Lenovo’s ThinkPad line—which it inherited from IBM all those years ago—has always been designed to appeal to enterprise and corporate buyers rather than consumers: big accounts look for uniformity, ease of management, and the ability to buy in bulk, while consumers tend to look for the best tradeoff between price, performance, and looks on a single machine. Lenovo’s new ThinkPad T420s and ThinkPad W502 are definitely made for the enterprise crowd…but they have features that may turn a few consumers’ heads.
First up, the ThinkPad T420S features a 14-inch 1,600 by 900 LED-backlit display, powered by the Intel HD graphics built into the second-generation Core i5-2520 processor running at 2.5 GHz. The system sports 2 GB of RAM out of the box (up to 8 GB supported), a 250 GB hard drive, DVD±RW burner, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless networking, and a total weight of just four pounds. Configurations start at $1,199, with a 4 GB version starting at $1,399 and a 2.6 GHz processor available. All versions ship with Windows 7 and a number of storage options are available, along with an integrated webcam, Bluetooth, and mobile broadband options.
The ThinkPad W520, however, gives some serious competition to Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pros, sporting a 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7-2620 CPU and Nvidia Quadro 1000M mobile graphics with power-saving Optimus technology that enables users to run on integrated graphics to save power. The W520 is available with 15 inch screen offering either a standard 1,366 by 768 resolution or a 1,600 by 900-pixel display. Other capabilities include 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi networking, RAM and storage starting at 4 GB and 320 GB (respectively), a DVD±RW burner, an integrated 720p webcam, with options for Bluetooth, up to 8 GB of RAM, and mobile broadband options. The systems don’t offer Blu-ray or USB 3.0…but the W520 starts at just $1,449.99.
