Lenovo’s Retro X300-Style ThinkPad Still In Development For Brand’s 25th Anniversary

by Brandon Hill — Thursday, June 22, 2017, 09:37 AM EDT

IBM’s ThinkPad notebooks first went on sale in 1992, and quickly became a staple for business travelers and well-heeled consumers that wanted a high-end, high quality mobile device. There were some hits and misses along the way — and some quirky side treks, like the ThinkPad 701c — but the line has survived for nearly 25 years. Not even Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM’s PC business in 2005 was enough to slow down the ThinkPad.

Now that the ThinkPad’s 25^th birthday is fast approaching, the folks at Lenovo are giving us a status update of sorts on its retro ThinkPad that is currently in development. The company first tipped us off about the notebook’s existence almost two years ago. Since that time, the company has been remarkably quiet about the project.

“It took a lot of critical investigation to evaluate technical feasibility alternatives, display availability and the overall business case,” said Lenovo’s David Hill. “Lenovo has never been keen on broadly sharing details concerning unannounced products. Retro ThinkPad has not been granted an exception to the corporate policy.”

What Hill could tell us, however, is that this special edition ThinkPad is being aimed primarily at enthusiasts and superfans of the brand. The notebook will have the familiar rubberized exterior coating, “a keyboard to die for” and will come with three red TrackPoint caps. Hill is being mum about when exactly the special edition ThinkPad will be available, but he promises that it won’t cost $5,000 when it is released.

Hill goes on to add:

I’ve held early development hardware in my hand, powered it on, looked at the screen and even typed on it. Those who have seen it can’t help but smile. Please be patient, there’s more to come. It’s alive.

Even though Hill didn’t get into specifics on the notebook in this latest blog post, he did provide some rather intriguing clues on what to expect with the device two years ago:

Imagine a blue enter key, 7 row classic keyboard, 16:10 aspect ratio screen, multi-color ThinkPad logo, dedicated volume controls, rubberized paint, exposed screws, lots of status LED’s, and more. Think of it like stepping into a time machine and landing in 1992, but armed with today’s technology.

So, what’s the consensus, HotHardware readers? Would you be willing to plunk down your hard-earned cash for a kickass retro ThinkPad with a rockin’ keyboard and the latest computing hardware under the hood?

Tags: Lenovo, ThinkPad, thinkpad x300

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.

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