Lenovo has redefined the once-boring workstation. More than just a beast of a 17-inch box for workers who need serious graphics muscle, the ThinkPad W700 features two firsts: a digitizer built right into the palm rest (great for Photoshop or CAD/CAM applications) and an integrated color calibrator that automatically adjusts the display’s color in about half the time as external solutions to ensure realistic images. At $3,802, the price tag is steep—and will get even steeper once Intel’s mobile quad-core processor becomes available—but even our configuration’s performance is tough to beat.
Design
There’s no mistaking the clean lines and familiar matte black finish of a ThinkPad, and despite its size, the W700 maintains that look. Lenovo’s largest ThinkPad ever measures 16.1 x 12.2 x 1.6 inches and weighs 8.3 pounds, which is pretty much in line with other desktop replacements. However, the power brick is one of the biggest and heaviest we’ve seen, measuring 6.7 x 3.3 x 1.5 inches and weighing 1.8 pounds.
Lenovo makes good use of the W700’s spacious deck. The classic ThinkPad keyboard is roomy and comfortable and has a separate numerical keypad to the right. Long-time ThinkPad fans can enjoy the familiar pointing stick or opt to use the touchpad for cursor control. Both are responsive and easy to reach without having to adjust your typing position.
Display
Under the lid sits an eye-popping 17-inch display with 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution. Color reproduction and viewing angles on this screen are excellent, thanks to the use of wide gamut technology, which allows the panel to display 72 percent of the NTSC color gamut (most notebook screens display around 45 percent of the NTSC gamut). Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel webcam which uses Roxio’s Media Import application (included) to display and capture video and photos. The camera is adequate for video chats and e-mailing photos but its image quality was fairly grainy.
Built-in Tablet and Color Calibrator
To the right of the touchpad is a 5.1 x 3.2-inch Wacom digitizer pad, which comes with a stylus pen that can be stashed away in its holder on the right side of the system. The pad felt a bit too sensitive at first, but after using the Tablet PC Pen Training utility we used the pad and stylus as a mouse controller with relative ease. It also took a few tries to get the handwriting recognition feature to recognize our handwriting, but after 15 minutes or so of practice (also in the Tablet PC Pen Training utility) we could write full sentences without any recognition errors. Still, it’s a tedious process that requires patience to be used effectively.
We used the digitizer to touch up a picture in Photoshop, and to draw a sketch in Microsoft Paint. In both cases, the digitizer performed well, registering our inputs accurately both in terms of speed and pressure. However, we found it more difficult when using the lower part of the pad; its location on the deck made it impossible for us to rest our hand on the notebook itself. This isn’t an issue with a traditional digitizer, which has a low profile, but on the W700, it’s 1.25 inches above the desk, making it less comfortable.
For users who require a consistent and reliable degree of color accuracy, the W700 contains a built-in color-calibration device. Using a small sensor embedded in the keyboard deck and Pantone’s huey Pro color-control software, the device scans the screen while the lid is closed and sounds three tones when the calibration process is complete. We calibrated the screen in just under a minute and immediately noticed a marked improvement. Colors appeared much bolder and the panel displayed much deeper black levels than before the calibration.
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