ThinkPad Mobile Workstations Gain Intel Core i7 Processors (
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The Lenovo W701ds adds Intel Core i7 Series processors and Nvidia Quadro
graphics to the 17-inch ThinkPad, a double-screen mobile workstation that was
already loaded with optional enhancements for specialized graphics
applications. Mobile professionals who must process compute-intensive workloads
while on location should consider the ThinkPad W701ds. For those who need
exacting display calibration in a smaller form, Lenovo released the 15.5-inch
touch-screen ThinkPad W510, also equipped with the latest Intel processors.
The ThinkPad W701ds goes above and beyond by including a second, slide-out
10.6-inch monitor that is built into a pocket door behind the 1920-by-1200-pixel, 17-inch main display. The second, pop-out monitor makes
the ThinkPad W701ds a portable display powerhouse packed into a luggable
frame.
Without any extra components, including additional hard drives, the
ThinkPad W701ds starts out at 8.97 pounds not including the power supply. My
tricked-out test unit weighed just a hair over 11 pounds. To put system weight
in perspective, the ThinkPad W701ds is in the same ballpark as other thick and
heavy competitors. The real comparison is with a desktop unit that can easily
weigh 40 pounds or more.
As is customary in a mobile workstation of this caliber, the ThinkPad W701ds
comes with one of just about everything. My test system was equipped with two
quad-core Intel Core i7 X920 2GHz processors and 8GB of 1333MHz DDR3
(double data rate 3) RAM and a nine-cell lithium
ion battery. Both Lenovo systems started shipping on Feb. 23.
The ThinkPad
W701ds primary display is a WUXGA anti-glare RGB
LED backlight component capable of 280 nits (brightness) with a 600:1 contrast
ratio and 100 percent color gamut with a built-in screen color calibration
system. The system has one ExpressCard/34, one compact flash Type I slot, a
multicard reader, one USB 3.0 port, three USB
2.0 ports (one powered) and one USB
2.0/eSATA (external Serial ATA) combo port. There are a plenty of connectors
for external monitors, including a standard VGA, a DVI-D
and a DisplayPort. In addition to the standard RJ-45 network port and IEEE 1394
FireWire 400 (the smaller, four-pin connector), the system also comes with an
RJ-11 modem port. Overall, this exceeds the number and variety of ports offered
by competitive systems.
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