The International CES 2015 trade show hasn’t even officially started and companies have begun releasing information about new lines. The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015 is going to commence tomorrow, 5 January, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. This year’s CES will be showcasing more than 3,500 exhibitors (suppliers, developers and manufacturers of consumer tech hardware and content) and around 160,000 people from more than 140 countries are expected to attend.
Lenovo couldn’t wait any longer and unveiled eight new ThinkPad laptops and a ThinkPad Stack System that is going to generate quite a commotion, we believe. Let’s take a look at those ThinkPads and the ThinkPad Stack System!
Before we begin, we would like to announce one of the most important changes that Lenovo made to their ThinkPad 2015 laptop line: the physical function keys are back! Last year, Lenovo replaced the physical buttons with an adaptive panel with touch-sensitive buttons and the users weren’t at all happy with that. Also, the touchpad sees the return of two right and left clickers.
Lenovo ThinkPad Laptops
The new Lenovo ThinkPad line has two Ultrabooks that are the company’s flagship products and they are both getting updated for the New Year. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a portable 14-inch laptop that has a high-resolution touch screen (optional feature, naturally) with a light but rigged case that weighs just 2.9 pounds. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon starts at $1,249 and will be available for purchase later this month.
The other flagship Lenovo laptop that the company unveiled at the CES 2015 is the Lenovo ThinkPad X250, a 12.5-inch laptop that weighs just 2.8 pounds and is only 0.8 inches thick. This laptop works with Lenovo’s Power Bridge technology which is a dual battery system that allows the user to configure the laptop for traveling for maximum battery life but also lowest weight. The Lenovo ThinkPad X250 starts at $1,149 and will be available for purchase starting February 2015.
The Lenovo ThinkPad 450 series has three new laptops: the Lenovo T450s, the Lenovo T450 and the Lenovo L450. The Lenovo ThinkPad T450s has a 14-inch display, weighs only 3.5 pounds and is 0.83 inches thick. It is compatible with Lenovo’s Power Bridge that can extend battery life when one needs it. The price starts at $1,099.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T450 also has a 14-inch display, but it is a bit heavier than the T450s model: it weighs 4 pounds and is 0.88 inches thick. The price stars at $849.
The Lenovo ThinkPad L 450 laptop has a 14-inch display that does not have a touch screen option, like all the other in the 450 line do. It’s also the heaviest and thickest: 4.25 pounds and 0.96 inches thick. The price starts at $699. All three Lenovo ThinkPad 450 series laptops will be available starting February 2015.
Lenovo also thought of those folks who prefer larger displays on their laptops when it created the new Lenovo T550. You can choose from two sizes: you can either get a 15.6-inch display or a 15.5-inch display with the high resolution of 2880×1620. The T550 comes with a RAM memory of up to 16GB, up to 1TB of HDD or 512GB of SSD and features all the ports and jack one needs to turn it into a desktop replacement. It weighs 5 pounds and is 0.88 inches thick. The Lenovo T550 will be available in February 2015 and the price starts at $999.
The Lenovo E ThinkPad line has two brand-new laptops: the Lenovo ThinkPad E550 and the Lenovo ThinkPad E450. The E550 has a 15.6-inch display, weighs 5.2 pounds, is 0.94 inches thick and starts at $599. The E450 has a 14-inch display, weighs 4 pounds, is 0.87 inches thick and starts at $599. Neither of the E laptops are available with a touch screen, but they do have optional optical drives. The internal storage for both laptops can be configured up to 1TB of HDD or 128GB of SSD. Both laptops will be available for purchase in February 2015.
Lenovo ThinkPad Stack System
Lenovo also launched a new and exciting ThinkPad Stack System, an accessory system line compatible with their ThinkPad laptop line. This system is designed to help you be more organized and get rid of any desk clutter. But there is a trick to them! What separates these accessories from the classic docks and external drives is the fact that the new Lenovo ThinkPad Stack accessories are stackable! That’s right, you can stack them on top of each other to achieve the neatest desk on the block.
This new innovative, albeit weird-looking system isn’t just a pretty way to stack things, because the devices connect to each other, while stacked, eliminating cabling. Get all four devices, stack them on top of each other and only use one single cable or just get one or two, they work perfectly as a team, as well as individual devices.
Here are the four ThinkPad Stack modules that Lenovo unveiled at CES 2015, available starting April 2015:
- Bluetooth Speaker. It costs $89.99 and it is meant for audio and conference call handling. 3.5 mm micro USB.
- Power Bank. This device costs $49.99, has dual USB, microUSB and 10,000 mAH.
- HDD. This HDD costs $199.99 and features 1TB of internal memory, USB 3.0 and password security.
- Access Point. This one also costs $199.99 and it is a LTE data hotspot.
Lenovo is taking a big chance with these four devices, mainly because they’re quite strange-looking and secondly, because their stackability is something that the users need to grow accustomed to. Whether this whole system will take off, we don’t know, but we’re betting a lot of people are going to try it!
Are any of these ThinkPad Laptops or devices from the ThinkPad Stack System seem appealing to you? Drop us a line in the comment section below and share your thoughts with us.
