4 ms·

I've been following this for a couple years, lots of discussion on reddit /r/thinkpad. They basically produced a T470 with a classic style keyboard, and annive

I've been following this for a couple years, lots of discussion on reddit /r/thinkpad. They basically produced a T470 with a classic style keyboard, and anniversary badging. As far as what people hoped for, they couldn't do a 4:3 or 3:2 display, as that requires a larger bulk purchase than what they planned for this model (only 5000 units produced). The thinklight wasn't possible because the screen bezel is thinner. Hopefully they will use the classic keyboard on additional models in the future, but there is no indication of that at this time.

DerfNet 9y ago
Yeah, the best we can hope for is that keyboard being an option on the T series moving forward. I really don't want to switch to chiclets when my T420 finally stops being perfect.
woodrowbarlow 9y ago
what are the benefits of the thinklight over a backlit keyboard? my old thinkpad had the thinklight and i hated it. i found that while using my laptop in an unlit room with the thinklight, the blue function icons were impossible to distinguish and the top-left and top-right corners of the keyboard required straining my eyes. i was 18-20 years old with 20/20 vision at the time. i would actually be very tempted by this release if i hadn't just bought a dell XPS because i love the trackpoint (and lenovo's was always leagues ahead of dell's) and i love having dedicated volume controls and a hardware mute button (i can let my function keys be function keys without missing out on single-key volume control).
- Zak 9y ago
  The benefit is that it can be used to illuminate objects other than the keys, such as a paper you're copying information from. A thinklight with higher color quality, and maybe adjustable brightness would solve the problems you had with it; white LEDs have come a long way in the past decade.
- tosstossy 9y ago
  I use the thinklight for illuminating RSA keyfobs in the dark. Granted, I can tilt the screen and crank up its brightness to achieve the same thing, but it's cumbersome and maybe some people would prefer to read something illuminated while typing and seeing the screen simultaneously. At least my RSA codes are short enough to type from memory.
- lflux 9y ago
  I used my X40 a lot in college where I did a lot of theatre sound and lighting, and the thinklight was really good at illuminating the script as well as the keyboard.
resoluti0n 9y ago
> (only 5000 units produced) Jeez, that's as bad as Nintendo's latest retro gaming consoles.
mark-r 9y ago
I think if they produced a display at 1920x1440 they'd have no trouble selling as many as they could produce. The 16:9 aspect ratio is the worst thing ever forced on the industry.

DerfNet 9y ago

Yeah, the best we can hope for is that keyboard being an option on the T series moving forward. I really don't want to switch to chiclets when my T420 finally stops being perfect.

woodrowbarlow 9y ago

what are the benefits of the thinklight over a backlit keyboard? my old thinkpad had the thinklight and i hated it. i found that while using my laptop in an unlit room with the thinklight, the blue function icons were impossible to distinguish and the top-left and top-right corners of the keyboard required straining my eyes. i was 18-20 years old with 20/20 vision at the time. i would actually be very tempted by this release if i hadn't just bought a dell XPS because i love the trackpoint (and lenovo's was always leagues ahead of dell's) and i love having dedicated volume controls and a hardware mute button (i can let my function keys be function keys without missing out on single-key volume control).

Zak 9y ago
The benefit is that it can be used to illuminate objects other than the keys, such as a paper you're copying information from. A thinklight with higher color quality, and maybe adjustable brightness would solve the problems you had with it; white LEDs have come a long way in the past decade.
tosstossy 9y ago
I use the thinklight for illuminating RSA keyfobs in the dark. Granted, I can tilt the screen and crank up its brightness to achieve the same thing, but it's cumbersome and maybe some people would prefer to read something illuminated while typing and seeing the screen simultaneously. At least my RSA codes are short enough to type from memory.
lflux 9y ago
I used my X40 a lot in college where I did a lot of theatre sound and lighting, and the thinklight was really good at illuminating the script as well as the keyboard.

resoluti0n 9y ago

> (only 5000 units produced) Jeez, that's as bad as Nintendo's latest retro gaming consoles.

mark-r 9y ago

I think if they produced a display at 1920x1440 they'd have no trouble selling as many as they could produce. The 16:9 aspect ratio is the worst thing ever forced on the industry.