Lenovo Launches Wide-Screen Vista-Capable Notebook
Company is targeting corporate users with lightweight wide-screen version of ThinkPad T60.

Making an effort to compete with Dell for business users, Lenovo has launched a wide-screen version of its ThinkPad line of notebook PCs.

The ThinkPad T60 will use a 15.4-inch wide-screen display, yet hold its weight down to 5.1 pounds, lighter than any comparable notebook from the top five PC vendors, Lenovo said today.

The company also hopes that adding this feature will regain consumers' confidence after Lenovo was forced in September to recall the batteries from 526,000 ThinkPad models--including the T60. Like notebooks sold by competing vendors Dell, Apple, and Toshiba, those computers used lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony, whose faulty design could lead to overheating and fire.
Lenovo's First Corporate Wide-Screen

Lenovo already sells wide-screen notebooks in other product lines, such as the Z-series and 3000-series for small businesses, but this is the first wide-screen model for corporate users, said Rajat Aggarwal, product marketing manager for the T-Series at Lenovo.

Those customers can already chose a T60 notebook with 14- or 15-inch screen, but have recently been asking for the full wide-screen version, allowing them to display more columns on a spreadsheet, show multiple windows, and fit better onto airplane tray tables, Aggarwal said. In another nod to high-end users, the notebook will be capable of running Microsoft's new Vista OS, with a dual-core Core 2 Duo processor from Intel and graphics card from ATI.

I'm a big Lenovo fan. I'd gladly give up my current Dell laptop for a Thinkpad. The only thing holding me back is that my next lappy is likely to be a Mac Book Pro.