LMAO that is a good one...catering to the artistic types with a lenovo thinkpad. JAyzus I mean I use a thinkpad but if I was an artist I wouldn't touch this even with its wacom. If this idea becomes popular, it is a matter of time before everyone other company has a built in Wacom on their high end laptops for graphic designers.

xacked

I think I might be in love. I like art as a hobby, but most normal tablets are sooo damn exspensive. I wish I was rich so I could purchase this. $3k+ godd

Megan Fox Iz Hot! ^-^ - ph15h

"Except for the fact it runs Vista, it's like the perfect pro photographer's workstation."

Well, you could always install...oh wait...YOUR operating system of choice doesn't install on any machine, does it @Adrian?

This has a specific purpose: it is a device for people who need to be able to edit photos on the fly. Will it replace a $10k desktop? Of course not, but it WILL beat the hell out of trying to lug your desktop halfway across the planet to make sure the shots you're taking are coming out right. This is a mobile photo workstation, and it accomplishes that task better than any other machine I've seen.

epistemus

Wow, this looks great!!! Ew, what is this all over my pants? Oh, I just came.

PC+Mac Coexist

With all that crap crammed in there, did they remember to throw in a few jet turbine to cool it off?

Quad-core+dedicated GPU+twin HDD=Fried legs(or any other tender areas) :(

Then again, Lenovo generally seems to know what their doing. If I had a spare 3000+ around, I'd buy it to test Crysis... ;)

whiteknight89

Dam, thats as fast as my new computer (other than the graphics card)

gamecrazychris

Would you quit the Vista bashing already?

It's a workstation specc'ed machine that was designed for Vista; there won't be any problems.

Hi, I'm a PC. And I like Vista.

tex1ntux

I know After Effects users would be generally fired up about this, but agency types are huge mac fanboys nowadays. They wouldn't get it because it's not John Mayer enough. @lpranal:

neredowell

Now that's what I call innovation.

Damnit, Now if they could just fit that on a 14.1" notebook...

Jamez

A Lenovo screen that's described as stunning?!?

I'm still waiting to see how the T400 LED screens are before finally upgrading my T43.

OGHowie

I'm a Mac user (meh..) and this thing looks dope. I have no idea if it actually is but me likey built in Wacom. PCs are cool because they get to throw junk into laptops like this. It may be a gimmick but its kinda neat.

Professional Grade Screen? WTF?

RoboChop

is this digitizer useful? seems like its small size would hinder tracking resolution. And while its great they packed all that stuff in there. at 8 lbs, i think i'll pass.

oh and 'no HDMI', you might as well get used to that. It's Displayport from here on.

phryed

The thing that makes me scratch my head about products like this is, does anyone know graphic designers who actually use all this stuff? I don't know what the world of CAD design looks like right now... but there seems to be a lot of layoffs and budget slashing going on in the ad industry. I know there are still people out there doing color critical work and high-end retouching, but this seems aimed at a fairly niche market, who probably already do everything on workstations with large tablets and quad 22" displays (not gonna start up the whole mac vs. pc thing). Really seems like a solution in search of a problem to me...

lpranal

I closed my photography business about a year ago now (It wasn't anything massive, just to put myself through college) and this makes me think of all the stuff I had to carry around and to see it packed into this single package is incredible. Boy I wish I had one of these instead of that crappy Sony laptop I used for four years.

[Insert obligatory Vista wisecrack here]

LoganAdams

Come on IBM you still design computers like it's the 80s...well at least you make them powerful so i guess it's OK

Mike918

that is badass. it'd be even cooler if they got the one w/ the lcd

Weihovah

If only they made that "professional grade screen" available on lower screen sizes. Or at least a mid-grade screen. The LCD is the ThinkPad's Achilles' Heel, even on the LED-backlit X300.

k3davis

@epistemus: You call this thing "mobile"!?

zmjjmz

@Adrian
I'm honestly confused and want to know, what is wrong with Vista being photographer workstation?

FinalFantasy7

@Mike918: IBM stopped designing Thinkpads a few years ago when they sold their laptop division to a Chinese company. That's why it's called the Lenovo Thinkpad.

Spartan1308™

@whiteknight89:
It's a seventeen inch notebook. I don't think it was designed to be used in a lap.

regnez

Aaaaaargh don't they realize that a disproportionate of people in creative fields such as photography are LEFTies??? But of course they haven't taken us into consideration in designing this. Damn you, right-handed world!! *shakes left fist*

indorock

Whoa, that's like the most epic laptop I've ever seen. It's a little odd that it'd have DisplayPort and not HDMI, but other than that it's like a dream machine. I can't fathom how much those would cost if you got them maxed out... well, probably around $8,000...

Blah8

I have no practical need for this but that doesn't stop the wanting. Then again, I want everything on Gizmodo.

Adam Frucci will be mine...

LJN

@matt buchanan: Not to be difficult and I'm hardcore Mac user all the way but isn't "lotsa pros use OSX" quite the copout to FFVII question? Where's the facts? The well researched proof and obviously well versed insight on the subject matter? They do pay Associate Editors, right?

doobiebros2two

that stylus is SO getting lost.

jfj

...and as far as "except for running Vista, it's the perfect photo editing laptop", isn't the latest 64-bit version of Photoshop only coming out for Windows?

[www.macrumors.com]

So running on Vista may not be so bad after all.

newgalactic

@Spartan1308™: Oh i didn't knew that well my bad then.

Mike918

@FinalFantasy7: I actually made that edit. And lotsa pros I know use OS X.

matt buchanan

While I could never fathom the use of a Wicom pad, a designer friend of mine says they are quite popular in that field. Anyhow, I bet this will be very compelling to that graphic design crowd.

...though will it be enough to break away from the "John Mayer" crowd? (nice one neredowell)

newgalactic

@Mike918: What's wrong with a simple black design? I love the Macs for the OS, but this design kicks their ass. Almost enough that I'd get a ThinkPad instead of a MBP.

photophile

Sounds like fun! Lenovo doesn't suck, you see?

michaelleung

@doobiebros2two: Put another way, if there was an OS X option (not really Lenovo's fault, I know), it would be able to entice even the pros who are diehard Mac users. Also, as has been mentioned a number of times before, I only run Vista, so it's not like I hate the OS.

matt buchanan

@lpranal: At the architecture firm I work for, we have enough current projects to keep all of our CAD designers busy for 18 months. We're turning down large projects on a weekly basis.

I can see the drool-worthy-ness of this tablet, but I don't understand exactly what niche it fills. 1. It's way too big to use as a regular tablet PC. 2. The Wacom interface is mighty small; most of our designers prefer a much larger size tablet.

The autocalibrating monitor is excellent though. Looking at a powerhouse like that tablet is making the Mac Pro look downright anemic.

geekpi

@indorock: That's the first thing I thought of just looking at the photo. It's not lefty friendly and a lot of creatives are lefties. I'm a right-handed artist and I still noticed that right away!

CampSteve

This is amazing! but as a person in the art/design field I feel its a step backward, everyone I know uses cintiq's and tablets. Most of us just like drawing on the screens.

But you can't deny the portability of it...

kreed

Why someone has to bash Vista whenever he gets a chance is totally beyond my understanding. What is wrong with Vista that doesn't make it a perfect pro laptop? At least list the reasons why you think Vista is not suitable for this laptop that has more than enough power to handle Vista.

outie

@epistemus: to bad all good pro photographers use macs. and none would add a 8 pound laptop to all the other gear there carrying.

To reference my statement here is a little story from a photographer friend of mine. When he first decided to go digital he purchased a Mac and enrolled in some seminars. at the seminars he noticed quite a lot PCs being used in the class. He told his instructor that he had been told Macs were the best for Photography and wondered if he had been misinformed and made a mistake. At this point the instructor got up took my friend down the hallway to the advanced class...not 1 single PC...

Note no Photo pro would color correct in the field. they all have nice dark rooms with very neutral colors.

trrosen

the real question of course is ....how many seconds does the battery last?

trrosen

They should have tossed the trackpad and made the whole palmrest the wacom surface. Then throw in a thimble stylus with the pen for those people that miss trackpads.

meefer

It's a shame they made such a cool laptop this ugly.

eFrisk

Longtime designer/photographer: no thanks.

iomatic

Finally, a built in Wacom!

zed0

Vista = LOLz. And not because I hate vista. I didn't get all the omg vista sucks stuff. Its just.. compared to a mac. the jesus os by M$ would suck

Blinklink11

@lpranal: Yes and yes. This is a great addition to any graphic designer's tool set. I want a wacom tablet and have been shopping for one, but the price. Lenovo makes a great laptop, which I'm currently using. Awesome LENOVO POWER.

SinAmos

Battery life (in theory): 12,2223 seconds.

Eruanno

LEFT HANDED VERSION. Don't they get it? It shows a complete lack of understanding of who their key clientele are.

barkingart

Engadget's article on this makes no quips about the Vista OS.

Then again, they've always been more professional in their blogging than Giz.

tex1ntux

@Eruanno: beat me to it:)

citizen024

I was thinking about a new Mac, not anymore.

mikegriffin

SWEET!! time to break the pig to get my hands on these! apple is rotten to the core! - i kid i kid =D

reiyaku

Why not just offer a screen that's also a wacom tablet ala cintiq. That would be awesome.

This way is several steps backward.

Jason

Screw all of the other specs, I'd by on for the simple fact that it has an integrated 10 key numeric keypad.

danjuan

@trrosen: @matt buchanan: I, too, would love to know what the justification is for the viewpoint that Macs are better suited to the needs of creative professionals. I understand why it was that way in the past, but-I've researched this issue at some length because my girlfriend is an artist and desperately wants this explained to her so she can choose a new laptop (this one might be a good option)-I haven't been able to find any current informed discussion about it.

But if there's some perfectly rational reason (other than "because the place she'll likely work will be using Macs so she might as well get used to it") that would help me a lot.

HonusWScruggs

@jfj: LOL! This laptop have special features is the ability to always have new stylus as you'll continue losing them and will have to fork out 60 bucks for each new one cause they gonna make a special one that will only work for this tiny ass surface.

johnyeros

@HonusWScruggs:
There isn't a reason anymore other than tradition and they're used to the OS and don't require retraining on Windows. Not to mention the stigma they carry about Windows being less stable, having worse color, etc etc.

Both OS's sucked before Win2k/OSX and both have been basically fine since then (except for ME and a lot of people had issues with Leopard at first). Color isn't inherently better in either because if you want good color you buy a calibrator, without that the argument is moot.

emorphien

@OGHowie: The T43p flexview screens are quite good.

"Except for the fact it runs Vista, it's like the perfect pro photographer's workstation. "
Seriously? Really? You're starting to become as bad as Engapple here Gizmodo.

emorphien

8 LBS!!!! my desktop is lighter than that!!

B1663R

i have no idea what i would ever use this for, it is way too heavy to tote around, and i am not a graphics guy by any stretch of the imagination.
yet i have this warm, fuzzy, i want feeling when i look at the spec sheet......

godwhacker

@B1663R @zmjjmz:
This isn't an ultra-portable. A standard macbook weighs 5 lbs. And for a better comparison, a 17" macbook pro weighs 6.8 pounds.

You mean to tell me an extra 1.2 lbs for the features are just too much to handle? I guess bone-itis really won't be cured until the year 3000.

TKWarrior

@trrosen: Two hours, actually.

matt buchanan

@geekpi: Maybe I should look at changing careers! Are you guys hiring? :)

I didn't see that this thing autocalibrated - That kicks ass! I hope apple is paying attention...

lpranal

@TKWarrior - Exactly. This isn't meant to be compared against typical laptops. The closest comparison would be 17" Macbook Pros which aren't exactly featherweights either. For somebody like me and my coworkers who are not on the road for business too much, but do take our laptops to/from home each day, a 'desktop replacement' caliber unit is the ideal.

Ron-Mexico

I wonder if getting hand goop (sweat, lotion, etc.) all over the Wacom part will impair its performance?

ps61318

I'm a designer who uses a Wacom on a regular basis. This tiny one would be pretty much useless, way too small in ratio to the screen. Once they're putting in a Wacom, why didn't they just use Wacom Cintiq technology for the screen and make the entire screen pen sensitive. Oh, wait, those are called tablet pc's. Seems like they didn't really look into who uses these digitizers and what they need.

i8kermit

anyone remember that ibm notebook with the huge tablet off to the side

pellier

The very definition of overkill...
I want it so much

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

What's wrong with Vista?

mrnako

These things are pretty bad-ass. But i still think they are ugly as sin. Functional though!

crayonwaxy

Fucking stupid. What Lenovo should be doing is making a rip off of Dell's Tablet with pen and multitouch inputs.

Wacom tablets are dead ever since the arrival of Tablet PCs.

DMF

Photography workstation ? Yes, it can do that, without a doubt. It's a bit overkill if youwant to do just photography IMHO. It's also powerful enough to do HD video editing (Cineform HD must fly on a machine like that) and compositing. It would be a dream on-set machine for VFX people.
Despite the Stalin-era looks and my inexperience with Vista I already want one...

Franssu

As a photographer that has worked with tethered only backs, this thing opens up rike rotus brossom and kicks ass. I would love to have had one of these a few years ago when I was having to tote a g5 tower and a 21 in crt to the field to do some furniture shooting. If I was able to squeeze the cash together, I would have one in a heartbeat. As far as mac vs pc, That arguement was based on stability when dealing with large files. Now it's just a case of snobbery and the desire to skip re-training. and maybe pay more... coincidence that I am rich was released to the apple crowd?

"flame suit on!"

sqeakytoy of the apocalypse

Would be much better to lose the wacom on the palm rest and make it like the other tablet PC's: make the screen wacom compatible and reversible. And perhaps have a keyboard button to make a keyboard popup on the screen for some quick typing... but you can't use your fingers since wacom is not a touchscreen.

badbob001

@Mike918

IBM doesn't make the think pads anymore... they sold the division years ago... lol

dOk

I can see myself loving this baby.

victor-hvgo borges

@Mike918: This is IBM/Lenovo we're talking about; they've always embraced function over form. They make awesome laptops that happen to look like little black boxes, and I, for one, hope they keep doing so.

HeartBurnKid, creepy morbid freak

@ps61318: I just sneezed a mouthful of cheesburger on my wacom intuos and it's still working perfectly.

I've been using wacom for years and they are the best. But their drivers suck however. The latest one required me to boot to safe mode to install it.

So if the drivers suck, it's going to be right at home on Vista :D

nikko1221

@matt buchanan: "I only run Vista, so it's not like I hate the OS. "

Not really helping the OS too are you with pointless quips like that?! ... but hey youre the writer on one of the biggest tech blogs on the interweb, and i'm just faceless commenter that bit the flamebait.

Carry on good sir. ^_^

alukard

Vista blows Leopard.

danjuan

Vista blows donkeys.

VideoVampire

I'd like to point out that when Lenovo enters a new niche in the market that they don't fuck around. Remember their challenge to the Macbook Air? And I'm really split between Mac and Vista, especially when it comes to sound and video editing, but when it enters into the area of Photoshop its Vista (with Aero off) hands down and most of the consumer benchmarks would back me on that. I'm employed in the tattoo industry and the built in tablet is brilliant, especially when you have to be able to move and sanitize everything. Would asking for a built in flatbed scanner be pushing it?

ChaunceyCreon

Some people saying that wacom is dead after tablet PCs. But what I most like in regular tablets is that your hand doesnt interfere in your field of view. Im a graphic pro for 10 years and my work is all based in design from the scratch/illustration. Oh, and I dont need big tablets at all, because this way you have to move your hand more often, im not being lazy, Im just saying that this way I can work until my eighties.

Anyhoo this is my 2 cents.

victor-hvgo borges

shoot, this doesnt fit my expectations for a laptop, or what i think a laptop should be. my expectations are that it should be 12" and lite, but still powerful enough to do lite gaming and other things. but goddamn i think i want it. now if it only could run OSX too, then i would cream myself....

segamanxero

Oh shit, almost forgot...Im a lefty...
Screw you Lenovo.

victor-hvgo borges

@DMF: This is quite possibly one of the dumbest comments on this page. As someone who does illustration for a living, I would love a tablet pc that was worth anything... but they arn't. Wacom usb tablets are still king.

wassermelone

@nikko1221: Those who know me realize that sneezing a cheeseburger is not a danger for me.

However, I have a tablet PC - basically a Wacom grafted on a laptop - and I too have never had any trouble with it. I also don't get a lot of goop on it, so....

Still, good to know! Enjoy your cheeseburger!

ps61318

All I do is CAD. Besides the ridiculous specs (8gb DDR3 RAM, intel core extreme, etc), the pen thing wouldn't help me at all. The most crucial thing that i use is the roller mouse thing between the two buttons (and the button that is pushed by pushing this roller in). I couldn't imagine doing CAD on a laptop (without a mouse). Makes me cringe.

wolfenstein-3d

Maybe this is built for the reporters that work on field projects

menuhin

this thing is real nice. i got a demo of it during siggraph today.

super light, FLYS through multi-mega-pixel RAW files, embedded color calibration is really fast. quad core. 1 gig vidy card memory.

the wacom is nice, but i think its placement is bad for leftys

except for the fact its running vista, nothing i dont like about it

damnElantra

"Except for the fact it runs Vista, it's like the perfect pro photographer's workstation."

Nothing is wrong with Vista... Horray for unwarranted bias!

chiablo

@trrosen:
You can do some color correction in the field, however it requires that the system be aware of ambient light. I have no idea if this thing does that but it would be awesome if it did.

emorphien

@Franssu:
My desktop system which is used heavily for photography runs a quad core with 8GB ram. There's a bit of futureproofing, but also it helps a lot when running multiple imaging applications at once (pano merger, photomatix although I rarely use that, Photoshop CS3, Bridge, Capture One 4, and of course all the other random stuff I leave open).

I'm still amazed at people who bitch about the design of Thinkpads. Their ergonomics and durability should speak for themselves, they're much better in those regards than most other laptops, including Apple's which so many people worship. Function over form, that's how Thinkpads have always been.

emorphien

I just bought a $300 used Toshiba Satelite R10 tablet from the unixsurplus booth at defcon over the weekend. It's 3 years old, but Wacom digitizer is the whole freakin' screen!! -johnnytakes5

TownsendKisser

The first thing that came into my mind is that the Wacom and the trackpad should be combined into one large pad. Unless there are some dumb-ass technical limitations in creating a tablet that responds to touch but is also accurate when using a stylus.

Think about it, two separate layers, Wacom layer in pen mode and touch layer in trackpad mode. Now THAT would be a killer. Well, at least until tablet PC's take over.

atheos

@Adrian Covert: "Lenovo's ThinkPad W700 is a 17-inch behemoth that's the first notebook ever with a built-in Wacom digitizer."

I believe these have Wacom digitizers in the touchscreen -- that's what the sticker on one at Office Depot said anyway. They're on the market now, so check your facts.

Also, no one really wants the whole press release on this page. Please cut the fat.

The Monarch

How is this any better than a tablet pc with the Wacom Digitizer built right into the screen? Cheaper, more compact, been out for ages...

nyleth

How is this any better than a tablet pc with the Wacom Digitizer built right into the screen? Cheaper, more compact...

Here is one that has been out for over a year:
[store.shopfujitsu.com]

For the OSX fans:
[www.axiotron.com]

Comparable to an Cintique/Intuos:

+ Watch video

nyleth

How is this any better than a Tablet PC that has a Wacom Digitizer built into the screen? Much more compact/portable.

Here is one that has been out for a year:
[store.shopfujitsu.com]

They're very comparable to Cintiq/Intuos. See link below:

+ Watch video

nyleth

@The Monarch: Uh, that's a tablet. This is totally different.

matt buchanan

In the photography and design fields, macs are used more often. In the vfx field, they arent use that much ALTHOUGH a few companies are buying octa-core macPros due to the cost benefit and running linux alongside OSX. Otherwise, its linux in the VFX industry or windows.

In the end, its about the software. Photoshop is Photoshop. An 8-core intel machine with 4 gigs of Ram will run perfectly fine on windows x64 and be able to handle anything one throws at it. The same can be said about Mac OSX. Its pretty much a moot argument at this point unless you get into specialized areas in the VFX field then OSX is clearly at a disadvantage.

"Its optional 400-nit WUXGA display provides up to twice the brightness of earlier ThinkPad mobile workstation models"

Ummmm... yeah, that would be completely useless for professional photographers (or at least the ones that are concerned with having a truly accurate print to screen match). What we need is a screen that's capable of having the luminance calibrated between 100 cd/m^2 and 120 cd/m^2 WITHOUT going to the extremes of the settings. Something tells me that this thing probably can't get below 200 cd/m^2. You're better off buying a cheap laptop and a Wacom Cintiq for that kind of dough. Another question that hasn't been addressed (and it needs to be) is, does it use a 6 bit or an 8 bit monitor LUT?

I've always liked the IBM stuff. Very well designed and built. But I'm afraid 3000 bucks is out of the question, unless of course it has a mini-fridge built in.

@regnez: My Ideapad is a 17" widescreen,and I have no issue using it in my lap. Of course,if you're 6'2" and large-framed,your "laptop" might be a little bigger than the next guys ;0)

And as for the people b!tching about the PC looking like it was "designed in the 80's" or "it's ugly",I'd much rather have a laptop that had a bunch of stuff in it that was functional-and looked the part,than one with a 'pearlescent exterior and a latte holder',sponsored by the Oxygen network,or whatever the trend may be nowadays.

FiveLiters