CES: Lenovo says new ThinkPads go 11 hours on battery power

IDG News Service - Lenovo Group Ltd. yesterday announced two new ThinkPad laptop computer series, the T60 series and the X60 series, which the company says can run for up to 11 hours without a charge when employing a second battery.

The T60 and X60 are based on Intel Corp.'s recently announced Centrino Duo package, which includes an Intel Core Duo processor. The X60 adds support for a 667-MHz front-side bus, which connects the processor with main memory, and 667-MHz DDR2 synchronous dynamic RAM for main memory.

During the first half of this year, notebook models from the two product series will also offer an internal antenna that allows them to connect to Verizon Wireless Inc.'s high-speed CDMA2000 EV-DO wireless service without the need for an add-in card.

The notebooks also come with an improved version of Access Connections, Lenovo software for managing various wireless connections, from EV-DO to Wi-Fi, said Sam Dusi, director of marketing for notebooks at Lenovo, in a briefing at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show. The software, which can be downloaded from Lenovo's Web site, allows IT managers to enter profiles for access points that grant or restrict access to wireless networks.

The new ThinkPad models use less power than their predecessors, and in some cases, the X60 offers battery life of up to 11 hours when the standard eight-cell battery is combined with an optional extended-life battery, Lenovo said. This will allow users to go through an entire workday without having to plug their notebook into a wall socket, it said.

The T60 and X60 will be available in the U.S. starting in February and are priced starting from $2,049 for the T60 and $1,899 for the X60.

Tom Krazit of the IDG News Service contributed to this report.