After having seen my friend's X41 Tablet for the very first time - and tablet in general - I totally loved it and I knew at once I will have to get rid of my heavy 15 inch regular laptop from Asus (poor build quality, noisy cause of Ati X700, too big and heavy to carry around).

In a few months time, X60 Tablet was mine and ever since I totally love it... only little problem was when I had to have my screen changed cause of the wobbling issue and that is the only point I am afraid of for the future - that this will return and there won't be any warranty at that time already...

other than that I am getting what I except, great build quality, quite good battery time (VAIO times I like more :) )

Personally I would love to have at least one more USB port, but I love the little edge on the right side, when I plug in Logitech VX Nano receiver it hides under the edge so I don't have to disconnect it at all :)

And idea of consumer friendly IdeaPad U110 UltraPortable - why not, but KEEP THE X series tablet, I want the successor!!! :D

Looking forward to see the new generation!

Lenovo still enjoys a reputation for having good hardware design. Where they are missing the mark is in their software installations, which perform so poorly that new users immediately get turned off by 5-minute boot times, slow operation, crashes and lockups.

Those of us who take the time to wipe the disk and reinstall Windows from scratch are really impressed by the performance of the machines. Why can't they perform that well from the factory? So one suggestion is to offer a ThinkVantage-free and crapware-free version of the operating system that runs and performs the way Windows is supposed to. The current factory software image, on the X41T at least, was so crippled as to be practically useless.

My 3-yr old X41T has been super reliable and in the 2-1/2 years since I nuked the factory image the software has performed like it should. In the first 6 months with the Lenovo image it was painful to operate. Most users would have given up and sold the machine at that point.

Several years ago ... this was IBM, not Lenovo.
But I guess the change of ownership did at least one thing: Make their tablets (a little) more "affordable". IBM tablets used to be the most expensive way to go, Lenovo prices are still not cheap, but lower.

I'm a brand new tablet user -- my X61T out of the box last Thursday. So, I can only talk first impressions.

The hardware feels sturdy; the keyboard nicely responsive.

IMHO, they need to provide more information on using the touch screen, programming the tablet keys, general first user tips. What I have found via the ThinkVantage key is tepid.

And of course, less crapware installed.-- or the option to specify none when ordering. I have to believe, that many, like me, don't want it -- and don't have the savvy to do a clean install just to get rid of it.

to do a clean Vista install and reload all the drivers, etc.

--- don't know why that sentence got clipped. My apologies.

I bought the both the X41T and the X60T when they first came out, and will likely get an X200T when it comes out as well. I definitely think that Lenovo is leading the way, although the thing that is likely to keep them on top is their attention to details (i.e. the little design issues). I know a lot of people were excited about the touch screens when they came out, but I was ecstatic about the hi-res option (it would be great in the next iteration if I could get hi-res + touch). If it is the details that put Lenovo on top, I think it is also certain details that frustrate me. Key among them is the placement of the power port. No offense to lefties who orient the tablet with the battery on the left, but it irks me to no end to have the computer plugged in when in tablet mode and have the power cord sticking into my leg or stomache. Please, put the power port back on the other side like you had for the X41T!!! Also, I generally don't mind the mobile dock, but it adds a LOT of thickness if I want to sit on the couch and watch a DVD. Lenovo has the thin optical drives built into the X300. I would gladly accept a little more weight all the time than to have the extra thickness of the mobile dock when I need an optical drive on the go.

I was surprised with the advances made with the X41T and the X60T, and in spite of any small irksome details, I am sure I (and many others) will be very impressed with Lenovo's next offering.

I agree with Mark about the installed software. If you have to preload the computer with software in order to give your customers "added value", use software that adds functionality instead of duplicating OS functionality. Especially good is software that highlights the tablet's strengths like ritePen or mitigates its weaknesses like software for using another computer's optical drive.

I would also like to see more features. Although I appreciate the simplicity of the ThinkPad design, bells and whistles aren't only for entertainment computers. Little things like a dockable remote control for controlling presentations, would make it easier to justify paying top dollar.

I love my lenovo x61t, it was the first new laptop I had bought in a long while and really exceeds my expectations. I wish the monitor catch hadn't broken as it does put some doubt in your mind as to the long term quality, but I for one will be ordering the x200 tablet when it comes out.

My asks are for cleaner installs, build to order from the UK and smaller price. Oh and launch it tomorrow please!

Lenovo was not my first choice for a tablet, but the LG I wanted got delayed then was unable to buy it before I left South Korea so I did some research and the Lenovo X61T was the only one shipping a hi-res screen at the time (Fujitsu stopped then started again). I would agree that a touch/active hi-res screen would be really nice to have on a tablet. The X61T is a wonderful machine and I have enjoyed it for the past year for school and has really survived my daily use. Lenovo really needs to do some better testing of their machines before they ship them out I think. My tablet was delivered with my screen not working, bad power brick (high squeal), and then later developed the LCD separation that took three returns to Lenovo to fix. Lenovo support was quick to repair and ship my tablet to and from them, and the lenovoblogs helped finally fix my LCD separation. Also as with others that bought at the beginning of the X61T release the website wording was misleading on the express card slot (not really there but a pcmcia slot), which I wish you at least provided the adapter card for.

Lenovo has become my first recommendation to others. Keep with the sturdy designs, well placed ports, hi-res screens, long battery life, and continue to listen to your customers on your blog. It would be nice to have a special power plug so you can use the tablet in any orientation with out problems, and I would also like a bi-directional hinge for the display since it would be nice to be able to swing to either side to show others the display. The 4:3 aspect screen at first was not what I wanted but have come attached to it and wish Lenovo could still use them in future tablet models.

Some of the thinkvantage software needs help, but the ones I use work well other than R&R which will not upgrade to the newest version, but stills backups data well.

Make a slate, dang it!

offer something other than Windows as the preinstalled OS, oh yes, a Linux Tablet is blazing fast and highly functional.

Lenovo is definitely a follower. They've been very slow to release new features (widescreens etc).

Cost of Lenovo laptops is usually prohibitive but that's acceptable for higher quality solution and the R-Series is surprisingly affordable for a Lenovo.

I think Lenovo are falling behind with tablets though. They should look at Fujitsu's tablets and their software solution for ideas. Fujitsu's single application that allows customisation of laptop settings (instead of lots of different applets in the system tray) and easy access to functions is a breath of fresh air. They don't install bloatware either.

The Dell XT seems to have found a loyal following due to it's finger and pen friendly screen (with auto mode switching) but I get the impression that the X series tablet is very similar to the XT otherwise.

A selection of differently sized tablets at a reasonable price would make us pay attention especially if based on the IdeaPad range (about the size of the Fujitsu P1620).

How about using the experience gained from the Lenovo MID to create a Lenovo UMPC - an small, affordable, nice looking tablet.

I jumped on the X41t bandwagon when it was first released. This system has served me quite well for nearly 3 years. Some things I know have been fixed since the X41 release, but the things I am looking for in my next generation machine (that I'm hoping to buy very soon): standard laptop hard drives, not these slow 1.8" drives. Powerful processors (on campus, my laptop is my only computer, so it needs to hold it's own). Ultra-light weight. The X41t with the smaller battery is an excellent weight, but the battery doesn't last long enough to get work done. I want to have a tablet that weighs in at 3.0 lbs or less and will run for at least 4 hours on a single charge (ideally, 8 hours of moderate use). The reason I keep looking at X61 tablets is the fact that Lenovo makes one of the only lightweight systems that does not use ULV processors and/or 1.8" drives. I am just trying to hold out for the next generation of x series tablets before I buy my next one.

The X61T was my first Lenovo. Hardware wise it's fantastic. Solid solid solid. The keyboard is perfect.

Software wise....

Well I don't know if the issue was Vista or the extra Thinkvantage apps, but I have never had a slower machine! Just waiting for "My Computer" to open up would take almost 30 seconds! And this is after applying several Vista patches and all the other random upgrades. (I didn't skimp on my specs either. 7200 rpm drive, 2 gigs ram, turbo boost, etc).

Constant disk thrashing (a Vista norm, from what I read on JKOntheRun and elsewhere) was also a problem.

I got so fed up with waiting for things to open, waiting for the machine to boot up, waiting waiting waiting....

I wiped the drive and installed a fresh copy of XP Tablet.

The difference was night and day. The thing flies now. Apps open right up. Everything is responsive, quick.

It finally feels like the money I spent was worth it. I did install some of the thinkvantage utils like system update and the biometric scanner software. Those all run fine and fast.

So I guess what all of this boils down to is that I feel like nobody at Lenovo actually tried to USE this laptop with the default build. I can't see how they would have been ok with the performance.

The hardware is excellent. Now they just need to make the software and day to day performance feel just as good.

leading til x60t, following afterward.
they really need to be who they used to be, in a realm no one else can touch.
i'd honestly pay the premium for a solid, unsurpassed build quality + excellent customer service.
they really need to be different, or "think" different.

on a sidenote, their support through their forum was excellent.

I think lenovo is definitely leading the way in terms of hardware.
X61 and x41 are some of the best tablets ever manufactured. Customer service, software is however a different issue. Thinkvantage suite has crippled lenovo, they should really think of redesigning the suite for less crapware, things business customers actually need. Vista already has a wireless networking manager. why provide another??,

In terms of hardware bravo, manufacturing tablets that are rugged and worth owning and good job moving to LED and resolution bigger than XGA on the new rumored "x2,3,400" series

Thinkpad line is not meant to be pretty, black means pure business and thats where it has found its niche. Do not try to change that, continue the hardware evolution and concentrate on removing bloatware from those thinkpads.

I have to say I see Lenovo tablets the most on my campus, and I do see a lot of tablets around. However, they're the ones I see least being USED as a tablet; everyone always has them in laptop form, while people I see with HP tablets (the 2nd most on campus) area always in tablet form.

I don't really know what the difference is, because I've never used either, but I thought it was an interesting observation.

Like many of the users above, I've also struggled with incredibly slow bootup times, separating screens, and screen wobble. I've also had to replace my keyboard when it started mistyping. All that said, I still love my X60--it is the best designed notebook that I've ever used. Mechanically and egonomically, it's a beautiful machine. Importantly, I MUCH prefer the 4/3 screen over the wide angle ones. The extra headroom that it provides is great for most of the work I do, especially writing research reports, and I would hate to see Lenovo become another wide angle convert. If I want horizontal real estate, I use a separate monitor. I also like the matte finish on the screen; far superior to the glossy screens sold by HP and the others. My wish list for the next X machine would include having an bright LED screen option, capacitive touch, a dedicated graphics card, more rounded corners (though the sharp ones keep me typing with my palms lifted...otherwise it's "ouch"), a built in optical drive (I'd happily carry the extra weight), and a no-bloatware installation which includes the OS installation disks. Since I also do a lot of graphics work, having a larger screen option (i.e., 14 in.) would be great.

I will not be impressed if their next tablet weighs more than 3.0lbs. I am currently using a Toshiba M200 and waiting for significant improvements in thickness and weight before making my next purchase. It has been a long wait.

X61 Tablet my first from lenovo, second tablet ever.
Its a very fine machine hardware-wise, and the software quirks I can put up with. The only thing I would LOVE to have is a docking solution engineered for the tablet-human interface, not the laptop-human interface. It needs a pigtail from the base to the machine, so that the user can hold the machine in hand or on lap to use pen interface when docked.

A high-res widescreen tablet display duplicated on a large monitor, via such a dock interface would be dreamy.

I think IBM/Lenovo did really a great work with the X60t/61t and I have to say that the prices are very good for what you get.

At least the x60t is very good and has everything I need.
Okay maybe in the new models there could be or is it already a webcam?!

So for me there is at the moment nothing to improve, but maybe it is just the enthusiasm because I am new to this.

I think to truly lead the way they need to make that rumored x300 tablet. That would, if built with out any bezel/latch flaws, they would definitely lead the market into a new wave of tech. set the price to start at 800 bucks and no one will be able to compete, and you could even make a new name for it, ultra-thin-ultra-cheap-ultra-mobile-ultra-awesome-Tablet pc.

Lenovo orients its business to business. That's the bottom line at the end of the day. I have a Lenovo X60 tablet. Lenovo has been listnening to their comusters on the content of hardware. Where things get more critical is the software and software content. In the beginning the thinkpad software had its issues, with the necassary updates for stability of the bios and OS startup fixes. You would expect these things to be solved from the start. Something I was really surprised about was the fact that for a windows vista business no standard office was offered. In my opinion it makes more sense and is more functional on a tablet than the standard windows package. Then they even have the nerve to tease us with a 60 day Office trial!!!

With the recent upcoming trend in smaller laptops, it wasn't a surprise that Lenovo released their x300 series. The positive media attention that they have received of this latest product is hopefully a stimulus to invest more in tablet costumer wishes on the OS or OEM and stimulate the market for improved software for the tablet environment.

As an x41t and x61t owner, I definitely think they're been leading the way. You can tell with the improvements they made to the x61t. Much better performance and met a lot of demands customers had coming from the x41t.
I'd have to agree with other posters though, that they do themselves a disservice by preloading all the crapware, and slowing down the machine. They be better to implement an on demand install for those apps, so customers can just click the shortcuts on the desktop to install the additional apps they want, and can see the performance impact from the base OS after installing the various applications, and can uninstall those they find to be a pain. You get to show off the performance upfront and leave the options and performance impact to the end users.
Though I've not seen what they having coming yet, I'd say it's a toss up between dell and Lenovo right now on innovation. depending on your needs, one other the other will suit you better.
What I think they do need to do, to really be the inovator in the industry, and I've recommended this to our Lenovo POCs, is to be the first to drop the whole tablet pc designation, and build that functionality into all their units. they would only have to worry about building machines with hindged screens and pens so the lower manf costs should help offset any additional cost of the digitizer and pen.
That's the one inovation I'm waiting to see some company move towards, vista has abandoned the seperate OS for tablet, and the OEMs need to do the same. Make the capability standard across the board as just another laptop feature, and you'll see more developers programming to take advantage of it.

Compared to my other older tablets - Lenovo is still "in front" in usability.

I have the X41t, X60t, X61t - and really - not a lot have happned bestween them.

But I fear a X200t with same screen as a X300. I have bought my GF the X300 - and the screen is just not very good compared to my 1400x1050 X61t screen.

So i'm actually considering buying a couple of X61t's with high res screen to keep on the shelf in case the X200 will be 16:9 and as bad as the X300 screen.

But the reason i stay with Lenovo for now is: 1400x1050 4:3 screen, great keyboard, trackpoint(can't/won't use a pad...) and the fact that I can take a Lenovo Thinkpad completely apart and assemble again - with great support from online training site - and hardware reference manuals. I just took my X61t apart due to a malfunctioning fingerprint reader - and 1 hour later the loose connection was fixed.

No other Laptop have such extensive documentation. And spare parts logistics work 110% and prices are "usually" fair - apart for LCD replacement screens and complete motherboards :-)

If Apple launched a tablet - I would consider it - but no trackpoint would make me think very very hard.

Dell might be an option and it does have trackpoint - but to high price and still first generation.

Fujitsu Siemens - well sometimes it feels like they are just about to catch up - but then the loose it so close to goal line.

So for now - I'm all Lenovo - and I have put down a reservation for an X200t with John Hill. :-) But that might be the last Lenovo for me.

I second Cestfiu's wish for a docking solution that allows for use as a Tablet!

My first TabletPC was an HP TC1000. It was a slate, it had this coolness factor and so on, but I never got really convinced of the whole TabletPC thing. Until I got my X61t. I really love now this hybrid thing of being a laptop and a tablet. It is a great laptop. Extremely portable, great battery life, feels just good. And I got as added value the whole tablet stuff, which is right there when I need it. I'm looking forward for the new x200's.

LEo

I was lucky enough to get one of the first x60 tablets when they came to Australia. We had to weight months after it was released else where in the world, so it would be good if good if Lenovo could fix that when they release the update.

But everyone has to remember what the tabletspace was like at the time. Intel was late with the core duo technology meaning that IBM couldn’t afford to wait any longer. I am sure the technology in the x61 was what they wanted for the x60. This shows they clearly lead the pack LIGHTER and FASTER with BETTER battery performance.

I run Visual Studio and SQL Server on it without any problems. And I love the fact that there is no trackpad. Please, please, please don’t add one in the future.

I only have two concerns about the built quality of it both pertaining to the battery. Mine is now almost a year and a half old the battery recharges 10-15% lower than it used to. Looks like I will need to buy a new one soon. Secondly the battery itself is a bit loose, I think one day it will just fall out.

In saying all that I am so happy with my tablet that I probably wouldn’t upgrade right away if a new model came out as this does exactly what I need. May be in a two years.

Trxman

Ps My wife calls it my adulteress…

It would also be good if the dock could charge a second battery while not connected to the tablet.

The ThinkVantage button is absolutely useless and stupid and it should be removed and forgotten about.

I have an X60T and I am very disappointed with the software situation. I did a fresh install of XP Tablet and installed only minimal Lenovo software. Also, System Update is slow and makes for a terrible user experience.

I will not be buying a touch-capable tablet again unless it is capacitive touch, and even then I don't think I'd use it. I don't even use my X60T as a tablet unless I'm taking notes in class. Outside of note-taking, the tablet form factor just is not as easy and fast as it needs to be, and this is partially the fault of the Windows OS and other software that is not ink-optimized.

My next tablet purchase will have a SSD, period. While the Active Protection system is nice, it cannot be left enabled if you are mobile with the tablet--it is too easy to trip the sensor and stop the hard drive and I can't do anything with the computer if I'm walking somewhere.

Three (3) pounds would be nice. I have the 8-cell battery and the computer is not only a bit heavy but also awkwardly square. This made finding a backpack with an appropriately-sized sleeve very difficult. Also, being able to hot- or warm-swap the battery would be amazing. Even better, not having to buy a separate battery charger for my spare 4-cell would be nice.

Don't add an optical drive. I've gone 1.5 years without one and needed it possibly 5 times and never when I wasn't near my dock. That said, even with 4 USB ports on the dock I've run out.

I want an LED backlight for battery life. I want it bright enough that I can compute outside in sunlight.

That touch-sensitive business on the U110 is terrible. I have Logitech Z10 speakers with touch-sensitive controls and they're just a hassle. Tactile feedback is grossly underrated.

Speaking of which, I want stereo speakers on the TOP of the computer. I know Thinkpads are designed for business and not multimedia, but putting the speaker on the bottom made it useless. I can't even show someone a YouTube video because the X60T can't get loud enough to compete with everyday office noise levels.

I've made these sorts of comments on Lenovo's blogs before, and I'm glad you guys turn to the community for insight. You guys made a good tablet, but there is still work to be done to make a truly great tablet experience.

Screens! That's what makes a small computer seem not so small. I want a high-resolution screen (I'm accustomed to my 1400x1050 screen) that I can reliably use outdoors in the shade without dying of eye-strain. Or that is bright enough so that if I'm using the tablet extending my desktop onto an external monitor, the external monitor isn't dramatically brighter than the tablet.

It's unfortunate that rumors are that Lenovo will be going widescreen -- a 4x3 screen is perfect for having two documents at once.

Lenovo needs to put its products into stores. I've tried to find a Superview x61 in both New York and Washington DC to no avail.

I've been using tablet PC's exclusively since they hit the market, and have since used many models from many manufacturers. (I’m a technology consultant, and also used to own a company that sold PCs, so I’ve been lucky to have access to lots of units to evaluate as well.) Last September, I purchased my first Lenovo – an X61 totally decked out. Here are a couple of comments.

First, I love this tablet, and really have no major complaints. And while I’ve seen some other neat features in other tablet PCs recently, I still have no major items on my wish list. I like this tablet.

Second, based on my experience, Lenovo out to be ashamed of themselves for their “customer service” (a term which here refers to a department within the company rather that a form of service provided to valued customers). As a consultant, I am in the habit of tracking all my hours, and I now have tracked well over 50 hours tied up with Lenovo trying to resolve problems with the unit (50 hours for which I could have been billing my clients and making some money). I won’t ramble on about all the many problems, but have come to the conclusion that it is probably a faulty board that deals with sub-system functions (although the problem still could be a corrupted OS image from when first installed on the hard drive). (By the way, this is just a faulty unit – I have used other X61 tablets that have none of the problems I am experiencing.) And after all these hours on the phone trying to get resolution, and after also supposedly being escalated to the highest level of support, I’m now at a point where IBM (Lenovo support) is convinced it is a faulty unit and says I need to talk to Lenovo for a replacement unit, and Lenovo just sends me back to IBM for resolution. And the specialty support rep who pledged to find quick resolution has been largely unresponsive since our first phone call. And I even experienced this same fiasco recently when I tried to get a failed X61 power supply replaced (how hard can that be???), so I firmly believe that Lenovo has serious customer service issues.

While I hear the excuse that everyone’s customer support has turned to crap, I’m not sure I believe it -- my former business partner’s company is an HP reseller, and he maintains their service may have slipped a bit, but is still good. In any case, it’s no way for any “reputable” company to run a business. And in the long run, it’s also not good for business. I know that I’ve now influenced the removal of Lenovo from consideration by several of my clients who were considering switching vendors for their future notebook needs (to the tune of well over a couple of thousand notebook PCs). I could never recommend this company to anyone for anything.

My conclusion: time is smoney (at least for me) and in retrospect, I should have just flushed $4k down the toilet last fall and found another vendor – I still would have been money ahead at this point!

Great question, and great responses. Are they leading the way? I've been using an X60 since shortly after they launched it, and it's a very good Thinkpad. But leading? I'm not sure. For instance, I think HP has made more strides with the now legendary TC1X00 series, the slim and feature-rich 2710P, and the inexpensive TX200 series entertainment machines for the home/education market.

That said, I still prefer my X60 to all of those machines, with the possible exception of the HP 2710P. But some of the design decisions, such as putting the only speaker on the bottom of the machine, not figuring out a way of implementing their iconic keyboard light in the design (yet leaving it on the keyboard AND adding it to Vista's Mobility Center), and their inability to ship the products within a reasonable timeframe after launch, has kept me feeling that, despite creating high quality machines, they still have some work to do to earn the title of leaders in this field.

I currently have a TP X60T, my first tablet, but it comes in a long string of Thinkpads.

I love two things about thinkpads: they are built like tanks, and they have the best keyboard on a laptop, partly because of the trackpoint. This is what keeps me coming back to Thinkpads.

The next tablet needs to be lighter--nobody should have to carry more than 3 pounds; beyond that, the portability which is the main attraction of a laptop (etc.) is put into question.

And though this may seem a trivial point: the power cord needs to be attached to the top of the laptop when it is being used in page orientation, and for the same reason, the ventilation holes must be on top, too. This is to increase comfort when holding a (still heavy over a long period of time) tablet on ones lap--let it rest on the bottom of the tablet, rather than having to be held constantly by hand to keep ventilation holes and power cord clear.

Now, if Lenovo could make an OQO sized palmtop tablet........ or a drop-in keyboard replacement for a Macbook.....

BB

My X60t is great and I'm loving it for the build quality, battery life and high-res screen (1400*1050)... and connectivity (lots of ports).

However I need to second others who said a tablet should not weight more than 3 pounds.

I don't like the way the 8-cell battery is designed... irregular shapes make the spare hard to carry... although the two batteries give me close to 10 hours of working time.

Software-wise X60t came very bloated. Luckily I have an XP version, so I could follow K0LO's thread on the Gottabemobile.com forums to perform a clean install and my Thinkpad has been a lot faster since.

Lenovo is definitely a follower now.... however if they introduce the X200 with:

- Hi-res Touch-enabled screen
- 7-8 hours battery life with extended battery
- Weight of 2-3 pounds

... and (wishful thinking) a downgrade option to XP

I'd be sold.

I have owned two Toshiba tablets and one Lenovo X60T. The Lenovo is quite good, although it's worth buying a Windows CD to install from scratch. I love most of what I see about the upcoming Lenovo tablet, except the fact that it is widescreen.

With the same diagonal screen size, I would lose almost an inch in height. The screen itself would be smaller. It's only about 7% smaller in area, but it's an important 7%. In tablet mode it shows more of a page, but in laptop mode it shows less.

I'm not sure that widescreen is good for small laptops _or_ tablets. On a 15" laptop it's fine; on a 12" it's pushing it.

don't forget built in optical drive, preferably slot loading
keep the sxga resolution
keep standard screen resolution options (widescreen is overrated)
a consumer model w/ webcam/ stereo mix etc

I still think the Thinkpads offer the best build construction of the available tablets, and if i had it to do all over again, i'd probably still end up w/ the x61 tablet.

Also they definitely need to cut down on the bloatware and find a way to make the system restore much faster, considering that its being done from a hard drive, there's no reason for it to take almost 2 hrs to restore your pc. Acronis True Home Image proves it can be done in under 20 minutes, and i agree w/ all the other users that an option of a truly clean install would be great.

an edit, if the normal x series notebooks can have full processors, why can't x tablets too?

It would be nice to have the option of a full processor, understanding that there will be a hit in battery life, but it would be great to have the full processor option w/ the build quality of the thinkpad line.

And definitely better placed speakers, but that's going back to a consumer model i guess.

Here's what you need to do for the X200 tablet to be a killer product:

1) Montevina + associated integrated graphics chip
2) Capacitive touch - Wacom announced their capactive touch sensor in May, if the X200T doesn't have it I'm waiting for the Dell XT2
3) SSD
4) No crapware
5) 3 pounds
6) Good build quality
7) High-res monitor

Don't care about trackpad vs. trackpoint, if I have the tablet in a position where I can use the keyboard I'm using a Bluetooth mouse.

Don't care about presence of integrated optical drive so long as at least a USB one is included. All you need it for really now is just installing stuff in the beginning and then you put it away, see Apple's introduction of the MacBook Air to see what I mean. If you can put one in though and keep it thin and under 3 lbs though, what the hell, then that's all good I just won't use it that often; but if you do have an integrated one then make it a modular drive so I can stuff a 2nd battery in there instead.

Don't care about 16:10 vs. 4:3, each has it's pros and cons even purely for productivity, although I have a slight preference for wide displays now.

Do that, and you have a killer tablet IT'S REALLY NOT THAT HARD.

My first tablet was a Motion m1300 and I still think that is the best form factor for a desktop replacement tablet but I understand that it is highly unlikely that Lenovo will opt for a slate.

Still, I would urge Lenovo to attempt to get as close as possible to a machine that is about 8.5 x 11 x 1 inches or less. I would also say that 3 pounds is a maximum weight and I would like to see them shoot for 1 kilo.

I would pick a faster processor over a hi-res screen as my battery drain of choice. I recognize that in the store the screen is what sells it but long term the processor is what makes it usable. Still, I would like to have a screen that could get bright enough, when required, to be usable outside.

As far as batteries, I would like to see it designed with two batteries which drain sequentially and which could be replaced with spares one at a time without shutting down the machine.

Things I would not want include XP (Vista is much better for tablets), an optical drive (I use my USB drive so rarely I have to dust it), and multi-touch (I wouldn't interact with a full sized tablet casually like I might with a UMPC so the Wacom pen is enough).

The crapware/lenova preloaded software is legendary. Please for the love of god rework that stuff or just remove it. Its way to bloated and really hurts the useability of a direct from factory computer. A Direct from factory should not have to be completly wiped and OS reinstalled to be functional and not cause pure agony from a user experience perspective.