We’ve recently had to the privilege of having a chat with Lane Jesseph, ThinkPad Brand Manager, to talk about the newly announced x220 tablet. There are many exciting advances coming to Lenovo’s convertible tablet, as well as some concerns related to the way the industry seems to be headed. Here are some of the changes in the new x220.
Screen and Digitizer
We got the big questions out the way first. The digitizer is confirmed to be Wacom! While N-trig is showing promising advances, it’s nice to see Lenovo sticking with Wacom. There was some concern as the x220 uses a new size and aspect ratio of screen, one that hasn’t yet seen a Wacom panel, but someone has to be first.
Speaking of the new screen, yes it is 16:9. The 12.5” screen packs 1366x768 pixels. That’s 32 less vertically than the current crop of 1280x800 12” convertibles. On the plus side, you gain 86 horizontally. That will come in handy when trying to work with two documents side by side, even though it will make the tablet feel even more awkwardly tall and narrow in portrait mode. Of course, we asked what everyone is wondering – why? Don’t worry, it’s not because Lenovo is prioritizing movie watching over productivity. The real problem is that the consumer driven manufactures are moving to the 16:9 screens in such force that the companies who cut the glass for laptop screens are only cutting to 16:9. The supply chain had a large part in the need to move to the 16:9 aspect ratio. While the loss of vertical pixels is not ideal, I know I won’t mind the extra horizontal space for working with two documents side by side. While there are no plans to make it available on the current generation, a 1600x900 HD+ panel has not been ruled out.
If you can get past the new aspect ratio, everything else is good news. The new 12.5” panels are based on IPS display technology for superior viewing angles and better outdoor viewability. Previously, the outdoor viewable display provided 400 nits of brightness, which chewed through the battery. The new screens are all 300 nits. Outdoor viewability is provided by direct bonding the panel to the Gorilla Glass screen cover to reduce refraction. This option will be pen only and have a standard bezel. For pen and multi-touch (2 finger touch, 5 finger gesture), the screen will be covered by edge to edge infinity glass.
Hinge and Latches
Or perhaps, lack of latches would be more appropriate. The switching latch on the x200t and x201t was never a favorite, and they’ve done away with it. There just wasn’t room for it with the new trackpad going all the way to the edge of the machine, but more on that later. The screen will now be held in place by magnets in the palm rest and bezel. These, combined with the strength of the hinge, will hold the screen stable in tablet mode, and properly closed when the screen is down and in a bag. The hinge was tested to 30,000 cycles to make sure it will continue to hold the screen in place well into the future.
One more detail was sacrificed to strengthen the hinge – the dual pivot. On the x220, the screen will only rotate one direction. Don’t worry, it will be marked. They found that the wiring harness was wearing out in the dual pivot hinge, and it lasted much longer if it only had to go one way.
Trackpad/Trackpoint
Now, on to the new trackpad. First of all, the trackpoint is not going anywhere. Lenovo remains committed to their little red nubbin and all the users who live by it. They also recognized that the trackpad that was added to the x201t was really too small to do much good. The new trackpad is also a clickpad, with the buttons integrated into the bottom edge. The touchpad on the x220 notebook version (which has already been out for review) has gotten mixed feedback, as do most trackpads with integrated buttons. Of course, as there is still a row of buttons above the touchpad to go with the trackpoint, you won’t have to rely entirely on the clickpad for clicking, even if you do use it to push the cursor around.
Keyboard
One of the biggest advantages to the wider screen is a wider keyboard deck. The esc and Del keys are now bigger. It’s the same keyboard as the 410S. Imagine the legendary ThinkPad keyboard, but roomier. The already comfortable typing experience is potentially even better.
Speakers
Next on the list of improvements are the new speakers. The stereo speakers are now up on the bezel in the lower left and right corners. This placement should result in clearer and stronger sound. There are also cut outs in the new tablet sleeve to accommodate that placement.
Other Design Updates
While not departing from the traditional styling of the ThinkPad line, the new x220 is clean and modern looking. This is largely coming from the lack of latches, integrated touchpad buttons, no holes in the palmrest, and recessed bezel buttons. The tablet version of the x220 with the standard 6-cell battery should come in just under 4lbs.
Battery Options and Other Accessories
And the battery options are more good news. The standard 6-cell is rated to run for 8.8 hours. Even the smaller 3- cell is predicted to go for 4 hours. On top of that, there is a slice option that adds another 9 hours. That means, the 6-cell plus a slice battery should give you 17.8 hours of autonomy. The slice is also compatible with the notebook version of the x220 and will add 1.65lbs of weight for that 9 hours. Keep in mind; these numbers are maxes, tested with wifi off and brightness low.
The 6-cell will stick out the back, providing a handle, much like the previous generation’s 8-cell. The battery will not go all the way across the back of the machine though, only about ¾ of the way, leaving room for more air vents in the back. This allows for good heat management with the standard voltage processors.
The options for external and multibay chargers are not solidified yet, but the slice will have a pass through power plug. This will allow the slice to charge independently, or for the tablet to charge through the slice.
There will be a new Ultrabase to accommodate the wider machine. A new tablet sleeve will also accommodate the wider machine and new speaker placement. It will fit the 6-cell battery, but not the slice.
Ports and Other Specs
Notable upgrades will include a 720p HD camera that can capture 30 fps. They’ve added a display port. The core i7 system will come with USB 3.0. Cellular data options will include a Gobi 3000 module (AT&T and Verizon) in April, or WiMax through Sprint or Clear.
If you opt to not go with broadband, you can fill that slot with Intel’s 80GB or 160BG m-sata card. This can coexist with the regular spinning hard drive in configurations up to 500GB spinning at 7200RPMs. A hybrid setup like that provides the speed benefit of the SSD for the system with the massive storage provided by traditional hard drive for files, documents, music, movies, and other things that take up bits.
The
$1199 starting config will come with the following options:
- Multi-touch panel
- 3 cell battery
- 250GB/5400RPM HDD
- i3-2310 proc
- 2GB memory
- ThinkPad b/g/n WLAN card
- No Bluetooth
- No Fingerprint Reader
- No Camera
Durability
All of these fancy new options come packed into ThinkPad’s traditional durability. The x220 passed 8-MIL-Spec tests including:
High Temperature
30-60 deg C over 7 cycles over 24 hours
Low Temperature
-20 deg C for over 72 hours
Blowing Sand
140 mesh silica dust for 6 hour cycles
Altitude
Tests operation at 15k feet while running
Extreme Temperatures
-20 deg C to 60 deg C over 3 cycles over 2 hours
Humidity
Relative Humidity of 91-96% at 20 to 60 deg C
Vibration
Multiple tests while running and turned off
Mechanical Shock
High acceleration and repeated shock pulses over 18 times
Conclusions
The new Lenovo x220 certainly looks like a great update on paper. We can’t wait to get our hands on one to really judge the impact of the new screens.
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