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>Despite its shortcomings, I ended up using the X61s more than my 12” MacBook. The X61s convinced me that a much better laptop could exist. The same chassis wit

>Despite its shortcomings, I ended up using the X61s more than my 12” MacBook. The X61s convinced me that a much better laptop could exist. The same chassis with modern components would be a very compelling product. This is a good point and there and many people who believe it to be true. Only problem are the Lenovo executives that are not willing to provide such product (see Thinkpad Retro).

walkingolof 9y ago
Rumor is that the Thinkpad Retro aka. the anniversary model, is due in October, celebrating 25 years of Thinkpad. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Anniversary-Edition-planned-for-October-release-Update-Teaser-Image.229782.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Anniversary-Ed...
- 5_minutes 9y ago
  I've been waiting for it. I find it an awesome initiative from Lenovo, and it shows something many other big companies have lost. Making products for the hardcore geeks/fans. This used to be common 20 years ago. If they execute this well, they'll score a lot of points in my book!
pizza234 9y ago
> Only problem are the Lenovo executives that are not willing to provide such product (see Thinkpad Retro). I had (and loved) a few Thinkpads, but I wouldn't produce one if I was a Lenovo executive as well, unless I had extremely good indicators from the market. To me it seems one of those ideas that prospective clients think they'll buy, but they won't. Realistically speaking, a 13.3" old school Thinkpad nowadays would be twice as thick (~3 cm) and weight 40/50% more than renowned competitors like a Dell XPS or a MBP. There's not much to squeeze, as the philosophy of Thinkpads was (also) to allow the user to change parts, which takes space and weight. In such conditions, there is a serious risk that it would appeal only to a very limited audience (which is a serious business risk).
- fragmede 9y ago
  At the executive level at Lenovo, there's little room to recognize the unofficial Thinkpad X62 as anything more than a mere curiosity when comparing Thinkpad sales to Apple's Macbook sales, forgotten after morning coffee. Less extreme modifications to retrofit the classic 7-row Thinkpad keyboard to a more modern T430 chassis wouldn't even rate a mention. Keyboards are really really important but only a tiny subset, and even if the retro Thinkpad's target market all bought them, that would still dwarf corporate sales where Thinkpads are bought by the thousands, including parts and lucrative service contracts. As an individual user who will only personally ever own a handful of Thinkpads, I'm never going to be a lucrative service contract.

walkingolof 9y ago

Rumor is that the Thinkpad Retro aka. the anniversary model, is due in October, celebrating 25 years of Thinkpad. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Anniversary-Edition-planned-for-October-release-Update-Teaser-Image.229782.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-Anniversary-Ed...

5_minutes 9y ago
I've been waiting for it. I find it an awesome initiative from Lenovo, and it shows something many other big companies have lost. Making products for the hardcore geeks/fans. This used to be common 20 years ago. If they execute this well, they'll score a lot of points in my book!

pizza234 9y ago

> Only problem are the Lenovo executives that are not willing to provide such product (see Thinkpad Retro). I had (and loved) a few Thinkpads, but I wouldn't produce one if I was a Lenovo executive as well, unless I had extremely good indicators from the market. To me it seems one of those ideas that prospective clients think they'll buy, but they won't. Realistically speaking, a 13.3" old school Thinkpad nowadays would be twice as thick (~3 cm) and weight 40/50% more than renowned competitors like a Dell XPS or a MBP. There's not much to squeeze, as the philosophy of Thinkpads was (also) to allow the user to change parts, which takes space and weight. In such conditions, there is a serious risk that it would appeal only to a very limited audience (which is a serious business risk).

fragmede 9y ago
At the executive level at Lenovo, there's little room to recognize the unofficial Thinkpad X62 as anything more than a mere curiosity when comparing Thinkpad sales to Apple's Macbook sales, forgotten after morning coffee. Less extreme modifications to retrofit the classic 7-row Thinkpad keyboard to a more modern T430 chassis wouldn't even rate a mention. Keyboards are really really important but only a tiny subset, and even if the retro Thinkpad's target market all bought them, that would still dwarf corporate sales where Thinkpads are bought by the thousands, including parts and lucrative service contracts. As an individual user who will only personally ever own a handful of Thinkpads, I'm never going to be a lucrative service contract.