Happy Birthday Lenovo 3000
About a week ago, our Lenovo 3000 family had its first anniversary. There was little, if any fanfare anywhere and I thought that it would be worth a look back to see where we are today with our product line vs. where we’ve been.
Our first Lenovo 3000 offering was our C100 notebook which launched in time to coincide with the Olympic Games. Based on a 15″ regular aspect ratio display, reviews were mixed. The overall reaction was that these machines were “decidedly not ThinkPads.” But they weren’t intended to be. This was a new family with different target audiences than ThinkPad.
While the C100 was designed for the lowest price points, we also knew that one offering would not be enough. And so it was shortly followed by the N100 family, which featured 14″ and 15.4″ widescreen display choices. It also debuted our first glossy display panel choices under our trademark VibrantView. Many of the notebooks you see today when you walk into retail establishments share three characteristics: widescreen, glossy panels, and media card readers. Our notebooks needed all of these in order to be competitive. The only problem with media card readers is that if we have 4 in 1, people want 5 in 1 readers. If we have 5 in 1, they want 8 in 1, and so on. But generally reviews for the N series were much better than the C series.
Our last family debut in the 3000 line was absolutely the best of the three series — the V100. It represented our first 2 spindle ultraportable. In other words, it was a 12″ widescreen with a built in optical drive. For those who may not be familiar with the term, “spindle” refers to how many drives a system has that use a spindle to rotate media. A one spindle machine has a hard disk drive only. A two spindle machine has a hard disk drive + an optical drive (a DVD or CD-RW or what have you). A three spindle machine generally isn’t available any longer, but it refers to a machine with HDD + optical + Floppy. Our ThinkPad G series was a three spindle machine.
This filled a big niche for us and also caused some heartburn among ThinkPad users. Ever since we introduced our ThinkPad X series ultraportable, there have been a growing number of people who have wanted us to have a 2 spindle ThinkPad. They were miffed that we introduced something that ThinkPad didn’t offer.
Another thing about the V100 that caught some by surprise was its lack of display latches. We didn’t include them, not because of cost cutting reasons, but for style reasons. If you look at its competitors in that class of ultraportable widescreens, almost none of them have display latches. Examples include the Dell XPS 1210, Toshiba Portege R200, and various Sony laptops. Sometimes you have to go with the market rather than lead it.
We didn’t stop with notebooks. We added the J series desktops — in my opinion a VERY solid offering. When people ask me what notebook I recommend they buy for their personal use, I’m as likely to recommend a Lenovo 3000 notebook as a ThinkPad (more on that in a minute). For desktops, however, my answer is quick, decisive, and immediate. The J115 is the best thing we have going in the Lenovo 3000 line, and lately in my Sunday paper, OfficeDepot has been running some killer deals including an Athlon 64 based system + 19″ widescreen flat panel for $599 after rebate. We can’t do better in our employee purchase program.
As we go into 2007, I’d like to see some changes in the Lenovo 3000 product lines. First, I’d like to see models with integrated TV tuners. I wish our ThinkPads had them as well, but I know that’s wishful thinking.
I’d also like us to get rid of the S-Video port once and for all and replace it with an HDMI port. I think we could show some real leadership in this area — especially if the aforementioned TV tuners were HD.
17″ displays would be nice too.
I’m mixed on whether to wish for a TrackPoint pointing system. I’d like it, and many people within our company would like it, but the vast majority of SMB users prefer touchpads, and thus our world view is skewed buy our years of using the infamous “stick” pointing. It’s probably best that TrackPoint remain a ThinkPad only feature.
Lenovo Meet the Modder Dean Liou
Lenovo Meet the modder- Chris Blarsky Dairy 2
Lenovo Meet the modder- Chris Blarsky Dairy 1
Lenovo H320 desktop
March 1st, 2007 8:01 pm
Happy Anniversay but the best thing for Lenovo 3000 would be to just end it imho, nothing about them is any better than what Dell produce, if anything they are slightly worse and I cannot possibly comprehend how they help Lenovo finances (double developers/double inventory/not selling that many of them).
I never really understood the reasoning behind them – why go after the low end of the market as an underdog which would provide very little profit even if you succeed when you can carve a nice niche in the business and high end market with a highly recognised brand that would bring in good money. I could understand if the ThinkPad brand was as developed as it could be but there was plenty of room for diversification within ThinkPad such as a true desktop replacement (bring back A series with the Houdini concept), a true multimedia offering (improve and keep the Z series), a rugged ultraportable to compete with toughbooks, a 2 spindle ultraportable, a slate style tablet and even things like bringing the workpad brand back as a windows mobile device to give thinkpads a companion.
If they are to be kept then a trackpoint is a must on all systems – we all know its superiort hats why you could never remove it from the systems. I don’t mean to be rude but anyone (baring some disability) that prefers a touchpad to the trackpoint is either ill-informed or stupid. Noone can navigate faster with a touchpad than I can with a trackpoint – if people only gave it a week they would never use anything else. It always amuses me when you see all the touchpad people bring out their external mice.
March 2nd, 2007 1:59 am
From a business perspective, I think I can see why Lenovo needs to have the 3000 line. It’s the same reason Lexus needs Toyota, BMW needs MINI, Volvo needs VW, Cadillac needs Chevrolet… if it’s well done (as in the Lexus Toyota model) it gives you both the high-end niche AND the mass market volume. That’s what stockholders demand: growth.
March 2nd, 2007 3:29 am
I have some basic understanding for a need for a more budget line with features oriented to a different market, but I think cannibalizing therest of the Z series for differentiation is a bit of a bad idea. I was seriously contemplating upgrading my T43 to one of the ATI-equipped titanium covered Z-series, but Lenovo don’t offer these any more in my country.
March 2nd, 2007 3:55 am
Happy birthday to 3000 series. Personally i think this is the Lenovo line that actually fail to get demand, at least in my country. That shiny silver lid cover is a bad combination with already good black/grey interior and keyboard…
It messed up against HP, Acer, NEC and other brand sold in my country….
About Z series, I still think to release T series with wide screen is a bad mistake. You starting cannibalizing your own line…. Z series already become solid machine with solid market segment, why disturb that?
Lenovo strategic marketing team should know better than me, but they screwed up on those things IMO.
March 2nd, 2007 6:36 am
Happy birthday Lenovo! Personally I’m glad Lenovo came out of the whole Thinkpad product line. It was about time different market needs were met. There were just places that Thinkpad wasn’t going.
I really vote for having the S-Video taken out. I don’t even use it and it’s becoming totally obsolete. Instead of that I could’ve used more USB ports. But having an HDMI port sounds really cool too. That is the stuff of the future.
March 2nd, 2007 8:22 am
Happy Anniversary Lenovo,
I’m ThinkPad user I bought the Lenovo 3000 N100 as a birthday present to my younger brother and his happy with it now I see that 15.4 models come with dedicated NVIDIA graphics card I think the 14 inch should have that option to the 14 inch wide screen Is everyone’s favorite size Lenovo should keep a closer look of what other PC manufacturers like HP or DELL are offering and offer the same and please keep the ThinkPad Z series if you want to kill something kill the R series.
March 2nd, 2007 10:33 am
The R Series is way more popular than Z series, the R60 was a very respectable machine, almost as good as the T60 and cheaper.
March 5th, 2007 8:34 am
I have nothing specifically against HDMI, and quality is always good – right? Nevertheless, I do not think that S-Video should be abandoned until the “average” TV has HDMI built-in. When hotels typically have HDMI TV’s, then the time is ripe to abandon S-Video IMO. However, I do believe that HDMI should be an option on some models even now. Ideally a choice such as with WiFi or WWAN adapters would be the best; where one could order the notebook with either a S-Video or HDMI port. This should not be that hard to implement. The ThinkPad model 600E could be ordered with or without a TV-Out port.
For the record, I use S-Video frequently with a TV at work. That TV is not likely to be replaced with an HDMI model anytime soon.
March 6th, 2007 2:30 pm
Sorry, but I have to agree with some of the other posters: I think the entire series is a mess, and a waste of corporate resources, not to mention the ThinkPad name.
Put simply: These laptops don’t compete with Toshiba, Sony, Dell or HP. They don’t have the features or the specs. It’s a low-end commodity business, and you don’t measure up.
At the moment, I’m about to replace a whole bunch of R-series ThinkPads, and I am in a quandary because I think your business model no longer works.
In today’s business environment, the idea of a machine simply dedicated to what used to be called the “business market” is outmoded. Everything is now graphics intensive; multi-media isn’t just for gamers and youtube acolytes, but everyone who works in advertising, media, marketing, sales and production. Webcams and video conferencing aren’t just for college kids, but a basic fact of business life in 2006.
In looking at what I’m going to replace the R-series machines with, I need widescreen notebooks, with high-end dedicated graphics cards. In the entire Thinkpad line, the only thing that comes close (at the moment) is the T60 — but this machine comes nowhere near similar products from HP and Dell.
(A note on usage: We use these machines as mobile desktop replacements. Half of the group of people I’m buying for want 17″ machines; others want 15.4. We buy some ultraportables, but it’s a much smaller number for us — that to some extent is now being superseded by smartphones and treo-like devices with keyboards. So what I’m focusing on here is the desktop replacement/mobile office machines.)
Truly, I think you’ve got to take a long, serious look at the way notebooks are now used by business people. Card readers are essential. Graphics, imperative. And in the age when Skype is used across the board as a serious means of conducting video/voice messaging, I can’t help but think that you need to seriously rethink the sound system. Again, Dell, HP, Sony and Toshiba all offer superlative speakers at the same price point where you’re trying to sell ThinkPads.
The greater problem here is that I’m writing this as a dedicated, long-term buyer of Thinkpads. You make the worlds best keyboard. The finish and construction of Thinkpads has always been excellent. Your service is outstanding. I want to keep buying them. But this time out, I have grave reservations. The only thing I do know is that I won’t be buying Dell. But HP and Toshiba – particularly the new HP configurations – are leaving you in the dust. And (from my perspective) the effort put into marketing the Lenovo laptops puts you into exactly the same category as Toshiba: Too many choices, with overlapping, unclear product differentiations.
(Go to your own website: First you have to chose between Lenovo and Thinkpad — and then, you’ve got all the different variations in each line, underneath. As someone pointed out above, why not just make the “Z” line your marginal entry-level stripped down machine?)
I understand the Toyota/Lexus analogy that somebody put forth, above. But I’m not sure it applies here — and I’m not sure it’s quite accurate. Toyota branded/created Lexus in order to sell a higher priced luxury car that might suffer or meet resistance from association with the Toyota name. Here, it just seems to that you’re squandering the one Golden thing you have – the name Thinkpad – and putting your money into a cut-rate unbranded spin off, with no great product differentiation.
Time is short. The market moves fast. Your Thinkpad product upgrade and new model cycle – not to mention your very business model – seems very 1990’s.
March 6th, 2007 9:49 pm
using nothing but a touchstick for hours makes my finger hurt after awhile, even the newer, softer ones. after using a touchpad for hours a day for weeks, my fingers still never hurt. thats the only reason i didnt go with an x60. its otherwise everything i want in a notebook.
March 7th, 2007 10:53 am
Snife (1 March) says ‘anyone … that prefers a touchpad to the trackpoint is either ill-informed or stupid. ‘ That’s me. Ill-informed and stupid.
‘Noone can navigate faster with a touchpad than I can with a trackpoint’. I’m sure you’re right. For me, it’s not a question of speed.
‘It always amuses me when you see all the touchpad people bring out their external mice.’
Not me. For desktop machines I’ve got rid of all my mice and bought keyboards that have a touchpad built in. What bliss. And the best of these keyboards is an IBM Thinkpad-style keyboard with a built in touchpad. What a wonderful device.
If Lenovo would make a Tablet with a touchpad, I’d ditch my Toshiba and get one tomorrow.
The above has nothing to do with the 3000 range, of course, but maybe the message will filter through to someone.
Let’s hear it for the people who are ill-informed and stupid. We deserve a place the sun too.
March 7th, 2007 7:11 pm
Allan Jones Says ‘If Lenovo would make a Tablet with a touchpad, I’d ditch my Toshiba and get one tomorrow.’
i dont have a toshiba to ditch, but i would order one immediately (esp if it had the high res screen and multi touch)
looking at the field replacement manual, there seems to be space under where the touch
pad would go. i was very tempted to get an old T series and fit its keyboard / touchpad or some part of it in a new x60…
was lenovo concidering this? the space is pretty conspicuous
March 7th, 2007 7:15 pm
to clarify the above post, im refering to the tablet having that space
March 8th, 2007 10:02 am
Pixel – you must be using it wrong, admittedly the old cats tongue caps used to leave an indentation on my finger but the new soft ones cannot possibly hurt so I assume it must be the way yours hands are resting. You should have your middle finger on the trackpoint itself
Allan Jones – I had my sarcasm detector turned on while reading your post but you are seriously in the minority if you prefer a touchpad to a trackpoint. I used Sony laptops for years before switching to ThinkPads and I didn’t mind the touchpad, when I first used the trackpoint it was weird but after using it for a week it was easy and clearly superior. I know hundreds of people that use T series laptops with both touchpad and trackpoint and I have never seen anyone use the touchpad. I actually have the external keyboard you are referring to and I love it for the trackpoint, I only use the touchpad for hot corners.
March 8th, 2007 12:53 pm
TrackPoints are getting more acceptance. The Dell Latitude D420/D620/D820 line has a blue pseudo-”TrackPoint”-lookalike. Because of that, I seriously considered the D620 for some time. I ended up going for the Z61t for its integrated webcam, but the Latitude was a very compelling offering.
March 9th, 2007 8:39 pm
snife – are you sure of this? the middle finger would be alot more movement since its the index finger thats closest. have you used it for hours a day for a couple of weeks? thats the differnce. i used to think the trackpoint was better too, and used them for years till i started switching off with an ibook a couple years ago. it makes my index finger sore, feel stiff and start to hurt. maybe kinda like carple tunnle. anyway, like i said, trackpad, no pain. with tap click and drag enabled you can be pretty fast in that too. its also possible were built differnt. im really skinny.
March 10th, 2007 7:18 pm
pixel – I use the trackpoint for up to 16 hours a day (not every day, I do have a life but use my computer both at work and at home and I no longer use an external mouse), i’ve used trackpoints for about 8 years, and almost exclusively used them for about 3 years. If you use the index finger then you either have to have your hand in a rigid position or move every time to press the buttons; if you have your middle finger on the trackpoint and your thumb on the left click, it allows your hand to form a compfortable arch which requires little movement to operate the system effectively. I realise i’m a total trackpoint bully but I feel its for the greater good
)
elliot – I have to agree about the D620, we got one for comparison purposes and Dell have made leaps and bounds since the D610 which was a horrible system compared to (at the time) the T40, ThinkPads are still better so you made the right choice imho but Dells business models are certainly gaining ground on ThinkPads. What still lets them down though are the keyboard and the mouse buttons, the keyboard is not at nice to type on and the trackpoint buttons are still almost unusable due to spongyness and not being raised from the surroundings; these are still the 2 most important aspects of a laptop for me as it doesn’t matter how fast the machine is if you cannot keep up due to the input devices. One feature I absolutely love about the D620 is the physical battery indicator on the battery itself – i’d llike to see this on ThinkPads.
March 10th, 2007 11:08 pm
snife – any chance of a diagram or picture? are you curling your middle finger so it come down on the track point?
snife and elliot – the dell is even more compelling for using the nvidia quadro card. (makes a differnce in linux, im sure firegl is fine in windows, but ive had way too many driver problems with ati)
March 11th, 2007 7:35 pm
Snife: you let me notice that I’m doing similar thing — I use my index finger to control the trackpoint while I’m doing both typing and mousing; and while I’m mainly doing just mousing using the trackpoint, I just switched to using my middle finger
I think I have adopted this approach naturally as I have kind of hurt my right index finger tip at bit also. Using the index finger is of course faster for switching between typing and mouse control, while using the middle finger doesn’t hurt the accuracy to switch fingers back to the home-row position
Pixel: I do agree that using the touchpad is more relaxing, but that’s inevitably not as swift as using the trackpoint; Go for the tablet x60t, tablets are becoming the norm in the near future
Ragnar: Agree, I am also confused by the product lines – Lenovo 3000 vs R series, Widescreen T killing Z. And I think in general Thinkpad users deserve having workhorses with better multimedia capabilities too. Business consumers are willing to sacrifice fun & eye candies for greater productivity, but only up to a certain degree
March 12th, 2007 6:34 am
pixel – i’ll try and get a picture but i’m still arguing with my travel insurance to replace the camera I lost. Yes, the middle finger is curved but if you notice that when your hands are by your side doing nothing they do take on a curved shape rather than flat, this natural shape is exactly the position your hand needs to be in to operate the trackpoint which is why I think it is the most comfortable. It may vary a bit depending on hand size but generally your middle finger should be on the trackpoint, your left index gently resting on the bottom of the V key, your right index gently resting on the bottom right of the J key, your pinkie resting on the K key and your thumb tip resting on the bit the juts out to the right of the left mouse button (as this allows easy switching betten left and middle buttons for scrolling)………………yeah a picture would probably make more sense.
March 15th, 2007 3:16 am
ok, having tried it for a awhile (on an x31, maybe the newer ones are softer?) i still like the touchpad better. so now i ask lenovo to PLEASE offer ultranav on a high res tablet. i know he trackstick is great for some, but not me.
March 15th, 2007 8:23 am
Snife; proves that a picture paints a thousand words
Anyway, going back to the topic, I personally think that the Lenovo-branded products (both desktop and notebooks) apart from having to compete in an already crowded market with tight margins, and where the competitors have already progressed light years ahead (Dell’s phone/online/mail order, customizable machines come to mind), the Lenovo brand itself would hurt the Thinkpad brand.
Of course, good PR would make you belief otherwise, but nevertheless the damages already made to a brand would be very difficult to repair (Thinkpads are legendary corporate workhorses; 8 out of 10 notebooks that I saw in the seminar I attended recently were Thinkpads).
However, having the Thinkpad brand associated with Lenovo would dilute the Thinkpad brand itself (my R60 displays ‘a product of Lenovo’ as I boot up) and this makes you perceive the brand differently. The brand image suffers as the Thinkpad is perceived as being manufactured in the same facility where ‘mass-market’ computers are produced, even though in reality you may not be sharing the same factory floor.
Clear logo and branding guidelines and demarcations are probably necessary, not only in your communication materials but also on how it is applied on your products, whether on the hardware or software (one example would be the USB Webcam. It is a sophisticated product, it would certainly appeal to the Thinkpad user-base but strangely it carries the Lenovo brand. Why not market something as sophisticated looking as that under the Thinkpad brandname? That way, both the Thinkpad and Lenovo notebook user would have that ‘feel good’ factor about owning one of these awesome-looking cameras.
The “Thinkpad” brand is a powerful brand in the notebook industry. It represents sturdiness, reliable technology, and innovation. Capitalizing on this brand image, and expanding the product line to include other cutting edge, well-designed products that complement the “Thinkpad lifestyle” (such as webcams, headsets etc.) would be one way to go. Pairing with successful brands that possess technical expertise in these areas wouldn’t be a bad idea; Apple designed speakers with Harman/Kardon; and everyone – the shareholders, the users, and the brand prospered.
Yes, it’s called a Thinkpad because metaphorically the notebook is your “thinking pad” but people accessorize. Accessories that would complement the mobile road-warrior lifestyle (stylish, ultra-portable speakers with superb surround sound, perhaps for our boardroom-size multimedia presentations?) would be nice.
Please preserve your brand image. It’s the reason you have a following.
June 4th, 2007 2:55 pm
I recently purchased a 3000 N100 076804u after owning three Thinkpads over the last 10 years. Three things were lacking, all minor: trackpoint, metal hinges, and CF card reader. Otherwise, to disagree with the others above, this is a great machine for the home and small business user at an excellent price point. After rebate, I paid $649. I looked at the Thinkpads, but couldn’t find one configured as well (2GB memory, 120 GB harddrive, Vista, 15.4″) for the price, or that was designed as well for my needs. Lenovo Care is an excellent feature. Biggest weakness, a battery that barely lasts one hour. I say the 3000 line is a great way to bring new users into the Thinkpad space without diluting the large enterprise Thinkpad that is designed for a different market.
June 21st, 2007 4:51 pm
I just had a power outage with my Lenovo J1115 3000 series desk top and now I can’t get the sound back. I know the soundcard is integrated but how do I check to see if it’s working properly? Any help is appreciated
July 1st, 2007 2:27 pm
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July 8th, 2007 3:29 pm
I would buy a Lenovo 3000 Series Machine if it had a touchpoint, I know they are well built boxen, but I ADORE my touchpoint, and it will keep me coming back to Lenovo, and after using the Dell flavor of the same thing I prefer my thinkpad.
August 15th, 2007 1:42 am
Now if only the ACPI worked – see http://hughsient.livejournal.com/5884.html
“
Last night I decompiled the DSDT and was surprised to find no errors or warnings. Hmm. So I looked closely at the source. LENOVO were just hardcoding values rather than querying the smart battery which is what they are meant to do. And when they were querying the battery, the return value was being processed incorrectly.”
August 15th, 2007 1:56 am
My N100 runs almost 3 hours with the wireless off and the screen turned down – with the 4-cell battery. I also use the max battery mode of Notebook Hardware Control and back off the the CPU with 50% wait states.
September 28th, 2007 3:53 am
pixel, something I just remembered is that the first thing I did with my laptop was turn the TrackPoint sensitivity to maximum. Leaving it at its default would definitely make my finger tired, but at maximum sensitivity it works quite well for me.
Personally, I’d like to be able to turn the sensitivity up maybe even a bit higher.