ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25: Limited Edition ThinkPad Goes Retro
by Brett Howse on October 5, 2017 8:30 AM EST
As part of its celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ThinkPad lineup, Lenovo is launching a limited-edition ThinkPad Anniversary Edition 25. It feels like Lenovo might have an issue with this though, because ThinkPad loyalists are all going to want one of these exclusive devices. It features a retro look, along with some of the retro capabilities that ThinkPad has always been known for, but all built on a modern version of the device.
The original ThinkPad 700C was announced on October 5, 1992. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s already been that long. The ThinkPad name is still going strong, 25 years later, and it was only back at CES in 2015 that Lenovo had on display the 100 millionth ThinkPad ever produced.
The Retro ThinkPad offers a backlit 7-row ThinkPad classic keyboard, which the more traditional blue enter key, and of course a TrackPoint. There are dedicated volume keys, and status LEDs that tend to be missing on newer devices. The Thinkpad logo is also the more traditional multicolored version.
Under the covers, the Anniversary Edition 25 is based on the T470 laptop, and features a Core i7-7500U, paired with a GeForce 940MX GPU, in this 14-inch laptop. It features all of the modern IO and capabilities you’d expect in a laptop in 2017, despite the retro styling, and I would guess Lenovo isn’t going to have any issues selling the entire allotment.
For anyone wanting to purchase the device, they’ll have to act quickly. The ThinkPad Anniversary Edition will be available in limited quantities in select countries, starting at $1899 USD.
Source: Lenovo
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ImSpartacus - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
So this is a maxed T470 with funky styling?notashill - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
It's a maxed T470 with funky styling *and* a T410/T420 keyboard which IMO is significantly better in both feel and layout to the newer chiclet-style Thinkpad keyboards.Cliff34 - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
One thing I missed about old ThinkPads are the keyboards. I am so tired of these chiclet keyboards we have these days.satai - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
Bad timeing to release an 14" with 2C i7-7500U just after 8th gen 4C mobile chips appeared only to catch an anniversary.peterfares - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
Very bad timing. Who is going to want to pay brand new prices on a 7th gen now that 8th gen is out?edzieba - Thursday, October 5, 2017 - link
The people who were clinging to their T61s.mmrezaie - Friday, October 6, 2017 - link
Not me. But I would have considered this if it had 8th gen. But honestly, I would also like them to release the old style keyboard that they had but canceled and now it is so much more expensive second hand!Samus - Friday, October 6, 2017 - link
I believe the final T61s I had out in the field finally failed around 2014. The dreaded GPU failure that inevitably kills all of them, mostly due to a poor cooling curve that can be fixed with the TPfancontrol utility.It's actually amazing that, even though IBM still had a hand in designing the T61s, Lenovo managed to destroy the first thinkpad under their control with a bad firmware configuration.
Shoddy quality, defective USB ports, and poor customer support would follow. The only reason they held the sales crown from HP for so long (they lost it this year) was purely based on price. HP corporate laptops are expensive, and the HP's you get from Best Buy are compal crap not even made by HP. Honestly you'd be better off with a cheap Ideapad over a Pavilion. But the enterprise laptops...meet more MIL-810G specifications, the support is superior, and the overall quality is vastly better than Lenovo's. Most IT departments have been trying to push Lenovo's out the door for years and it's finally happening. It's been a hard push because, well, Lenovo's are cheap, and that is all the bean counters care about.
Paying $1800+ for a T470 with a cheap looking logo playing on the IBM trademark is just appalling. A zBook 14u is infinitely superior to this thing...
grcosta - Friday, October 6, 2017 - link
I haven't heard of rampant problems with the T60 series--they're regarded as some of the finest ThinkPads produced. The T4x series had GPU failures, which was due to possibly flex and soldering issues--this was not a Lenovo era ThinkPad, but an IBM ThinkPad. I love ThinkPads, both produced by IBM and Lenovo, but let's not glorify the IBM era. They produced great products, but also produced some that led to the coining of "StinkPads."ArtShapiro - Monday, October 9, 2017 - link
I happen to be typing this on a T61, although I usually use my T500 or W500. As long as this new Retro model is saddled with dismal 16:9 resolution, the appeal is minimal.I understand the economics, but many of us use laptops for other than watching movies.
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