Design Matters

208 Comments on “Think Netbook? Think Balance.”

• Think Netbook? Think Balance. says:
  April 16th, 2009 3:12 pm

  [...] News Sources wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLots of traction lately in the market about the emergence of netbooks as a low cost alternative for more traditional fully featured notebooks. Netbooks are a sort of basic machine, primarily optimized for e mail and web browsing. Smaller size, lower performance. I don’t recommend that you try to beat Kasparov with one of these. This is how PC World describes the category. Netbooks (aka mini-notebooks, mini-notes or “laptots”) are perfect travel companions and meet basic computing needs [...]

• Yang says:
  April 16th, 2009 3:33 pm

  A friend of mine just showed me his netbook, but with a screen designed for watching movies, you really can’t read or process documents on it. Why can’t portable DVD manufacturers just put wifi on their DVD players so you can get DVD movies and internet, that would be a better machine than netbooks.

• Goran says:
  April 16th, 2009 3:39 pm

  Over the years I’ve seen several small notebooks (e.g. Panasonic R4, http://www.notebookreview.com/.....wsID=2517) which would be considered reasonably powerful, more powerful than netbooks are compared to other notebooks of their generations. Considering that one of the main attributes that determine netbooks as opposed to those exclusive devices is price, would Thinkpad netbook be just another SL-like attempt?

  Also, considering that netbooks grew in size up to 12″, what would Thinkpad netbook be? Less powerful and slightly lighter X200?

• Leon says:
  April 16th, 2009 4:07 pm

  When does a Thinkpad cease being a Thinkpad. If you go this route think of it as how Apple would position it, sort of a Mac mini of Thinkpads:
  Basic computing, cut all unneccessary features, while still ending up with Thinkpad: Black, rectangular, maybe even 4:3, sturdy, nice to touch, sporting a trackpoint and same keyboard layout, sturdy – the premium netbook.

• Paul in Maryland says:
  April 16th, 2009 4:09 pm

  What gives the ThinkPad brand distinctive value is not specs–which can be leapfrogged by competing brands–but enduring qualitative touches like strong hinges, the TrackPad, brilliant docks, a thematic look, and value-added ThinkPad software for managing, configuring, and trouble-shooting. If you do launch a netbook, please don’t forget what makes a ThinkPad a ThinkPad. Price aside, would a netbook diminish the brand? Like Lenovo, Apple doesn’t play in the commodity sandbox, where margins are razor thin. It might be instructive to read what Apple users are advising Apple on netbook discussion threads in MacForums and other Mac sites.

• Hauskaz says:
  April 16th, 2009 4:32 pm

  I think making a ThinkPad netbook goes against what the ThinkPad brand actually is; a flagship line of high-end business laptops for those who take their mobile work seriously. That said, a “ThinkPad SL200″ or “SL10″ of sorts may be an interesting item. I’ve always thought a TrackPoint would make a lot more sense than the pitifully small trackpads found on most netbooks, and would allow more space for the keyboard. The ThinkLight, fingerprint reader, APS (for hard drive models), ThinkVantage suite would also be nice additions to a netbook, although the chance of someone writing a novel in the dark on a netbook doesn’t seem too likely . Making an Ultrabase for what will ultimately be a rather low-performance machine might seem overkill, but I have a friend who uses an ASUS Eee PC 1000H as a primary computer, connected to an external display, mouse and keyboard.

  With all that said, anything smaller than 12″ would mean serious compromises to the keyboard size and/or layout, one of the most valuable assets of the ThinkPad brand. Other trademarks such as build quality and durability may also have to suffer for the sake of price competition with what’s now a rather saturated market. Compromise is not what the ThinkPad line is about.

  I guess you could always make an IdeaPad S12 with an UltraNav

• Puppy says:
  April 16th, 2009 4:59 pm

  You have already designed exceptional “netbook” many years ago – ThinkPad S30. Perfect keyboard layout including trackpoint.

• Dorian Hausman says:
  April 16th, 2009 5:18 pm

  > You have already designed exceptional “netbook” many years ago – ThinkPad S30.

  Alas, Lenovo just discontinued an exceptional “netbook” — the ThinkPad X61s. Dual core CPU, RAM expandable to 8GB, HD to 320+GB, APS, 1 kg weight, small size, great, full size keyboard, TrackPoint BT, plus all the other features and build quality that made ThinkPad famous.

  What were you thinking???

• Matt says:
  April 16th, 2009 5:43 pm

  Paul has it right. It is the outside, not the inside, that defines a ThinkPad. Take the keyboard, just the keyboard, build a screen to fit and squeeze as much stuff as you can behind it. To keep a netbook a ThinkPad you need to trade performance and keep form-factor. I know that sounds crazy when the form-factor defines a netbook, but I hope you can see what I mean.

  In short, take an X200, squeeze some more size out of it by going with slower, lower power components and a little battery.

  The one thing that never changes, whether you need Xeons or Atoms to run your programs, you still need a keyboard to talk to them.

• z says:
  April 16th, 2009 5:50 pm

  A smaller footprint X200 would be heavenly — computing grunt in a small package. This was the X61, like people have mentioned, but that seems to have gone

• Wolfgang says:
  April 16th, 2009 6:13 pm

  a more robust and serious looking Ideapad with a trackpoint. docking would be useful (but probably not possible, as outlines on one of your blogs before). definitly no gloss…

  mfg
  wolfgang

• Gaurav Sharma says:
  April 16th, 2009 6:15 pm

  There may be some confusion here.

  There’s “budget” netbooks, which are often in similar weight-range to the X200s/X60s (around the 1.3kg mark) but largely have terrible ergonomics (S10 included). They’re basically “cheaper” options and probably don’t make sense as competitors to the X200s if cost is taken aside.

  And then there’s “compact” netbooks like the Dell Mini 9 and Sony VAIO P or HP Mini 1000. These weigh substantially less (600g-1kg), whilst still offering reasonable battery life, and rely entirely on SSDs for storage and reduced overall size/thinness. These products are in a completely different category. They’re not aimed at X200 buyers, they’re aimed at T500 owners who want a travel notebook on the side, and who see an X200 as both a sacrifice in performance (vs T500) and sacrifice in mobility (vs compact netbook). Intel’s pushing hard in this space and it looks like more sub 1kg designs will emerge.

  I had a an X60 before, and although keen on mobile lightweight notebooks, I’ve not been keen interested in the X200 – it doesn’t have a 19-mm pitch fullsize keyboard like the X300 and is far heavier than an alternative potential purchase such as a VAIO P. The general “feel” of the X200 feels rather retroish – what would’ve worked great is if you kept the 18.5mm keyboard, reduced bezel size (it’s really too big), used SSDs/4.2k HDDs (to get it slimmer, it’s garishly thick) and got the weight close to 1kg, and you would’ve had a much stronger “premium” netbook competitor.

  Looking forward, an 10/11-inch widescreen atom 1280×720 notebook with 18.5mm keyboard and trackpoint, backed by typical thinkpad build quality and reduced weight (under 1kg) would probably blow every other netbook on the market out of the water. Cost would be important, as you mention, but I’d willingly pay $800 for an X100 or VAIO P (which stand out as distinct products) over $400 on an Acer netbook (which is basically a cheap PC) – you should be pitching at the former crowd.

  I hope for your own sake you don’t keep pushing the current X200 design – it’s neither a decent premium lightweight option is (like the X300 is), and neither is it going to look appealing as secondary computer to up and coming netbook competitors. I’ll spare you my thoughts on the S10.

• Puppy says:
  April 16th, 2009 6:22 pm

  As for X61s I’d agree if it was the mod published here. The super-low XGA display resolution makes it unusable. Also notice that current 10″ netbooks width is very close to the X61 width, but X61 (and S30) has keyboard.

  I’d like to have 11.1″ 1366×768 ThinkPad with S30-like keyboard layout and trackpoint, extra *slim* display bezel, internal WWAN module and DisplayPort. Sony has even sqeezed DVD drive into their 11.1″ models that it should be possible to build such model without DVD drive.

• Puppy says:
  April 16th, 2009 6:40 pm

  I completely agree on X200. Additional problems are that there is no configuration with WXGA+ display resolution *and* internal WWAN. Also the X200s WXGA+ configuration is not available in some countries at all. X200 should rather become X100 with 11.1″ or give us the 4:3 screens back. 12.1″ notebooks especially with such thick display bezel like X200 have are not a substitution for X61. And Lenovo S10 does not have keyboard nor trackpoint.

• Marcus says:
  April 16th, 2009 7:56 pm

  I think for a Thinkpad netbook to distinguish itself in the market it would have to avoid all of the quality and build problems in other netbooks. I think the internal configuration could be kept pretty low. I mean, we would assume that this netbook is for work (word processing, presentations, etc…) and web browsing, right?

  I think a high quality Thinkpad netbook would be a big seller. I would get rid of the trackpad and just leave the trackpoint, I find most netbook’s trackpads are far too small to use anyway.

  And don’t make it Pink… maybe you could get away with different shades of grey (seriously) it might sound lame but I think done right it could look quite appealing…

  Oh and also including the ThinkVantage suite would be a really big plus…

  That is all.

• Alex says:
  April 16th, 2009 8:16 pm

  David- great post. A year back I was very skeptical about netbooks in general until I used one and found that they are very practical. I can see someone who doesn’t need an actual laptop and has a desktop at home/work keeping a netbook laying around for light use or for the occasional trip when they do need a portable solution. In fact, I bought my brother an S10 for his birthday. He uses it for web browsing, chatting and taking notes in college.

  For light use I think the processors are fine, however there are 3 main flaws that I found with all netbooks. As such, I and am excited to hear you discuss a ThinkPad take on the “laptot” sector as I’m certain you have the engineering know-how to solve the problems.

  1. Battery life. Considering these are designed to be used on-the-go for a majority of their lifespans I think it’s silly that the average netbook has a 1-2 hour battery life. These need to be in the 4-5 hour range. While I understand there is a weight factor I think most users would be happy to add a little extra weight for more use. A flat non-removable battery may do the trick. While I am all for removable batteries, having a non-removable can save you space and weight. Considering netbooks are so cheap I think a user would rather purchase a new netbook when the battery dies out rather than replace one anyway.

  2. Keyboards. Obviously the ThinkPad team would make a full-size sized keyboard which would set it apart from the rest. This is the number one complaint I have with the current line of netbooks. With the new standard of 16:9 screens this should be easier for Lenovo from an engineering standpoint.

  3. The touchpad. This is almost as bad as the keyboard. I’d recommend providing a trackpoint-only netbook (see: Xseries). This would save on weight and cost too.

  Fixes for the above 3 problems would, in my opinion, revolutionize the market for netbooks. Instead, these would become “minitops” offering the same comfort as a laptop, but for the user who doesn’t always need a laptop. The main difference here would be the processing power and physical size, which I think should have been the only difference since netbooks first emerged.

• Neil G says:
  April 16th, 2009 8:55 pm

  Gaurav,

  I’d like to correct you. The X200 does in fact have a 19mm key pitch keyboard. It was specifically designed to do so. Shifting to the 16:10 aspect ratio screen helped enable it.

• David Hill says:
  April 16th, 2009 9:00 pm

  Neil, Thanks for joining in the conversation. You are obviously correct. This was a primary design objective.

• Bill Wood says:
  April 16th, 2009 9:38 pm

  I have the Samsung NC10 “Special edition” from Amazon. I love this thing but there are a couple of areas that need improving and a perhaps a Thinkpad version could take the lead!

  First, I really miss the Trackpoint and the middle button on the Trackpoint for scrolling. Its not comfortable to use the trackpad when lying on a couch because its too fiddly.

  Second, for a 10 inch netbook the 1024×600 resolution can be improved by increasing the vertical resolution to 640. This would give a true 16:10 aspect ratio and give just enough extra vertical room to make browsing and other activities less cramped. It would also provide a little extra room for a larger trackpad.

  Third, a video decoder chip would be nice but not essential. Video playback is not a strong suit of netbooks although I do watch some streaming shows like 24 online.

  Extremely important for a netbook is that it have great battery life. 6 hours is minimum! I get 6-7 hours on the Samsung.

  Finally, Windows 7 is a must!!! And don’t cripple it to a basic version.

  I’m really looking forward to a Thinkpad netbook. I paid $469 for the Samsung. A Thinkpad with the above features would be worth paying $500-$550.

• YS says:
  April 16th, 2009 10:26 pm

  Look at the Sony VAIO P. Stupidly priced, but apparently it sells.

  I believe Lenovo can do similar and come up with better. Heck, if Lenovo made a copy of the P, it’ll still be better for the virtue of having a proper Trackpoint.

  If there’s a Thinkpad netbook, I don’t mind it being higher priced, as long as the Thinkpad essentials are there, namely:

  - Keyboard
  - Reliability
  - Trackpoint (netbooks are begging for one)
  - Did I mention the keyboard? (BTW, the trackpoint could help in having a larger keyboard; see the VAIO P again for an example)
  - Oh, and the classic black design.

  Integrated GPS and HSDPA (WWAN) would be a great bonus.

  One thing that’d be interesting, but I’m not certain if it’ll be feasible, is to see the return of the Butterfly keyboard in a netbook. You guys think it’s possible, design and cost-wise?

• Bill Wood says:
  April 16th, 2009 10:41 pm

  To follow up on my earlier post, I believe people will pay a premium for incrementally better features like battery life and screen resolution. For example, I’d gladly pay $40 more for a 1024×640 screen over a 1024×600 screen, given that 1024×640 is not a commodity.

  On the other hand, I don’t think a Trackpoint is worth more to a lot of people. You would probably sell more units to Trackpad fans though making up for the increased cost.

• Chris Barrick says:
  April 16th, 2009 10:50 pm

  My experience with Netbooks has been that they are appealing in the abstract, but practically they don’t live up to the expectations. The physics just aren’t there for a screen smaller than 12″ if you are going to have a decent keyboard (if you have a keyboard, that is). The Vaio P has got crazy small resolution — sharp but impractical. The X61 is a great machine — I just wish the screen was brighter.

  I may eventually replace my X61 with an X200 — better for my money than the X300/301. I just wish it were a bit thinner — I really love the MacBook Air for that reason. I think thinness is a more important quality for a sub-notebook/netbook than screen size. Maybe a ThinkPad X250 (half X200 with the X300 height?

• Jane Loyless says:
  April 16th, 2009 10:53 pm

  If you’re going to create a ThinkPad netbook, make sure it’s a real ThinkPad and not a knockoff. It has to be black, has to have a TrackPoint, has to have a real 7-row ThinkPad keyboard with the standard layout, a great matte screen. No compromises.

• Andy Pan says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:15 pm

  I think the starting point is still to analyze what the user scenarios are for getting a ThinkPad Netbook.

  When/where/why a business user needs to bring a ThinkPad Netbook? To them, ThinkPad is an personal identification, cheap(or economic) is certainly not the tag they would like to have.

  Easy, casual while still showing the others the business background might be one factor.

  one of the scenarios I can come up with is: an executive is on vacation, bring an easy-take netbook to surf online,upload photos, but still want to reflect his business background when he appears in cafe or beach with the laptop (which is the only implication of his biz background with his sand pants)

• wjli2 says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:30 pm

  The whole Netbooks mania was started by ASUS, as a low cost PC program funded by UN as the One Laptop per child. At those time most ultraportable laptops are out of reach of most consumers in terms of price, which had to endure lugging around big unwieldy full size laptops. Many times those people whom lug around these dinosaurs Laptops probably don’t need anything more than word processing, surfing the net and emails (Smartphone and blackberry anyone?).

  The ASUS EeePC then got a large orders from high schools, whom wants laptop for their students but want to limit the range of application they can use on it, in addition it must be cheap. The large order for EeePC means before it was released to the public, the capital expenditure was already covered, and the amount of enthusiasm from the public that it was going to make money any which way.

  The release of the EeePC also put a large dent in large laptop companies revenue, as some people turned away from expensive ultraportable, which applications and hardware they may never use.

  Then everyone got into the act of producing these Netbooks, varying in price and features.

• Voldenuit says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:34 pm

  Netbooks are a commodity item, and it’s hard to differentiate your product from the crowd, mainly because there isn’t a lot of room to play with hardware (Atom/Nano/C7/Ion) or pricing.

  Sony seems to think otherwise by styling (and pricing) apart from the masses (literally, even) with the P series, but I don’t see it spelling financial success for them.

  The road to success in the netbook market is availability. At the end of the day, I predict that the winner will simply be the vendor with the longest retail reach and connections, simply because basic computing (the purvey of the netbook) means with all options being equal, convenience will win out for the shopper.

  I’d love to be proven wrong, especially if someone sets themselves apart with, say, a slate with a touchscreen and WWAN for $300. Sign me up for two.

• jonlumpkin says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:42 pm

  I have to agree with Matt and Puppy above.

  I see one of two ways you could go when making a ThinkPad netbook. In either case, Black is the color of the day.

  Either take a nearly full size keyboard (x61s or x200s) and build the netbook to fit the keyboard. The screen would likely be in Vaio P territory with a width at 2+ times the height.

  Or, bring back the S30. It has a very similar cross section to most other netbooks. If you could reduce the thickness and get the weight under 1kg I think you would have a real winner. The keyboard/TrackPoint would be better than any other netbook on the market, and if you could pair it with an SXGA+ screen it really would have no equal.

  For most activities, raw performance is far less important than usability. Most netbooks are seriously lacking in both categories, but if you could fit a nearly full size keyboard with classic ThinkPad travel in a 9-10″ frame, then you would solve the usability problem.

• wjli2 says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:44 pm

  Thinkpads on the other hand are more squarely aimed at mid to top market segments, where price is little less of a concern then feature, data security and construction quality.

  Thinkpad Netbooks = Rolls Royce alcheapo cars, contradiction in itself.

  Any how if you want a cheap Thinkpad, you might as well get a second hand or refurbished Thinpad X3x series, which pretty much as similar processing but with Thinkpad quality.

  Also, if you people ever used a netbook to type up a long report, would know it is probably a bad idea to your health.

  In addition, any advantage the Intel Atom had in terms of power consumption is no longer much of an advantage considering that Core 2 Duo Penryn P8xxx process use 25 w TDP compared to 17 w of TDP of Atom.

  Other than price, there is no real advantage in the Atom core, but then again if you want cheap laptops, Thinkpads does not really suit you.

• ajkula66 says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:46 pm

  ThinkPad 240Z was the grandparent of netbooks…and a great one at that…

  Throw in a modern planar, and you’ve got the winner…many people would fall for a “retro” netbook

• wjli2 says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:50 pm

  Also it is no good that Lenovo trying to release same products to compete with itself, which basically going to kill your own revenue and waste your money in terms stock inventory/marketing. GM is your finest example of why you shouldn’t have too many brands, which have products that clearly have similar markets.

  This is not good for your operating efficiency.

• wjli2 says:
  April 16th, 2009 11:55 pm

  But the problem is that IBM didn’t have a sub notebook brand other than Thinkpads that produced similar products to compete with itself.

  Lenovo on the other hand have the Ideapads, which is aimed to lower to mid price consumer markets.

• BrandonC says:
  April 17th, 2009 12:04 am

  My favorite netbook is the Samsung NC10.

  Excellent keyboard, good screen.

  But if there was a Thinkpad released one that had as good a keyboard as the NC10, but a trackpoint instead, my NC10 would be sold off in a heartbeat.

• BrandonC says:
  April 17th, 2009 12:09 am

  A follow up on my previous comment.

  I loved the X30, and X31. I’m currently using a 15.4″ WUXGA T61p, and absolutely love it.

  I would want to see the same durability in a netbook that allowed my wife to accidentally step on the X30 and not break the screen. It was seeing an X30 fall down a flight of stairs and still work that made me trade up from my Toshibas, and never look back.

  If you do build one, do not compromise on the keyboard.

  A docking station capability would be an excellent addition.

• Edward says:
  April 17th, 2009 12:35 am

  @ajkula66 yes, I agree the ThinkPad 240 series was a perfect balance of screen size, weight, and keyboard size (92% of a full-size keyboard IIRC). I still have a WorkPad z50 which was based on a very similar chassis, but could achieve 8 hours of runtime on its standard battery and 16 hours on the extended battery. If Lenovo could build a ThinkPad netbook, it should have:

  <3 lbs
  8 hours runtime (the X61 gets 5 hours on a 6-cell!)
  10.4″ 1024×768 4:3 screen (better for documents)
  Legendary ThinkPad keyboard + TrackPoint
  Metal screen hinges

  The connectivity, processor/chipset, and storage are pretty standard between netbook makers these days, so the above characteristics would differentiate the ThinkPad netbook.

• archer6 says:
  April 17th, 2009 1:32 am

  As a long time ThinkPad user and Advocate, I would enjoy seeing one positioned between the 12″ X60 of the past and the 10.2″ IdeaPad S10. Give it an 11.3″ display, a TrackPoint & Touch Pad, and make it as thin as possible while still being strong. Provide good battery life & modest performance as after all that is the original definition of a Netbook. I bought an IdeadPad S10 & it changed my entire outlook on that segment. Its lots of fun while being perfectly usable _as_ a netbook. For browsing the web, handling email, reading and light writing it’s great. Approached with an open mind, I find the keyboard quite suitable. And I have large hands. It’s the high quality tactile feedback & lack of flex that I enjoy. Yes, by all means bring us a modestly priced ThinkPad Notebook. After all Mercedes Benz seems to do a great job with their entry level low priced models, therefore Lenovo should too.
  .
  Cheers…

• Software Tools says:
  April 17th, 2009 1:43 am

  IMO there is real opportunity for a ‘ThinkBook’ that is specifically designed specifically to participate as a *business tool* in a computing “Cloud”.

  Trying to make it like any sort of ThinkPad is a sure way to disaster IMO… the ThinkPaders wont like it, the S10 (etc) netbookers wont like it and business users will just ignore it.

  Design a small, very rugged, stylish and highly connected business cloud specification….. then hold on to the tail of the tiger!

• wjli2 says:
  April 17th, 2009 2:24 am

  X61 don’t use 6 cell batteries, there is a 4 cell or 8 cell standard batteries.

  Get the X200s it has a standard size keyboard, and use the ultra low voltage Core 2 Duo, it makes the Atom or Ion processor look child play by comparison.

• Rik Hemsley says:
  April 17th, 2009 4:40 am

  What it would take for me to buy a ‘netbook’:

  * Horizontal screen resolution of at least 1280.
  * Quality full-size keyboard. Like ThinkPad or MacBook.
  * TrackPoint or multi-touch trackpad (Apple-style).
  * Built in 3G.
  * Battery life of at least 4 hours (real world).
  * 2GB RAM.
  * Price <= £250.

• Darkguy says:
  April 17th, 2009 4:41 am

  A ThinkPad-Netbook would be a dream come true. I am currently evaluating an HP Mini 2140 at work, which is quite nice, as far as the case (aluminium) and keyboard (92% size) is concerned, except for the glaring screen (no real outdoor use possible, even very bothering indoors). I also got to compare it with a colleague’s Samsung NC 10, which also has a nice keyboard (93% size) and a non-glaring screen. I had the chance to try an HP Mini 2140 and IdeaPad S10 side-by-side and unfortunately have to say the S10 disappointed n comparison, especially as far as the keyboard goes.

  What would I love to see in a perfect business netbook (which I believe could – and should! – be manufactured by Lenovo) is:

  -) screen no bigger than 10.1″, anti-glare (maybe even go the extra mile ot make it transflective for better use in sunlight), LED backlight

  -) with an option for an HD-display (1366×768 seems to be the common HD-resolution for that screen size)

  -) as big of a keyboard as possible (92%+), ThinkPad quality

  -) integrated HSDPA (a must for real everyday use in any environment)

  -) sturdy casing (aluminium/coated magnesium, rollcages, etc.) – it should be a real ThinkPad with all we have come to love and value about the design

  -) I would welcome a trackpoint, if it helps to improve the keyboard. If there is a mousepad, I want a trackpoint anyway It would also help to distinguish it from the competitors

  -) an SSD option for better energy-saving and sturdiness; HDD protection via gyroscope if an HDD is used (the HP mini has this)

  -) Connectivity: LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth, Card-Reader, VGA and/or DisplayPort/HDMI, 3-4× USB 2.0, Speaker/Mic, ExpressCard 54 Slot (the HP Mini has this, useful for company-specific expansions, for example it could be used for a smart card reader, etc.).

  -) a GPS option would be nice (maybe integrated with the HSDPA module?), such a device could be used for navigation or surveying and mapping, etc.

  -) those little things we came to love: ThinkLight, useful and usable software, etc.

  -) have some battery options – have a battery option that tilts the device at the back or sticks out a little like the 6- and 9-cell batteries do on some ThinkPads, as long as I can squeeze 8-12h of operation out of the device (go for the maximum battery life currently in the industry, the Mini 2140 and Samsung NC 10 both run between 7-8 hours with the larger batteries; NC 10 even has a third-party 9-cell battery available which should be good for about 12 hours)

  -) Make it powerful within reason and pricing requirements – there are a few options available right now, such as the combination of the Intel Atom N280 + GN40 chipset and the new nVidia ION chipset, which reportedly can even handle FullHD. Depending on the launch, Intel Pineview with the graphics core integrated into the CPU might be an option. The dark horse candidate might be the VIA Nano, for which an nVidia ION chipset should become available sometime late this year.

  -) in addition, depending on which hardware platform will be used, and which restrictions Microsoft and/or Intel place on the operating system/hardware combination I would like to see at least a 160GB HDD (or 16-32 GB SSD) and 2 GB of RAM. Windows 7 might be an option, I am currently evaluating the latest developer build on the Mini 2140 and it runs quite smoothly (Atom N270/1 GB RAM)

  -) weight: as low as possible of course, but don’t trade functionality for comfort. I want my big battery option, my comfortable keyboard and my usable screen

  -) price: Of course as low as possible, but I think within the business environment an ultraportable, sturdy, functional device can be sold for a reasonable price. Of course, make it the cheapest ThinkPad in line, but no need to compete with the Eee-PCs and Acer Aspire Ones of the world. Compete with the HP Mini, which is the only real business alternative.

  Please, I am begging you, design me that netbook and I will not tire to praise it to anybody looking into buying a netbook!

• Rik Hemsley says:
  April 17th, 2009 4:43 am

  Things I don’t care about in a ‘netbook’:

  * Colours. Black is fine.
  * Webcam.

• Stefan Constantinescu says:
  April 17th, 2009 6:15 am

  the fact that the X200 has the same keyboard from the T400 = you can go smaller. X100 series, 10 inch screen.

• wjli2 says:
  April 17th, 2009 7:04 am

  Some people here want more features in this netbook then a full sized laptop. Yet still wants the Atom processor, they are forgetting that usb ports, GPS and HSDPA, all require CPU power.

  I guess where does this leave the ideapad S10 and Thinkpad X200s. How much would this Thinkpad netbook cost? 1400 USD?

• Khalifa says:
  April 17th, 2009 8:24 am

  Just update the S10 with HSDPA + Bluetooth and fix the heat and fan issue.

• Andy says:
  April 17th, 2009 8:54 am

  Being a corporate solutions architect for more than several years, primarily dealing within the client device environment, it has become overwhelmingly clear that the ‘Consumerisation’ of users is here to stay and is causing no-end of debate as to how best leverage the phenomenal increase in technologies currently available today.

  Connectivity – ‘always on’ is the key, no matter where you are, it is fundamental to how people expect to, and want work today, and is no more apparent than in the rise of the Netbook. Admittedly, it seems that all the planets have aligned perfectly to create ‘lovable luggable’ phenomenon, but to be honest, these tiny little wonders just work, and do the job most and more… beyond anyone’s expectations…Annoying isn’t it?

  Ask yourself the question. If you strip away all the features of a ThinkPad which we’ve all come to love over the years, but like most corporations don’t actually use either because your draconian security department just says no, or you have some other solution already in place that does the same job…what do you have left?? ? I bet you’re left with this….a mouse; a keyboard; a screen; a harddisk; a network device and some memory – Oh, and a need to update your status on Twitter – ‘Currently blogging in company time. It’s Friday. Great.’

  So, isn’t that what a netbook actually is? The fact that all of us ‘techies’ spend most over our lives online, trying to find the latest open source app that allows you to sync your Google mail via Ubuntu while updating your ‘tweets’ via your iPhone or Berry while… chatting to Granddad over Skype (oh, he’s 93 btw) lends itself to one conclusion. My life is online, out there in the websphere, not on my lap. I just need something to facilitate it. The reality is it’s not just me or you, or even your mum who you’ve just explained the concept ‘the cloud’ to, but everyone. That’s why Intel expects that growth of netbooks in to double 2009. Consumerisation has made all of us geeks….and I like it.

  Andy

  Oh, can you make the enter-key bigger on the S10e. I keep hitting shift all the time …and Trackpoint in the top-right-hand corner would be the icing on the cake too

• wjli2 says:
  April 17th, 2009 9:48 am

  If the netbook thinkpad can compete actively with the HP mini, then where does this leave the Ideapad S10. Also a thinkpad netbook that is going to compete with the HP mini on price, is probably going to very light on feature. In addition, the HP mini weighs around 1.2 kg, which is pretty much how much a Thinkpad X200 weighs.

• Felix says:
  April 17th, 2009 11:05 am

  I think a good approach in creating a Thinkpad Netbook design would be starting off with an X61 and “simply” cutting off the palmrest area. Cutting off the screen accordingly, it would shrink from 12″ 4:3 to approx. 10″ 16:10.

  The resulting footprint of such a machine, compared to an X61, would be like the X200 footprint compared to a 14″ 4:3 T series.
  Maybe it would even be possible to equip it with the (already existent) X60/X61 keyboard to keep cost down.

  .. but a trackpoint-equipped S10 would be nice to have, too

• Jonathan says:
  April 17th, 2009 11:09 am

  David,

  A Thinkpad notebook should be easy to do, just base it off the Thinkpad 701. Imagine the differentiation a TP netbook would have with a butterly keyboard against the others. I would totally buy one!

• Bill Wood says:
  April 17th, 2009 1:30 pm

  @24 A pretty compelling use case for TP netbooks are pharmaceutical sales forces. These guys are on the road all day – the netbook is small, light, and has great battery life.

• jim.forbes says:
  April 17th, 2009 5:02 pm

  David,
  Instant on has always been on my list and I’m surprised HP didn’t include this on Post Omnibook 800 machines.
  battery life is obvious.
  balance and heft are also high on my list.
  Persistent connevctivity is nice, but I don’t think many people can afford the $#60 per month contract fee. I honestly hope ClearWire catches on since it’s low fee could forves Verizon and Sprint to be price competitive.
  I’m also a fan of the “phlaptop” notebook and net books.
  but my current answer to the question:”What’s the best notebook?” is still the X300.
  Have fun with the responses to your blog post!
  best
  jim forbes

• Gaurav Sharma says:
  April 17th, 2009 5:07 pm

  Thanks Neil/David – I stand corrected. I would still maintain the X300 has superior ergonomics though (like the larger palmrest…it’s so small on the X200 I unexpectedly kept finding myself tilting the notebook when testing).

  I still stand by the crux of that general argument though – are there really enough people who would forego an X300 which is slimmer, has larger display and almost as light?

  It’s not so much that the X200 is a bad product, it’s just that the X300 largely dominates it on most attributes when it comes to an all-round mobile notebook. Choice is good, but bear in mind that customers who are insistent on having the smallest possible notebook to carry around will have more than just a few premium 12″ notebooks to choose from, as used to be the case.

  The worst mistake I personally think you made with the X200s was keeping it compatible with 2.5″ HDDs. It really is too thick because of this (even compared to the supposedly larger X300) and doesn’t perform well in the area it needs to – as a top-rate netbook competitor.

  Anyway, that mistake aside, I hope you guys can take the rest of my comments constructively. Looking forward to buying a slim ultraportable X110 next year

• Gaurav Sharma says:
  April 17th, 2009 5:19 pm

  Also, forgot to say, if you had kept the 18.5mm keyboard (which as any X60 user will tell you isn’t too bad at all) and made the bezel smaller, the X200s would have also stood out a bit more from the shadow of the X300 and closer to netbook territory.

  I can’t help but think you’re working on something similar to what people are suggesting, and probably know what you are doing, so will say no more!

• Snife says:
  April 17th, 2009 5:35 pm

  I don’t think something that fits into the netbook category could ever really be classed as a proper ThinkPad but please stick a TrackPoint on the Ideapad (you can call it a ThinkPad SL** if that makes sense to your marketing people).

  I’d S10 is a nice little machine and I wouldn’t mind one but the TouchPad just doesn’t make sense on such a small device. The VAIO P interests me but i’ve not found one to test yet and i’m not buying a TrackPoint device from another manufacturer without checking it works properly first (unlike Dell ones for example).

  Back in the day I used to use an A30 for when I wanted power and a 240 for when I wanted proper portability but with the smaller ThinkPads getting bigger and more powerful, the distinction was kinda blurred so I stick with only using 12″ ThinkPads now. Having a W700 and an S10 with TrackPoint would be a perfect combination.

• andyP says:
  April 17th, 2009 5:56 pm

  Snife wrote;

  “I don’t think something that fits into the netbook category could ever really be classed as a proper ThinkPad ”

  I couldn’t have put it better myself.

  Going along the SL track, imho, was going ThinkPad off-topic. A ThinkPad netbook would be going ThinkPad off the rails.

  I will never forget how a renowned IBM, now Lenovo, employee presented the benefits of ThinkPads; double latch, ThinkLight, 7 row keyboard etc. etc.

  If only……

  Please Lenovo, don’t devalue a product that was in a class of it’s own.

• wjli2 says:
  April 17th, 2009 10:13 pm

  In oversea market the pricing difference between the X200 and X300 are already enough to drive people to the cheaper X200. Also, X200 use the 2.5 inch HDD for one reason only, which is that it can be upgraded easily with available parts. In addition, keeping an interchangeable inventory of parts keep the overhead cost down, which means cheaper laptop for the consumer, without having to sacrifice quality.

  Sure Lenovo can do a X100 but it won’t be ASUS EeePC in pricing. Thinkpad should be built to an exact quality standard, this is what Thinkpad are all about.

• wjli2 says:
  April 17th, 2009 10:14 pm

  You can be jack of all trade, and expert of none.

• Snife says:
  April 18th, 2009 6:05 am

  Gaurav – I do agree somewhat, the bezels are a bit ridiculous on the X200 and it certainly did seem like a design step backwards from X60 imho, however, I do not think it was a mistake to stick with 2.5 drives, standard 1.8 drives are simply not big enough or fast enough for a lot of uses and SSD is not suitable for anyone who does a lot of HDD transfer; I have an X300 and the design is fantastic but I need a big hard drive for my day to day use so don’t use it as my main system.

  I think the key point to a netbook though is price, it has to be cheap, I look at them as sort of a disposable electronic rather than a proper computer, and its sort of OK if the build quality isn’t quite as good as a ThinkPad. As sturdy as a ThinkPad is, they are still expensive so I always carry in a notebook case, handle them with reasonable care and wouldn’t use them in some environments, with a netbook, I wouldn’t care and thats actually quite a nice feature; even if it means it doesn’t last as long.

• Chris says:
  April 18th, 2009 9:25 am

  This id what I’d like to see from *any* netbook manufacturer – if it comes under the thinkpad- or a similar think-brand even better:

  - 10′ form factor with a decent screen resolution (higher than the standard 1024×600, especially the vertical resolution)

  - The keyboard doesn’t need to be full size, but should absolutely include a trackpoint.

  - Designwise: Keep it simple, black and boxy. Like the x61t, but if possible avoid the battery sticking out in the back. A real Bento-Box

  - Performance: Netbook standard will do just fine, just make sure to include all the connectivity-stuff.

  - OS: Windows 7 looks promising, but as long as the hardware runs under Ubuntu I’d be happy.

  I would be willing to shell out around 450€ for such a device, if that’s any help

• Ray says:
  April 18th, 2009 11:11 am

  Do I happen to be one of the few posters to own up having an IdeaPad instead of a ThinkPad?

  I bought my S10 in November last year as an emergency purchase. I had just taken up a second, part-time job as a university lecturer, and many of the faculty now do PowerPoint lectures. The deciding factor for me was portability (keeping it light in the Metro Rail Transit), and price. There wasn’t a ThinkPad that met my price criteria (X61 or X200), so I got the S10, fully aware of the reduced specs. And I’m content with it. I deliberately chose the black model because if ever I wanted to buy ThinkPad-branded accessories the colors would match. That said, if Lenovo had made a netbook-priced and -sized ThinkPad instead of an IdeaPad I would have gotten that, and would have revelled in the bragging rights of onwing a ThinkPad.

  The ThinkPad is always recognized as a high-end notebook and it gets the perception that it is targeted towards business users. The IdeaPad OTOH is adviertised more as a home or student portable, though that hasn’t stopped some students who can afford it to get a ThinkPad. If Lenovo suddenly started marketing a consumer-oriented ThinkPad, would home buyers bite? I think some would, in part because there’s something satisfying with owning a notebook with a highly respected pedigree.

• ralf says:
  April 18th, 2009 12:37 pm

  Last time I checked there were 0 (ZERO) netbooks with:
  - a trackpoint
  - a keyboard in the closer meaning of the word
  - a screen not significantly smaller than the netbook it self.( even the x-series does no longer count here )
  - blue-LED free

  In fact, I recommended friend looking for a netbook to look at used x40/x41 as well. Why:
  similar weight with better features, similar price, more battery option, docking options etc.

  My wish-list:
  - get a device with a x60s footpringt back in the line up Performance on the level of a pentium M with 600 Mhz, maybe as dual core woulde be completely alright in my book.
  - look at the S30 again

  If it needs to be wide screen:
  - look at the sony tx-series and make it better ( no CD-drive, trackpoint, keyboard, and a better power to cooling compromise.

  cheers

  r.

• JL says:
  April 18th, 2009 1:51 pm

  Darkguy pretty much got all the points that I was going to make. I have a few things I’d like to add though:

  - No touchpad, make sure it has a proper 7 row keyboard w/ trackpoint instead
  - Must have a non-glossy screen with >700 lines vertical resolution
  - Add my vote for the classic black w/ metal hinge design
  - Skip the Displayport/HDMI/Expresscard54 if it’d make the machine much larger, having at least an Expresscard34 slot would be nice though

• Tian says:
  April 18th, 2009 11:34 pm

  I have been waiting for a Thinkpad netbook ever since netbooks came into the market. For many of us, our machine is mainly used for browsing/email/coding in text editors. I run simulations on servers that I tunnel into and therefore have no use for a high powered machine.

  My girlfriend recently bought a Dell Mini 12. It is the perfect balance of power and form factor for me. It doesn’t have a fan either, which is a big plus since I like working in quiet environments. However, it is lacking a full-size keyboard, trackpoint, and uses the Poulsbo chipset which doesn’t have drivers for recent kernels of linux. Since the X6x series had a modified full-size keyboard, I think one should fit into a 12 inch netbook.

  I would like to see a Thinkpad 11 or 12 inch netbook that has a full size keyboard and uses linux-friendly components, and would buy one right away as my T42 is slowly becoming unusable due to the ATI 7500 separating-from-motherboard problem.

• Adam says:
  April 19th, 2009 3:59 am

  Lets keep it simple — I have an S10, along with
  a x60s and a T60. They all have their day.

  I hate touchpads and rarely use my S10 as a result even though its sometimes an appealing form factor.

  I’d pay a $200 over the price of an S10 for a Lenovo netbook with a trackpoint. I think thats a bit ridiculous but sony is asking something like $400+ additional.

  I’d pay $300 over the price of an S10 for a thinkpad netbook with that level of support/build quality rather than the ideapad where it seemed they were way behind on accessories, etc initially.

• Daniel says:
  April 19th, 2009 5:22 am

  Make it black.
  Make it square.
  Make it Linux-friendly.
  Make it ThinkPad-based, not IdeaPad-based.
  Make it serious, professional – not a toy.
  Make it say “I’m a tool for work, I’m business”.

  If you succeed with that, I’ll start to get interested in netbooks.

• vkyr says:
  April 19th, 2009 6:19 am

  The Netbook concept and most available netbooks on the market do come along with a bunch of compromises, like slow performing Atom CPUs, limited display screen resolutions, small/weak keyboard and touchpad input devices, limited connectivity and I/O devices etc. Thus lying categorized somewhere in between smaller devices like PDAs and much more functional subnotebooks.

  ThinkPad users in contrast here have always been fastidious, they expect from the traditional and reputated brand always something more superior than the casual. Thus it is difficult to say, if something hypothetical like a business based ThinkPad netbook would yield a great acceptation and attraction on the market.

  I believe it would hardly depend on how good that hypothetical Thinkpad design would be implemented. In the past there have been some very good small ThinkPad notebook designs, like for example the Asian pacific market S30 series, which was without doubt, one of the best of it’s class. Or as another example the Thinkpad 240. – Those small ultraportable S30 or 240 Thinkpad notebooks long time ago have been good ultraportable subnotebook design.

• smoothoperator says:
  April 19th, 2009 12:08 pm

  How about a PC110 clone? I loved my old PC110..

  If Lenovo made a netbook the same size as the Workpad Z50, I think it could be very successful. The main draw would be a great keyboard and trackpoint.

• Chris says:
  April 19th, 2009 1:19 pm

  Well, a X100 could be a really good thing, but I think it should use the famous butterfly keyboard and it should have a docking port. This might be a really good option for lots of people. Use it everywhere due to its compact size, and use it at home as your main computer thanks to the docking station.

• Eric says:
  April 20th, 2009 3:53 am

  Thinkpad Netbook need to have the following:

  1: Trackpoint (A Must)
  2: ThinkLight or Illuminated Keyboard
  3. Built in 3G(Mobility)
  4. At least 5-6 hrs battery life
  5. 92% or full size keyboard
  6. SSD or 2.5? HDD (Allow user to upgrade)
  7. Finger Print Reader / Bluetooth
  8. 10″ or 11.1″ screen ( can be view under the sunlight)

• YS says:
  April 20th, 2009 5:44 am

  Once again, bring back the butterfly!

  I actually like the key size on my X61, so that + butterfly = potentially small netbook.

  I actually want something around 9-10″ screen. Anything bigger and there’d be no size advantage compared to my X61. Not to mention it’ll be slower.

• Hecke says:
  April 20th, 2009 7:26 am

  i totally agree with Daniel.

  definite musts for me:
  - virtually no screen bezel
  - as thin as a thinkpad keyboard allows (<X300)
  - lighter than 1kg
  - battery life above 5h
  - no gloss, nowhere
  - trackpoint
  - dual core

  i know, i should go for a X61… but my favourite then was the T60p and this one i keep.

  I pray that one day my requirements still allow for severe computation, the limitations in the race between MacBookAir and X300 show that i still have to be patient.

  I never used a butterfly keyboard. But if it does not add much thickness (<1mm) and still gives the rigid feeling of a thinkpad keyboard, i would vote for it.

  cheers
  Hecke

• wjli2 says:
  April 20th, 2009 10:40 am

  http://online.wsj.com/article/.....32939.html

  this is an interesting read for anyone whom is interested in the thinkpad netbook argument. Netbook should be cheap, and Thinkpad netbook is not going to be cheap. It is more of a gadget, but not something that is take market share off the like of Acer Aspire One.

• Lee says:
  April 20th, 2009 1:16 pm

  I would like to see a X100 that uses the S31 piano finish, and looks same as S31 but with the Atom based platform.

• Theodore Tso says:
  April 20th, 2009 3:41 pm

  I purchased an S10, and the one thing that really killed it for me was the tiny shift key on the right hand side. I could get used to missing the trackpoint (although I really did miss it). I could get used to the smaller keyboard. I could get used to the smaller display. But single-width shift keys really were a problem a for me. If I had to do it over ago, I’d probably get the HP Mini or the newer Asus computers with the double-width shift keys.

• Peter says:
  April 20th, 2009 6:36 pm

  I’m a traveling executive type and have used a Thinkpad ultralight for my main computer for most of the last five+ years: in order, X40, X40t, X60, X60t, X61s, Macbook Pro, X61s.

  My current main computer is an X61s running Windows 7. One thing that hasn’t come up much here is that Windows 7 is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than Vista, and XP. So much so that I think you’ll find all windows-based netbooks will ‘get faster’ this fall, even if they don’t change their hardware specs. Windows 7 with a couple of gigs of RAM really feels smooth, even on my X61s. I don’t encode video or audio, but I can work hard on this thing all day, and play warcraft at night easily — I don’t need any more power.

  All that said, I would probably happily make a Think-branded netbook my main computer if it

  1) Was the ‘chopped off’ X61 form factor discussed here so far
  2) Had quality sim-unlocked HSDPA/UMTS support
  3) Had a VGA or DVI out port
  4) had a nice dock, ideally with wireless keyboard support. I imagine the netbook docking in the closed position.

  I’m assuming it would come with a trackpoint,camera,in black slab format, etc. etc.

  I would be changing my behavior in that I usually use the X61’s keyboard as my main keyboard, and therefore don’t have a dock for it. I would be willing to buy the dock to drop the weight and size, though, even imagining it would be a reasonably expensive peripheral. Butterfly keyboard would be fabulous and optional.

• Ray says:
  April 20th, 2009 7:55 pm

  If Microsoft is able to squeeze in a bigger profit margin while still keeping netbook prices reasonable and offering a more feature-enabled Windows 7, I think it should. Some S10 users at the s10.lenovo.com forum load their machines with full-fledged Adobe and Autodesk suites, and connect to external monitors while at the desk. Which means they are willing to use their S10, limitations and all, for CPU-intensive applications. A crippled Windows 7 won’t cut it for them.

  I’ve got to concede though, that if you buy an S10 and then spend extra for accessories, the aggregate price could equal or exceed that of a ThinkPad that already has some of the features offered by these accessories built-in—an optical drive, for example. If it comes to that, a ThinkPad would be a better buy.

  From browsing http://www.thinkwiki.org, the ThinkPad’s history has shown that is is possible to build a ThinkPad-style laptop into a netbook-sized chassis. The Asia-only 220, in fact, was even smaller than the S10, and yet even with the few extra keys for the Japanese-keyboard layout, still managed to sport full-featured keyboard. The aforementioned WorkPad Z50 is another example of a diminutive ThinkPad-style laptop; and while not officially a ThinkPad, the Japanese-only PC110 offers a look at what a future Lenovo-branded UMPC could look like. So there are lots of precedents for a netbook ThinkPad. Should Lenovo label it a “netbook” though, and market and price it as such? I’d rather it price it a bit higher than the average netbook, as long as potential buyers realize the added value they can get for the higher price. And don’t call it a netbook in public.

• Ian says:
  April 20th, 2009 8:22 pm

  I echo most of what is being said here – there is clearly a huge desire for this thinkpad ultraportable / netbook.

  But please not glossy! The lovely rubberised Thinkpad finsih please – gloss is not good for a device you hold in your hand – unless it’s a Malteaser!

  Seriously though – the finish must be what thinkpad have always done well – and not glossy – and please – no blue LEDs!

  The idea of basing the form factor on the x6* keyboard is excellent – don’t re-invent the wheel.

  I really hope this gets built.

• me says:
  April 21st, 2009 3:17 am

  Just my opinion, but if Lenovo continues down a Windows path for Netbooks — and as ARM comes down the pipe this year — they’re going to be left in the dust. I don’t think Lenovo “get’s” Netbooks as an “appliance” and how easy, fast and secure it is to run Linux on these, as opposed to the lumbering and _expensive_ Windows… I’ve already upgraded my Thinkpad T400 to Jaunty… my wife is on a Mac. the next computer I will buy will be an ARM netbook… in the $200 price range.

• Wy says:
  April 21st, 2009 6:58 am

  To the poster:

  I think you’re wrong. The trackpoint (one of the thinkpad defining features) is perfect for a netbook. Without branding it a thinkpad, you’re not getting one. (Unless you go sony, I suppose). I’d also love to see it on the Ion platform. Nvidia 9400m + Atom, at a reasonable price. Get it in a 10 or 12″ form factor, and you’ve got the beginnings of a killer mobile machine.

• TNParadise says:
  April 21st, 2009 12:23 pm

  Hi David:

  Great article. And thank you for listening from end customers. From my view it would be better to have a 11.6″ Thinkpad NB rather than 10″ NetBook. Reasons:

  1.Thinkpad has small room in 10″ Netbook footprint. Price is king for Netbook segment. Ideapad S10 is enough.

  2.Current X200 (12.1″W) is too wide. No need for full-size keyboard. Also 12.1″ won’t be best cut at 16:9 ratio. 11.6″ is.

  3.At 11.6″ 1366×768 Thinkpad could deliver more TP-spirit, even compared to upcoming 12″ Lenovo Netbook. (News already disclosed this couple month s ago, hence no secret.)

  4.11.6″ is okay for good-enough keyboard, trackpoint with touchpad (for Non-TP fan), and without ODD design.

  5.I suggest ULV+GS45 platform (or upcoming Calpella ULV) for 11.6 TP instead of PineTrial-M. Rubust, rock solid, batterylife are the pros of TP which price is the only cons. CULV (Ultra-thin) will be set for US$649-899. Do you want to compete it with a 10″ Thinkpad Netbook at $599-799?

  6.I don’t want a new Thinkpad that sells poor. Once you have hot-seller then you can expect lower price next generation. Otherwise it will be discontinued.

• jimmy says:
  April 21st, 2009 12:31 pm

  Hi David:

  Great article. And thank you for listening from end customers. From my view it would be better to have a 11.6″ Thinkpad NB rather than 10″ NetBook. Reasons:

  1.Thinkpad has small room in 10″ Netbook footprint. Price is king for Netbook segment. Ideapad S10 is enough.

  2.Current X200 (12.1″W) is too wide. No need for full-size keyboard. Also 12.1″ won’t be best cut at 16:9 ratio. 11.6″ is.

  3.At 11.6″ 1366×768 Thinkpad could deliver more TP-spirit, even compared to upcoming 12″ Lenovo Netbook. (News already disclosed this couple month s ago, hence no secret.)

  4.11.6″ is okay for good-enough keyboard, trackpoint with touchpad (for Non-TP fan), and without ODD design.

  5.I suggest ULV+GS45 platform (or upcoming Calpella ULV) for 11.6 TP instead of PineTrial-M. Rubust, rock solid, batterylife are the pros of TP which price is the only cons. CULV (Ultra-thin) will be set for US$649-899. Do you want to compete it with a 10″ Thinkpad Netbook at $599-799?

  6.I don’t want a new Thinkpad that sells poor. Once you have hot-seller then you can expect lower price next generation. Otherwise it will be discontinued.

• TrackPoint appreciation society says:
  April 21st, 2009 7:29 pm

  A TrackPoint.

  Pretty please.

  I’d very much like a netbook – not to replace my X61s in any way, but to complement it (and prior to this I used an X31). So and smaller size and a lower price *are* important factors – the lower price is important in how you view and treat a netbook, and key to their success. But no netbooks – well, very few – have a trackpoint. Which is pretty much a deal breaker for me.

  I’m not convinced such a device would be a ThinkPad (I suspect this would violate the low-cost requirement), but an IdeaPad with a TrackPoint…

• YS says:
  April 22nd, 2009 3:00 am

  No netbooks have a *usable* trackpoint. Use a competitor’s version of the Trackpoint and you’ll find out. Anything other than a Thinkpad Trackpoint is very “floaty” and fidgety. Not easy to use and definitely worse than a normal touchpad, and I really don’t like those to begin with!

• Ian says:
  April 22nd, 2009 1:31 pm

  82 Replies! Therefore ALOT of interest in a Thinkpad uberportable – professional business class ultraportable – a reborn Thinkpad S30.

  Please don’t make us wait!

• Francois says:
  April 22nd, 2009 4:03 pm

  Bonjour,
  I just came from another netbook website, where they talk about Thinkpad X100 Netbook.
  I could not order on Lenovo internet.
  Can you help?
  Is the X100 like the Ideapad or Dell Mini or more like my old Thinkpad 240x (which died last year… cry…)?

• vkyr says:
  April 22nd, 2009 7:52 pm

  @Francois

  This is actually just a hypothetical discussion, there is no such real thing like a ThinkPad X100 available on the market and maybe there will never be one!

• Jonas says:
  April 23rd, 2009 9:59 am

  “You have already designed exceptional “netbook” many years ago – ThinkPad S30. Perfect keyboard layout including trackpoint.”

  I’m agree with Puppy (see post 7), I took me months to get it but I have to say it’s the best laptop I ever had.

  IMHO the perfect netbook will be a Thinkpad S30 with X31 audio plugs (damn these are really sexy), a more powerful Processor (Intel Atom?), more RAM, a display port, integrated Bluetooth and Wifi (without external switch but rather a keyboard combination to toggle them on/off) and of course 4:3 screen!

• Jakob Bindslet says:
  April 23rd, 2009 11:27 am

  I really like the Thinkpad X series. While I’ve almost purchased a netbook on a couple of occasions what keeps me away from that market is the rther large size.
  My T61 and X32 each fulfills their niches very nicely. In order for a netbook to appeal to me, it should be in the 9-10″ range, and weigh below 1 kg. Actually , I think something between netbook and MID size would suit me best.

• sera says:
  April 23rd, 2009 8:38 pm

  netbook is an inexpensive plus ‘light-user’ element approach – which is exactly the opposite of the motto of Thinkpad:premium ultimate business machine.

  a net book doesnt expect to have a lifespan of more than 2 years and thus the material you need to build a netbook is fairly cheap – and thus the inexpensive cost.

  You can simply throw a game to your team:’make a scratch of a Lite version of Thinkpad in 10′ LCD with our traditional keyboard in 10 minutes’.

  i bet Samsung spent less than 1 hour on its NC10 blueprint!

• John says:
  April 24th, 2009 9:31 am

  Lenovo could be making more money off the current crop of netbooks out there if they put some effort into perfecting their existing Thinkpad Travel Keyboard 31P9490. I have a Dell Mini 9 on order, and I’ll be using my old Travel Keyboard with it whenever possible. But, as many reviewers have noted, the Travel Keyboard just doesn’t have the same feel as a real Thinkpad. If you solve that problem you could sell a lot more of these keyboards.

• Jane Loyless says:
  April 24th, 2009 12:22 pm

  This is interesting:

  http://apcmag.com/a-business-c.....o-exec.htm

• Francois says:
  April 25th, 2009 8:19 am

  I found the Yoga netbook, that Lenovo has been talking about for quite some time.

  http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/home/index.htm

  They got the innovation award at the DEMO 09.

  well, some talk… some do (and sell)

• James says:
  April 25th, 2009 9:03 am

  Forget the idea about netbooks being cheap. An upcoming X100 should be elitist! Traditional ThinkPad design, approx 90% keyboard, TrackPoint (no TrackPad), 10″ matte screen with 1280×720 resolution, very narrow screen bezel, 64GB SSD, 2GB RAM, Windows 7, and oodles of sex appeal…

• Andrew B says:
  April 25th, 2009 10:10 am

  A ThinkPad netbook would just be an upscale netbook/downscale ThinkPad that sells for around $600 – $800. I’d rather buy a refurbished current year model ThinkPad X or last years X series model new. Heck, Lenovo.com was selling brand spanking new X61 ultraportable Tablets for $649 to clear out inventory a couple of months ago.

  http://www.fatwallet.com/forum.....ls/910227/

  Why wouldn’t I just buy last years ThinkPad ultraportable 12″ instead of a compromised ThinkPad netbook?

• J says:
  April 25th, 2009 2:46 pm

  A 10″ thinkpad style netbook would be brilliant!

  thin under 1″ light, long battery life, maybe ulv or atom processor.

  key things, RJ45 port, full WiFi, WWAN, GPS, support, 2 USB ports, mini display port..

  this one reminded me of the thinkpads

  http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....laptop.jpg

• David Chaney says:
  April 26th, 2009 12:45 am

  1) best in class keyboard
  2) a layout that respects the standard layout as best as possible (its a netbook so comprimises are a given)
  3) trackpoint
  4) thinkpad quality screen
  5) thinkpad build quality
  6) smart thinkpad features

  Those things in a netbook would make a must have product for me. Basically just described an even smaller, legacy free, solid state X series.

• O8h7w says:
  April 27th, 2009 4:03 am

  I see I do agree with quite a lot of these posts.
  Just take a reasonable keyboard and a trackpoint, and let those define the size.

  Of course it should be sturdy, as opposed to flimsy, which most netbooks are. If it’s done right one should be able to use it for several years.

  Maybe one should be able to make display stand tall when it otherwise would be so low? Sadly, I fail to see how that should be possible. Maybe by completely separating the screen from the keyboard part? No hinges at all that could be broken!

  Last line, I wouldn’t buy it. I need a ThinkPad that is as small as possible while still able to run Autodesk Inventor without too much waiting…

• O8h7w says:
  April 27th, 2009 4:13 am

  Ooops… second thoughts…

  Maybe, in the future, if my economy gives room for that, I would be really happy with a ThinkPad über-netbook and some sort of big ThinkPad (something similar to W700).

  But the netbook would mostly be used for writing, so it would need a very good keyboard.

• Mike says:
  April 27th, 2009 10:02 am

  1280 px screen width, 600-800 px tall. Decent keyboard, but absolutely minimal bezeling. No palm rest at all. Just enough cpu to run office applications or a browser. Decent RAM – up to 2 gb. NO palm rest; delete it to save space. Height so that it opens comfortably on an airplane tray when the seat in front of you is tilted back.

  I traveled widely with a Sony Viao picturebook years ago; it was today’s netbook. Wonderful form factor & keyboard. One of those with Thinkpad quality would be superb.

  I’ve got an X61s now. One of those (or X200) with a slightly short screen and no palmrest area would do the trick perfectly.

  Mike

• Jeff says:
  April 27th, 2009 3:03 pm

  I have been waiting for a Thinkpad ‘netbook’ for a long time.
  The reason I do not use the x200 or x6x is that the screen resolution is not high enough.

  I worked on 1600×1200 Thinkpads for man years and I need that resolution, also when being mobile.

  So now I am using a VAIO P and I like it for its 1600 pixel resolution and small size.

  I would buy a Thinkpad netbook only if:

  - It comes with 1600 pixel resolution, as least as an option

  - It has a Thinkpad trackpoint

  - The size is small, like the VAIO P

  Ideally it would have

  - A much faster processor than the VAIO P

• Max says:
  April 27th, 2009 3:04 pm

  I was going to buy a Thinkpad SL300; my concern was that it wasn’t really a ‘Thinkpad’ but an Ideapad. I think that a Thinkpad T300 (13 inch screen, 4.0LBS (max)) would be a useable product. I still use a Thinkpad T21 (QUALITY)

• Lars Gunther says:
  April 27th, 2009 3:08 pm

  Late to the party, but there is one feature Thinkpad could bring that would be the real killer feature. The butterfly keyboard from the 701!

  Give me that, trackpoint and Linux, and you’ve got yourself a customer!

• Jeff says:
  April 27th, 2009 3:26 pm

  I would like to add:

  Make it black and boxy but thin, I agree, a typical Thinkpad with small bezel, use the full lid size, Thinkpad type keyboard but keys can be smaller. VAIO P keyboard size is perfect.
  Make the tiny Thinkpad like a Thinkpad, good hinges and build quality, it does not need leather.

  Keep the colors to the Ideapads.

  It does not need to be as powerful as a W700, but don’t limit power users, make it as fast as possible, there are people who dont care about battery time, make a small and light power adaptor like the VAIO P, power profiles can slow down the machine later for those folks who need long battery time.

  I would pay anyhing up to 2000 US$ for the perfect machine, price does not matter if it changes lifestyle and allows me to work on 1600 pixels, anywhere.
  The VAIO P comes close, I use it as my main machine now, but of course the processor is limiting the experience. Also the free space on the left and right of the screen of the VAIO P is ugly, the function keys are sometimes not responsive when the machine is busy, Thinkpads Fn keys always work even when the machine is busy.

  Let it have the Thinklight! I miss that most on the VAIO P!

  The VAIO P is small and light enough to make you grab it from your desk even for trip to the bathroom and it actually fits into some of my pants pockets.

  I am using a non Thinkpad laptop for the first time in 10 years, please make a Thinkpad x1 or something, and please do not call it pocket yoga, although the news was very exciting.

• Daniel Smith says:
  April 27th, 2009 5:29 pm

  it is my opinion a thinkpad “netbook” would be an excelent choice if only for the implications it would have. most of the current generation netbooks lack business oriented features such as intel wireless cards and gigabit ethernet connections in addition to only using track pads over a pointing stick or similar. IBM had a small laptop called the workpad some time ago that easily supplemented the current generation of desktops. perhaps a revival of the workpad line would be in order with improvements over the current netbooks in screen resolution as well as the retaining some lenovo unique features such as the s10 having an express card slot

• Lenovo Connections » Blog Archive » Sharing is caring – Lenovo Malaysian Bloggers Meet-up says:
  April 27th, 2009 5:51 pm

  [...] with the smaller screens commonly found in netbooks.  David Hill’s recent blog entitled “Think Netbook, Think Balance” reminded me that netbooks are sort of basic machines for email, web-browsing as well as document [...]

• Learned a lot about netbooks today « the silver toaster says:
  April 27th, 2009 8:15 pm

  [...] President of Lenovo’s Corporate Identity and Design had written on the 14th of this month. The blog was written about the influx of netbooks on the market and asked the ThinkPad community what they [...]

• FJ says:
  April 27th, 2009 8:56 pm

  No pinkpad for me, how about bringing your existing lineup up to spec with the competition first. The smallest notebook I have been attracted to is the Sony Z series, which has an excellent screen, good CPU, RAM, and HD selection. An excellent screen is something that is completely lacking from the entire Lenovo/Thinkpad line except for the W700. For Shame! #@!!^%! how long do we have to wait for Lenovo to at least offer a dual lamp WUXGA screen in the W500? Speaking of hard drive selection, a 160GB is the best you can do for a 7200 RPM drive on your top of the line 15 inch notebook the W500.

  Back to the Sony Z, if it had a better GPU, a Thinkpad roll cage case, and spill resistant keyboard that would be fantastic. E-Sata/USB port, at least one more dedicated USB port, Display Port, and 5300 wireless would be the other must have options. By the way is it possible to make a backlit spill resistant keyboard?

  Currently Lenovo has been leaving power notebook users with one choice the W700. Those of us looking for power and screen quality in a portable notebook have had to consider the Dell Precision 4400 or Macbook Pros.

  I am not interested in a cheap netbook. However I would be interested in a powerful system in a small form factor. Considering screen size, 15 inch is a good compromise between what would be ideal and what is truly portable. Still if that Sony Z were in a durable Thinkpad case, with a better GPU and priced at $1,850, I would bite.

• FJ says:
  April 27th, 2009 9:12 pm

  One final point. Don’t wind up like General Motors and Chrysler. Hummers and gas hogs are out. The W700 is an over sized Hummer notebook and battery hog. GM kept saying SUV’s and pickup trucks are what the public wanted so that’s what they made. Well it sure looks like the growth segment in notebooks, which have overtaken desktops, is smaller more powerful bang for the buck. That is what you have to deliver before the competition beats you to it. The W700 is fine for jobs where you are going to another office or on location with a grip truck and power generator. For the rest of us something smaller with greater battery capacity is required.

• paul says:
  April 27th, 2009 10:25 pm

  IBM already made a Netbook-like Thinkpad, called the Thinkpad 235 in the late 1990’s or so. I have the Hitachi branded version. It was nice for that era.

  Overall I think though that your question is whether to dilute the Thinkpad brand by relabelling the Ideapad S10 as a Thinkpad. As an old time Thinkpad user I cringe at the idea, but the recent Lenovo thinkpads including the premium models aren’t like the old ones anyway.

  Re the W700: I think lots of laptop users basically never run their machine on battery power. My T61 has been sitting on my desk plugged into AC almost every day since I got it. I wouldn’t mind having a W700 except for the added heat and the lack of Linux support for the Nvidia graphics chip.

  Actually what would really be cool is a vertical version of the W700DS, where the secondary screen pops out upwards, above the main screen, instead of outward to the side. That would possibly ease the suffering of those of us who can’t stand widescreen and want a return to the 4:3 aspect ratio. What a lot of us really want, I think, is simply as much vertical screen space as we can get, and a portrait mode screen would be heavenly.

• Rob Martin says:
  April 28th, 2009 1:35 am

  I’m looking for a Thinkpad QUALITY netbook. That means no SL series with ideapad guts inside.

  It should have a Thinkpad quality keyboard with TrackPoint, a 4:3 screen of XGA height, preferably 9 or 10″ maximum, and weigh in at 2 pounds, no more.

  Use all available space for the keyboard; don’t try to squeeze in a Touchpad – that is ruined several competitor’s offerings.

  Sell it for $600, not $300.

  If you intend to offer a 3G/4G/Wimax module, don’t make the mistake of pulling an MSN and discounting the netbook for signing a 24-month contract with AT&T. Do the opposite. Negotiate a real discount rate for ThinkNote 3G service, i.e. $25/month, 12 month term, minimum of 10GB cap, bundleable with purchase.

• Puppy says:
  April 28th, 2009 5:39 pm

  As for 3G/4G modules, please stop the blacklisting of devices in BIOS ! There are countries where very obscure mobile technologies are available *only*. That completely ruins the idea of built-in mobile Internet access because you need special hardware from the mobile operator.

• Chris says:
  April 28th, 2009 5:57 pm

  I’ll repeat what I saw someone else type. Engineer it with a butterfly keyboard!

• Lincoln T says:
  April 28th, 2009 6:51 pm

  Well, if it is going to be a netbook you still need to keep it small, light weight, and relatively inexpensive. But you can be small lightweight and inexpensive ‘for a business laptop’. The idea is to cut size and cut frills that are frills.

  I hate to say it but just make an 11″ model of your ThinkPad X200s with maybe an Intel® Atom 230 with a dual-core that comes out in September. If that can be matched with a NVIDIA ION then you have the basic platform for a workable low-end ‘Business Netbook’ if you can shave the price down to $750. That seems pricey for a netbook, but if you can offer what is nearly a ThinkPad X200s for half the price with a few concessions to high end parts you have a winner.

• Brian says:
  April 28th, 2009 7:15 pm

  Thinkpads have since their inception been about finding the ideal balance between utilitarian form factors and whatever level of computing power happened to be available within the required size scale. Just as the earliest laptops could not compare to the computing power of desktop computers, the “netbook” form factor presents its own design challenges associated with making mobile computing more convenient. Raw computing power has historically been sacrificed in numerous ultraportable Thinkpad designs, so there is nothing in the recent netbook trend which is anathema to the Thinkpad lineage — quite the opposite.

  In my mind, the perfect thinkpad netbook would innovate in its hardware to make itself distinct from competitors. It might have a multi-touch screen with fold-out keyboard. Its screen could be slightly larger than normal (11.6 inches, 16:9 ratio), but have a smaller bezel and so have the same overall footprint as normal netbooks. Like the x200tablet, the screen cover and bezel should blend into each other and be non-gloss. It would of course have the red nipple, and no trackpad. It would ideally be extremely rugged, with a SSD-only hard drive option to make it stand out as a high-end quality item. It would be very slender, at most 0.5 – 0.7 inches thick. (To achieve such slim dimensions, it might be necessary to wait until Intel’s Mooreston chip comes out with a much reduced thermal envelope) It should use no legacy ports (such as those big legacy monitor ports), but offer a full host of modern HDMI/DVI screen and USB 3.0/Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, in addition to built-in 4G wireless, GPS, and geotagging capability. For security, HDD auto erase and GPS tracking should be built in standard. There should also be a host of specialty accesories, such as additional touch pens, leather tablet carrying case, and a USB3.0 docking station with full external device support, including DVD/CD burner etc. It should be marketed as a wireless companion, and be sold with telecom subsidy.

  Future models might consider using ARM OMAP-4 multicore processors and some version of Linux for further energy savings and battery longevity.

  For all this functionality and form factor, even in this economy and in the face of other netbooks, I would still be willing to pay $800-$1,000, even with a wireless carrier subsidy.

• deep says:
  April 28th, 2009 7:17 pm

  I am a lifetime Thinkpad user because the design hits all the right points for me. My next computer purchase will be a netbook, but not anything from the present generation. I’ve often said to myself that if there was a Thinkpad netbook I’d probably buy it in a second.

  My criteria are:

  1. Quality, full sized keyboard. Thinkpads are the best in this area, and the cramped keyboards of current gen netbooks are a deal killer for me. If usability is impeded, the intended use is defeated. For this reason I am interested in the larger next gen “netbooks” due to come out, such as the MSI X320/340 or Acer Aspire One 11.6, but I would pass on them in a second if Lenovo brought its Thinkpad design principles to a netbook.

  2. Power efficient computing power with good battery life. Reduced heat, battery consumption and a better fit for the role that the computer will be used in. I don’t need the power of my desktop, but I do need a netbook to be able to handle the basic tasks I throw at it, such as multitasking, browsing the web, using web based software as well as basic office applications such as Word, Excel and Outlook. It should be able to cope with impending operating systems like Windows 7 instead of forcing people to Linux. 2-4GB of RAM with Intel’s CULV processors seem like the right balance than the 1-2GB of RAM Atom powered netbooks at present. Ideally battery life shold be around what the best netbooks are offering – 6-8 hours of regular use on a single charge, meaning I don’t need to think twice about using it through a long business trip or extended periods away from an outlet.

  3. Portability. I am not looking for the weight/size of a desktop replacement, nor do I need it to fit into a back pocket like a 10 inch netbook. The portability similar to Lenovo’s X-Series seems right. Sub 3 lbs. with a screen size in the area of 12 inches to make it usable but not too big. I’ve had other business travellers remark to me that their laptops (bigger than my X60s/X61s) are too bulky, especially on an airplane tray or in one’s lap. It seems 11-12 inches is the screen size necessary to allow a full sized keyboard.

  4. Accessible pricing. It cannot be more than $600-800 to fit in the competitive landscape of cheap laptops and cheaper netbooks. Netbooks and in many cases laptops serve as secondary computers used ubiquitously, so spending the same on a desktop configuration prices out the solution. The idea here is to bring many of the advantages of the ultraportable segment to a netbook. Although I can appreciate product managers won’t want to undercut their ultraportable offerings, I think the market has voted with their dollars on netbooks. There is value and a market for providing cheaper but usable portable computing.

  5. Pragmatic design. Thinkpad’s matte black, smudge free finishes with rugged build quality. Thinkpad niceties like the reading light and function keys. The ability to upgrade basic hardware (e.g. RAM, CPU). Added touches like SSD drive options. I don’t intend to store hundreds of gigs on a netbook. I might opt for less storage if it means faster performance, better reliability and power consumption, as the SSD drives offer. I prefer the Lenovo pointer and would pass on a touchpad if it was the difference in having a full keyboard.

  6. Connectivity. I can pass on WiMax and the like but can’t pass on Wireless G/N speed.

  Thanks for asking the market what they want. I hope you bring it to fruition but will buy something else if they do it first or better.

• John Tromp says:
  April 28th, 2009 7:37 pm

  The ideal netbook trades in performance for low weight, zero noise, and long battery life.
  there’s no point in being thin, or being small,
  but being light is a huge plus.
  a weight of under 1kg with a smaller battery is
  ideal. an SSD is essential for both noiseless
  operation and weight savings. No need for big sizes; anywhere from 16G-64GB is great.
  1024×600 feels too cramped, so have either
  a 1280×800 or 1366×768 screen, somewhere between
  10″ and 11.6″ in size. make the keyboard go edge
  to edge. and of course offer a trackpoint in
  addition to a (multitouch) trackpad. make the cursor keys extend below the space bar, so they
  can be comfortably sized and not interfere with
  the right shift key.
  consider using an ARM processor running Linux.

  regards, -John

• Scott says:
  April 28th, 2009 7:56 pm

  The Ultimate Netbook: Think Sony P done right (bigger).

  Using the Thinkpad Trackpoint & 100% sized keyboard but maintaining the wider format. You get a 11-12″ screen with the footprint of a 10″ netbook. Dial back Sony’s ridiculous res to the soon to be standard 1366×768. You have usable resolution on a screen large enough to not require squinting. Take the Asus/MSI over/under-clock to the next level with 1.12/1.66/1.84Ghz & focus on reasonable sized SSDs (32+GB) for the power savings & performance balancing act. As much performance as possible is great but battery life is key. 8-10hrs would be great but 6+ (in the real world) is required. Find a way to fit an expresscard/34 slot without losing too much and you’ll be at the head of the class for expandability. And finally build quality, build quality, build quality.

  Such a netbook could command a (relatively) premium price and sit between the std netbooks and ultraportables.

• Justin O says:
  April 28th, 2009 8:03 pm

  I figure I’ll weigh in now having just bought my first netbook (HP 2140 w/ high res screen) and what made me decide on that machine.

  Screen real estate – 1024 x 600 (or lower) is just not usable for me. Optional higher res displays are a huge plus. (Especially if the display is 10 inches or great.)

  Usable keyboard – HP netbooks seem to currently have the best keyboards (92% full size) so something like that is a boon.

  Light / Thin – A netbook for me is a second computer, it doesn’t have the computing power to replace my current 15in laptop or desktop (but must be able to browse the web and use office), but it should be thin and light (under three lbs.)

  Reasonably sized storage – Given that I’m using this as a second computer I don’t need a 160 GB conventional drive (what came with my HP) but I also can’t live with a 4 gb SSD.

  Take those four things together and you have a netbook with a good screen, reasonable (but not excessive) specs, and a great design. I think most people have reasonable expectations for a netbook in terms of ports, performance, and other qualities, but what sets the good ones apart is the design and usability.

• John Morris says:
  April 28th, 2009 8:05 pm

  Make it a netbook, not a ultralight notebook. But do make it a Thinkpad. What are the distinguishing features that seperate a Thinkpad from the rabble who wish they were one?

  1. Keyboard and pointer. Lose the pad, everybody else has one of those and we who love driving stick have been left with only the Sony which has it’s own issues.

  2. Build quality. Nuff said.

  3. Appearance. Black. Slab. Matte.

  4. Designed for a corporate (not home) setting. Docks, fingerprint readers, TPM modules.

  So let those well known features that customers associate with the ThinkPad brand drive the design and see where it leads you. Begin with a typical ThinkPad keyboard without a pad. There is your form factor, buy the best matte display that will go over that and attach with good Thinkpad hinges. Keep the weight around a kilo and aim for as thin a black slab as you can manage while keeping the battery life at least four hours of actual use.

  Remember that this is a netbook so oodles of onboard computing and storage isn’t required but connectivity options ARE. Corporate types are much more likely to spend OPM on 3G connectivity. Dictating one provider would get in the way of existing wireless relationships so avoid bundling and/or locking.

  If you can get a webcam and/or fingerprint reader in without impacting size and weight do so. A TPM would really make the corporate IT folks happy since a netbook is probably at more risk of loss and theft than a full notebook.

  As for the computing innards you have two paths. Boring corporate Intel CPU + Win7 is probably the right choice for a Thinkpad but if ARM can really give all day computing offering it as an option might be worthwhile. Lots of use cases would really go for all day in the field without a charger.

  Storage should be Flash. I know that is controversial but capacity is increasing, price is falling and by the time a new design gets to market offering 64 and 128GB options should be doable on an upmarket item such as anything bearing the ThinkPad logo must be. And leaving the spinning storage out of the design gets a lot smaller lighter end product.

• Supportive says:
  April 28th, 2009 8:58 pm

  Use Linux. Use 10.2 inch screen. Intel Atom-based. Use Linux. 4GB Memory RAM. 256MB VGA Card memory. At least 80GB harddrive or better yet SSD. Use Linux. Built-in card reader(s). 4 USB slots. Longer battery life. Use Linux. Ability to boot from USB. Use Linux. Oh, and did I mention you should use Linux?

• Brian says:
  April 28th, 2009 9:04 pm

  In addition to the general consensus in design trend that has emerged in the above comments, a truly revolutionary design element would be to make any touch-screen netbook with a Pixel-Qi LCD screen for e-book readability and full daylight viewing. That, combined with all the other stuff mentioned here, would make it better than *anything* on the market.

• RML527 says:
  April 28th, 2009 9:15 pm

  I’d take an SL300, and shrink it down to 10.1″ size. The screen res would be 1366×768, matte. Use Intel’s CULV platform, and use a discrete GPU. An ExpressCard slot is a must.

• WangWT says:
  April 28th, 2009 9:50 pm

  One form factor that made a splash a while ago, but which quickly fell into obscurity, is the Intel URBAN-MAX tablet. I think *that* design goes perfectly with the Thinkpad tradition of utilitarian non-conformity, and would situate the brand head and shoulder above the rest of the netbook pack. It can provide all the function of a multi-touch tablet, all the convenience of a full size (or at least x40 size) keyboard, without the hassle or flimsiness of a swivel elbow like most tablets have. Also, the design lends itself to the track-point design perfectly.

  For a better idea of what I am talking about, see: http://www.slashgear.com/intel.....o-2014336/

• Chris Yeh says:
  April 28th, 2009 10:21 pm

  Hard to add novelty to the discussion, but I wanted to make sure I gave my input. Here’s what I want:

  1) TrackPoint
  2) At least 768 pixels high
  3) 8-hour battery life

  The nice to have would be an SSD instead of an HDD, but I’d be willing to settle for an HDD that I could upgrade to an SSD in a year or two.

  I don’t mind paying more–price is not the main factor.

• Canada says:
  April 28th, 2009 10:38 pm

  Dear Lenovo Engineers and Designers,

  Designing a netbook is by no means “a difficult task that is very different from designing a traditional ThinkPad”.

  Let me tell you my story, to prove the point. Before Christmas, I was looking for a netbook. After much research, I decided on the newly released Samsung NC-10. The problem was, NC-10 was not sold in Canada, and importing it or getting it in Europe would mean spending around 500~550 CAD, rather hefty price to pay for an atom machine.

  Enter X61s.
  Take a look at the basic config of X61s:
  - core2duo 1.6ghz
  - 12″ 1024×768 screen
  - intel 3100
  - 1gb ram
  - 80 gb hd
  - lan, wifi
  - vista home basic

  To me, it looks like a better version of a netbook, and that is what I ended up getting.

  Price during the Christmas promo was 540 CAD (@ that time 1 USD = 1.2 CAD if I recall correctly). It was even cheaper during the same promo in the US. Also, since Windows license is ~50, this thing CAN be sold for ~500 CAD and still bring in profit. Now, I understand that that was a promo and all, but come on, it was 4 months ago, and the prices on electronics keep going down.

  Now, coming back to the “difficult task of designing a netbook”: it is not difficult to design a netbook, if you already have a machine that can be sold as one.

  Some may say that 12″ is too big for a netbook, but I don’t agree at all. The size is minimally bigger, but the crappy screen bezel usually present in netbooks is gone. Weight is 2.7 lbs w/ a 4 cell battery, and weight, not size, is the defining factor for me when discussing portability of a netbook. Neither 10″ nor 12″ laptop will fit into my pocket, so if their weight is identical, and there is barely any increase in the dimensions, why settle for 10″?

  Also, consider the customization options: an option to add BT, N-wifi, better screen, get a spare 8 cell battery, a docking station. One can also load up to 8 gb ram (I dont know what would you need it for, but you can do it). This is so much better than the 2gb RAM limit of the Atom processors, 6 month wait for a 6-cell battery to be released, etc.

  Why not simply bring back this model, offer it w/ Ubuntu, and sell this as your netbook offering? Unless you’re the part of the manufacturer crowd that cries of netbook market cannibalizing the high end laptop market. I hope you’re not.

  Meanwhile, let me enjoy my ~550 ThinkPad netbook

• sudosandwich says:
  April 28th, 2009 11:29 pm

  -A high res, 11.6ish screen
  -Nvidia ION
  -It needs dedicated Page Up and page down buttons (this drives me crazy on netbooks)
  -Decent size HD or if SSD is available, make sure its fast unlike early netbook. A slow SSD can ruin a computing experience
  -Offer both Windows and Linux

• sudosandwich says:
  April 28th, 2009 11:30 pm

  And about $500-$600 max

• Barrett says:
  April 28th, 2009 11:54 pm

  While you (Lenovo) could just sell some of the old X60 tablet models as netbooks, (they cost $600 US with heavy discounting before they were no longer available) I believe there is room in the market for a ThinkPad-branded netboook.

  You might want to consider fitting it with as large a keyboard as possible, with no space between the keyboard and the screen base, leaving as much room as possible for a track stick and/or touchpad.

  I think 10″ is a great size for a screen, although given the size of the 10″ netbooks these days, they have a lot of bezel. A little bezel on the top makes room for a webcam. If all you’re doing by using an 11″ LCD on a form factor the size of an Asus 1000HE or Samsung NC10, then you’re fine. 1024×600 is too low a resolution to be usable, since only GDM on Linux will scale to a lower DPI than standard, and even that isn’t always helpful.

  A butterfly keyboard is an option, but the low price of netbooks makes them usable in new locations like the bathroom, the park, a boat, or the beach.

  On a premium netbook, the processor might be an Intel CULV. The Atom works fine for most things, but VT, x64, dual core would be nice.

  In terms of high end options, it would be nice to be able to fit a TV tuner, 3G, and WIFI in 3 separate upgradable MiniPCI-E slots. My current netbook has 2 slots, so I have 3G and WIFI, and now I also have a TV tuner by way of a USB to MiniPCI-E adapter. My Bluetooth modoule is coming in the mail.

  Tablet/touch screen is an option, but that inevitably adds weight, cost, and decreases readibility. Unfortunately, with today’s technology, I’d advise against.

  The nice thing about using (and upgrading) netbooks on a daily basis is that you come to realize that a lot of applications’ “responsiveness” is no longer limited by processor speed, but by RAM and HD speed. Thus a maximum of 4 GB RAM on a premium model and probably a 2.5″ SATA drive, so that the very best of SSDs can be installed in the future.

  Video chipsets onboard these days usually can’t handle any form of HD, so an Intel X4500 or NVidia 9300 would be nice, but an X3100 might suffice.

  A fingerprint reader would be a good idea.

  Traditional ThinkPad design is great, although making your screens off-center is offputting to the potential consumer.

  Array mics are nice for teleconferencing.

  It would be great if audio had no background noise, but that’s tough at this size and price point.

  Trackpad should be large or not present.

  Dock would be nice. Firewire and eSATA would also be nice additions.

  2.0 MP webcam, but that’s easy.

• DesignerA-GOGO says:
  April 29th, 2009 1:14 am

  The Thinkpad Netbook should ideally use the newer 11.6 screen so that any resolution higher than 1024×600 would be easily viewable and it should be paired with a discrete GPU such as the ASUS N10J (w/ nvidia 9300 M) or an HP dv2 (since this uses the AMD yukon platform in an exclusivity deal with HP, yukon is not a likely option) so that advanced rendering applications could be done such as CAD or Photoshop CS4. Plus the docking port design of previous Thinkpads would be awesome but difficult considering the size limitation. And, of course to keep it a netbook it should be under 5 lbs. and under $800.

• John says:
  April 29th, 2009 1:14 am

  I didn’t read all the previous posts but here is my opinion: The problem you need to solve is to design the best possible keyboard and the best possible screen given the dimensions of the device.

  1) Start with the keyboard. This is your “hard” constraint. Take Vaio P as your benchmark. Reduce the space between the keys if you wish, but only if this will allow for perceptible benefits to the overall volume.

  2) Screen should be as big as the keyboard. This means ultra thin margins and no trackpad. It is time to put your trackpoints into real use.

  3) The two points above mean that the device must be extra wide and not rectangular. For small screens this is desirable for the additional reason that horizontal scrolling is much more inconvenient than vertical.

  4) Use SSD’s of relatively high quality. You may start with a 32GB to keep the price of the basic model low.

  5) Avoid superiority syndromes like using a ridiculously high resolution in a tiny screen. If you decide to do so, give plenty of options for intermediate resolutions.

  6) Optimize the OS! I want to just turn on my machine and start browsing in no time.

  7) Offer a basic model at a price point that would appeal to students. Don’t force me to have to buy a GPS module (that I don’t need because I will never use my netbook as a navigation tool…) just in order to avoid using a ridiculously slow machine (with a very slow HD for example).

  Even your basic model must offer a satisfying computing experience. I may decide not to pay for GPS, 3G or a big SSD, but I expect to be able to do basic tasks like Office and browsing in the same way.

  9) Everybody wants a touchscreen. You need the appropriate OS to really make use of it. Until this happens, save yourselves the trouble – it is not worth the cost…

  10) Make it thin

  11) Make it light

• John says:
  April 29th, 2009 1:30 am

  12) Let me add one more thing. Battery will be a real problem for such a small and light machine. Here is a solution. I don’t mind putting an extra battery on the side pocket of my back bag. The problem is I cannot charge both of them at the same time. So I need to first charge one and then charge the other via the machine itself. Build a separate charger for the extra battery. Most importantly, offer it at a reasonable cost in accordance with the idea of netbooks as low cost machines! Most manufacturers take advantage of these accessories to increase their profit margins. Don’t do it! The extra battery and the separate charger are vital parts for a mobile computer. They are not simply accessories. You will increase your profits by selling more units…

• John says:
  April 29th, 2009 1:42 am

  Since I am unable to edit my comments, here is one more thing that goes with (12). Find a smart solution so that the basic power cord is also the charger for the extra battery, so that I don’t need to carry separate cords. I can keep swapping batteries and as soon as I find a plug, I can charge all of them at the same time in less than 2 hours. Wishful thinking?

• Andrew says:
  April 29th, 2009 2:51 am

  As a loyal IBM/Lenovo user for a long time, and also a netbook owner and gadget freak, I can say that what I love about ThinkPads is the good build quality, excellent tactile keyboard, and TrackPoint. If you can translate these into a netbook form factor, I will absolutely buy one!

  My personal desires from a Lenovo netbook in particular (aside from all the normal performance, light weight, battery life type considerations, these are the things I think would be unique in a ThinkPad netbook):

  TrackPoint. Aside from being my favorite laptop mouse replacement, this gives more layout flexibility (none of those tiny touchpad or side oriented button problems).

  ThinkPad quality keyboard. Most netbooks have atrocious keyboards (the HP and NC10 seem to have the best I have used, but they are still not as great as a ThinkPad keyboard).

  Better screen resolution. Buck the 1024×600 trend!

  The ThinkPad LED keyboard light would also be a nifty thing to have (might be hard to get onto a flat netbook screen, though).

• Pixel Qi fan in waiting says:
  April 29th, 2009 3:50 am

  Forgot the TouchScreen with Pixel Qi screens (and resolution has to be high enough for external VGA monitor to be used with “presentation projectors”)!

  Add of course to the purchase kit the following options:

  1- USB PoweredExternal DVD
  2- USB Powered External RAID 1 Hard drives such as found here (tested for a pair of 160 GB drives run from USB power, where they spin down and shut off after x amount of time of no use):
  http://www.addonics.com/produc.....5RDESU.asp

• DougC-3 says:
  April 29th, 2009 4:02 am

  A Lenovo netbook should keep the same keyboard and TrackPoint that the X61s has. This keyboard is only 0.2 inches wider that an Eee PC 1000HE keyboard! Yet, with the thin bezel, there’s room for a 12 inch screen.

  The TrackPoint and it’s 3 buttons are much more positive and reliable and easier to use than a trackpad. The middle button, in combination with the Trackpoint, is the quickest, easiest, and most precise scrolling mechanism I’ve ever used. This precision and utility is more valuable than the zooming and other novelties of the trackpad, which would be obviated.

  The display should have a height of at least 768 pixels, and I would not object if it deviated from the short format of the netbook and added an extra half inch or more of height, which would allow more room for a bigger battery.

  The very latest battery technology should be used in the netbook, to try to approach the life of the X61s’s 8 cell extended battery. The large battery should be integrated from the start, as with the Eee 1000HE, rather than starting with a small battery and letting the bigger one protrude.

  There should be an option for purchase with 3G such as Qualcomm’s Gobi Global Mobile, which supports both EV-DO and GSM, so a buyer could choose his own provider or change providers or travel anywhere in the world without having to change cards. Or a functional mini-PCIe slot should be left open to accomodate such a card later.

  And of course it should be black, flat, and matte, with flat edges, sharp angles, no glitzy trim, and for heaven’s sake none of the ridiculous glossy, shiny surfaces.

  P.S. I made these comments at the liliputing.com blog also, and thanks for listening

• REMF says:
  April 29th, 2009 4:34 am

  I own an S10e, and very much like the machine, however a device useful for business and thus worthy of a thinkpad brand requires more.

  It needs more desktop space:
  1366×768 would be a much more useful resolution than 1024×600, it allows side-by-side multi-tasking, therefore I would want one of the new 11.6″ screens that are becoming available.

  It needs a real CPU:
  Atom is far too compromised for even basic COMPUTing tasks, therefore I would want either the AMD Conesus CPU or a putative .45nm Via Nano.

  It needs a real GPU:
  We are entering the age of prevalent GPU acceleration of basic COMPUTing tasks, a fact compounded in the ‘netbook’ sector by the necessity of low power CPU’s. This make an OpenCL compliant GPU an absolute necessity, therefore I would want either the AMD Conesus GPU (780G) or the nVidia Ion GPU (9400m).

  This level of power will require a six-cell battery as a baseline, and i’d like it to be flush with the chassis, fortunately an 11.6″ chassis would have room for exactly that.

  If the device described above has the same (or better) build quality as the S10e then you really would have created a worthy mini Thinkpad.

• Chris says:
  April 29th, 2009 5:12 am

  I agree with what Paul wrote: Make it sturdy, make it serious – not like the very obvious compromise that is the SL-series. Make it an example of design that puts business first (sturdiness over multimedia-capabilities).

  Here are my other wishes:

  Pease, no stupid trend-conscious design decisions like glossy screens. This should be a business-netbook after all.

  Overall Look: The Lenovo Ideapads are not bad in the sturdiness-department, but still they somehow seem cheapish.
  I would rather like something designed like a shrunk X200. Black carbon-fribre, please!

  How to save cost compared to the X200? Save on performance; we don’t need to watch 1080p movies on a 10″-display… Ommit the touchpad, the trackpoint is better suited for such a small device.

  Make it a rounded product; no ugly compromises like a large frame around the display. Make the screen just large enough to cover the just-large-enough keyboard…

  No 16/9 display ratio! This form-factor may lend itself well to watching movies but not to writing.

  Use an ARM-processor, we need 10 hours runtime. Let it run Linux.

  I guess Matt has put in nice words above: “In short, take an X200, squeeze some more size out of it by going with slower, lower power components and a little battery.”
  A no-compromise, yet affordable, mobile solution.

  And again: ARM, please.

• Pixel Qi fan in waiting says:
  April 29th, 2009 5:16 am

  One more point. Is that the Pixel Qi power saving designs are important to global warming issues. IF that same tech (OLPC tech) were used on both netbooks, notebooks, then that would be great. BUT, why not then take it to DESKTOPS as well, with the eco friendly battery backup per workstation, and the low power would mean a company could not only save money, but could maybe use the energy credits where a value could be assigned to the energy savings and green electric generation on premisis, where this green is in dollars paid back via a “cap and trade” carbon trading system… the electricity savings, energy credit return in the market, and power-outage uptime protection via eco battery design in desktop, would all add up to higher corporate profits (hey, vs purchasing a separate external back-ups, why not have OLPC battery that can be recycled into fertizer built-in and costing the company only $10 to replace as OLPC specs predicted their battery to last 5 years vs Lithim ION with only 1 year lifetime). This, WOULD save a company a lot of money and the savings would pay for the hardware technology purchases (if green enough). Then imagine a company powering it’s entire IT needs from solar or wind generated on the roof (more savings and more independence from the GRID.

  Green then, is spelled with dollar signs. THIS green would become an instantly marketable concept.

  World-wide this is the future. It is just a matter of who does it first.

  The energy savings laptop or netbook, could easily have a vga port and be designed to run a future lager Pixel Qi power saving 17 or 19 inch screen? No? Why not?

• Lenovo étudie la possibilité de lancer un Netbook ThinkPad et demande votre avis LaptopSpirit.fr – PC Portable, Ultraportables, Netbooks, UMPC et mobilité says:
  April 29th, 2009 6:32 am

  [...] pouvez si vous le souhaitez participer et laisser votre avis : via cette page. Reste maintenant à savoir si Lenovo suivra les recommandations postées sur son [...]

• eet says:
  April 29th, 2009 7:15 am

  What we still lack in today’s flood of netbooks is the combination of cheap and robust.

  Forget about multimedia, give me something I can throw into my backpack and not worry about.

• David M. says:
  April 29th, 2009 7:41 am

  1)A choice of fast rewrite SSD’s (HP’s 2140″s smallest is 80G for $350, why not, say 40G?)
  2)Touch screen-just like the original Jornada pocket PC’s, which I used, (ps love the Semi-pocket Lenovo model floated about a month ago). How could HP do that then, but only Gigabyte does it now)
  3) 2gigs memory-just in case
  4)Light weight but durable..see 5.
  5)This is not about design-I also had the original omni-book-less than 2 lbs!!But, small computers get dropped! I would pay for extended full warranty..this is for business..it’s worth the extra cost.

• chaburchak says:
  April 29th, 2009 8:04 am

  I own two netbooks already but when I want to write, I still get out my Workpad z50. Why? Gotta be the sweet sweet keyboard (well, that and the instant-on ability, and the battery life). Gimme those and I’ll be all over this thing.

• JE says:
  April 29th, 2009 8:42 am

  Personally I would like the following in a Thinkpad netbook.

  - weight no more than 1 kg
  - thin.
  - Around 8 hrs real working battery time
  - Higher resolution than 1024*600. would prefer 1280*800
  - docking
  - Built-in 3G (nice, but can live with out)
  - WIFI and ethernet
  - Multicard reader
  - Linux friendly
  - upto 2GB RAM

  Hopefully fanless, and around 40GB SSD.
  Current atom processor works fine for me.
  Should have the solidness of a thinkpad.

• Brian says:
  April 29th, 2009 8:50 am

  One more addition to what I wrote above. The URBAN-MAX concept form-factor that Intel put out in August 2008 would work great with Thinkpad design principles. http://www.slashgear.com/slash.....8-2414539/

• Dan says:
  April 29th, 2009 9:22 am

  Here’s what I think a ThinkPad netbook should be like:

  Low-voltage Core2 derivative (CULV) and either GMA 4500 or GF 9400 integrated. Definitely a trackpoint and NO TOUCHPAD (IBM/Lenovo has made the right move by never trying to squeeze a touchpad onto a X-series thinkpad; I have no idea why they thought it was a good idea for the even smaller Ideapad netbooks). I’d prefer it to be quite small, 9″ screen (10″ would be ok)- others may disagree but I think that portability is key and that if it gets bigger than 10″ you’re really just making a cheap X series knockoff and will cut into X series sales. WXGA/720p resolution (1280×720, 1366×768, 1280×800, whatever). Bonus points for having a convertible tablet (the X series tablets are well-liked). Battery life is key and if some of the previous specs (processor and chipset) have to be compromised for better battery life that’s ok.

• ossi says:
  April 29th, 2009 9:44 am

  I would like to see two models. 11.6″ and 7″ models.

  11.6″ Model would be more like ultraportable and should use via nano with their latest chipset or AMD conesus. If they used AMD in it, they should engineer it well. Just look at everun note. It has dual core and small battery but has decent battery life.

  7″ model would be more like traditional netbook. It should use atom or ARM. It shouldn’t have a big bezel like eee pc 701 had.

• Misutsu says:
  April 29th, 2009 10:46 am

  This market is already saturated. Your model needs to be really different, and not just a copy of a copy of a copy as all others netBooks. Unfortunately, this is what I found in many earlier comments …

• Shashank says:
  April 29th, 2009 11:04 am

  Give me something for business- give it a trackpoint (save room on the touchpad), a roomy keyboard (I would die for a butterfly keyboard, to be honest), and a good screen resolution (at least 800 verical pixels).

  The two things that have always set Thinkpads apart, in my mind, are build quality, and the interface (the screen and input devices are always outstanding). Don’t cut corners there.

• Peter says:
  April 29th, 2009 11:19 am

  The only suggestion I have to add is that I’d love to see the trackpoint that is standard on most Thinkpad laptops appear on a netbook. In fact, I’d be fine with that being the only pointing device, instead of a touchpad.

  Of course, as others have mentioned here, a resolution higher than 1024×600 would be pretty important for any business user. Being an owner of a current generation netbook, I would say the low resolution is the biggest thing that lessens my enjoyment of the computing experience.

• Still No Goldilocks Netbook » Wombat Diet says:
  April 29th, 2009 12:42 pm

  [...] Meanwhile, Lenovo is asking for comments on what it should do about the netbook category on its design blog. [...]

• Lenovo sammelt Ideen für ThinkPad-Netbook | Netbooknews.de – das Netbook Blog says:
  April 29th, 2009 12:46 pm

  [...] Hier geht’s zu Lenovos Diskussion um das ThinkPad-Netbook [...]

• joey says:
  April 29th, 2009 1:47 pm

  nvidia graphics -> ION
  12″ mat
  hdmi (or displayport) and vga out
  tabletmode

• Steve says:
  April 29th, 2009 2:10 pm

  Take a good old T42, seize it down to 10,1″ with a resolution between 1024×600 and 1400×1050 and a good backlight, don’t forget the docking station, surprise me with some UltraBay magic and keep the battery life above 7 hours and you just did the best netbook you can imagine.
  Do I’ve to mention that it should come in the black old school look, with out-of-the-box linux compatibility, a trackpoint and indestructible body?
  If you release this beauty in the next 6 month, you can pretend me from buying a used T42 instead.

• Steve says:
  April 29th, 2009 2:15 pm

  Take a good old T42, seize it down to 10,1″ [NOT glossy] with a resolution between 1024×600 and 1400×1050 and a good backlight, don’t forget the docking station, surprise me with some UltraBay magic and keep the battery life above 7 hours and you just did the best netbook you can imagine.
  Do I’ve to mention that it should come in the black old school look, with out-of-the-box linux compatibility, a trackpoint and indestructible body?
  If you release this beauty in the next 6 month, you can pretend me from buying a used T42 instead.

• Chris R says:
  April 29th, 2009 2:34 pm

  ThinkPad Netbook

  My main suggestion would be to have good keyboard feel/quality. That is one thing ThinkPads have always been known for, and the one thing that current netbooks lack.

  I also think it would be great to have at least one model with a butterfly keyboard or analogous fold-out keyboard. I hope you are doing some market research to determine how many people would spend the additional $$ for a netbook with butterfly keyboard.

  I also like the idea of including a trackpoint, and also keeping the ThinkPad family look (basic black) and overall solid feel.

  I was a fan of the old WordPad Z50 (except for the 8.2″ screen), which is another reason would love to see a new ThinkPad netbook.

• ThinkUser says:
  April 29th, 2009 2:41 pm

  First of all, I think it is really awesome that Lenovo collects ideas of the customers for a new Netbook. As I am using my first Thinkpad for nearly one year now and I´m thinking about buying a Netbook for the “daylie use” while on tour, I hope that it will be a “NetPad” Because we discussed the new “Phenomenon” of Netbooks in a business studies course, I have a list of Ideas, which we collected for the “perfect” Netbook:

  1) NON-GLARE Display with a resolution > 1024×640 (e.g. 1366 x 768); max. 10,2″ Display (wie LED)
  2) MATT case
  3) BATTERY LIFE of > 12 hours
  4) Nearly FULLSIZE KEYBOARD
  5) Integrated UMTS/hsdpa Technology
  6) BLUETOOTH
  7) Usual ThinkPad Design and Technologies (e.g. robust chassis, strong hinges, shock-resistant Harddrive or better a SSD).

  To summarize the Ideas: there should be a really serious “Business”-Netbook an not another “Consumer-Line” Product. The most important point should be reliability and really good quality!
  I hope that some of the ideas can be found in the new Lenovo Product. I´m really looking forward to see the market-ready product. I hope it will come 2010 with the new “Pineview”-Architecture and Windows 7.

  Greetings from Austria, ThinkUser

• Susan says:
  April 29th, 2009 2:49 pm

  I’ve been hoping for a Thinkpad netbook. When I think about a Thinkpad netbook, the very first thing I want is the Thinkpad case/body texture, that matte, rugged casing that eschews fingerprints and dirt; without this casing, it’s not a Thinkpad netbook. It may be a Lenovo product, but not a Thinkpad. I want a screen which snaps closed. I also see a matte screen that is not larger than 11.1″ (12″ and up is not a netbook. Stop trying to brand your old Pentium X61s as netbooks.) I am flexible on the screen resolution. I am also flexible on the trackpad- give me a trackpoint and the three buttons at the bottom of the keyboard and I would be fine. I would consider both SSD and traditional spinning drives for the hard drive option, but any spinning drive needs to be accompanied by the accelerometer included on most Thinkpads. I would want RAM at 1GB with the ability to easily upgrade to 2GB if I so desire, plus an Atom processor at least as powerful as the ubiquitous 1.6GHz chip out now. For ports, I want a VGA, at least one SD card slot, 2 USB and a PCI express slot, because I would take the new Constant Connect card and tether my Blackberry to my netbook. A 6 cell battery is a must- a Thinkpad netbook should get at least 5 hrs to a charge, hopefully as long as 7 or 8 hrs if managed correctly.

• User says:
  April 29th, 2009 3:33 pm

  It MUST HAVE a DOCKINGSTATION… this would be one feature which would make it unique on the actual Netbookmarket. ( And not such a awful upstand dockingstation like this Gigabyte one ).

• Lenovo/IBM plant ein Netbook « Misanthropia says:
  April 29th, 2009 3:42 pm

  [...] Lenovo’s Blog Verfasst von misanthropalceste Abgelegt in Technik Keine Kommentare [...]

• PIPPO says:
  April 29th, 2009 4:14 pm

  2 kind 1 for pleasure ( if u want! )
  but absolutely 1 for business the brand LENOVO should maintain the professionals as customers !
  HDMI useful for presentation
  ANTI-GLARE means really portable! u can use with neon lights near
  16:10 low cost and better for some business applications
  normal HD … low cost but with possibility for an upgrade
  3g-wifi-bt it’s a must
  Great battery 7-8 hours – exceptional if u can put two small batteries ( size like an old mobile battery ) with possibility to recharge one outside the notebook and exchange it … on the fly
  CPU-MEM … low cost…low temp…better with no fan … business travellers don’t need normally cpu power and there are more expensive Lenovo if u want it !!!
  STRONG is for travellers ..oooops … not broken ? oh yes of course it’s a LENOVO ))))
  ALL the other things in the other netbooks are welcome !
  PRICE less than 450 Euro for final customer

• chipman says:
  April 29th, 2009 5:03 pm

  -nonglossy finish & display!!
  -fingerprintreader
  -designlike the s10 –> 10″-11″ display
  -8 hour of battery life

• pixelfairy says:
  April 29th, 2009 8:09 pm

  1) 10.1″ 1366×768 display (see hp mini 2140 HD) This really makes a difference.

  2) whatever you do please make sure the graphics card is NOT a GMA500. the 950 is fine, though im sure some here would want more out of thier graphics cards.

  3) of course, battery life. hp was wise to have an option between light and long battery in thier mini 2140.

  4) let the screen fold back all the way.

  Thinkpads always have good keyboards so that should go without saying.

  Also, linux is common on netbooks, so i hope its linux friendly. This is easy, just make sure all the components work out of the box or need nothing more than a firmware thats easy to download. avoid broadcom and the gma 500.

  For some of us, a netbook can be a main computer.

• Mark says:
  April 29th, 2009 8:25 pm

  As an erstwhile Thinkpad owner and a current Samsung NC10 owner, I think Samsung hit it out of the park on this one and Lenovo could take a few lessons from them.

  With a Thinkpad netbook I’d expect a matte high resolution 10-11″ screen (bright unlike other Thinkpads), a black sparkly finish, the Trackpoint (very important) and a keyboard with good key feel.

  Oh and a Thinklight. Please don’t make the same mistake as with the SL300. A friend of mine was interested in the SL300 but was disappointed by the lack of the Thinklight and I saw him ultimately buy a laptop with a backlit keyboard.

  The internals can be more flexible – hard drive or SSD, Atom or Nano, built-in graphics or Nvidia Ion.

• Silly cougar says:
  April 29th, 2009 8:28 pm

  I would have to say I agree with all the pros and cons here folks have been bringing up. BUT what *I* would like to see in a netbook from Lenovo in the Thinkpad family is the following:

  11-12″ screen, the upper end of the netbooks I know.
  1330X768 would be a good resolution for this size I think

  Maybe a Ultra LOW end dual core, or a better chipset then the Atom has..
  2+G of ram, I know the ram limitation is a Atom chipset issue which is one place ION would shine.

  Also, at least a 6 cell battery, its a laptop, we need A LOT more then 2-4 hours of battery life..

  And to be a Thinkpad it MUST have the track point not the stupid touchpads all the netbooks have currently. Also, it would have to come in that wonderful matte black ONLY. Also would have to be upto the ThinkPad standards of quality…

  That would set it heads and shoulders over the other netbooks, and that should be possible for under 700$ I would think.
  I have one of the S10’s, its a nice lil thing, but the screen is too small, and the lack of ram has impacted Office 2007 when I have been using it for work.

  The S10 is worth the 500$ I spent on it, but IF a Thinkpad version came out, with some changes, Id have to jump on it.

• Maxwax says:
  April 30th, 2009 1:12 am

  I use an aging 15.4″ laptop that I adore even after 5 years but I recently bought a “high end” netbook to fill a void in my computing needs.

  I think one of the most important factors of netbooks is what I would call “size perception.”

  Size perception goes beyond the technical specifications and goes to the emotional part of your brain that connects with the tools you use. In my case, I’ll always choose the laptop for anything significant due to its full size keyboard and much larger screen size. But given the chance to do something light and mobile such as go to a meeting to take notes or pop into an internet cafe to access email and websites, the netbook is perceived as much better because of size perception.

  It’s not just that the netbook is < 3 lbs while the laptop is 6.5, it’s not just that the laptop’s Length x Width x Height dimensions are smaller, it’s the combination of the two. I can easily pickup the netbook in one hand while carrying other things in the other. I can easily place a netbook on a crowded table alongside other things instead of being cramped with the laptop. This is size perception and it makes me more comfortable using a computer in an activity that involves portability. The laptop one me (and millions of others) over in the last few years and we ditched our desktops. Now the “netbook” is making us love portable computing again.

  The netbook I have is not from Lenovo and while it is right for my needs, its not perfect. Here’s whats important to me as an owner of a full size laptop and a netbook:

  1) Another vote for FULL SIZE KEYBOARD. Mine is good — far better than the S10 — but it’s still lacking.

  2) SWEET SPOT SCREEN SIZE – 11″ or 12″ — bigger than 10. Mine is a 10 with a centimeter of bezel on each side. Use an 11 or 11.5″ LCD with a very slight bezel, keep it lightweight and you’ll still have the positive size perception that I feel is important.

  3) ATTRACTIVE APPEARANCE. There will come a day when a Thinkpad will be something more attractive than flat black and it will be a very good day. Keep in mind that if functionality isn’t the primary concern when choosing a netbook, appearance is naturally going to move up the priority list. I’ll accept black for a laptop if I can have two processors and 8G of RAM in it, but if I have two laptops similarly equipped and one looks better to me, my emotions are going to pull me towards the one I “like better.”

  4) TRACKPAD. Apple’s raising the bar of on screen navigation with trackpads and multi-touch technology. The pointing stick simply can’t do these new tricks and reviews will point this out to buyers.

  5) SWEET SPOT STORAGE. I skipped on a variety of consumer netbook options with 16-32G SSDs because I wanted more, so my netbook has 160 gig hard drive in it. This reinforces my delight with its size because “Wow – This little thing is smaller and still has as much space as the laptop”. Surprise & Delight — always good feelings to associate with a product.

  6) ATTRACTIVE PERIPHERALS. Unless you’re just a low-end consumer who uses the netbook for sofa surfing, there is a high probability that, like me, you will buy more toys for your new laptop. My netbook with a silver brushed aluminium case has a silver Seagate external drive attached to it. Would it see a low-profile silver style external CD-rom near it in the future? Probably. Lenovo: Go after the netbook AND the branded peripherals. You like the sales and we like the style and comfort when things look like their made to work together.

  7) LINUX SUPPORT. Just make technical support available to the Linux developers so all aspects of the netbook work under Linux. The Linux community can take it from there and support much of the potential users. It’s a small price to pay to get influential Linux gurus to say positive things about their sweet new netbooks.

  Lenovo: Thanks for asking. Wish more companies asked consumers what they thought.

• Christoph says:
  April 30th, 2009 2:32 am

  There are already plenty of mediocre ‘netbooks’ out there by various manufacturers, Lenovo needs to bring out something of higher standard, similar to what Sony did with the VAIO P.

  The typical netbook has a resolution of 1024, this is not enough for serious business use.
  1366×768 and 1600×768 should be available, ideal display size about 9″, anything bigger and again there are already many other notebooks out there to chose from.

  Backlit keys would be awesome, if not that then the Think-light.
  Typical high quality Thinkpad keyboard, just small enough to type (see Vaio P)

• RainyDay says:
  April 30th, 2009 2:57 am

  1) 10,2″ anti-glare Display (1366×768)

  2) long battery life

  3) “Draft N” WLAN

  4) Good Quality (Chasis, hinges…)

  5) typical ThinkPad-Look (black, angular, matt)

  6) maybe a Fingerprint Reader

• Toni Borgetto says:
  April 30th, 2009 3:47 am

  I’m a long-time Thinkpad user (my main machine is currently an X300). I also bought a cheap netbook last year, and while I am happy with the CPU performance and overall size of the device, there are several things which I miss and would love to see in a Thinkpad-netbook:

  1) Trackpoint! I cannot emphasize it enough, but a trackpoint is perfect for these small devices – the tiny touchpad annoys me like hell (and having to take off my typing hands from the keyboard when using the pad).

  2) Higher screen resolution. 1024×600 is just not enough – especially vertical. -> Anything better (e.g. 1280×800) is a must.

  3) Battery life. Needs at least 6 hours (there’s no point in a small portable netbook when you have to lug around the power cord all the time, or stay close to a power outlet), with even higher capacity batteries as an option!

  I think it wouldn’t be too hard to design a Thinkpad-netbook. There have been 10″-Thinkpads in the past (e.g. the 240, or the gorgeous S30!), so size is not the problem. Also, please, NO HUGE BEZEL around the screen!

  And HP is showing that it’s definitely possible to differentiate between cheaper consumer netbooks (the HP Mini 1000) and a more business-oriented version (the 2140). The main thing they are missing is the trackpoint (they 2140 already has a good keyboard and optional high-res display).

• Eric says:
  April 30th, 2009 4:25 am

  I own a aspire one (linpus), thinkpad t23 (ubuntu unr) and t42 (ubuntu). A netbook needs is a small and light machine. Should be equipped with a fast (SLC) ssd with 8/16GB to boot in under 30s. For operating a powerful allround system like ubuntu netbook remix should be delivered. Create a rough and stable case like the t-series, dont forget a matte screen for outdoor usage. Battery life should be around 4 hours. Target 400USD, so there is a difference to fullsize laptops. Nobody needs to pay a microsoft tax, think usage!

• RainyDay says:
  April 30th, 2009 5:40 am

  First of all, I think it is really awesome that Lenovo is interessted in the ideas of costumers for creating a new Netbook. As I am thinking about buying a Netbook for the “daily use while on road” and I´m really satisfied with my T400, I was really happy to read, that there will be a new “NetPad” So, here is a list of ideas for the “perfect business line netbook”, we collected at a business studies course a couple of weeks ago:

  1) max. 10,2? ANTI-GLARE LED-Display with a resolution > 1024×640 (e.g. 1366×768)

  2) long BATTERY LIFE ( > 10 h)

  3) “Draft N” WLAN

  4) Good QUALITY & Reliability (Chasis, Hinges…). The Ideapad S10 looked really good (nfortunately it is only available with a glossy Display in Germany/Austria).

  5) typical THINKPAD LOOK (black, angular). Important: NO GLOSSY CHASIS –> MATT

  6)Integrated UMTS/hsdpa Technology! (important)

  7) maybe a Fingerprint Reader

  At least 2 GB RAM

  9) If the Product will be market-ready in the first/second half of 2010: –> WINDOWS 7 & “PINEVIEW Architecture” (maybe even Fan-Free, but at least SILENT!)

  10) Maybe a SSD (or shock-procted Harddrive)

  This is a list of things, we thought would be necessary for a really good product which fulfills the wishes of most business customers. I think a higher price than for the most Netbooks would be really justified for a product like this!
  So, finally I´m really looking forward to hear more news about this new Netbook! So, please keep us up to date

  Greetings from Austria

• M. Friedrichs says:
  April 30th, 2009 6:18 am

  1) 11,1´ to 11,6´1366 X 768 display

  2) SSD 20GB to 40GB

  3)Small and light (ultraportable)but solide, fanless

  4) Wifi g/n as a must, Ethernet, Bluetooth as an option

  5) Linux or WIN to choose (I prefer Linux)

  6) a good “ThinkPad” – keyboard

  Next gen Atom or other processors

  9)Classical ThinkPad design, black,black,black

  7)For a good quality netbook I would pay 150€ more than current prices

  A ThinkPad tablet- netbook I would like to see too

• tin008 says:
  April 30th, 2009 8:34 am

  I proudly own a S10e. I love it.
  But I agree with the countless comments above.
  The trackpoint would be a huge improvement over the trackpad, and removing the trackpad would permit a larger keyboard. And a 16-32 GB SSD would, I think, be an improvement over the 160 GB HD.

• C-Wam says:
  April 30th, 2009 12:12 pm

  Hello,
  that’s a great idea !!
  First, sorry for my english, i’m french
  If you want to design a great netbook, you have to be different. Every netbook are the same: processor, hdd, memory etc….
  if you want to design a good netbook, think netbook.
  What do we do with this? that’s the major question.
  here is my idea:
  -strength : a netbook have to be solid. Thinkpad are good for this, it’s the good way. no brightness/ no footprint like the current thinkpad.

  -mat screen: no brightness on the screen !! netbook are use outside

  _ weigth & size : 9″ is the right choice, 10″ it’s too much, less is difficult to use. as thin as possible (i don’t ask for a macbook air but something thinner of the EEEPC 901). The weigth, under 1 kg is a dream, but 1.2 kg or 1.3 is acceptable, more is too much for a netbook.

  -keyboard/ touchpad: just a better keyboard than the 701/900/901, and a touchpad large, like on the 901/1000 (no samsung nc10 !! too small).

  _SSD: no HDD, a good SSD like in the recent 901 (not like the first acer’s netbook). with ssd the netbook will be tougher, and he will start faster (less than 30 sec).

  _processor/memory : we don’t care !! netbook are not made for power, they are made for basic fonction and connectivity. if the processor is not “windows-compatible” don’t be afraid to design a OS like the xandros, very simple with large icon or use one already exist like google Android who is very popular.
  For exemple, ARM:cheap, powerful enough for netbook, android compatible,better for battery life.

  price : the low-price of the 701 was a great part in the success of the first eeePC. People look first the price when they buy something, that’s a point everybody could understand (not the case for processor, memory).

  battery life: the most important possible. 5h is the less (least ?). don’t make one with 10h of battery life if is price is greater then 450$ nobody would buy it.

  To conclude :
  make a netbook tougher (thinkpad design is perfect), thin, small and weigth < 1.2kg. Battery life is more important than power. don’t be afraid to be no-compatible with windows, windows have not the good ergonomics (small icon, small menu, on 9 inch and 10 inch screen).and the most important: don’t make the same netbook as the other manufacturers, you have to offers services, not an object. be different !!

• DougC-3 says:
  April 30th, 2009 2:31 pm

  And one more thing… This may not be the 800 pound gorilla, in the netbook room, that nobody notices, but it’s at least a 60 pound chimp. In any case I think it needs a little more ink (some of this has been mentioned above but important things sometimes bear repeating:

  The screens are short. With the 16:9 aspect ratio and 1024×600 pixels, web pages and document pages require a lot of vertical scrolling and large graphics can’t be seen all at once. Widescreen equals short screen. This is even more important with a business netbook.

  This problem has been attacked in several ways. Some browsers, such as Chrome, give you more vertical room. Two finger trackpad scrolling and the much better Lenovo TrackPoint (pointing stick and 3 buttons) keep you from having to find and stay on the scrolling tab, which is a great help in long pages.

  The introduction of 1366 x 768 displays on netbooks is the most direct attack. A lot of software, such as MS Office, has been written so that some menus require 768 vertical pixels to keep the bottom of the menu and buttons such as “OK,” “Cancel,” etc, from being off the screen and inaccessible. But some people complain that they have to squint to see this.

  Make the screen taller. Hint: the bezel at the top of the X61s screen is only one centimeter wide. The bezel at the top of the Eee 1000HE screen is 2.25 cm wide. I think you could find room for a few pixels there.

  What’s so magic about the 16:9 aspect ratio? I really don’t think that many people use their netbooks mainly for viewing 16:9 movies, and even if they do, would it kill them to have a little black space at the top and bottom of the screen? I personally wouldn’t mind a 5:3 ratio and would like even better my old friend 3:2, the 35mm film ratio.

  If you wind up with a netbook that’s 8 x 9.75 inches instead of 7.5 x 10.25 that’s fine with me. I’d love it. I’m not looking for a fashion clutch, I’m looking for a tool.

  Why did all the manufactures jump on the 16:9 aspect ratio? Is it because warehouses are full of cheap digital picture frame screens of that shape? Is that the netbook’s dirty little secret? (This might also explain the trend toward glossy screens.)

  I’d like to hear more thoughts about this.

• claudio giarda says:
  May 1st, 2009 2:45 am

  1) 12,1´ display

  2) SSD 20GB to 40GB

  3)Small and light (ultraportable)but solide, fanless

  4) Wifi g/n as a must, Ethernet, Bluetooth a Must

  5) Windows 7

  6) a good “ThinkPad” – keyboard

  Next gen Atom or other processors

  7)Classical ThinkPad design, black,black,black

  8)For a good quality netbook I would pay 200€ more than current prices

  A ThinkPad tablet- netbook I would like to see too

• kalahari says:
  May 1st, 2009 5:04 pm

  Ideas for a ThinkPad Netbook

  - Make it easy to buy. Create a website with an option matrix, and
  make it possible to buy each combination everywhere.
  It doesn’t matter much, if the more unusual combinations take a
  month longer to ship, or are bit more expensive.
  It is very anoying, to try to buy a netbook with e.g. an US keyboard
  in Germany.

  Publish the order numbers in a way a potential customer can easily
  find them, and tell his buying staff: I want exactly that model.

  - optional UMTS, optional SDD instead of HDD, optional Linux instead
  of Windows.

  - As an extra, no one else has, add a real serial port. To make it
  cheap, use RJ45 with Cisco pinout. It doesn’t need to be 16550
  compatible, good drivers for Windows and Linux are sufficient.
  A lot of service people would like to have one. USB to serial only
  works most of the time.

  - make it solid, not flimsy.

  - either leave the webcam out, or make it an option. There are several
  business, VW is an example, where you are not allowed to bring in
  anything with a camera.

  If it has a webcam, make it possible to take pictures with it.
  It shouldn’t only be there for videoconferencing.

  Everything else has been covered by someone already.
  Regards

• Henrik Mak says:
  May 2nd, 2009 6:19 am

  Dear Lenovo-Team!

  Please put Mini-Firewire into your device!!!!!

• v?er says:
  May 2nd, 2009 6:24 am

  Things id love to see in Think Pad “netbook” – 9 or 10″ display, keep it small. Think and light as usual. SSD or HDD, doesnt matter as long as it has the same security options as its big brothers from ThinkPad series. Ram up to 4Gb. Dual Core CPU. Classic ThinkPad black design!
  Basically what i want it to be is X200 squeezed into 9 or 10″ form factor ! Oh and with integrated 3G! Price id be willing to pay is around 600-900$ at start and then ofcourse id expect it to drop during couple of months. Thank you !

• En busca del diseño perfecto « peramides blog says:
  May 2nd, 2009 11:36 pm

  [...] a las fallas de ciertos modelos y los puntos acertados de otros; ahora incentivado también por un post en el blog de un diseñador industrial de [...]

• Jamie says:
  May 4th, 2009 3:07 am

  I have been using Thinkpad laptops for years at a major company (currently a T61). I think it would be a big mistake to think of this as a netbook alternative. To an enterprise it is a alternative to the full power Thinkpads. In that light think of these features:

  - Full size keyboard (like x200)
  - Large enough screen for view/edit things like excel sheets (think 11″ or 12″ LED with 1280×800 or 1366×768, but NOTHING less than 1024×768 since almost all web sites are designed to that size)
  - Enough power to use typical enterprise applications (MS office, MS Access, MS Visio, MS project, Live meeting/webEX, etc…
  - Integrated Wireless broadband only optional
  - LONNNGGGG battery life (think X200 here) with a batter that does not stick out too much

  Price US $500-600 maximum

  Is it possible? You tell me.

• keith says:
  May 4th, 2009 8:57 am

  I’d like to see a hybrid approach such as what Dell is trying to do. Put an ARM processor into the X200/X300 series so that I can use it for note taking in all day meetings while using a standard Intel processor to get serious work done afterwords. Of course, Lenovo would have to embrace some form of linux for the ARM and that seems to be a direction they are trying to avoid.

  However, it would make the thinkpad X series much more versatile. And the benefit for Lenovo is that selling X series laptops comes with a much higher markup than trying to get into the almost zero margin netbook arena.

• Pixel Qi fan in waiting says:
  May 5th, 2009 9:33 am

  See (video includes software presentation that shows actual speed test numbers demonstrated):

  http://www.engadget.com/2009/0.....em-pricey/

  It still affordable, however for only a certain class of machines.

  If time for you is money. The Click, click click of a failed laptop drive costs how much in lost productivity of the use and tech time cost per hour to fix them?

  This is where this device come into question for YOUR use or USE of management where they want FAST to happen for them while mobile, and where the device is subject to motion issues that might cause a regular hard drive to start that click click click noise (and if they are on the road or working then how much time is lost where they can’t work until it is fixed)?

  Here is the product description at:
  http://www.runcore.com/content.....HS-256GBHS
  quote:
  “RunCore SSD offers superior Data Security, Longevity, Performance, Reliability and Power Savings to conventional HDDs.
  The RunCore Pro IV Series features the world’s fastest MLC SSD, reaching speeds up to 240MB/sec read and 160MB/sec write. RunCore Pro IV Solid State drives also offer superior random read and random write speeds compared to the other main stream SSD on the market today. With in/outs per second (IOPS) of over 7000 read and 300 write it will process large amounts of data allowing you to simultaneously run a number of applications simultaneously with virtually no lag.

  Reliability MTBF>1,500,000 hours (MLC)
  Intergraded Flash File System;
  12bit ECC per sector

  Installation is as easy as 1-2-3
  RunCore’s three easy steps installation takes an average of 15-30 minutes for even novice users and the reward is a computer that is 4-10 times faster.

  Step 1: Plug RunCore SSD drive into available USB port. (SATA to USB connector provided for Pro IV)
  Step 2: Run cloning software included on SSD drive. (Software provided for both Mac and Windows)
  Step 3: Install new RunCore SSD drive, turn on computer, and enjoy your new and improved performance.

  Wear-Leveling Algorithm
  The dynamic wear-leveling algorithm integrated in the firmware guarantees that erase/write cycles are evenly distributed across all of the flash memory block locations. Wear-leveling eliminates repeated writes to the same physical flash memory location, thereby preventing blocks from premature wear.

  Bad-Block Management
  The bad-block mapping algorithm replaces bad-blocks with new ones from available spares. Two percent (2%) of the flash memory is held in reserve (spare blocks) for bad block replacement. Bad blocks in the media are flagged when detected. The next time an attempt is made to access a flagged block, it is immediately replaced by a spare block. The bad-block mapping function enables data to be automatically transferred from a bad sector to an available spare block.”.

  When price is not of concern (as speed results in a productivity savings that exceeds cost of purchase, only used when can justify the speed paying for itself over time).

• Ray says:
  May 5th, 2009 11:14 pm

  DougC-3, for your query about the 16:9 ratio adapted by notebook makers, read Matt Kohut’s Display Ratio Change (again) blog post at http://lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/?p=220

• Yuri Niyazov says:
  May 6th, 2009 1:36 pm

  1) Full-size keyboard + trackpoint + no touchpad. Could be 12 inches to accommodate for the keyboard.

  2) Compatibility with Linux especially in the Sleep/Hibernate/Wake-up area

  3) Non-glossy display.

  4) Option to upgrade to an SSD later.

  5) Ability to upgrade to 4GB of RAM if necessary (or an option to buy the 4GB already soldered into the MB)

  6) No more than 3 lbs in weight with the battery.

• tOM Trottier says:
  May 6th, 2009 2:08 pm

  Since “Design Matters”, why not have a clear polycarbonate shell for the back of the LCD screen behind which one can insert either pictures, like http://www.blogcdn.com/www.eng.....fashio.jpg or, for presentations, a simple name tag.

  tOM

• tOM Trottier says:
  May 6th, 2009 2:28 pm

  What can Lenovo bring to a netbook? What could distinguish it and justify a higher price?
  – Very usable keyboard.
  – Drop the trackpad in favour of trackpoint, save space. Would be nice to have horizontal & vertical scrolling toggles.
  – hi-res screen for younger eyes and reading glasses
  – long battery life – never to worry
  – solar cell charging – working from fluorescents, too
  – weatherproofing – why not have ventilation slots beside the keyboard, so when closed can be totally waterproof. Ditto with USB- why not fold-up sockets beside keyboard.
  – auto sync with laptop or desktop via USB, like a Palm, for backup, so you always have your latest files with you.

• tOM Trottier says:
  May 6th, 2009 2:55 pm

  And instant on.

• tOM Trottier says:
  May 6th, 2009 3:14 pm

  Smiley test:
  :-# With braces
  :’-) Happy Crying
  {:-) Toupee smile
  Winking smile
  Winking smile with nose
  O:-) I’m an angel (boy)
  O*-) I’m an angel (girl)
  |-O Yawn
  (:-D Gossip, blabbermouth
  @>–;– Rose
  @-}— Rose
  ())>— Rose
  =^.^= Cat
  O.o Confused
  C=:-) A chef
  (\_/)(o.o)(___)0 A bunny
  =-O “Uh-oh”
  ~( 8^(I) Homer Simpson
  Icon Meaning
  Standard smile
  With nose
  :-E Buck-tooth or Vampire
  >-) Evil grin
  Sad or frown smile
  Sad with nose
  :-< Super sad
  Sticking tongue out (raspberry)
  (((H))) Hugs
  :-X Kiss on the lips
  `:-) One eyebrow raised
  :^) A broken nose
  :-& tongue tied
  E-:-) a Ham radio operator
  Big grin happy
  (-}{-) Couple kissing
  :-Q Smoking
  $_$ Greedy
  @@ Rolling your eyes
  :-! “Foot in mouth”
  Laughter
  :*) Drunk smile
  :@ Exclamation “What???”
  :-@ Scream
  :-0 Yell
  %-( Confused
  :—–) Long nose (Liar!)
  :-.) Madonna
  $) Put your money where your mouth is
  (:I An egghead
  |-O Yawning
  :@) Pig smile
  Robot
  d[-_-]b DJ with headphones
  ~:0 Baby
  -@–@- Eyeglasses
  \VVV/ King
  \%%%/ Queen

• Jim says:
  May 12th, 2009 12:50 pm

  I always thought an update of the Butterfly (701c) would be the killer ThinkPad today.

  Keep the basic butterfly keyboard design, add a built in web cam and you have the killer netbook.

  I’d buy three in a heartbeat.

• Dave says:
  May 12th, 2009 5:32 pm

  I will buy the first netbook that has a Trackpoint.

  My wife and I have been using computers with the “stick” for 10 years and consider the touchpad worthless. Bad for us since all consumer laptops only have touchpads.

  I wonder if Dell will make a Latitude netbook with a pointing stick since the Vostro netbook is touchpad only.

• Chris Wren says:
  May 13th, 2009 2:12 am

  Having just gone through the process of evaluating netbooks, looking for something cheap and portable to replace my X60 but also robust enough so that it wouldn’t fall to bits within a month and also has a half reasonable keyboard to type on……….. I eventually went all around the houses and ended up ordering an X200.

  I know this is a Lenovo blog and I am a self confessed fan boy but I just love the build quality and everything else felt like a toy.

  I also required something with a proper processor and a fast harddrive.

  Must admit, I could have done with a greater resolution maybe the 1440×900 but as stated it is a balancing act.

• Chris Wren says:
  May 13th, 2009 2:16 am

  For the person that wanted to sync files between different PCs, have a look at http://www.mesh.com.

  It is part of the Microsoft Live websites and allows you to use the “cloud” to sync your files.

  Works great and have 5 systems syncing different directories/files between them.

  This way, I only have to be connected to the Internet and happens in the background, I don’t have to connect wires or kick of processes and I also never forget

• Mark says:
  May 17th, 2009 3:15 pm

  1. Must have a trackpoint. That would be distintive.

  2. Even if the keyboard is a littler amaller it should be best in class.

  3. It looks like the new premium netbook screen will be 720p. That woul diffirentiate from the ideapad.

  4. 2gb of ram as option

  5.

• Mark says:
  May 17th, 2009 3:29 pm

  Moderator please delete the last post. Some odd key combination posted before I was done.

  1. Must have a Trackpoint. That would make it distinctivly a Thinkpad

  2. Even if the keyboard is a little amaller it should be best in class. I think a little wider design to have better keys would be ok if the keyboard was first rate and the unit was thin and light.

  3. 720p 10″ screen.

  4. 2gb or even 4gb of ram as an option

  5. Make it thinner than the Ideapad.

  6. Add titanium for ruggedness.

  7. Have option for cell phone style GPS.

  8. Allow full GSM capability, so if a SIM card is included you can use it as speakerphone or with a headset with the unit closed.

  9. Have option for state of the art SSD drive.

• Russ says:
  June 6th, 2009 8:50 am

  So it has to have the nipple, that aside it’s about portability and convenience. So I’ll take a slower processor, less disk and RAM etc but I don’t want to have to carry a webcam or 3g modem. I need “flip and go” be that flipping the lid open or closed. I don’t need to edit huge document but I do need to view them whilst on a conferecne call. Look at the existing Microsoft Unified Communicaitons certifications for some ThinkPads, and the Microsoft messaging about spenidng money on an IP-PBX phone or netbook and there could be some good co-marketing here.

  oh – and ThinkPad quality of course, I dropped my X201T the other day and had that skipped heart beat moment, picked it up and it was completely unmarked.

• Kevin says:
  June 26th, 2009 7:25 pm

  Give us a trackpoint on a small footprint netbook! I am waiting for Lenovo to do this so I can finally purchase a netbook. Touchpad sucks.

• Kevin says:
  June 26th, 2009 7:29 pm

  Also, make the battery last at least 6 hours, N WIFI, weight less than 3lbs (ideally mid 2lbs), 8″ or 10″ screen.

  Did I mention a trackpoint? Oh, don’t forget the trackpoint. Remember if it doesn’t have a trackpoint it isn’t a thinkpad.

• António Meireles (aka doniphon) says:
  July 11th, 2009 4:20 pm

  David,

  Take a look at the HP Mini 5110, and ‘thinkpad’ it

• Patrick says:
  July 19th, 2009 3:17 am

  Trackpoint, Pixel Qi screen, classic Thinpad build quality, light and it should not burn my thighs.

• t p says:
  July 20th, 2009 1:53 pm

  in fact it is easy to make a pro-netbook aka thinkpad

  => ANTI-GLARE is the most important thing
  => built-in WWAN
  => a SMAPI BIOS
  => SSD (would save an APS-sensor and underline the professional approach)
  => Linux-Support would finally make it outstanding (the first ACER netbook also came with Linux)
  Intel is working on a special distro (moblin) – just take that & improve the GUI for a thinkpad-styled interface. a positive echo from the foss-community means cheap marketing.
  and needless to say that a pink (or any other color) are an option for any thinkpad

• t p says:
  July 20th, 2009 1:54 pm

  > and needless to say that a pink (or any other color) are an option for any thinkpad
  to correct me I wanted to make clear that colors are no option

• Laurel says:
  July 25th, 2009 2:39 pm

  A Thinkpad netbook would be my dream computer.

  It would have to have:

  1. The Trackpoint. Toss the touch screen and go retro. UltraNav is so much faster for touch typing, if anyone actually did want to write a novel on a netbook.

  2. The keyboard. The standard layout and space between every four function keys makes it easy to manipulate by touch.

  3. Battery life. If 8 hrs. can be squeezed out of the battery, it would be awesome. Think old NiCad bateries, but lighter.

  4. Relative affordability. Anything less than $1000 is a must for a netbook. $600 is what I paid for a refurbished Thinkpad; it would be great to have a new one at that price.

  5. Small size. Not everyone is comfortable carrying a 17″ or 15″ notebook around. 12″ would be a good cut off. My current one is 14″, and I would like to go even smaller in the future.

  If these features already exist, in a single Thinkpad, great. Market it. If not, it would be nice to see all of these features in one system.

• really looking forward… says:
  July 25th, 2009 7:24 pm

  @David Hill:
  Do you have any News for us? Im really looking forward to buy a netbook and of course I would prefer a “Thinkpad-Product”…. can u give us at least informtion IF the development is still going on or if this project is discontinued.

  Please make the HP Mini 5101 LESS ATTRACTIVE by telling me, that I can buy a netbook with the “red dot” in the next months…

• ThinkHead says:
  July 26th, 2009 4:39 pm

  @ David Hill:

  Do you have News for us about the “Thinkpad Netbook”?

  Please, make the HP Mini 5101 LESS ATTRACTIVE for us

• Nick L. says:
  July 28th, 2009 11:43 am

  I didn’t get a chance to read every single comment, though I tried. So, forgive me if this was already mentioned.

  If there is one type (if you will offer more than one) of Thinkpad netbook that I would like to see, it would be an ARM based unit that would afford you multi day battery life, or 12 hrs at the least. It would also feature an instant on OS ala Moblin or Andriod. Why in the year *2009* can we not have a decent machine with and instant on operating system?! A machine with Coreboot, formerly LinuxBIOS, would be ideal.

  This would be my ideal “go-anywhere” machine where I could get on Gmail or type up a quick letter in Open Office or Abiword.

  I just bought a X200s but I still feel that, for me, it is too much machine for what I need it for most: being mobile and on the web.

  Give me an X200s form factor (or smaller!) with the fastest ARM CPU that is currently offered and I’ll be as happy as a clam.

  Amtel just announced an $8 ARM chip with DDR2 support: http://www.linuxfordevices.com.....91SAM9G45/

  What are you waiting for Lenovo?

• Nick L. says:
  July 29th, 2009 9:55 am

  Has anyone heard or read about the Always Innovating Netbbook?
  https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

  I would love to see a similar Thinkpad machine. Something like a Thinkpad S30 running ARM.

  (But please get rid of the CAPS LOCK key and put the Ctrl key back where it belongs.)

• Kenny says:
  September 14th, 2009 10:29 am

  I just read an article in MaximumPC,OCT issue that gave instructions on how to rebuild your netbook into a 10″ digital picture frame. It’s like the netbook is obsolete already. Considering the cost of most netbooks, I think that the “missing parts” are making them just a fad. People will wake up and either pick a super loaded cell phone or a slightly larger notebook for their needs.
  I have a Thinkpad R60e for most of my stuff and then use my Samsung phone for smaller apps and situations.

• DJC says:
  November 27th, 2009 12:41 pm

  I have had a Lenovo S9e for six months. It looks good, is very portable, runs Ubuntu Linux, but:
  Battery life is not good, about 2 hours, and very annoying is that it looses charge at about 10% per day when not used.
  Doesn’t have a trackpoint, what’s the point of buying Lenovo/IBM if not the Trackpoint. (I know you want me to pay 1,000 for X series not 200 for a ‘ideapad’)
  Needs more than 2 USB ports.
  Needs SD card slot that doesn’t leave the card sticking out.
  SSD not a hard drive, and I don’t need 100s of GB.
  Matte not glossy screen, I use it for business.
  I don’t need wide screen, but 600 deep is minimum, 768 better.
  I need to compose and send emails, view and maybe revise a report or two. On a train for several hours. So never mind speed or graphic performance, battery life is what matters.
  Connection to 3G wireless built in would be nice.

• Zak says:
  January 28th, 2010 6:57 pm

  Give me a trackpoint, a non-glossy screen, the best keyboard you can manage in a 10″ screen form factor and a base price under $350 and I’ll be happy. Preinstalled Ubuntu as an option would be nice, but I can always do it myself.

• Dom says:
  May 18th, 2010 9:14 am

  I like the Palm Foleo which unfortunately was never to be. The only thing missing from it would be a 7-row keyboard. I even liked the design. Coupled with your build quality, there would finally be a reason for me to get a netbook.

  I don’t think you should force people to go with Windows with this kind of a device. You’re welcome to offer it as an option but for what this thing would be intended (light office work, browsing the web) there really is no need for Windows. Instant on would be great too.

  But definitely don’t compromise on the full 7-row keyboard and a TrackPoint.

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