Lenovo is apparently preparing a big announcement for its ThinkPad laptop line, a completely new model to compete with Dells XPS 15. The new ThinkPad X1 Extreme was leaked by known leaker Roland Quandt and it might be released at IFA 2018.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X1-Extreme-Upcoming-XPS-15-competitor-has-been-leaked.318248.0.html
Without excellent display, speakers and touchpad, a Thinkpad will never be a competitor alongside an XPS, MacBook, Surface, etc. Surely why would "business professionals" ever want decent hardware much less a usable webcam, am I right Lenovo?
It also needs an excellent keyboard (and before you ask, no, island keyboards aren't excellent).
That they decided to finally use some decent GPU is good but Lenovo's QC makes me uneasy.
tomshardware.com/news/lenovo-laptop-quality-control-issues,37510.html
So, if the X1 "Extreme" (what a stupid name) base model costs 2000EUR with average i5-8300H, how can it compete with the Dell XPS 9570 which for the identical performance and specs already sells around 1200EUR (incl. 15% Dell discount and taxes).
ThinkPad keyboards are really nice to have, and I love my T450 though it's extremely slow even after re-pasting and undervolting for photo and video edition.
Looks like it will be the better value XPS family for Xmas.
If take track-point existence in consideration then Dell XPS is like last epic boss. First you need to fight Dell Precision 3530 8400H P600 in performance / price battle.
Lenovo does make a direct XPS 15 competitor: the IdeaPad 720s 15. It even has a better keyboard than the XPS (though not as good as a ThinkPad). The main drawback is that Lenovo still hasn't updated it to a Coffee Lake CPU, which presumably will change the model number to 730s.
If they did make a 15" ThinkPad with similar specs (including weight) to the current XPS, plus a numeric keypad (or at least an extra column of Home/End/PgUp/PgDn keys), I'd be all over that. Please, why can't we have a light, powerful laptop with a decent keyboard? A little extra thickness would be worth it.
Is it just me or is the name of this new device rather unfortunate to say the least?
"Extreme" is something I associate our 9 year old Fortnite squad would love to hear and be associated with, but serious video editors may prefer something more professional or discreet of a name, no?
Oi you! Do you want to buy a Volkswagen Golf Extreme?
I don't think so.
But I would forgive the name if they included as GTX 1060 MaxQ, 6GB where Premiere Pro and After Effects would fly ^____^