Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds

If one huge, high-resolution display on a notebook is good, two must be better, right? That’s exactly what Lenovo’s design team is banking on with the new Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds.

The W700ds isn’t a replacement or a refresh of the original, but rather, an optional upgrade to the same basic platform that makes good on Lenovo’s long-rumored promise to launch a notebook with dual displays. As NBR editor Jerry Jackson noted when he took a look at pre-production W700ds last month, one crucial area where desktop replacements have proved to be no replacement for a good desktop workstation is in the ability to pack up multiple displays and take them with you.

With a sliding 10.6 inch display that pops out from the space behind the original W700’s 17 inch panel, the W700ds still doesn’t have the screen real estate of two full-size desktop displays. But it also gives the W700 platform yet another leg up on its rivals, and, especially, another enticement for graphics pros on the go.

In our original review of the original W700, I jokingly called the single-screen variant "the laptop designed to make normal people feel small." But as Jerry noted in checking out the W700ds for the first time, clearly big wasn’t big enough for the folks at Lenovo. While the basic chassis appears unchanged (with a basic footprint of 16 by 12 inches), the addition of that second slide-out screen behind the primary panel is felt in a line that’s thicker than some slender notebooks all by itself.

All closed up, the entire notebook measures some over two inches thick, with the computer’s rubber feet adding another quarter of an inch or so to this measurement when the machine is sitting on a desk.

The W700ds's included pen, which stows away into a silo in the right-hand side of the notebook isn't particularly enjoyable in use. It's small, and the buttons feel cheap, but compatibility with most Wacom-ready pens means the range of control options for the this tablet are nearly unlimited. In fact, if you don't own another compatible pen, go ahead and order one with your ThinkPad purchase: the included stylus really is an option of last resort even more so than the small tablet itself.

Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds Specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme Q9300 (2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 12 MB L2 cache)
• Memory: 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Screen: 17” 1920x1200 WUXGA TFT LCD and 10.6” 1280x760 TFT LCD
• Storage: 259 GB HDD (7200 RPM) x 2, RAID 0 configuration
• Optical Drive: DVD recordable
• Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300 (802.11a/g/n), Bluetooth 2.0
• Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M with 1 GB
• Battery: 9-cell lithium-ion (84 Wh)
• Dimensions: 16.1” x 12.3” x 2.1”
• Weight: 10 lbs, 15 oz (with battery
• Price As Tested: $5,309.00
• Starting Price: $3,663.00