Lenovo ThinkPad W700 Sports Wacom Digitizer

The mammoth 17-inch Lenovo ThinkPad W700 features Nvidia Quadro FX graphics, optional dual hard drives, up to 8 GB of RAM...and a digitizer pad.

Lenovo is entering new territory with its ThinkPad W700 catering to the needs of creative professionals who demand high-performance systems and big displays.

“Lenovo has engineered a new breed of mobile workstation with the ThinkPad W700,” said Lenovo’s senior VP for notebooks Peter Hortensius, in a statement. “No other PC manufacturer has a mobile workstation that delivers the sheer power, performance, and cutting-edge innovation that Lenovo has packed into the ThinkPad W700.”

The W700 offers a 17-inch WXGA+ or WUXGA widescreen display driven by either the Nvidia Quadro FX 2700M or 3700M OpenGL graphics drivers with up to 1 GB of dedicated video memory. The system also sports an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (at speeds up to 3 GHz), support for up to 8 GB of RAM (with an additional 2 GB of Intel Turbo Memory), support for multiple hard drives (RAID 0 or RAID 1) or solid-state drives, an optional Blu-ray recorder, and an ExpressCard/54 slot. The W700 also offers gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi (Lenovo says WiMax support is coming), and BlueTooth options. Also on board: a 7-in-1 media card reader and 5 USB 2.0 ports.

However, one of the most noticeable features of the W700 might be an optional digitizer and color calibrator built into the W700s palm rest. The digitizer pad can be mapped to the entire screen or restricted to a particular area, while the calibrator can adjust the display’s color output to accurate, true-to-life color reproduction. But, for folks who want to hook up to external displays, there’s Dual-Link DVI support, DisplayPort, and VGA output. An optional external dock lets users hook up to eSATA drives, monitors, peripherals, and digital audio solutions.

Lenovo says the W700 will ship in September with a starting price of $2,978.