Lenovo ThinkPad X250
by Jarred Walton on January 4, 2015 10:33 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Lenovo
- ThinkPad
- Trade Shows
- Ultrabook
- CES 2015
- Broadwell-U
There’s a theme with the Lenovo updates being announced today: in most cases, the new models are similar to the previous generation, only now with Intel’s Broadwell-U processors in place of Haswell-U. The ThinkPad X250 continues that trend, supporting up to Core i7 Broadwell-U processors.
Of course the big draw of the X250 is that it boasts more battery life than any other laptop I know of with the same battery capacity. Equipped with the 72Wh 6-cell battery (in addition to the built-in 3-cell 23.2Wh battery), the X250 is rated at up to 20 hours of battery life. As with the X1 Carbon, that’s a nice increase compared to the previous model that was rated at 17.4 hours. The touchpad has also returned to the previous design, with dedicated left/right buttons at the top (for use with the TrackPoint), which is sure to please many that disliked the changes made with the X240.
Screen options are the same as before: 1366x768, 1366x768 Premium IPS, or FullHD IPS. Memory still comes courtesy of a single SO-DIMM slot (8GB max), storage options consist of up to 512GB SSD or 1TB HDD, and the weight and dimensions appear to be unchanged as well. Pricing and availability have not been announced but the X250 should occupy the same MSRP bracket as the X240 (which is now on sale).
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Penti - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
Do a convertible tablet version with digitizer/wacom with this like the old X-series. Otherwise there is not much point in keeping them around. X1 Carbon already caters to the ultraportable space.satai - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
2.5"HDD, replaceable battery, classical dockability...MrSpadge - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
That sounds like an updated version of the Helix.. which probably didn't sell well due to the high price.Penti - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
No, look at the older models like X230t, X220t, X200t. Not awkward detach plus flip or flip-over versions (Yoga) latter without active digitizer. The touch functionality is obviously mostly for business use and for quick sketching. It has no real use as a stand alone slate, and older X-tablet series did support docking stations.@satai, sure it has it's merits too but on the X1 you got the ugly onelink dock too. Should be available in tablet version too as the older models still when it comes to the X-series, I think. Otherwise they could help the series out by supporting more ram.
GeekyITGuy - Saturday, January 17, 2015 - link
I must disagree. While the X1 Carbon caters to ultraportable space, it caters to those business folks that go to a 90 minute meeting down the hall and then plug back in. The x250 gives you glorious unplugged time (tons of it). Until Intel rolls out their wireless charging vision (and we begin to have wireless charging hitting us everywhere that networking currently does), there is room for a device that can go the distance unplugged. I run an x230 on SSD and love it for it's battery life. I liked the hot swappable battery concept of the x240, but passed on buying one because of the crappy mouse configuration. The x250 is going to be my next go-to device. I just hope the docking stations they are using these days (the one for my x230 worked great) are going to perform, as the x250 with multiple docks will be my laptop, work desktop and home computer. Now if only I could get 16 GB of memory in it, I'd have nothing to complain about...Krysti_Fallon - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
I think it's just a matter of time until the ThinkPad steals the MacBook's glory. Since Steve Jobs has passed, Apple costumers have been having so many problems with their products that Apple is starting to lose costumers to competition. The company is going in a direction that Steve Jobs would never have pursued, making things like detoxmymac.org very useful with getting your MacBook back to the fast speed it was functioning at before. The ThinkPad and other Microsoft products usually come installed with protective software, so it's sad that Apple isn't keeping up with the Joneses.gw74 - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
er, aren't "U" processors slower than the M in my 2012 X230?JarredWalton - Monday, January 5, 2015 - link
They're lower power, yes, and depending on the CPUs in question they may be clocked slower. Standard voltage parts tend to not throttle as much (as they have 35W or more thermal headroom), but I've noticed with Haswell-U at least that most laptops can run the CPU at full Turbo Boost all the time. There are almost certainly exceptions, but the better OEMs are able to effectively cool 17W without overheating or throttling.crazynightowl - Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - link
WHat I don't understand is why Lenovo put a "U" part in the L450. In its prior incarnation, the L440, it used to be a poor man's T440 with an i5 4300M, and since the CPU wasn't even soldered, you could upgrade it to an i7 47** or 48** - those are relatively cheap on e-bay from Chinese sellers. Now I guess it's either soldered or another socket, and of course you can't buy a full-power Broadwell chip on ebay yet. Anyone still need computing power, or just more battery life and cloud applications?pablolie - Wednesday, March 11, 2015 - link
i just received my X250. first thing i did was disable the trackpad, since it gets in the way of typing. :-) i like the HD touchscreen. it comes handy in presentations. i also like the thinner design and metal feeling.i was surprised by the fact the new i7 CPu scored identically in WEI compared to the old i5 i have in my X220. and the graphics part isn't that much more powerful either. not that WEI is the ultimate benchmark, but still weird.
all in all it seems i am resisting to move over my stuff from my X220 (which has provided me with excellent service) to the X250, but it shall happen over the next week...