Rockin’ Good Times
A lot of emphasis was placed on the multimedia experience that users have when they use the SL. We know that many, many small business PC users use their notebooks for more than just work. While the idea of “digital convergence” has still yet to truly realize itself, we’ve learned that the notebook is the primary source of entertainment for many people. With that in mind, we specified the SL with some pretty nifty features. The handsome speaker grille above the keyboard is more than just decorative! It hints at the multimedia potential of the SL and we made sure that the experience is not disappointing. The SL400 and SL500 have two 2W stereo speakers, while the SL300 has two 1.5W stereo speakers and all three models are specified with Intel HD audio. In my opinion, the sound for a business class notebook is outstanding! All SL machines also come with a dual array microphone, located just above the display. Skype and other VOIP users will be glad about this, as the microphones ensure that your voice input is clearly captured. Select models will come with an integrated camera – 1.3MP on the SL300 and 2MP on the SL400 and 500.
The audio control buttons are now on the left and the switches we use have enough of an actuation force that there’s no threat of accidentally depressing the audio buttons when you’re typing. Well, not unless you apply the finger pressure of King Kong when you type, that is. For those of you who need a little extra ‘oomph!’ in your graphics processing, the ThinkPad SL offers the option of an nVidia graphics card on all three SL models.
As nice as these other features are, though, probably the most exciting multimedia features on SL are the HDMI port, which comes standard on all SL systems and the optional Blu-ray rewritable drive. Match this combo up to your HDTV and your ThinkPad SL could very well be the center of your high-definition multimedia universe.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
The SL is not a Thinkpad!
September 25th, 2008 at 3:52 am
Oh when, oh when, will the Delete key make it to the edge of the board, and Home and End land near the cursor keys….?
tOM
September 25th, 2008 at 6:21 am
@Brandon, do you know whether the HDMI port on the SL series also carry audio signal??? or is it just video signal only?? How about the display ports in the new T, R, W, X (ultrabase) series???
September 25th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
I prefer the speakers on the front to allow the sound to be heard with the lid closed. This is good for when the Thinkpad is docked or I just want to listen to music without external speakers…
September 26th, 2008 at 11:50 am
[...] Brandon Hoe, Lenovo * “Rockin’ Good Times” For gadget geeks, this is just too cool! Brandon Hoe, a product manager at Lenovo, takes customers behind the scenes about the thinking that went into designing audio features on the the new ThinkPad SL laptop. Check out the comments, where customers interact and talk back about it to provide instant feedback for the designers. (link) [...]
September 27th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
@Marcus, the SL don’t have a docking connector. For some laptop the front part are the slot for card adapters and various other things. Front speakers are not perfectly round unlike the upward facing speakers due to the limited space in a thin profile, this can distort sound in certain frequency when you drive up the power input into them (maybe not that important given the quality of speakers used). Also having the speakers in the front maybe slightly more awkward during assembly.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
When IBM held Thinkpad brand it was “we mean business”, now with Lenovo it is “we mean bling bling multimedia laptops”.
This laptop doesn’t mean multimedia because the audio control buttons are on the left and not on the top, this is change anything? Not.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:12 am
@Brandon
I think, now past a few day´s one could say, the SL Series has well entered the market, it
.
was designed to. Some things, like the ever running fan, should be fixed tommorow
It is a pleasure to go to US Website and see, SL -series in rank under R series, but on german website it´s the otherway round, SL so seems to be better and more expensive than R series. I think it is someway misleading new customers.
Regards
Andreas
October 5th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Hi,
I found this blog posts not a good read. To much formal enthusiasm & marketing spin, to little information. I think this is the wrong approach for the people visiting here. the most interesting info for me was in the comments: Why are the speakers where they are (shape and sound quality).
I still have the impression that the SL is based on the same chassis as a lot of other budget laptops, and you are trying hard to det is some brand impression. This Thinkpad is more multimedia, because the volume keys are next to the keyboard and not above?? right.
To multimedia thinkpads: the most “multimedia” thinkpad I have seen so far was my old i-series. It had a cd player which was functional without booting the system.
If you want to make the system a convienient multimedia machine, than add some sort of fastboot option as DVD/blueray/MP3/CD player without booting the whole system. just an idea…
cheers
ralf
July 24th, 2009 at 11:56 am
[...] Brandon Hoe, Lenovo * “Rockin’ Good Times” For gadget geeks, this is just too cool! Brandon Hoe, a product manager at Lenovo, takes customers behind the scenes about the thinking that went into designing audio features on the the new ThinkPad SL laptop. Check out the comments, where customers interact and talk back about it to provide instant feedback for the designers. (link) [...]