers, operating system vendors, education service providers, content and software providers to deliver a complete, end-to-end education solution. It offers marketing tools, training, online exposure and a forum for its members to share resources and find common opportunities. More than 300 members in 60 countries are developing applications, peripherals and services optimized for the Learning Series. For more information about the Intel Learning Series, visit http://www.intellearningseries.com.

About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world's computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at newsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X220 and X220 convertible tablet official, 24 hours of battery life promised

Come on, you knew this one was coming! Yep, that leaked Lenovo ThinkPad X220 with all its SSD and display options is now the real deal, and it's one heck of an ultraportable. Just as we saw from that spec sheet, the new 12.5-inch (up from the 12.1-inch X201) laptop is configurable with that 1366x768-resolution IPS display, your choice of standard voltage Sandy Bridge Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, and up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM. There are no discrete graphics options, but you can opt to configure this one with USB 3.0 and a selection SSDs, including Intel's 80GB and 160GB offerings. The 720p webcam, dual digital microphones for noise cancellation, and the new buttonless touchpad (aka ClickPad) come standard. However, the real story Lenovo's trying to tell here is in battery life -- with the nine-cell battery the system is rated for 15 hours of endurance, but snap on the $179 ThinkPad external pack and it shoots on up to 24 hours.

Thought Lenovo was going to leave the X Series tablet out in the cold without a refresh? Of course not, the X220T also sips from that same fresh Sandy Bridge well, though it doesn't claim that same 24 hour battery life feat -- the four-pound convertible is rated for 16 hours of run time when paired with the external pack. Oh, and did we mention that the multitouch screen is now available with Gorilla Glass? The X220 and the X220T start at $899 and $1,199, respectively, but won't actually be available until April. That said, our Core i5-2520M X220 and its extended battery just arrived in our "lab" so stay tuned for a full review with lots of endurance testing. Until then, hit the break for the full PR and the gallery below from some images.

Lenovo ThinkPad X220 press shots

PRESS RELEASE

New Lenovo ThinkPad Ultraportable Laptops Recharged, Reenergized and Renewed
Up to 24-hour battery life, smart PC technologies & sleek, usable design

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – March 8, 2011: Lenovo announced today the next generation of the best-selling ultraportable laptop of 20101 – the ThinkPad X220 laptop - and the X220 convertible Tablet PC. These PCs give mobile business professionals the full performance and usability found in larger laptops, but in a super ultraportable design. The PCs run up to 75 percent faster than ultraportable competitors that use low-powered CPUs2, feature smart PC technologies for incredibly long battery life up to 24 hours3 on the ThinkPad X220 and sport a clean, revamped design with hinge-based latching and a giant touchpad in a thinner laptop design. Additionally, they feature improved durability with wider drain-holes in the spill resistant keyboard and a 50% improvement in drop test performance4.

"Put simply, The ThinkPad X Series has everything a modern road warrior needs without compromises – low weight, long battery life and high performance," said Dilip Bhatia, vice president, ThinkPad Marketing, Lenovo. "We've refined the mobile computing experience to make it more productive and enjoyable with features like smart PC technologies and enhanced video and voice calling."

24 hour Battery Life for Around the Clock Computing
The ThinkPad X220 offers up to 15 hours battery life with a standard 9-cell battery. Battery life jumps up to 24-hours by adding the new ThinkPad external battery. The convertible tablet starts under four pounds with its standard 4-cell battery. When combined with a 6-cell battery and the external battery pack, the tablet can run for 16 hours continuously on one charge. Users charge the PCs on the external ThinkPad Battery when connected to the PC or separately. A battery charge indicator shows when the battery reaches a full charge.

Full-Performance Under Three Pounds
These speed-optimized PCs fit the same full-powered CPUs as bigger 14 and 15-inch laptops for full performance5, while similar weight competitors offer only low powered CPUs. Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0 primes the PCs for rapid boot, shut down and resume from sleep by tuning the BIOS and other hardware settings. With Intel™ HD integrated graphics the PCs perform twice as quickly in streaming video, editing photos and loading web pages. Additionally, USB 3.0 technology on select models transfers data lightning fast, up to 10 times that of USB 2.0.

Smart PC Technologies
Equipped with second generation Intel™ Core® i7 processors, applications run fast and make multi-tasking hassle-free. The PCs come with self-aware and adaptive technologies to ensure priority components receive power for the highest levels of performance and battery life. Intel™ Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 boosts processor speed during intensive tasks, and with Lenovo Turbo Boost+, the PCs can stay in Turbo Boost mode longer by keeping processor temperatures below certain thresholds. With reduced power to non-essential hardware, the laptops achieve up to 30 percent longer battery life while playing multimedia so users can watch DVDs, listen to MP3s or stream web content longer.

Loud and Clear Voice and Video Calling
The "no compromise" performance experience continues with technologies that solve everyday challenges. For example, they incorporate several technologies for excellent voice and video conferencing, such as private chat and conference call microphone modes, keyboard noise suppression technology and a dedicated LED-lit microphone mute key.

The PCs also keep corridor warriors connected longer with Lenovo's new Instant Resume function. This function maintains connections during sleep mode for up to 99 minutes, eliminating the need to login and reconnect between meetings. And tablet users don't have to worry about losing their pen with the new "never-lost-pen" technology. It notifies a person when he or she moves the tablet without the pen in the pen-holder.

ThinkPad Remodels with Clean, Sharp & Durable Design
The inside of the new PCs reveal a cleaner, sharper design over previous models. Both the ThinkPad X220 laptop and X220 Tablet feature a 12.5-inch HD screen and self-closing hinges that shut the PCs. This space-saving hinge design brings several key benefits: better antenna and speaker placement for stronger thoroughput, a 45 percent larger touchpad and a cleaner visual design. The larger, buttonless touchpad gives extra room for fingers to scroll, highlight and do multitouch gestures.

For students, mobile sales forces and other mobile professionals working outside, the multitouch tablet now adds a new rough and tough feature to its super bright, 300-nit screen with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass. Already military specifications tested to meet extreme conditions, Gorilla Glass strengthens the screen so it can withstand scratches, scrapes and abuse from the field.

Ready for Business
The PCs are also business-ready: They're easy for IT administrators to use and manage thanks to their second generation Intel™ Core® and Core® vPro processors. Common ThinkPad docking stations and batteries also allow companies to swap hardware among employees to maximize their resources and minimize cost.

Pricing and Availability6
The ThinkPad X220 laptop and X220 Tablet will be available starting in April through business partners and www.lenovo.com. Prices for models start at approximately $899 and $1,199, respectively.

For the latest Lenovo news, subscribe to Lenovo RSS feeds or follow Lenovo on Twitter and Facebook.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo's business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.

1IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker, February, 2011
2Comparison of available CPUs for i5-2520M CPU (2.5 GHz) to i5-2537M (1.4 GHz). [e.g. Samsung Series 9 weighs 2.88 lbs w/ a 2.4GHz i5-2537M; or Dell Latitude 13 weighs 3.3 lbs w/ a 1.4GHz SU7300 CPU.
324 hours achieved with configuration including ULV CPU, 300nit 12.5"HD IPS display, 2.5" SSD, 1GB
4Lenovo internal testing.
5Memory, 93.6 Whr (9cell) Battery and ThinkPad Battery 19+ (Slim External Battery Pack)
6Prices do not include tax or shipping and are subject to change without notice and is tied to specific terms and conditions. Reseller prices may vary. Price does not include all advertised features. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice.

Tobii and Lenovo show off prototype eye-controlled laptop, we go eyes-on (video)

A lot of companies -- including heavyweights like Microsoft -- believe that motion control is the future of the human-machine interface. But it's an awful lot of work to wave your hands around every time you want to change windows, isn't it? Swedish firm Tobii, which specializes in eye control, teamed up with Lenovo to craft a run of 20 prototype Windows 7 laptops with eye control sensors built-in, and we had a chance to check out the setup here at CeBIT today.

The verdict? It works extraordinarily well -- Tobii clearly knows what it's doing, because even with our sloppy calibration at the start of the session, the system still detected where we were looking with pinpoint precision. One demo the company had set up was an Expose-style layout of all open windows, and we were able to target the smallest of the bunch (Calculator in this case) consistently and naturally -- we never felt like we were "staring" to make something happen. Clearly this is a capability that'll require some UX thought and research, because you don't want the computer to just start doing things as you look around; most of the eye-controlled capabilities they'd baked into the laptop here were triggered with a key command, though one feature we really liked -- a quick bar to access frequently-used media -- was pulled up just by looking beyond the left side of the screen. It also worked very well and never came up when we didn't want it to. The level of precision was further verified with a simple game they've created where you blow up asteroids before they impact Earth just by looking at them; the smallest rocks were only a few pixels wide, and we could consistently blast 'em.

As for commercialization, they're still a ways off -- they're thinking two years if they can team up with the right partner. Tobii says that there's a trade-off between sensor size and accuracy; the prototype has a sizable hump on the back and a roughly inch-wide strip running directly below the display, both of which are pretty impractical for a truly portable machine. The sensor must be below the display, we're told, though it could be made quite a bit thinner -- no wider than the bezel you've got below your notebook's current display. Follow the break for a full video demo!

Tobii and Lenovo's eye-controlled laptop at CeBIT 2011

PRESS RELEASE

Tobii unveils the world's first eye-controlled laptop

Stockholm, Sweden, Hannover, Germany-March 1, 2011-Tobii Technology today unveiled the world's first laptop with integrated eye control. The prototype laptop has been developed in collaboration with computer manufacturer Lenovo and will be shown publicly for the first time at CeBIT in Hannover, March 1-5.

Lenovo, the world's fourth largest manufacturer of personal computers, has built the world's first eye-controlled laptop, using eye tracking technology from Tobii. The laptop is a fully functional conceptual prototype and an important breakthrough for Tobii in its mission to bring its eye tracking technology to serial production and consumer products.

Eye control – a truly natural interface

Most computer manufacturers today endeavor to enhance their products by adding more and more natural interfaces. Using our eyes to point, select and scroll is completely intuitive and complements traditional control interfaces, such as the mouse and keyboard, in a very natural way.

"More than anything else, the Tobii laptop prototype is proof that our eye tracking technology is mature enough to be used in standard computer interfaces. To reach a state where the technology is part of the average computer, we need to make it smaller and cheaper. We believe that this can be realized in a couple of years by partnering with the right manufacturer," comments Henrik Eskilsson, CEO of Tobii Technology.

The Tobii-Lenovo collaboration

The first batch of eye-controlled laptops consists of 20 units split evenly between Tobii Technology and Lenovo for development and demo purposes.

"On the one hand, we have Lenovo, a great partner, representing industry-leading expertise in computer manufacturing and hardware development. Tobii, on the other hand, has the world's leading eye tracking technology and unique expertise in eye tracking and eye control interfaces. We are very happy with the outcome of this collaboration," Henrik Eskilsson concluded.

Envision eye control in PC's

For users, eye control is thrilling and makes the computer interaction more effective. It is as if the computer understands you; just glance at an icon or gadget and more information will be presented; You can zoom pictures or maps and automatically center on the area you are looking at; The computer can auto-dim and brighten the screen when it recognizes your eyes to increase battery time. Eye control can also speed things up by enabling new and intuitive ways to switch between open windows, and browse your emails and documents.

"We anticipate that people will be extremely excited to be able to control their computer with their eyes," said Barbara Barclay, general manager of Tobii North America. "But what we find most exciting are the opportunities that eye control as part of natural user interfaces offer consumer electronics manufacturers in a range of product categories. We look forward to working with our partners to find many exciting ways to share and integrate this

Lenovo trots out new ThinkPad T, L, and W series laptops

It feels like just yesterday that Lenovo unleashed a serious amount of Sandy Bridge laptops at CES, but left out of the bunch were the more traditional ThinkPad T, L and W models. Well, Lenovo's got those on its mind right now, and each is being refreshed with Intel's latest Core 2011 processors, NVIDIA Optimus or ATI discrete graphics, and improved VoIP features. One even promises 30 hours of battery life! Yep, there are a few key updates coming to each series, so hit the break for a short breakdown of each of those, and don't forget to peruse the glossy press shots below.

Lenovo T Series press shots

Lenovo ThinkPad L and W Series

• ThinkPad T Series - Lenovo's updating its 14-inch T420s / T420 and 15.6-inch T520 with a slew of new Core i5 and i7 processors, but also some serious battery and boot time improvements. It claims that the four-pound T420s will boot 30 percent faster than the previous model, and the slightly thicker and heavier T420 will last up to 30 hours on a charge with its nine-cell slice extended battery. Like the previous T410 series, the new models will be available with NVIDIA Optimus graphics, although this time the series is getting a fresher GeForce 4200M GPU with 1GB of VRAM. The T420s will start at $1,329, the T420 at $779, and the T520 at $909.

• ThinkPad L Series - These aren't as svelte as the T Series, but the 14-inch L420 and 15.6-inch L520 still pack a good amount of power. They will be configurable with Intel's Core 2011 i7 and i5 processors, ATI's Radeon HD 565 discrete graphics, and up to 8GB of RAM. There will also be a 80GB mSATA SSD option. On the 14-inch model you're stuck with a 1366 x 768-resolution display, but the 15.6 version is available with a 1600 x 900-resolution panel. So, how much? Both start at $719.

• ThinkPad W520 - Lenovo's got to update its workstation, right? The W520 can be configured with all sorts of Core i5 and i7 processors (including the quad-core i7 chips), NVIDIA's Fermi Quadro 100M or 2000M graphics, and up to 2GB of dedicated graphics memory. Yep, it's one powerful 15-incher. It also houses two USB 3.0 ports and can be configured with up to a 160GB SSD. However, spec this one out and you're bound to go way above the $1,329 starting price. We should also mention that all of the aforementioned laptops have updated voice calling features, including dual array microphones, a LED-lit microphone mute key, and keyboard noise reduction technology -- the latter should come in handy when you start writing emails while on that all-important conference call.

All six of these new models will be available at the end of March.
Video Calling, Smart PC & Battery Life Innovation Drive New ThinkPad Laptops
PRESS RELEASE

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – Feb. 22, 2011: Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today announced six new ThinkPad laptops - the T420s, T420, T520, L420, L520 and W520 - that maximize performance and offer a higher level of productivity for today's mobile business professionals. These laptops are built upon a platform of new Lenovo innovations that respond to key business needs including: video and voice calling, smart PC features for power and performance management, all-day battery life, enterprise management and an intuitive, easy-to-use computing experience.

The ultra-thin, sub four pound ThinkPad T420s speeds up boot time 30 percent1 with Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0; the T420 reaches new battery life benchmarks of up to 30 hours with an extended battery; the W520 mobile workstation offers twice the performance of previous models; and the L Series gives customers recognized ThinkPad durable design at an exceptional value.

"Inspired by our customers, the 2011 ThinkPad laptops deliver the best technologies the industry has to offer, enabling users to do more with their computing experience," said Dilip Bhatia, vice president, ThinkPad Marketing, Lenovo. "We used customer feedback to help us create our latest ThinkPad laptops that provide strong improvements in key areas such as battery life, video and conferencing communications and performance. We've even made the ThinkPad laptops smarter by engineering self- aware technologies for unprecedented performance and power management capabilities."

Smart PC Power & Performance Management
The new laptops incorporate self-aware and adaptive technologies to sense where power is needed most to ensure priority components receive power for improved overall performance and battery life. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 dynamically increases processor speed during performance intensive tasks such as video editing, data analysis and 3D applications. Lenovo Turbo Boost+ enables the laptops to stay in Turbo Boost even longer by keeping processor temperatures below required thermal limits. With reduced power to non-essential hardware, the laptops achieve up to 30 percent longer battery life while playing multimedia so users can watch DVDs, listen to MP3s or stream web content longer.

All-Day Battery Life
With its standard 9-cell battery, the ThinkPad T420 delivers up to 15 hours of battery life, while the T420s, delivers up to 10 hours with its 6-cell and optional optical bay battery combined. For extreme battery life needs, the ThinkPad T420, with its standard 9-cell battery and optional 9-cell slice battery, provides up to 30 hours of computing power. As the first business class laptops to feature NVIDIA® OptimusTM automatic graphic switching technology, T Series and W Series laptops provide 33 percent better battery performance over previous discrete graphics models.

Video & Voice Calling
The laptops include a variety of technologies for enhanced video and voice conferencing. Private Chat and Conference Call microphone modes allow users to switch easily between modes with a single mouse click. Private Chat mode can also use noise cancelling technology to focus on a single voice, while Conference Call mode opens the audio capture field to 360 degrees around the notebook, allowing for multiple user interaction in the room.
The laptops also include keyboard noise suppression technology to help eliminate the distracting keyboard clicking that often occurs while typing during PC-based voice calls. The laptops can also help users avoid embarrassing conference call mistakes with a dedicated LED-lit microphone mute key which indicates when the microphone is sending audio.

Designed for Enterprise
Built upon a platform of advanced industry technologies, including the performance and energy efficiency of the 2nd generation Intel® CoreTM and CoreTM vProTM processors, the new ThinkPad laptops offer enterprise IT managers high reliability and easy deployment and manageability. For example, the

ThinkPad T, W and L Series share the same docking station to simplify deployment, reduce costs and allow hardware sharing among employees. The laptops also share common batteries for lower cost and easy component management.

For improved enterprise-class security, the new ThinkPad laptops offer multiple layers of security throughout the hardware, software, BIOS and options including encrypted hard drives with remote management support, a fingerprint reader with one touch swipe for power on and authentication and Intel® Anti-Theft Technology (Intel® AT) – a laptop theft deterrence mechanism that disables the laptop preventing unauthorized data access.

Intuitive, & Easy-to-Use
A new feature, Lenovo's Instant Resume, maintains users' wireless connection on the laptop during sleep mode for up to 99 minutes2, eliminating the need to login and reconnect. For improved audio sound, the ThinkPad T420s is the first business class notebook to offer Dolby® Home Theater® v4, Dolby's latest audio technology with virtualized surround sound and dialog enhancement technology for clearer sound in movies, music and during video calls.
For quick and easy startup and shutdown, the laptops also feature Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0 for Windows 7 - an exclusive certification for Lenovo products that allows users to start their laptop on average 20 seconds faster than a typical Windows 7 computer3. Users will also enjoy watching high definition movies and online videos with the help of integrated Intel® HD Graphics.
To learn more about the latest 2011 Lenovo ThinkPad laptops, please watch this video for more details.

Pricing and Availability4
The ThinkPad T, L and W Series will be available starting in March from Lenovo business partners and www.lenovo.com. Pricing for the T420s, T420, T520, L420, L520 and W520 starts at approximately $1,329, $779, $909, $719, $719 and $1329, respectively.
For the latest Lenovo news, subscribe to Lenovo RSS feeds or follow Lenovo on Twitter and Facebook.
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is dedicated to building exceptionally engineered personal computers. Lenovo's business model is built on innovation, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction as well as a focus on investment in emerging markets. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.
1 30%Boot time improvement over similar system without Lenovo Enhanced Experience 2.0.
2 Lenovo's Instant Resume can be configured to maintain users' wireless connection from 1-99 minutes after the lid has been close.
3 Testing conducted by CNET Labs, Beijing in November 2010, using the independent Microsoft VTS tool to measure start-up, shutdown, resume and other Windows 7 performance measurements. 42 competitors PCs were tested from Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba, representing both commercial and consumer desktop and notebook products at mainstream price points. These were compared with comparable Lenovo products. Data from competitors and Lenovo PCs were averaged and compared to calculate the claims used.
4 Prices do not include tax or shipping and are subject to change without notice and is tied to specific terms and conditions. Reseller prices may vary. Price does not include all advertised features. All offers subject to availability. Lenovo reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice.

Lenovo ThinkPad X120e review

Most things deserve a second chance, right? Hey, if they promise improvement, we think so, and that's exactly what we're giving Lenovo's ThinkPad X120e. If you recall, the previous X100e was quite a disappointment, and that's actually putting it rather nicely -- not only did the 11.6-inch system redefine the term "lapburner," but it struggled to last 3.5 hours on a charge. It was bordering on tragic, but Lenovo's ready to right all those wrongs with the X120e. While it has kept the chassis and the wonderful chiclet keyboard unchanged, it's subbed out AMD's older Neo chip for the long awaited Fusion Zacate APU. The same platform already proved to be pretty awesome in HP's Pavilion dm1z with an almost perfect blend of power, graphics, and endurance, but does the X120e reap the same benefits? At $399 ($579 for our review unit), is the perfect, affordable ThinkPad ultraportable finally here? Has Lenovo finally gotten it right? And how does it compare to the other new Fusion affordable ultraportables or notbooks, as we've taken to calling them? We've got those answers alright – hit the break for our full review.

Lenovo ThinkPad X120e review

Look and feel

The X120e has the same exact chassis as the X100e, and considering that's what we liked so much about the original, we've no qualms with that. We prefer the matte, black plastic cover to the ThinkPad Edge's glossy, fingerprint-attracting lid and the fact that the entire thing is one uniform color. However, there's a small part of us that wishes the lid had the same soft, rubberish coating as other classic ThinkPads. Still, those that are fans of the traditional ThinkPad look will join in the appreciation of the simple, yet refined aesthetic. The all-plastic system feels as good as one would expect, and the screen hinges feel solid and don't wobble.

The X120e is slightly wider and longer than the average 10-inch netbook, but it's still incredibly portable. The 1.1-inch thick machine was compact enough to fit into our shoulder bag and leave us with plenty of spare room for our DSLR and oversized wallet. We still take a bit of an issue with the horizontally protruding six-cell battery -- it juts out the rear, which isn't only awkward, but it also puts the system at 3.3 pounds. That's still lighter than HP's 3.4-pound Pavilion dm1z, but no doubt the ThinkPad's battery is oddly placed in comparison to HP's improved battery design. The one major difference between the former X100e chassis and the X120e? The addition of a HDMI port. Other than that, the laptop is still home to three USB 2.0 ports, VGA and Ethernet sockets, a mic / headphone combo jack, and a SD card slot. The yellow colored USB port can charge your gadgets even the system is powered down.

Keyboard, touchpad, and screen

The X120e has the same keyboard as the Edge 11 and the X100e, and our extreme love for the black, matte curved keys is stronger than ever. As we've said many times before, it feels as if the keys have been molded especially for our fingertips and the deck itself doesn't have any flex or noticeable bend. Writing the brunt of this review on the panel itself didn't require us to shift our usual hand position too much, either -- the function row has been shrunken down, but there are two full sized Shift keys.

Like the X100e, there's no lack of ways to push around the cursor on the X120e -- there's the signature red TrackPoint (or nub) smack in the middle of the keyboard, and a smaller 3.0 x 1.5-inch touchpad below. We still prefer the pointing stick, but the touchpad is decent for navigating as well. It's smaller than that on the dm1z, but it does have two dedicated buttons rather than those sometimes-frustrating integrated button ClickPads. That said, the multitouch gestures on the HP system seemed more responsive, and while two-finger scrolling on the ThinkPad works, it's jittery in comparison.

Thankfully, Lenovo's also kept the matte 11.6-inch, 1366 x 768-resolution display untouched. Cutting out the sometimes distracting glare of glossy displays, the matte screen is still sufficiently bright and horizontal viewing angles continue to be better than vertical ones. Tilting the screen back to about 40 degrees caused a bit of color distortion, but it didn't really prove too problematic when watching the Rango trailer with the X120e on our lap. The webcam on the top of the bezel is still optimized for low-light situations. That still creeps us out just a bit, but it did work quite well when we turned down the lights -- our face was still pretty clear to our friend on Skype. The speakers on the front lip of the laptop were quite loud at full blast, and while they were fine for hearing that call and Jon Stewart's voice in a Daily Show clip, listening to Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" was fairly tinny.

Performance and graphics

Just like the Pavilion dm1z, the ThinkPad X120e is powered by AMD's dual-core 1.6GHz E-350 processor, though it has 4GB of RAM compared to the HP's three gigs. (There entry level $399 X120e will have a single-core E-240 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and three-cell battery.) The benchmarks below prove much of what we already knew about AMD's Fusion Zacate – it absolutely wrecks the previous Neo platform and Intel's Atom on performance, while handily beating Intel's integrated graphics. Those high numbers also translated to really peppy everyday performance. There's no doubt that the system just felt faster than any Atom netbook or Neo-powered system we've used. The machine kept up with us as we wrote this review in Microsoft Word Starter 2010, had over eight tabs open in Chrome (one of them being Pandora), and simultaneously ran TweetDeck, Trillian, Skype, GIMP, and Windows Media Player in the background. Even when we threw a 1080p clip into the mix, the system remained really responsive. Similar to the dm1z, we saw a bit of lag when we tried to install a large file like Batman: Arkham Asylum, but you can always pull out the 320GB, 7,200rpm hard drive and throw a SSD into this sucker. Sure, it'll cost ya, but can you really put a price on faster install and launch times?

	PCMarkVantage	3DMark06	Battery Life
Lenovo ThinkPad X120e (AMD Zacate E350)	2465	2080	4:56
HP Pavilion dm1z (AMD Zacate E350)	2510	2213	5:02
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e (AMD Athlon Neo)	1511	1060	3:27
HP Mini 5103 (dual-core Intel Atom N550)	1523	143	6:16
ASUS Eee PC 1215N (Atom D525 / NVIDIA Ion 2)	1942	181 / 2480	5:42
Acer Aspire One 721 (AMD Neo Neo K125)	1814	1235	3:30
Dell Inspiron M101z (dual-core AMD Neo K325)	2572	1311	3:35
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 11 (Core i3 ULV)	2964	1105	4:42
Alienware M11x (Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300)	2689	654 / 5593	4:30
Notes: the higher the score the better. For 3DMark06, the first number reflects score with GPU off, the second with it on.

Of course, that processing power is coupled with some really nice graphics on the same chip, and as we mentioned AMD's Radeon HD 6310M core absolutely trounces Intel's GMA 3150 netbook and GMA 4500 ULV graphics solutions. Similar to the dm1z, it scored a couple hundred points less than some netbooks with NVIDIA Ion 2, but when it came to doing normal graphics intensive stuff we couldn't tell the difference. Streaming and local high-def video were no challenge for the little system even when output to a 42-inch HDTV using ASUS's WiCast. We should note, that we encountered a "video card" error when we tried to play a 1080p .mov file in Windows Media Player – HD .wmv files played fine in the Microsoft program, but we had to download VLC Player to get the .mov clips working. Lenovo's looking into that issue, but we assume it's driver related as we didn't have that issue on the E-350-powered dm1z. We also noticed some 1080p YouTube videos turning the screen green when we went to play them at full screen. Playing 720p YouTube clips at full screen didn't result in the same issue, so we assume that it's another AMD driver related issue. As for gaming? We saw the same sort of experience as the dm1z -- in WoW: Cataclysm, our gnome was prancing and jumping around the screen at 27fps with the resolution set at 1024 x 768. And Flash games, like Canabalt, sailed along.

Battery life and heat

So, the X120e gains some performance, but has Lenovo improved those real pain points – battery life and thermals? Yes and yes! While the X100e only lasted for three hours and 27 minutes on our video rundown, which loops the same standard definition clip with brightness at 65 percent and WiFi turned on, the X120e's 57Whr six-cell battery ran for four hours and 56 minutes. Yep, that's a good extra hour and a half more. In our regular everyday use – writing this review, surfing the web, and chatting with coworkers – we were able to squeeze out about five hours and 45 minutes. It's not as much as a netbook, but given the extra power we think it's probably worth the slight hit for most people, and hey, it's still enough juice to let you keep the AC adapter home without worrying when you head out to the coffee shop for the day. Either way, it beats the absolutely stunning Lenovo IdeaPad U260's rather embarrassing two hours and 56 minutes. Man, we wish that thing had a bigger battery and a slice of AMD's Fusion.

Remember when the X100e made our jeans feel like we had just taken them out of the dryer? Well, the X120e does no such thing. The palmrest and underside of the system stayed quite cool during our long periods of use. However, much like the dm1z, the left vent seemed to be working overtime and made a noticeable sound. We guess we'll take that over burning temperatures any day.

Software

The X120e we reviewed booted a very clean Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) desktop. Other than the Recycling Bin, Lenovo kept it largely pristine, though its ThinkVantage tools – its Power Controls, Internet Connections, etc. -- are buried throughout the OS. We tend to prefer the stock Windows 7 tools for connecting to WiFi or adjusting power settings. Other than its own software, there aren't too many traces of third-party programs, though there is a "Free Skype voice and video calls" shortcut in the Start menu that launches a Skype install. That didn't bother us much since we were just going to install it anyway.

Wrap-up

It's a good thing we believe in second chances, eh? The X120e is without a doubt an improvement over the X100e in terms of battery life, thermals, and performance, and considering we've always loved its classic looking chassis and amazingly comfortable keyboard, we're obviously pretty taken with the affordable little laptop. But the real question: do we like it better than HP's dm1z, which is priced around $450? That's a tough one, but when it comes to value, there's no doubt that HP's dm1z is the better choice – it has virtually the same specs as the ThinkPad (okay, one less gig of RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium), but comparable performance and battery life for $100 less. We assume for that reason alone many will snatch up the HP, however, if you're looking for something a bit more professional looking combined with some great ergonomics, the X120e may just be worth the extra cash.