All across the tech world, the appetite for wireless devices continues to grow. But going wireless requires tradeoffs. As I sit here typing on my ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint, I cannot help but ponder how things would be different if this accessory was wireless. I sat deep in thought until all of a sudden, it hit me. If we went wireless, the Trackpoint, which is a current rubber analog device, would quickly drain the battery. Since I love my TrackPoint, living without it in order to go wireless with efficient power hold would be a BIG problem. This issue opened my eyes to the broader discussion of product development. The TrackPoint used in the Tablet folio is optical instead of rubber, and of course, wireless. I wonder how the two compare – unfortunately, I have not had a chance to put the two next to each other and see how the Tablet optical TrackPoint compares to the rubber TrackPoint on the beloved ThinkPad. Although it is not in the plans to replace the rubber with optical TrackPoint, this may be something to think about. It would be great to know if anyone has had a chance to work with both the rubber TrackPoint and optical to compare the pros of each. One other possible way to make the keyboard wireless is to increase the battery size. But the tradeoff is that batteries increase thickness and weight, which could limit travel. This increase in weight may not bother me, but I am sure others may have complaints. I have come to realize that a...

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We are very fortunate at Lenovo these days.  In addition to growing our market share we are also growing our employee base.   So I dediced to tap into that growth and talk to one of our newest option and accessory new hires.   Chad's feedback was great, so I've decided to incorporate it into a blog. From Chad:   I’m new to Lenovo’s Options Team, but I’ve been a user and consumer of backpacks, laptop cases, mice, keyboards and the like for decades. Now, as part of my initiation I’ve be able to test drive many of Lenovo’s offerings. Let me tell you which are my top do-more options.   19+ Slice Battery - Never in a million years would I have thought my top computer accessory would be a battery, but I’m a convert. My first real life experience with this trim offering was on an international flight with a poor movie section. The 19+ Slice, when coupled w/ my X220’s internal battery, gave me all-flight computing; allowing me to work and play from wheels up to wheels down. What’s more, I move around the office quite a bit, going from floor to floor for meetings. The 19+ Slice makes me the envy of my power-cord-schlepping colleagues who fight for the last remaining outlet in the conference room. The marginal amount of height and weight the 19+ Slice adds to my PC is easily worth being able to avoid the corded cage match. ThinkPad Ultrabase Series 3 - As a child my...

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Intel SSD

Ann Mahdy is a Communicatons and Public Relations Manager for Lenovo A few years ago, Solid State Drives started appearing in laptops. Costs were high and capacity was low, and most of the industry stuck with good old-fashioned Hard Disk Drives. Now that it’s 2012, it’s time to rethink the drives you and your customers are using. After all, HDD has been around for a long time (since 1956) so it is not surprising that there is a new drive on the block. So what is the difference between the two drives? To assist in sorting this out we posed a number of questions to Annabelle Thuan, Lenovo SMB Marketing Manager. AM: What is the difference between SSD and HDD? AT: The main difference in the technology is that solid state is a flash-based storage and has no moving parts, while hard disk drives are electromechanical and have a moving component called a spinning platter. As you might expect, with no moving pieces, SDD is more reliable and durable because it can better absorb shock from laptops’ bumps and drops. The other big difference is speed. SSD is much faster because it is NAND memory. This means that data can be located instantaneously by address. HDD, on the other hand, has a two-step process to access the information. The first is that it needs to “seek” the right track on the disk, and the second is that it needs to spin to the right part of the track. This causes a slight delay compared to solid states. Side by Side...

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IdeaPad A1 Tablets

It’s officially down to crunch time to finalize your holiday shopping list. Still haven’t found everything you need? Have no fear, Lenovo has a true cornucopia of stocking-stuffer toys to please everyone on your list. The Little Tablet That Impresses The IdeaPad A1 tablet has been turning a lot of heads – it’s a mere 7 inches, comes in four fun colors (black, white, blue and pink) and has all of the fun multimedia capabilities you  want on an Android tablet. Plus, the price is just right starting at only $249. Accessorizing Your Tablet Keep your new ThinkPad Tablet warm, cozy and clean with one of our tablet cover sleeves or cases. ThinkPad Tablet case sleeve – Sleek, soft and designed to fit your ThinkPad Tablet perfectly, this neoprene constructed sleeve is just $17.99.

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USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive

New ThinkPad 500GB & 750GB USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive Offers More Storage & Faster Data Transfer Mark Cadiz manages Lenovo’s options, helping customers get the most value out of their PCs by leveraging a full portfolio of devices. His previous product, the USB 2.0 Secure Hard Drive, has become a customer favorite for its simplicity, security and cool factor. In this post, he debuts the new and improved USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive. Companies today are concerned about how to secure mobile storage devices, especially since the ramifications of losing a portable hard drive with sensitive or personal customer information are damaging from a legal, financial (think about Sarbanes-Oxley or HIPAA) and reputational standpoint. We created the original USB 2.0 Secure Hard Drive to make information-sharing within a corporation easy, yet highly secure. The Secure HDD has been crucial for government, health care, insurance companies, financial institutions, HR departments and executives with sensitive data. Today, we’re upgrading this James Bondish tool to one with larger storage and faster USB 3.0 data transfer with the USB 3.0 Secure Hard Drive. While easy to use, first and foremost, we wanted to make sure it maintains the highest levels of security by: Incorporating a National...

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