IBM makes a laptop geared for photographers

[adirty1]

before my next trip overseas I will pick one of these bad boys up. MAC has some catchup to do...

[brad]

Its missing two major things...

1. An integrated CF card reader on a fast bus
2. An operating system that isn't Vista

[AndrewCCM]

Looks like a very nice machine.

[PhotoByLeal]

Originally Posted by brad

Its missing two major things...

1. An integrated CF card reader on a fast bus
2. An operating system that isn't Vista

I 2nd that!

[VincentHerrera]

Self-calibrating?! Neat. All I would add is a multi mega-pixel web cam, and I could leave my camera at home. I could even see if the eyes were closed at arms length.

[d2creative]

I third Brad's two comments!

and if I can add a third.... make it not so darn fugly! lol

Some nice concepts but there is absolutely nothing there that would make me think of giving up my macs.

[Concisus Cognatus]

Well, let's see here....Lenovo recommends Windows Vista® Business. ....NOT!!!!!

[S-Man]

I just configured a $17,604.95 machine...Should I press the "buy" button?

ThinkPad W700 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Description Part number Unit price* Quantity Price*
ThinkPad W700 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Edit 2757CTO $17,107.00 1 $17,107.00
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 12MBL2) 1
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate 64 1
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate US English 1
Display type: 17" WUXGA 400NIT TFT+10.6"WXGA+ TFT 1
System Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated) 1
Total memory: 8 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) 1
Keyboard: Keyboard US English 1
Pointing Device: Ultranav + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor + WACOM Digitizer 1
Camera: 1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera 1
Storage subsystem: Internal RAID - Configured by Lenovo 1
Configuration option: Primary SATA RAID 1 - (2 HDDs required) 1
Primary Hard Drive: RAID HDD, 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm 1
Optical device: ThinkPad Blu-ray Recordable Ultrabay Enhanced (Serial ATA) 1
System expansion slots : Compact Flash + Express Card(34mm) 1
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN 1
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters : Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology 1
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery 1
Power cord: Country Pack North America 1
Language pack: Language Pack US English 1
Microsoft productivity software preload: Microsoft Office Professional 2007 - English 1
Accessories and options:
1YR Online Data Backup Unlimited 45K2087 $99.00 1 $99.00
Computrace LoJack for Laptops 4 Yr lic. 41A2479 $119.95 1 $119.95
ThinkPad W700 Mini Dock 43R8782 $279.00 1 $279.00

[EyeBurn]

Originally Posted by brad

Its missing two major things...

1. An integrated CF card reader on a fast bus
2. An operating system that isn't Vista

The ThinkPad W700 also features a Blu-ray Disc burner to store up to 50GB on a single disk, a 7-in-1 multimedia reader, as well as an optional integrated Compact Flash reader. Leave your external readers at home and take everything you need with you in the ultimate mobile studio.

fyi,

Benjamin

[brad]

Originally Posted by EyeBurn

The ThinkPad W700 also features a Blu-ray Disc burner to store up to 50GB on a single disk, a 7-in-1 multimedia reader, as well as an optional integrated Compact Flash reader. Leave your external readers at home and take everything you need with you in the ultimate mobile studio.

Its listed as an "expansion slot." Typically, these are a LOT slower than USB 2.0... taking 5-10 minutes to copy all the files from a 4G card.

[EyeBurn]

Brad,

You're right...kind of.
I understand what you're saying, but the W700 does have an optional onboard reader...direct access, not a card that's in a slot.
it's even UDMA...

However, the pre-prod W700 reviewed by:
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/con...id=7-9314-9557

he states the throughput is terrible, and recommends not getting the optional card reader...instead, get the express54 slot and a UDMA express card reader.

bummer huh?

-Benjamin

[Wil_Bloodworth]

Originally Posted by S-Man

I just configured a $17,604.95 machine...Should I press the "buy" button?

ThinkPad W700 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Description Part number Unit price* Quantity Price*
ThinkPad W700 - 1 Yr Depot Warranty
Edit 2757CTO $17,107.00 1 $17,107.00
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Core Extreme Processor QX9300 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 12MBL2) 1
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate 64 1
Operating system language: Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate US English 1
Display type: 17" WUXGA 400NIT TFT+10.6"WXGA+ TFT 1
System Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M 128-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated) 1
Total memory: 8 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) 1
Keyboard: Keyboard US English 1
Pointing Device: Ultranav + Fingerprint Reader + Pantone Color Sensor + WACOM Digitizer 1
Camera: 1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera 1
Storage subsystem: Internal RAID - Configured by Lenovo 1
Configuration option: Primary SATA RAID 1 - (2 HDDs required) 1
Primary Hard Drive: RAID HDD, 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm 1
Optical device: ThinkPad Blu-ray Recordable Ultrabay Enhanced (Serial ATA) 1
System expansion slots : Compact Flash + Express Card(34mm) 1
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth PAN 1
Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters : Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology 1
Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery 1
Power cord: Country Pack North America 1
Language pack: Language Pack US English 1
Microsoft productivity software preload: Microsoft Office Professional 2007 - English 1
Accessories and options:
1YR Online Data Backup Unlimited 45K2087 $99.00 1 $99.00
Computrace LoJack for Laptops 4 Yr lic. 41A2479 $119.95 1 $119.95
ThinkPad W700 Mini Dock 43R8782 $279.00 1 $279.00

That's the same specs as my laptop... except for the video card. I can't see where the extra $13.5K is coming from unless that is one seriously expensive video card.

Correction: Mine's not exactly the same... I have 3 hard drives in a RAID 0 configuration.

- Wil

[BEphoto]

Originally Posted by brad

Its listed as an "expansion slot." Typically, these are a LOT slower than USB 2.0... taking 5-10 minutes to copy all the files from a 4G card.

Hmm... my new(er) computer has like 7 card readers in the front, which i was really excited about when i got it 6 months or so ago. Would using my card reader actually be faster as far as transferring my files? It can take like 20 mins sometimes or more to transfer a full 4GB card? I just thought maybe that was normal.

Ive had a card reader forever, but stopped using it when i got this computer.

[brad]

Originally Posted by BEphoto

Hmm... my new(er) computer has like 7 card readers in the front, which i was really excited about when i got it 6 months or so ago. Would using my card reader actually be faster as far as transferring my files? It can take like 20 mins sometimes or more to transfer a full 4GB card? I just thought maybe that was normal.

Ive had a card reader forever, but stopped using it when i got this computer.

Heh, if the card reader is USB 2.0, give it a test.. I imagine you'll be surprised.

[AndrewCCM]

My onboard readers (on PC) are USB2 and copy very fast. Including the ones built into my monitor. However, the lack of integrated CF reader on my Macbook Pro bummed me out, so I bought a Delkin Express Card 34 UDMA reader. It works great, very fast. Unfortunately, I am not a real fan of how the express slots work. Pretty easy to accidentally pull it out. Regardless, I am happy with it.

BTW: 4GB taking 20min just to copy is way too long unless you have a very slow reader and/or card. Are you just copying or "importing" with an app? Importing with things like Lightroom from CF cards is somewhat slower than copying to HD, then importing from there.

Sorry to derail the thread.

$17k!!! NO THANK YOU. I think I'll build a server farm of 10 desktop machines instead. :)