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Lenovo has refreshed their entire ThinkPad lineup for 2012, bringing Intel's 3rd-generation Core processors to bear on their business-centric hardware. Lenovo's entire refreshed lineup packs Intel's Ivy Bridge CPUs, USB 3.0, and the company's new Thinkpad Precision Keyboard.
We had a chance to get some hands-on time with these machines recently, and the revamped keyboard doesn't disappoint. It offers the comfortable, accurate typing experience we've come to expect from Lenovo's wares, coupled with optional backlighting. Lenovo is also including the latest version of their Enhanced Experience platform — version 3.0 adds the latest iteration of Lenovo's RapidBoot and BootShield technologies, which promises to keep boot times under 30 seconds. Lenovo's Rapid Charge technology makes its debut on some units; Lenovo claims it will charge a laptop's battery up to about 80 percent in as little as 30 minutes. Some models will also offer 4G mobile connectivity. On to the PCs!
In the L series, we have the 14-inch ThinkPad L430, and the 15-inch ThinkPad L530, which offer up to 2GB of discrete graphics. The L series also includes Lenovo's RapidCharge technology, and Lenovo claims it will deliver up to 9.5 hours of battery life. The L430 and L530 will start at $879.
The revamped ThinkPad Precision Keyboard does not disappoint
The Lenovo ThinkPad T series offers up the 14-inch T430 and 430s, and the 15-inch T530. These offer up to 30 hours of battery life (with the optional slice battery), as well as including a 720p HD camera, with face tracking; the T430 starts at $879. The T430s offers Thunderbolt ports on its Ivy Bridge Core i7-variant, high-definition display options; it's also the lightest 14-inch ThinkPad laptop — it starts at $1,399.
The ThinkPad W530 is the largest of the bunch, clocking in at just under six pounds. It's intended to be a mobile workstation, and will offer a quad-core Intel Ivy Bridge CPU, up to 32GB of RAM, RAID 0 or RAID 1 storage configurations, and an Nvidia Quadro GPU. Models start at $1,529.
The ThinkPad X230 and X230T round out the pack. Both weigh less than three pounds, pack a 12.5-inch IPS display, and are among the first ThinkPads to offer 4G mobile broadband connectivity. The X230T doubles as a convertible tablet, with a display that folds down flat onto the keyboard, and includes a stylus that stows into the notebook's base. The X230 starts at $1,179, while the X230T starts at $1,479.
If you'd like a bit more USB 3.0-equipped room to grow, Lenovo is offering the ThinkPad Series 3 USB 3.0 dock. It offers five USB 3.0 ports, dual DVI video-out ports, and gigabit Ethernet.
Lenovo also showed off its refreshed IdeaPad U310 and U410 ultrabooks, in addition to its gamer-friendly Y series latops, and Z-series mutimedia machines: get another look at them in this gallery.
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