Lenovo T400s: Not sure what to call it
I have a dilemma.
This new ThinkPad portable from Lenovo looks and acts like a laptop with one HUGE difference – it has a touch screen. Like a tablet computer.
So, do we call it a tab-top? Or a lap-let? Or, how about just a T400s?
Lenovo’s engineering and marketing experts explain the device this way:
The high performance ThinkPad T400s laptop serves professionals in engineering and design. Now these users can manipulate four fingers on the ThinkPad T400s laptop’s optional multi-touch screen to not only replace the mouse but transform the way they work. They can now use four fingers to manipulate objects, move images with two hands and even have another person touch the screen to collaborate simultaneously. As new multi-touch applications are introduced, there will be new possibilities for using multi-touch screen laptops.
It’s easier to physically do it than to try to explain the process in words.
There are lots of goodies inside including an Intel Core2 Duo processors (2.4 or 2.53 GHz), a 14.1-inch (diagonal) screen, at least 2GB of memory (up to a maximum of 8 GB), a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive, Windows XP, Vista or 7 and, soon, Lenovo’s new SimpleTap software.
Lenovo designed SimpleTap to enable uninterrupted use of touch screens by “giving the user access to hardware-based functions and programs that may be more easily accessed via touch input.” That means no more having to switch back and forth from the laptop/keyboard mode to the tablet mode every time you need to open another program. If you’re familiar with tablet computing – you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Lenovo also make a real tablet computer too. The X200 tablet is a “two-finger” design:
The X200 caters to individuals in fields such as sales, health care and education. Already supporting one finger touch, these users can now use two-finger touch to perform a variety of gestures, including pinching, zooming, tapping and flicking through documents, web pages and photos instead of using a mouse.
The ThinkPad T400s and the X200 Tablet are available through retailers and Lenovo’s Web site Pricing starts at approximately $1,999 for the ThinkPad T400s and $1,654 for the ThinkPad X200 Tablet with the multi-touch screen.
Lenovo’s nifty SimpleTap software will be available for download after October 22.