The TrackPoint may leave ThinkPad one day, but it isn’t today.
The Background
For those of you following CES and Lenovo’s product lineup, the ThinkPad X9 got people talking. In a previous article, I covered how journalists compared it to Apple’s design language.
Over the last few days, thanks to media credentials, I’ve been bombarded with CES 2025 information. Unfortunately, given when the media dates fell, I couldn’t attend in person. Perhaps next year. Lenovo presented an interesting showing this year in the sense that there weren’t many groundbreaking show-stoppers. That being said, here are a few highlights […]
The big question was, of course, where was the TrackPoint? A leak before CES sparked much speculation about this machine, which was branded a ThinkPad but was missing one of its most iconic features. Again, I covered this story in a previous article.
The Situation So let’s get this out of the way. Leaked images are floating ahead of CES 2025 showcasing a device called the Lenovo ThinkPad X9. This ThinkPad does not have a TrackPoint. ThinkPad X9 14/15 pic.twitter.com/2WXGyxJl9h — WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) December 24, 2024 Several news outlets have picked up the story, including Notebook Check, one […]
There have been ThinkPad devices in the past that have deviated from the core design philosophy, even so much to not have the TrackPoint. Some of the original machines didn’t have it either such as the tablet computers like the ThinkPad 710T and 730T. Other models like the ThinkPad 220 featured a trackball of sorts and the ThinkPad 300 also did not have a TrackPoint. Several other tablets like the ThinkPad Helix 2 and Tablet 10 featured keyboards in their lineup that did not have a TrackPoint.
All that to say, what the ThinkPad X9 has done is not the first time we have seen a ThinkPad without a TrackPoint, but it has been a while and it was a surprise all the same. I am a huge TrackPoint user and it is one of the essential components of why I use a ThinkPad.
New Information
Here is where things get interesting and special thanks to Saoto on X/Twitter for posting this article, thus bringing it to my attention. Long-time viewers of the channel will recognize the name as the person who makes custom 3D-printed TrackPoint caps.
In an article published by PC Watch Japan on January 14, 2025, Tsukamoto Yasumichi, Executive Vice President and Head of Development at Lenovo Japan was interviewed about the ThinkPad X9. There was some significant messaging in this interview that I am surprised was not communicated during CES regarding their goals for the X9.
The author, Kazuki Kasahara, who should be praised for their direct journalism, asks outright about the TrackPoint:
“The ThinkPad X9 is a product primarily targeted at customers who have not been ThinkPad customers until now. For example, it is a product that was planned and designed in the hope that customers who are familiar with other companies’ products will recognize the basic value of ThinkPad, such as high productivity and robustness, and consider it as an option when they switch to ThinkPad. In that case, we thought that it would be better for customers to have a larger click pad than the TrackPoint, so we decided to remove the TrackPoint.”
The naming conventions are also cleared up and I think the explanation that Tsukamoto provides is an excellent one.
“The ThinkPad X9 brand name was chosen to indicate that it is the polar opposite of the ThinkPad X1. If the ThinkPad X1 was the flagship product for existing ThinkPad customers, then the ThinkPad X9 is the flagship product for new customers,”
I think many fans of ThinkPad and its traditional design would agree with Tsukamoto’s assessment that the X9 is indeed the polar opposite of the X1. While many will still not agree with it being called a ThinkPad given how far it strays from expectations, if the X9 helps more people and companies get introduced to what many have come to appreciate about the iconic brand, then maybe it will pay off.
Tsukamoto seems to be aware of the stir that the X9 caused and Kasahara asked an important question about the TrackPoint’s future:
“Traditional ThinkPad models, such as the X1 series, P series, T series, X series, and L series, which are aimed at existing customers, will continue to be equipped with TrackPoint.”
If you want to hear more about the development of the ThinkPad X9, consider watching Kevin Beck’s sit down with Tsukamoto which was published on YouTube a few days ago.
Over the last few days, thanks to media credentials, I’ve been bombarded with CES 2025 information. Unfortunately, given when the media dates fell, I couldn’t attend in person. Perhaps next year.
Lenovo presented an interesting showing this year in the sense that there weren’t many groundbreaking show-stoppers. That being said, here are a few highlights that did catch my attention.
Some Firsts: Rolling Screens and CUDs
This rollable screen concept appears to be releasing as the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6. While the idea of a rolling or expanding screen intrigues me, I am unsure what problem this solution solves. It may very well be one of those things that you need to see and use to understand the application. Unlike the Yoga Slim and Yoga Book 9i below, this ThinkBook does not have a product page or pricing information but many outlets report a spring launch at a hefty $3,500 price tag.
The Yoga Slim 9i has indeed some slim display bezels (98% screen-to-body ratio) but what I found catching my attention was the CUD (Camera Under Display). You still have the bump at the top to hold the higher resolution camera that people now demand in a post-pandemic world, which I’m not opposed to given the function it provides. The top cover being made from glass has me worried that it might be challenging to keep looking new. These will start at $1,759.99 USD in February 2025.
Yoga Book 9i Continues
It is good to see that this dual-screen device did well enough to earn it another generation. I saw one of these in person when I went to Lenovo TechWorld 23 and seeing it in the flesh and speaking to the person using it helped me understand why they enjoyed the device. Pricing for this new generation starts at $1,999 USD being available in May 2025. I wonder if this means one day we might see a ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 2; that would be something I’d like to see as it was a lot of fun to test one of the prototypes.
The Folding Machine Folding devices, even years after being introduced are somewhat of an oddity. I have been the first person I know to own or handle any and I cannot recall seeing one in public at the end of 2022 and the owners I met in 2023 I could count on one hand. I […]
The ThinkPad X9
For many of you who follow me, this is the elephant in the room. ThinkPads, generally speaking, follow a certain design language. They are generally dark colours, more specifically available in black and have traditionally featured a TrackPoint. To get technical, there were devices branded ThinkPad way back like the 710T and 730T ( If you want to see a wonderful restoration of one of these devices or other cool things, you should check out polymatt’s channel on YouTube) that were tablet computers that had no keyboard and, therefore no TrackPoint. Other machines like foldable tablets and Z series have also strayed from these cornerstones over the years.
Back to the main event. The ThinkPad X9 was leaked ahead of CES 2025 and I covered some thoughts on this in an earlier article:
The Situation So let’s get this out of the way. Leaked images are floating ahead of CES 2025 showcasing a device called the Lenovo ThinkPad X9. This ThinkPad does not have a TrackPoint. ThinkPad X9 14/15 pic.twitter.com/2WXGyxJl9h — WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) December 24, 2024 Several news outlets have picked up the story, including Notebook Check, one […]
There is some neat technology in the ThinkPad X9 including its cooling system, the haptic TrackPad and more. The big question many people is why is this called a ThinkPad. Given what people have come to expect from the brand, I think this is a fair question. Several news outlets that are at CES 2025 and have spent time physically with the device mention very specifically it is two things “It is a ThinkPad” in one breath and then mention “Apple” at some point in the article. Historically, these comparisons have been made before but not so directly. It could also be a trend in technology journalism to compare everything to Apple. If you want some excellent coverage of CES 2025, I recommend Andrew Marc David’s channel.
“This ultraportable from Lenovo is indeed a ThinkPad, but it appears to bridge the gap between professional and consumer laptops—prosumer, if you will—dropping the TrackPoint device in the keyboard as a telltale sign.”
“Lenovo has unveiled two new ThinkPads: the X9 14 and X9 15, both Aura Editions equipped with Intel Core Ultra processors and slim designs. But what they don’t offer might be the most interesting thing about them: namely, Lenovo’s signature red TrackPoint. Instead, they use a haptic trackpad without the ThinkPad’s usual discrete button for a distinctly MacBook vibe.
No doubt, it’s a ThinkPad, through and through. It’s tested to MIL-SPEC 810H durability standards. It offers a Thunderbolt 4 port on each side of the machine, making it easier to arrange docks and displays to your liking. And the design allows access to the SSD and battery to facilitate repairs and replacements.”
It is a bit of a wonder to wrap one’s head around the possible decision-making process involved in branding this machine a ThinkPad rather than a ThinkBook, which design-wise, seems to share more in common. Part of me wonders if this is an attempt to avoid what Dell has recently done with renaming all of their PC products. For example, if Lenovo wanted to produce a premium laptop product, that would limit their established product lines. While IdeaPad, Yoga and ThinkBook are good units at their price point, ThinkPad is considered by many to be the most premium business machine Lenovo offers.
So what happens when Lenovo wants to make a laptop of equal quality to a ThinkPad, geared towards business customers and wants to do something different? Do they create a completely new premium line of business laptops or do they use one of their existing brands and establish a new series? Both have pros and cons.
This device in terms of specs, target audience and quality is too premium for the ThinkBook or IdeaPad range.
Creating a brand new product line entirely is likely more difficult to market to business customers and may make it more difficult to sell.
Using the ThinkPad brand, which is very well established, has risks as those expecting a specific design may be alienated by this design.
So do you create a new machine class, the X9 and put it under your premium laptop line or do you try and create a brand new product line?
The keyboard keys have a very subtle touch of what would be considered the modern ThinkPad keyboard.
I suspect this is why it is called the X9 and not part of an established ThinkPad line that features more historically recognizable features like a sleek black chassis and red TrackPoint. I believe this hypothesis is further supported by the fact they are releasing a series of X9 accessories rather than exclusively relying on the existing ThinkPad catalogue of accessories. The X9 branding is also present on the camera bump. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine that if the X9 does well, it could be its own product line separate from ThinkPad but of equal quality.
I do not believe that the X9 will set the trend for future ThinkPad design and I look at it like I would look at the Z13; a testbed that diverts from traditional ThinkPad design but has some of the DNA that makes them amazing machines.
Given the choice between what Dell has recently done with their brands, I’d rather have a ThinkPad without a TrackPoint than the brand-new Lenovo Pro Max Premium Carbon G13…
Dell has made a surprising and potentially controversial decision: to abandon its long-standing and iconic PC brand names. Gone are the days of the XPS, Latitude, Inspiron, Precision, OptiPlex, and G-series. All these familiar names will be replaced by a new, tiered system, leaving only Alienware standing as a distinct brand. Odd decision to go […]
The ThinkPad X9 will be available in February 2025 and starts at $1,399 for the 14-inch variant.
2024 has been a good year. While I was hoping to get more content out and share more with you, several things ate my free time for breakfast and it didn’t quite work out as intended. Despite that, the statistics from both YouTube and this website paint a positive picture. Views are holding steady and only a slight drop in subscribers per year. Funny enough, the number of uploads for 2023 and 2024 is the same.
Website statistics are likely a result of search engines and other bots combing the content and learning from what I write here. I wrote very little, likely as a result of doing a lot of writing for school, so doing it as a hobby was less attractive. My goal is to write more articles in 2025.
YouTube Stats for the year 2024.Stats for laptopretrospective.com
As has been my tradition, I will break down each month and pick a highlight for me.
January
January was a slower start to the year, but it had me feature the P53, which was capable of 128GB of RAM—a very impressive piece of gear. Workstations aren’t super common around here, so looking at one, especially a P-series, is always fun. I remain grateful for Rob Herman helping me frame what makes a workstation an important addition to a laptop lineup. As an aside, he was a familiar face I met in person at Lenovo Tech World 2023.
February
Speaking of workstations, this highlight for February came in a nice carrying case that helped sell the idea that this was true portable power. It isn’t often we see hard cases for laptops so this was fun to look at for that reason as well. The owner had a portable monitor tucked away in the lid making for a comprehensive setup.
March
March saw the release of the series of interviews I did with Luis Hernandez, a wonderful storyteller and all-around great human being. He worked for both IBM and Lenovo, retiring as the VP of Lenovo Commercial Product Solution Development. You can see the full interview below:
April
This month was mainly releasing the interviews I did with Luis in terms of main channel content. I did feature the L14 G2 which had more modularity than the T series of the same generation. Thankfully the T series now has just as much. Looking at a modern L series was still very educational.
May
A conversation with David Hill is always a highlight. In May we discussed the Lenovo Skylight project and David shared stories of its development and how Richard Sapper created this sleek-looking laptop that was never released.
June
This video may be close to the highlight of the year for me, being able to bring you a sealed Lenovo Skylight, open it and tour the operating system. Special thanks to David for locating it and for Tommy to help me get it to Canada. In terms of rare machines, this is pretty high up on the list.
July
Lots was going on in July but the video that stands out is releasing the full interview I had the pleasure of doing with Tom Hardy for the 30th anniversary of ThinkPad several years ago. The video contains just over 30 minutes of additional conversations and stories. It is worth the watch to hear some of Tom’s stories about the challenging and rewarding environment that design work brings.
August
August is a draw between two smaller laptops. The Toshiba T1910CS with the weird trackball attachment was a lot of fun to film and was the first laptop I filmed in my renovated film space. The runner-up is the ThinkPad 240X which was the first Japanese-exclusive ThinkPad I’ve featured on the channel and one of the smallest ThinkPads to be featured as well.
September
The IBM TransNote is a strange device with an even stranger story. One day I will release the video of the one I have in my collection, I promise. David Hill remembers working on it with Dr. John Karidis of butterfly keyboard fame on the ThinkPad 701C. It is clear to see why the machine didn’t make it to another generation but it clearly left an impact as many people I have interviewed over ther years reference this device.
October
My highlight here is an upgrade to my tool kit. To make a long story short, I follow David Hill on X/Twitter and enjoy his Design of the Day posts. One post was for a company, HOTO showcasing a flashlight. After a little digging, I saw they made a screwdriver kit and wanted to treat myself. I’ve been enjoying it ever since. Honestly, I should probably treat myself a little more often than I do. I imagine that the production quality would continue to improve if that were the case. The challenge is how to improve production quality without adding additional work and not impacting the speed of production. Being a one-person crew that does everything, every additional step needs to pay off and then some for it to be worth slowing things down.
November
This next highlight is thanks to Dan Basterfield, who is an amazingly knowledgeable and kind individual with quite an excellent ThinkPad collection. He digitized some service tapes like the one I did for the ThinkPad 701C and asked me to share them with the greater community. You can expect to see another release from this VHS collection soon in 2025.
December
The last item to bring up would have to be the LG-IBM video. Back in 2022 I covered the story of LG-IBM in detail on this website, but didn’t have a machine to present. This changed and I was able to create a video showcasing not only the IBM ThinkPad 570 but also probably the strangest rebrand in the IBM lineup at that point.
Update This article was originally published July 28, 2022. It has been updated to include a video showcasing an LG-IBM ThinkPad 570 that I featured on the channel. It contains references to this article in its originally published form. A Sticker If you are like me, you have spent some time looking through Hardware Maintenance […]
Thanks everyone for watching and reading and I will see you next year!
Several news outlets have picked up the story, including Notebook Check, one of my favourites. You can read their article here.
The bottom line is, we do not know a lot about this device, where it will be released or if it will be released. Concept devices are common at tradeshows like CES and TechWorld and many do not make it to production. The bendable phone I saw at TechWorld 23 is a good example.
I was able to attend Lenovo Tech World 2023 thanks to my participation in the Lenovo INsiders program. My travel and accommodations were covered and there was no cost to me to go to Austin, Texas. As part of my efforts to ensure 100% transparency, I am disclosing this information at the top of this […]
Another thing to consider is the odd nomenclature; X9. This does not fit within any existing product line-up which is encouraging that this might not be a mass rollout or an idea that would even stick. The TrackPoint is also part of the accessibility feature package that they advertise on the ThinkPad lineup.
Why does it matter?
There are many possible explanations for this but the reason this move is seen as strange to so many ThinkPad users and fans is, that this is one of a few features that make ThinkPad iconic and not just another brand. You can take the badge away and still know a ThinkPad is a ThinkPad based on the sleek black colour and the red TrackPoint present on the keyboard.
I do not believe this is the end of the TrackPoint, I will make that clear. That would be the equivalent in my mind of prying the Jaguar off the hood of the car (An expression I picked up from David Hill, Former Chief Design Officer & Vice President of Experience Design at Lenovo). That example might not be a good one to make any more with Jaguar’s recent advertisement that famously featured no actual car or Jaguar.
Jerry Paradise who retired from Lenovo in March 2024, said this quote during ThinkPad’s 30th anniversary celebrations as reported by PCWatch.
Q: Will the TrackPoint continue to be implemented in ThinkPads?
Paradise : That’s right. We believe that the TrackPoint will be implemented forever as long as ThinkPad exists. It is our promise to our customers, and we believe that it is an iconic part of the ThinkPad brand and part of the design.
As an aside, Jerry Paradise is on my wishlist of individuals to interview as his history with ThinkPad runs very deep. I imagine he has a lot of amazing stories he could tell. Perhaps one day.
What is the history?
The TrackPoint, an isometric pointing device embedded in the keyboard of ThinkPad laptops, was invented by Dr. Ted Selker while working at IBM Research in the early 1980s. He drew inspiration from research on mouse-pointing devices and hypothesized that a finger-operated pointing device integrated into the keyboard would be faster and more efficient than a mouse. Selker collaborated with colleague Joe Rutledge to develop the TrackPoint. They conducted research and experiments, discovering that a non-linear transfer function improved selection speed by preventing cursor loss. This approach challenged conventional thinking at the time and led to disagreements with other researchers in the field.
Several factors contributed to the significance of the TrackPoint:
Improved efficiency: The TrackPoint offered a significant speed advantage over trackballs and mice. Users no longer had to take their hands off the keyboard, saving valuable time and maintaining focus.
Space saving: The compact size of the TrackPoint made it ideal for use in confined spaces like bank teller stations, airplanes and other places where space is limited.
Accessibility: Users with shaky hands found the TrackPoint’s overshoot prevention algorithms particularly beneficial and only required one point of contact to manipulate the mouse cursor.
Brand identity: The TrackPoint became a signature feature of ThinkPad laptops, contributing to their brand identity and attracting a loyal following.
I’m very fortunate to have the history of the TrackPoint from the sources that were there when it all happened. I had the chance to speak to both Dr. Ted Selker and Tom Hardy and both had stories to tell about this iconic device that has been on essentially every machine to carry the ThinkPad name.
Why remove it?
I can think of a lot of reasons why people would want to remove it and I suspect that most of it revolves around cost. It is no secret that making room for the TrackPoint comes at a cost both financially and spatially.
Changing user preferences: As touchpads have become larger, more responsive, and feature-rich, many users have come to prefer them over the TrackPoint. The wider adoption of touchpads has led to some manufacturers prioritizing them over the TrackPoint to cater to evolving user demands.
Cost considerations: Including both a TrackPoint and a touchpad increases manufacturing costs. To reduce expenses and potentially lower the price of their laptops, a manufacturer might choose to eliminate the less popular pointing device.
Design trends: The trend towards thinner and lighter laptops has put pressure on manufacturers to maximize internal space. Removing the TrackPoint and its associated hardware can free up space for other components, such as larger batteries or improved cooling systems.
Competitive pressure: If competitors are successfully selling laptops without TrackPoints, a manufacturer may feel pressured to follow suit to remain competitive. This is particularly true if the manufacturer wants to appeal to a wider customer base who may not be familiar with or prefer the TrackPoint.
So while the reasons to remove it are many, we are still talking about one of the most visibly iconic features of any laptop brand in the history of laptops. That would be like taking one of the most well-known social media brands in history and renaming it. Alright, I promise to stop with the not-so-good examples.
Folding devices, even years after being introduced are somewhat of an oddity. I have been the first person I know to own or handle any and I cannot recall seeing one in public at the end of 2022 and the owners I met in 2023 I could count on one hand. I believe the general population is still trying to figure out where the folding device fits in their world and I completely understand the sentiment. For phones, it seems like an extra step to unfold your device to access it when we have grown accustomed to just pulling it out of our pocket and instantly having our technology ready for us. Thankfully Motorola sorted that out with newer editions of the Razr with a full screen on the exterior. The wearable concept they showed off at Lenovo TechWorld 2023 is also another example of this form factory gaining some legitimacy.
The portable computer of course has tablets that run operating systems that allow for differing levels of productivity but there are often compromises. Applications are centred around consumption, not production. Accessories are not designed with creation or productivity at the centre or if they are, the processing power for serious applications can leave many power users wanting more. There is also the issue of screen size and portability as many tablets prefer to keep a lower profile, perhaps to avoid comparison against their laptop counterparts. But what if a device invited that competition and tried to solve all these problems?
The Beginning
Enter the first-generation Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold. Announced at CES 2019 as the world’s first folding PC, the X1 Fold was a thought experiment that got the entire technology community talking. Understandably there were a lot of questions about how viable this brand-new form factor would be and I will admit to being one of those people who looked at it with curiosity, but also some skepticism especially the CPU configurations the original X1 Fold shipped with being so underpowered. The device was well built as a ThinkPad should be but there were worries about the size and power that the device was equipped with when it launched. The form factor also meant that the keyboard (not to mention the absence of the TrackPoint) that you could get with it was smaller than average which was noted by many reviewers at the time. It was clear that this was a challenging device to build and not many companies had the resources and innovation on hand to make it happen. For additional insights into some of the challenges, you might enjoy this short clip that Lenovo released in January 2020.
In many ways, it reminded me of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300. The X300 was Lenovo showing what it could do to push the laptop forward. It was, for the time, a bleeding-edge device in terms of specifications, design and size. If you want to learn about the importance of the device and what it set out to do, I strongly encourage you to watch my older mini-series, Project Kodachi. It will provide some insight into the conditions under which these devices are made and what the objective of their creation is on a grand scale. If you look at the machines after the X300, many trace their lineage back to that product. It made the Lenovo X1 Carbon line possible, one of the flagship models for the company and the brand. It was a halo product that would help launch many others and I think that is what we saw here with the X1 Fold Gen 1.
The Hype
While I might have been skeptical of the X1 Fold Gen 1, when rumblings of the X1 Fold Gen 2 were growing, I found myself very curious about what improvements were to be made. It was clear that Lenovo hadn’t given up on the form factor with this announcement but what had they improved? Was it just going to be a specs refresh or were they going to push the boundaries even further? When the teaser trailer dropped, I found myself going through the trailer with a fine-toothed comb along with anything else I could learn about it. If you want to see my efforts, consider viewing the article below.
Lenovo has been promoting this short trailer over the last few days and many believe it points to the teasing of a new X1 Fold. After taking a look at the trailer a few times and snooping around, here are some possible reasons to look forward to the new X1 Fold and some of the […]
The X1 Fold Realized
Through my participation with the Lenovo INsiders program, I was sent an early sample model of the ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 and I have to say that in all honesty, it met expectations and after using it for a few days, exceeded them in several areas. The packaging is unassuming and 100% recyclable. Once inside you are immediately greeted by the huge tablet, laying flat. It at first might be too big, but after folding it a few times, you realize the size is very important to its usability. 16″ (2560×2024, OLED Anti-smudge 600nit) unfolded in a 4:3 format means you can do anything you want on it with screen real-estate to spare. Once you fold it, you have a 12″ compact 16:9 format for everything else you need. The included full-sized keyboard with TrackPoint, stand and pen is also a welcome addition to the kit I was sent. There is a base model that is just the tablet and because of the size, you can get away with just using the on-screen keyboard if needed.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1 fully deployed in landscape mode.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1 in laptop mode.
Calling the X1 Fold 16 a laptop or a tablet isn’t accurate, it’s a system. That’s how you know this experiment has been successful because it has achieved a device that is everything those devices are at any time it’s required but without any real compromise to the user experience. I cannot say the same for other tablet-style machines that also have a keyboard accessory. The internals in the model I was provided were top shelf with a 12th Gen Intel i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM (LPDDR5) and 1TB of storage; everything you would want in a high-end ultrabook. Two Thunderbolt 4 and one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports let you connect whatever you want with the correct adapter, dongle or hub. The two batteries (48 Whr plus an optional 16 Whr based on configuration) give you all day (10-11hrs) battery life for light and moderate tasks. Of course, you will want to keep the charger nearby for heavy lifting as that will tax the battery.
The hardware is impressive, no question. Hardware can be let down by clunky software if it isn’t up to the task. Thankfully, the experience with Windows 11 feels seamless. Logging in with the Windows Hello camera next to a 1080p web camera is the fastest I’ve ever experienced. The optional keyboard has a built-in fingerprint reader just to the right of the spacebar. Rotating the screen, adding the keyboard on top of the bottom half and having the magnets attach are also trivial and do not interrupt the productivity of the user.
Speaking of that keyboard, the TrackPad features a haptic technology where you can adjust the force feedback you get during its use. Good job from the team over at Sensel for producing this TrackPad while respecting the TrackPoint user experience. The TrackPoint buttons were not enabled by default but can be turned on with a quick click and you can adjust the feedback of the TrackPoint button area and TrackPad area independently to be two different experiences making it easy to tell where you are clicking from feel alone. Rounding out the experience is the introduction of the TrackPoint to the X1 Fold family and it comes with the same double-tap menu on the reintroduced Z series where double tapping the top of this iconic red cap gets you a radial menu you can customize.
While the device was delayed to make the improvements above, collecting and responding to that feedback was essential for a product that was going to wear the ThinkPad badge. A compromise here would be fatal for the form factor. As you can see from the images below, some of the testing I did seems to be visible in the report linked above. I would like to think in some small, very tiny way, that I was able to help make this device better. Regrettably, I have not had the pleasure of seeing any newer versions of the device so I cannot weigh into all of the changes and improvements that were made.
The Experience
So the software plays nice with the hardware and the hardware is functional; excellent. What is it like to use?
Coming from my daily driver, my Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano, the X1 Fold 16 is heavy and thicker but I’m completely okay with all of that. It looks and feels like a high-end journal that you might buy as a gift for somebody who is constantly writing notes in little books that go with them everywhere. The fabric-like textured surface that covers most of the X1 Fold 16 is excellent and wears nicely; no fingerprints to be seen. The rubberized Lenovo and ThinkPad X1 logos stick up and feel right at home. It doesn’t feel like any other device or even case for a device I’ve ever used and it gives a sense of quality and durability. The keyboard and stand are covered with an Alcantara-like soft touch fabric as well that you know will be kind to all surfaces it rests against.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1
While opening and closing the X1 Fold 16 takes a bit of getting used to, mainly due to the size and strength of the magnets, I wouldn’t want it any other way. It might have annoyed me at the start but I think that stemmed right from it looking so much like a notebook or journal I wanted it to open up just as easily. You quickly adapt and find different ways to open it when you do not have a surface to put it on first. All of your accessories: stand, keyboard, and pen all attach with magnets to the exterior of the device. The keyboard no longer lives inside so if you want to use it, it is an extra step to detach it and then place it on top of the bottom half of the screen.
The main modes that the X1 Fold 16 is designed to be used are with the tablet on the stand; either portrait or landscape or folded with the keyboard resting on the bottom half. You of course can also use the main device as a book or traditional tablet and leave the accessories packed away. I’ve also learned to enjoy opening the X1 Fold 16 and just using the onscreen keyboard or touch display for quick or casual use, or sometimes I will leave the device folded and use the Bluetooth keyboard beside it while it is folded and leave the stand attached to the keyboard. My eyes don’t seem to mind the crease and in some instances using the stand isn’t ideal.
The User
All this being said, who is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 for? Is it for tablet users? Early adopters of folding technology? Artists, architects and digital pen enthusiasts? Lovers of ultrabooks?
The answer is all of the above but on different days of the week. If some days you need a laptop but other days you want a tablet and others want something in between, the X1 Fold 16 does exactly what you need it to do when you need to. Earlier I called it a “system” because it didn’t work in those other categories and I stand by that. Other form factors have flirted with the concept and even the original X1 Fold tried to achieve that but to me, this is the first real successful attempt. For many this device will be strange and not fit into their workflow naturally, especially if a standard laptop does everything you need. For those that have a more dynamic work environment that has constantly changing demands on their devices and changes to their workflow might be attracted to what the X1 Fold 16 has to offer. The key is each of these form factors has to be useful to the user or the ability for it to transform into that shape and serve that function will not be seen as value-added and will deter you from the steep entry price of ownership of the device.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1
When I travelled to TechWorld 2023, one of my fellow INsiders had his own Yoga Book 9i there and while that device impressed me in person, it was clear that they were adding features post-launch to get it up to speed with expectations, which is not an uncommon occurrence. The hardware was ready, but the software is still being rolled out. I felt the experience with the X1 Fold 16 was considerably more complete in comparison even if some of the hardware was dated. In short, both products have their fans and their niches and I do not believe one is a clear winner over the other in terms of functionality and their intended audience.
The Future?
Everything it sets out to do, it does. Due to the high-end internals and cutting-edge technology, design and engineering of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1, it will command a premium price point and that will mean that it isn’t the device for everyone, yet. Once the technology gets more affordable, I wouldn’t be surprised if this form factor catches on. I would daily drive this form factor, but the version I tested ships currently for approximately $5,000 Canadian without a sale and that keeps it out of my hands for now.
I do hope for price drops in the future and a G2 version with a newer CPU that is perhaps equipped with some AI tools to make this device sing.
2023 has been an interesting year for the channel. Quite a few things got accomplished and nearly just as many have been left in a state of completion that I was hoping were further along than where they are now. It reminds me of the quote: “Life is what happens when you are busy making plans.” I want to start by thanking all viewers and supporters of the channel this year and in years past. The comments, likes, conversations, DMs, Discord messages and more mean so very much to me. Special thanks to those of you who keep me in supply of material through borrows, donations and more. Knowing that this information is valuable to people lights a fire like you cannot imagine and I want you to know that I appreciate each and every single one of you. The events of this year and previous years would not be possible without you.
Regardless, there are a few things I wanted to highlight that happened throughout the year.
Laptopretrospective.com visitor and viewer stats as of December 17, 2023.
The first is just the overall steady growth of this website which serves as a hub for all things channel-related. It also is a repository for the articles I write in place of videos. The other purpose is to report updates or addendums to existing videos where it makes more sense to write it all down versus producing another video that may or may not be adequately discovered. Thanks to everyone who found this site through various avenues and shared the content. I hope it was and continues to be helpful to those who discover it.
#MyYearOnYouTube2023 stats from January to November 30, 2023.
YouTube numbers remained steady this year. Subscriber rates have been consistent throughout the year as have other metrics. Generally speaking, the channel experienced a 10% lull in most statistics compared to previous years. I suspect that is primarily due to a few busy months where I was unable to produce the content I wanted to when I wanted to. There were also a few things that shoved around my release schedule. Another interesting point for my channel is videos on average do much better about 6+ months after they release. That is to say, the videos get more views as they age, except for Shorts of course. Whether that is due to the algorithm or other factors, I’m not sure. I’m not concerned about the current process or content having an impact on this statistic as I’ve historically seen the videos pick up as the topic trends after the creation of the video; sometimes months, even years.
YouTube Studio statistics show that the majority of views are coming from older content.
I’d love to expand a few things with the channel but I’m also aware there are barriers. Time is one of them. The channel is a wonderful hobby that I enjoy but it isn’t a source of income, nor do I seek it out to be one or I’d be doing things very differently. My film space needs work and I have a few ideas but I also know there is a great deal I don’t know so that slows down the process. Editing and thumbnails is also a time sink. All that being said, I have dreams and goals but right now, as a team of one, that is challenging to achieve. The other worth mentioning is the budget. YouTube ad revenue brings in a few hundred a month which goes right back into the channel, often to acquire machines to film and the occasional gear for filming but I’m conscious about how I spend that money. Sponsorships that involve money do not fit the current model or goals I have for the channel and that of course introduces challenges but I’m okay with that. All that being said, the channel marches forward and I hope that you enjoy the content I can produce given my current limitations.
Please enjoy some of the highlights from 2023 I’ve outlined below and here is to an amazing 2024.
January
IBM ThinkPad 350C. This video currently is the oldest ThinkPad that functions in my collection and that I’ve featured on the channel. It was fun to acquire and get it ready to film. It also came with a carrying case and an adapter to let you plug it into a 12V car port.
February
February was quieter as I was deep into testing the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16. Lots of testing and filming happened this month which meant that resources were focused there and not on other areas.
March
Interviewing Dr. Ted Selker. Being able to connect with this genius was a pleasure. Learning about the development of the TrackPoint and his other efforts was amazing and I’m grateful for the time he spent speaking with me.
April
This month I was working on something that is still under wraps for now along with a few other videos. We shall see what the future holds for that project.
May
The Lenovo ThinkPad T430 line is probably one of the most diverse product lines ever fielded under a single-name designation. The article below discusses all the different experiments that occurred. It wasn’t going to be a video as the likelihood of having all those machines under the safe roof again is not high.
Few ThinkPads have such a strange line-up as what made up the T430 family. It contained several machines that prior to it and after that were unique. Out of all of the modern T400 series, there are more unique models in this era than any other. It seems like a lot of experimentation was happening […]
June
Keyboard Talk. I’ve written a lot of ThinkPad keyboards over the years and this article ended up being a summary of many thoughts I had on the subject. The bottom line is, there isn’t a bad ThinkPad keyboard. People will certainly have their preferences but I’ve learned to enjoy them all for different reasons.
A quick way to start a debate One thing that will get long-term ThinkPad users talking is the differences between all of the ThinkPad keyboards and which version is best. This can be a hotly debated topic with a lot of feelings, nostalgia, personal preference and use cases but there are some things I’d like […]
July
Project Monarch. I’d been wanting to talk about the IBM ThinkPad 701c for years. The challenge was twofold: getting a unit operational that I could film and collecting the information on the device. Both were difficult. Finding a working machine within the budget for the channel was tricky and ultimately happened due to collaboration with a viewer like you. Collecting information was something I was finding significant success with and that became its own barrier in a way. I kept learning more and more which meant I knew the full story was not in my grasp so I wasn’t ready to produce the video I wanted to make. Eventually, after years, I got to the point where I could produce the first video and be happy with it.
The goal is to produce more videos in this series as time moves on.
August
There is not much going on in August due to travel and school work. How dull right?
September
Revisiting the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 was something I knew I needed to do. The original Project Kodachi series was a critical turning point for the channel and I cherish that series and what it started with Think Design Stories and interviews in general. Over the years since Project Kodachi, I learned ever more about the X300 and knew supplemental material would be needed. That led to the creation of this article.
When IBM sold their PC division to Lenovo, not all was well with the iconic ThinkPad brand. IBM was losing money and wanted to get rid of the PC arm of the business for several years. ThinkPad was one of the many components that made the purchase of IBM’s PC Division desirable. Towards the end […]
October
Going to Lenovo Tech World was the highlight of October. This was my first in-person technology conference and a wonderful experience. I got to meet a lot of great people and see some awesome excellent technology. The article below contains all the details.
I was able to attend Lenovo Tech World 2023 thanks to my participation in the Lenovo INsiders program. My travel and accommodations were covered and there was no cost to me to go to Austin, Texas. As part of my efforts to ensure 100% transparency, I am disclosing this information at the top of this […]
November
The release of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 G1. I was testing this for several months and had the chance to test two physical devices. It certainly had a longer development cycle than some machines but it was necessary to make sure it was a successful product launch. It did mean I was “sitting” on these videos for quite some time after they were filmed but I was thrilled to be part of this process and I hope it will happen again in the future.
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December
This busy month of real life kept me well away from my film space. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to end the year but that’s the reality sometime. At the very least I wanted to write this article before the year’s end. I was trying to track down a rare ThinkPad to feature on the channel, one that I have been looking for since the first part of this year, the 755CV or 755CDV. I thought I had one and when it arrived, it became clear the whole top case had been replaced with a stock 755 lid meaning the most unique part wasn’t even present. Back to the drawing board.
I was able to attend Lenovo Tech World 2023 thanks to my participation in the Lenovo INsiders program. My travel and accommodations were covered and there was no cost to me to go to Austin, Texas. As part of my efforts to ensure 100% transparency, I am disclosing this information at the top of this article. If you have any questions, please contact me.
An Opportunity
I have never had the opportunity to be invited or attend a technology conference before, so when Lenovo reached out to me through the Lenovo INsiders program to attend Lenovo Tech World 2023 in Austin, Texas on October 24, 2023 it wasn’t a chance that I was going to miss. With the emphasis being placed on Artificial Intelligence, I was intrigued as this is part my of area of interest for my graduate work that I mentioned when I announced that I was attending on my YouTube channel.
For those of you who are not aware, Laptop Retrospective is a hobby so I also had to ensure that I was able to secure time off and thankfully it worked out. With the last box checked, I packed light and headed to Austin, heading in the opposite direction of the Formula 1 traffic that was leaving Austin from the race that happened on the weekend. I passed one of the race teams in the airport when I landed in Austin; their bright yellow emblems caught my eye. It wasn’t just sporty jackets catching my eye as the roster of speakers covered multiple CEOs from the largest and most influential technology companies to key players in the security world, like the CIA’s former director on Cyber Intelligence
I also need to mention that I was not alone. Five of us INsiders were present and every one of them was a kind, welcoming and authentic individual. I was the newest member of the group present, being in the program just less than a year. Without Arthur, Jacqueline, Nikhil and Tom, I know for a fact the trip would not have been as enjoyable. For a very readable and in-depth account of his Lenovo Tech World experience, please consider checking out Arthur’s article . Please also consider checking out Tom’s article for a look at how AI will impact travel as well as his musings on some of the things we saw during our stay in Austin.
Special mention needs to be given to the team from Cycle Media (Thanks Andie, Kelley Anne and Kendra!) and those Lenovo staff (Thanks Hollyn and Taylor!) that took care of us, it was a critical part of enjoying the Tech World experience.
The Lenovo INsiders present at Lenovo Tech World 2023 with CEO Yang Yuanqing. From Left to Right: Arthur Walker, Nikhil Chawla, Yang Yuanqing, Tom Payne, Thomas Rogers, Jacqueline Cromwell
Now, on to the show.
AI for All
For those of you who tuned in live or read any of the press releases, you will know that Lenovo is serious about AI. There was a great deal of discussion and showcase on how AI will impact and equip enterprise users and businesses from large banks to companies that need to crunch huge volumes of data and even your local pub and grocery store. This was all very interesting but the parts that stole the show for me were how AI would be accessible to the individual. For those wishing to see the keynotes and other sessions please click here to watch the recording.
Large Language Models (LLMs) require a great deal of computing power and are not accessible to everyone and certainly not offline. Lenovo aims to change all this by putting AI on your personal devices, allowing it to learn to support you, do it offline and at the same time, safeguard your personal information and data. That last part is mission critical as right now the options for using an AI are either to run a limited model using the computing power you can afford or have locally or take somewhat of a risk and use a model available online that will have varying levels of privacy of that data. While many might wonder about this, large companies value customer data and can utilize it, but there is a limit on what they want to be responsible for keeping on their servers. Any data breaches that place liability on the company are best avoided so in a strange twist, overly personal data is better kept off corporate or public servers for both parties. When it comes to AI, there is a great incentive for larger companies to safeguard your data by not collecting it in the first place.
The keynote opened with an excellent and very appropriate demonstration of Project Libras which showed Brazilian Sign Language being captured in real-time and with the assistance of an AI, spoken and transcribed only a few moments after it was signed. This was followed by several demonstrations and partner announcements.
The demonstrations that I saw via Moto AI and Windows Co-pilot clearly illustrated that Lenovo has the hardware partners to do this work and to do it now. AMD, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Intel and Microsoft made an appearance either virtually or in person. They are keen to take part in the AI-driven future and all of them are looking to Lenovo to deliver. Talk is often called cheap and many organizations have promised an AI-driven future since 2022 but this seemed like the first concrete and tangible step towards that reality and not just speculation.
Project Libras capturing movements and translating them into speech.
A close-up shot of Moto AI running on a Motorola phone not connected to the internet or WiFi.
Presenters at ThinkPads and Motorola devices at the ready to demonstrate AI running on local hardware.
AI running on a ThinkPad versus a public AI.
Show Highlights
Tech World’s focus was on AI so the devices on display were focused on their connection to that central theme which means there weren’t rows and rows of devices to play with and photograph but that does not mean the products there weren’t very, very cool. Quite the opposite in fact as many of them felt like they had a practical and bright future.
Besides the enterprise-level hardware that was being showcased, which was very cool and I’m glad I met up with Rob Herman in person so he could point it out, there were several devices that Lenovo had on the showroom floor for those present to examine.
The Adaptable Motorola phone was probably what got the most attention on stage in terms of demonstrations at least from the INsiders. It utilizes the same flexible display technology present in the RAZR line of phones but allows the phone to bend back using something akin to an accordion hinge. This allowed it to be configured in a variety of modes and positions including that of a wearable wrist-mounted device.
The device was fully functional and not a prop. A few things were lacking that would need to be sorted such as a decent camera. The example we saw had a single selfie camera behind the display which would not be acceptable in the year 2023 so they will need to sort that out if the device is developed to the point of being released. There are also questions around the care of the device including the durability of the screen and how to keep the sustainably sourced fabric back in good condition. Ideally, it would be replaceable/swappable. This would also help the phone be repairable which Lenovo execs are pushing with their other PC-based solutions.
Lexi Valasek showing off the Motorola Adaptable Concept to Arthur Walker and Tom Payne.
The Motorola Adaptable Concept getting ready for a photo op.
I got the chance to see the ThinkPhone and it looked sharp. They had the device configured with Microsoft 365 technology that allowed you to plug the phone directly into a monitor and continue working on your desktop PC remotely. Very slick. It also allowed you to continue to use your phone as you would normally at the same time. In larger enterprise scenarios, it is conceivable that all a workstation could need is a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Everything else would be handled remotely. While I do not know if I will get the chance to use a ThinkPhone, it is nice to see they continue to add features to the device to increase its functionality. That gives confidence that the platform will continue beyond a single generation.
ThinkBook had a concept they called Autobot which uses the older ThinkPad X41T styled hinge in conjunction with an AI-powered camera to track the user and turn and tilt the display to ensure it is always facing you. The Lenovo staff and I discussed the possible uses in a video conferencing scenario and how it may be useful. Like all concepts, we will see if it makes it to production. The durability and longevity of the mechanism will be key points. Regardless, the ThinkBook is becoming a platform for experimentation whether its displays in the palm rest, e-ink dual displays or this Autobot concept.
There was a ThinkVision display that through the use of eye tracking can recreate 3D/VR experiences in front of the monitor without the use of glasses or goggles. Sadly this is not something you can capture on film but it most certainly works. Outside of VR development or 3D rendering work, I am not sure if it has many practical applications, but it was certainly effective and worked as intended. Arthur in his article linked above describes its use case better than I do, give it a read if you haven’t already.
Another honourable mention was Project Chronos which was set up to showcase motion capture capabilities without a complex rigging system or body suit. They had it capturing movements and displaying them on a detailed digital avatar in near real-time complete with facial expressions. I imagine that smaller independent studios to others that want to use motion capture for digital avatars will be waiting eagerly for this device to be released.
Lastly, while it wasn’t a showcase of explicitly Lenovo gear, the racing simulator they had set up was fun. It was an awesome experience as the whole rig not only felt authentic everywhere you physically touched it, but the sensation of tilt and speed was noteworthy. I was discussing with the company that brought the gear that one of their goals is to make racing available to more people and while a rig like the one I tried carries a heavy price tag, the era of eRacing I believe will be on us shortly. After all, eSports is firmly established, so why not eRacing? I would certainly want to give it a go and next time, I might not push the car quite as hard as my German instructor suggested.
Me in the racing simulator getting instructions. Thanks to Arthur Walker for the photo.
Closing Thoughts
Truthfully, Tech World was my first experience of this kind and I hope it is not the last. The people I got to meet, the experiences we shared and the technology I saw, were exciting. I’m looking forward to how AI will integrate into the next generation of devices that we will all use for work and play. As a person who has enjoyed the benefits of Co-pilot for Windows 11 on a preview build, what I saw on October 24th is a clear and positive step forward.
I hope you enjoyed my coverage on X/Twitter and YouTube and I cannot wait until I get to share with you again another such experience.
When IBM sold their PC division to Lenovo, not all was well with the iconic ThinkPad brand. IBM was losing money and wanted to get rid of the PC arm of the business for several years. ThinkPad was one of the many components that made the purchase of IBM’s PC Division desirable. Towards the end of IBM’s ownership, corners and costs were being cut to try and save money where they could and that was starting to hurt what they could do with the newer generations of ThinkPad. It would seem if IBM kept ThinkPad, things were going to get worse, not better.
To learn more about this part of the history of these two companies and a great deal about the topic of this article, the ThinkPad X300, you need to learn more about Steve Hamm’s book, “The Race for Perfect.”
David Churbuk (VP of Global Digital Marketing at Lenovo from 2005 through 2010) recalls the atmosphere in a blog post he wrote for the 25th anniversary of ThinkPad. We are fortunate that David Churbuk wrote about these experiences so we can look back at them as part of a historical record:
Lenovo was a complete unknown when it was formed in 2005. Today it is number one in the market, ahead of Dell and HP. The name “Lenovo” was coined by an expensive brand consultant and always evoked an image of a French anti-cellulite lotion in my word-warped mind. The company was a partially state-owned enterprise that dominated the Chinese market for computers but was utterly unknown in the rest of the world. Lenovo launched in the hope of becoming one of China’s first true global brands and do for the country’s reputation what Sony and Toyota had done for Japan in the late 1960s, and Samsung, LG and Hyundai had done for South Korea in the 1980s — become a premier status brand associated with innovation and high-concept design and dispel the image of China being a low-cost, low-quality producer of dreck.
The negative sentiment expressed by the ThinkPad faithful towards Lenovo was intense, verging on racism. As I read the comments on the gadget blogs like Gizmodo and the independent ThinkPad forums, I discovered a cult of over-weening, obsessive, compulsive and paranoid cultists who knew down to the penny the precise bill of materials that comprised a ThinkPad almost as well as David [Hill]’s own staff. Each and every new ThinkPad released by Lenovo in 2006 was scrutinized by the horde for signs of cost-cutting or diminished quality. The rubber feet under the case. The feel of the rubberized paint on the lid. The fit and finish. The decals….The faithful were skeptical and on high alert.
In terms of timelines and based on the reading, research and interviews I’ve done over the years, the cost-cutting and outsourcing of manufacturing were happening often during the last of the IBM years. Examples of this can be seen through the changes in materials, designs and even the cost-saving decision for the ThinkLight to be amber since those LEDs were cheaper. Several models were being produced by Acer, LG and Lenovo rather than in-house by IBM. When the transition occurred, Lenovo understandably had a lot to learn about being a large designer and manufacturer of PCs in a global market. That is a significant jump for a company to make. It wasn’t perfect and neither was what they were handed.
So when it came time for Lenovo to build their own ThinkPad from the ground up without IBM, they needed to get it right. They had to prove to the world that they knew what they were doing and could do just as good or better than IBM. For this next part of the story, I recommend if you haven’t already viewed the Project Kodachi video series on my YouTube channel to get a better understanding of the context that brought about the ThinkPad X300.
Laptop Mag in 2008 named David Hill, the chief designer of the ThinkPad X300, #19 on their 25 Most Influential People in Mobile Technology for his work on the ThinkPad X300 and compared it favourably against the rival of the time, the MacBook Air. Contrary to popular belief, the X300 was well into development by the time the Air was announced and was not created in response to the efforts of Apple. That myth came about as a result of the direct comparisons drawn at the time.
From David Hill’s archives, a photograph of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 fitting inside of an inter-office envelope.
This comparison and rivalry would extend to the ThinkPad X301 and the sleek black box did well when compared to other machines of the day:
Apple came out with the MacBook Air — an incredibly thin, sexy and largely impractical notebook, while Lenovo brought out the ThinkPad X300, which shared the Air’s size but otherwise was almost the polar opposite. The X300 wasn’t anywhere near as attractive but was a product you could truly live on, being vastly more practical. The X301 improves on the X300, having more performance and the option of an amazingly fast 128-GB hard drive. I’m a huge fan of these solid state drives; they are dead quiet, use little power and have blindingly fast read rates. Unfortunately, they are also very expensive, but darned if they aren’t worth it.
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The MacBook Air is arguably the most attractive notebook in the market, while the X301 is the closest to overall perfection. The market tends to favor appearance over practicality at the moment, but the true perfect laptop would be one that was as good looking as the Air and as practical as the X301. We’ll see if Apple or Lenovo gets there first.
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Lenovo’s X301 is arguably the closest thing to notebook perfection, but if sales volumes are to reflect this, it will need to improve its appearance and find an economically more attractive entry price. In the end, however, this is all about choice — and Apple, Dell and Lenovo are providing ever-more-interesting ones. Being a fan of choice, that has to be a good thing.
A Lenovo ThinkPad T430s and X1 Carbon Gen 3. Both owe some of their design language to the X300.
The ThinkPad X300 launched a new era of ThinkPads. It would lead to the creation of the ThinkPad X1 and the first ThinkPad X1 Carbon which is the industry standard for a business laptop. The DNA and design of the ThinkPad X300 would be transformed in the X1 series but would continue with a few changes in the emergence of the ThinkPad T400s and subsequent T410s, T420s and T430s models. The location of the ports and features of the device would harken back to the layout first configured on the ThinkPad X300. David Churbuk seems to agree:
Ah ….. This thing took all the glory of our X300 — the notebook Businessweek called the Perfect PC — and puts it into a serious heatseeker of a laptop. You can, if you are inclined to spend the big dollars, make this thing behave like a serious workstation. Configure it with a big SSD drive, max the RAM and you’re talking one of the most powerful laptops ever conceived. Super thin, and loaded. I could see toting this around for the next two years with never a regret.
Google Translate: How can you make a great notebook PC even better? ・Further improve the functions of the T series ・Equipped with new technology developed for X300 ・The thinnest and lightest in the series ・Inherits the features of the excellent T series ・Reduction of system price 14-inch 1440×900 WXGA+ LED-backlit LCD with wide display area Optical drive with a height of 9.5mm ・Blu-ray, DVD super multi-drive Uses a standard voltage processor with excellent performance (25W) Extensibility with new docking station Mini Dock Ⅲ Original Image: Marasu Kamikura
Without the creation of the ThinkPad X300, it is uncertain if Lenovo would have the success it has enjoyed with the ThinkPad brand. While the X1 Carbon and T series often steal the show in terms of most popular choices for a quality business laptop, neither would be where they are today without the ThinkPad X300.
One thing that will get long-term ThinkPad users talking is the differences between all of the ThinkPad keyboards and which version is best. This can be a hotly debated topic with a lot of feelings, nostalgia, personal preference and use cases but there are some things I’d like to start with and that is, you are allowed to like them both for different reasons and both have their strengths. When I say “both” what I mean is what most people will talk about and that is the difference between the six-row and seven-row keyboards. There are many that will state that the “classic” or seven-row keyboard remains superior to the six-row or “island” style modernized version. Specific groups will target different models of the seven-row keyboard all the way back to the buckling sleeve M6 and M6-1 variants and if you are getting lost already, you may want to visit Sharktastica’s excellent website on keyboards. This article isn’t designed to make you change your opinion one way or the other, but to provide some information that I have found is often left out of the conversation. Hopefully, you will learn at least one new thing reading this information to either bolster or steel your existing argument or perhaps make you ask some questions.
The “classic” seven-row keyboard is a much-loved keyboard for several reasons, some of which are:
The number of rows of keys,
The dedicated keys that are removed or repurposed,
The switch type,
The key shape,
The key travel.
The “classic” seven-row ThinkPad keyboard as seen on the ThinkPad T420s. Note the square-shaped keys, additional row and blue-coloured enter button.
Some of the above are objective preferences and others will be more subjective in nature but before we dive far into the weeds, I’ll mention this isn’t even the first time I’ve written about ThinkPad keyboards. I strongly suggest you read my first article which looks at a scientific study on key travel that is related to this conversation as it helps shed some light on why we favour certain keyboards over others using ThinkPad keyboards as a test case.
This article was made possible by the excellent and very interesting study linked below. Coppola, Sarah M., Philippe C. Dixon, Boyi Hu, Michael Y.C. Lin, and Jack T. Dennerlein. 2019. “Going Short: The Effects of Short-Travel Key Switches on Typing Performance, Typing Force, Forearm Muscle Activity, and User Experience.” Journal of Applied Biomechanics 35 (2): 149–56. https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jab/35/2/article-p149.xml […]
IBM did it before Lenovo
While working on this article, Admiral Shark of Sharkastica, the excellent keyboard website I mentioned at the start of the article, pointed out that IBM was releasing several ThinkPads with six-row keyboard designs before the modern version was even released on the X1. ThinkPads like the IBM ThinkPad 500 and 300C keyboards for example featured six rows. In that regard, the six-row configuration has been around since the beginning. It was certainly not as common as the seven-row design that was found on the flagship models, but there is an undeniable history of six rows present essentially from the beginning.
Christopher Ross Hind, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
The Reception and Development of the Modern Six-Row
The more modern six-row ThinkPad keyboard as shipped on the T430s. Note the removal of the ‘IBM’ blue and ThinkVantage text. The island-style keys have spaces between them, but the key shape on the top remains largely unchanged. More modern versions see the removal of the physical buttons above the keyboard with the exception of the power button.
When the new island-style keyboard launched on the ThinkPad X1 in May 2011, it caused quite a stir, so much so that it was addressed in a blog post in July of 2012 trying to explain all of the hard work that went into the design and function of the keyboard. One particular Question and Answer stands out for the level of testing that went into developing the new keyboard:
“We often conduct different evaluations and user tests to maintain or improve the ThinkPad keyboard. However, to determine if and how we would make the changes to our keyboard in 2012, we embarked on one of the most in-depth keyboard studies ever conducted for ThinkPad. We did 350 hours of user testing with people in four countries. With each participant, we conducted 90- to 120-minute one-on-one interviews with hands-on use of different keyboard conditions to understand the latest about keyboard use and design preferences.”
Change Is Hard: Why You Should Give In to the New ThinkPad Keyboard by Gavin O’Hara
As an aside, the X1 is the spiritual successor to the X301/X300 line of ultrabooks and would evolve into the extremely popular X1 Carbon lineup. In 2019, I got to take a look at an X1 in the video below.
Thanks to Marasu Kamikura, we have some insights as to why the change was made to the six-row keyboard. It turns out that the dedicated keys were being used less and less so they wanted to consolidate the spaces to reduce the overall footprint of the keyboard to make room for other components. Other details about how the laptop closed, TrackPoint height, screen bezels and other design decisions are detailed in the images below. You can click on each image to see a Google Translate version of the text from this briefing on the X1 and the new keyboard. If any readers can provide a better translation, please reach out. I’ve also included a quote from the article above that mentioned the movement of these keys to their new home and how long it takes on average to adjust. All this to say; as users evolved and software changed, so too must the devices we use.
6 row keyboard
We reconsidered the functions required on the key top.
Even in the business scene, the frequency of using legacy functions (PrtSc, ScrLk, Pause,
SysReq. NumLk, Break, etc.) is decreasing year by year. We believe that 7 columns will not be essential for
business mobile PCs in the future.
We thought it was time to reconsider the weighting of each element in a space-limited product
like a mobile PC.
A 6-row keyboard reduces the footprint and weight, and expands the possibility of creating more mobile-specific
value, such as contributing to thinness and lightness. We are aiming to increase the appeal of this product as a comprehensive product.
Recently, the use of pads has spread. It has come to be able to recognize multiple fingers. We adopted a click pad that achieves both a wide pad area and a comfortable click, as well as a simple appearance.
Pleasant key feeling
■ Quiet and comfortable key sound
1. Reduce rattling between pantographs and keycaps, pantographs and
aluminum base plates, and suppress wobble of keycaps.
2. The plastic decorative frame is thermally welded to the aluminum base plate and integrated to increase
the rigidity of the aluminum plate and suppress vibration.
3. Provide a hook on the side of the keyboard to hold down the float on the side.
4. 2 and 3 increase the rigidity of the KBD, and it sticks tightly to the housing,
reducing floating.
ThinkPad X1 Keyboard LED backlight
■ Mounting the LED in the center contributes to slimming down by
consolidating protruding parts.
Coexistence of thinness and robustness
■Wide rubber is placed all around
■LCD is fixed only to Gorilla Glass
Features of Gorilla Glass
■Reduce damage to LCD/glass by maintaining space with palm rest
■ The LCD is reinforced by integrating the deformation of the LCD and
Gorilla Glass.
■ Pinpoint stress from the palm rest and track point.
Diffuses air and reduces damage to LCD
Achieves thinness while maintaining robustness
Improved keyboard feel
■ The keyboard is firmly fixed to the base
it’s important
■ Fixed machine inside the isolation type add structure
“We have seen end-users comfortably adjust to these changes in less than an hour. Depending on personal use of these functions, other users may require a bit more time for the change to feel natural. However, this reset has occurred for every end-user in our extensive testing, typically with an ultimate preference for the new layout over the old. Legacy functions like Pause, Break and Scroll Lock are no longer overtly labelled on key tops, but remain accessible via key combinations using the Fn key (e.g., Fn+P = Pause).”
Change Is Hard: Why You Should Give In to the New ThinkPad Keyboard by Gavin O’Hara
A further connection to ThinkPad heritage
A promotional photo of the Lenovo Skylight showing off the keyboard.
But there exists a connection to the origins of the ThinkPad brand and this newer design that most fans are not aware of and for that, we need to talk about Skylight. Skylight deserves its own deeper dive so I won’t summarize it all here but for the purposes of this article, one should know that device was where this new keyboard was first tested and it makes perfect sense. Both the original ThinkPad and Skylight were designed by Richard Sapper.
Skylight at CES 2010 Photo by Masaru Kamikura. Note the “D” shaped keys on the keyboard.
The keyboard present on the Skylight prototypes and demo models was close to the original wooden prototype ThinkPad that was constructed by Richard Sapper in the early 90s. He referred to these as “D” shaped keys. David Hill discussed this in his blog back in October 2013 which can be found on the Wayback Machine, pictures included.
What I would like to call attention to in this blog is something embodied in Sapper’s work that never quite made it to market on the original ThinkPad 700c. Richard imagined a new key shape that would have a unique contour and profile. He described it as a “D” shape. The intent was to cradle the finger and create a human-oriented soft form that would contrast the strict rectilinear geometry of ThinkPad.
—
The latest ThinkPad keyboard we introduced on products such as the X1 Carbon actually has a key shape reminiscent of this 20+-year-old concept. I made a push to simplify and purify the visual expression of ThinkPad, and I thought the time was right to finally dust off the “D”-shaped key. It took months of hard work, experimentation and analysis to develop and tune the final key shape and relevant force curves. I feel confident that we finally harnessed Sapper’s original intent for our latest ThinkPad designs.
While Skylight would not make it to market, being cancelled six months later its announcement at CES, the keyboard lives on and was introduced on the ThinkPad X1. Taken all together, the six-row modern keyboard has just as much right to be called a ThinkPad keyboard as the seven-row, possibly even more given the connections to its past.
Playing favourites and Retro resurrection
So getting back to the heart of our discussion around ThinkPad keyboards, there is history in every keyboard that has graced the ThinkPad design and they all have good pedigree and merit to their design. As for which is ultimately superior will always be a question riddled with subjectivity right down to the manufacturer of each iteration. Yes, one model or version of a keyboard is often made by several different companies and sometimes small variances end up existing enough though they are supposed to be all built to the same specifications. Some users will even report a different feeling of key presses between backlit and non-backlit variants.
The classic seven-row keyboard did have one last triumph that should be mentioned and that of course is the ThinkPad T25.
The retro-style keyboard that was included on the ThinkPad T25 anniversary model. This keyboard can also be retrofitted to a T480 with modifications.
When David Hill was working on designing the T25, the 25th anniversary ThinkPad, a poll was conducted on the type of keyboard that people wanted to see in that model and unsurprisingly, a retro keyboard was preferred for a retro-styled machine. Considering this machine was being built to harken back to the past, it was appropriate that this specialized keyboard was commissioned for the T25. One should be careful though not to read the data below as an overall preference between the two designs as this device was targeted at a specific group of people and not a wide-scale product. That data would look very different. Needless to say, it is well-loved by many people. As time moves on, fewer and fewer will make this comparison as the older keyboard becomes rarer.
One thing is certain in my mind and that is ThinkPads have the best keyboards when compared to any other laptop brand on the market and that is not a surprise to me. When you have spent over 30 years making laptop keyboards, you are going to know a lot about how to do it correctly. That isn’t even counting the years of research IBM did on typewriters and how that research would have bled over to the typing experience in the early days of notebooks. So whether you prefer six or seven rows, backlight or not, picking a ThinkPad keyboard is always a winning move. As for me, I enjoy both keyboards and use them frequently. While this article will likely not change anyone’s mind on such a longstanding and polarizing issue, I hope that it might help inform the conversation better and potentially change some of the language used in those conversations.
Few ThinkPads have such a strange line-up as what made up the T430 family. It contained several machines that prior to it and after that were unique. Out of all of the modern T400 series, there are more unique models in this era than any other. It seems like a lot of experimentation was happening during this time and that seems to line up with all of the different features, and chassis variants that we see in the T430 lineup.
Let’s unpack what is on the table. The following models make up the line:
T430
T430s
T431s
T430u
T530 (Honourable mention as it is the same generation)
As you can see, some normal contenders like the T430 and T530 make up the 14″ and 15″ models respectively. The T430s was also a common sight since the T400 introduced the “s” suffix to the T series. However, the T431s and T430u are exceptionally unique, both in how common they are and what they brought in terms of design to ThinkPad.
The T430
Possibly one of the most loved ThinkPads of the 2010s, this ThinkPad was one of the last ones that allowed you to upgrade the CPU and other key components. It would inherit most of its design elements from the T420 with the exception of the newer style keyboard replacing the classic seven-row. The x30 series also came equipped with both the ThinkLight and the new backlit keyboard option, being the only generation to feature both on one machine. The T430 was the only of the family with the exception of the T530 to be socketed for the CPU allowing for easier upgrades. This caused quite a ruckus among some fans of the 7-row, but ultimately it prevailed. To learn more, check out this article and the video below:
This article was made possible by the excellent and very interesting study linked below. Coppola, Sarah M., Philippe C. Dixon, Boyi Hu, Michael Y.C. Lin, and Jack T. Dennerlein. 2019. “Going Short: The Effects of Short-Travel Key Switches on Typing Performance, Typing Force, Forearm Muscle Activity, and User Experience.” Journal of Applied Biomechanics 35 (2): 149–56. https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jab/35/2/article-p149.xml […]
The T430s
The T430s is a lighter and slimmer version of the standard T430. It had less in common with its bigger, more modular brother. Battery life was a bit of a challenge since it maxed out at 44Wh. The machine thankfully can take an UltraBay Slim battery to help with the battery life. It also featured a carbon-fibre-hybrid lid with a magnesium base and roll cage to help with durability. As I mentioned above, the “s” suffix all started with the T400s which has a lot in common visually with the X300 and X301 right down to the battery construction and placement and port selection. While I have featured the X300 and X301 in Project Kodachi, I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing a T400s.
The T431s
Probably the most controversial model in the T430 family, this machine introduced several changes that would be loved by some and vilified by others. The complete redesign reportedly took about nine months to complete. It was released after the T430u and was the thinnest in the T series lineup to that point. It removed the ThinkLight, introduced a new keyboard layout, introduced the ClickPad with the integrated TrackPoint buttons, only one RAM slot and overall had the beginnings of the design that the T440 and onward would take. With one RAM slot, 12GB is the maximum RAM possible on these machines. Web cameras, fingerprint readers and backlit keyboards were also optional. It is worth noting that the T431s and T430u listed below are the only two machines that do not have support for the 1vyrain BIOS mod. Like the T430u, it also sports an internal battery pack and no Optical Drive Bay.
The T430u
If the T431s was a leap into the unknown the T430u was the frontier before it. While it had many new features, it maintained just as many but with slight tweaks and variations. For example, it still has a ThinkLight, but one, unlike any other ThinkPad. It has no backlit keyboard option at all. Like the T431s it had no display hooks. It also had no docking port, optical drive or traditional roll cage found on the T430. One of my favourite features has to be the removable base plate. It is also the first T series that featured an aluminum display lid. It had a larger ClickPad than the other T series devices of the era.
The T530
Of course, the T530 is the 15-inch version of the same era, but it has more in common with the W530 than the T430 series. It even shares the same Hardware Maintenance Manual with the W530 and T530i.
Which is your favourite?
There are lots of different and interesting models in this line-up, which is your favourite and why? Feel free to reach out and chat about this article on Twitter or Mastodon if you prefer.
