ThinkPad A series
The ThinkPad A series was a short lived line of mid to high end desktop replacements released from May 2000 to March 2002 by IBM as a successor to the ThinkPad 700 series, combining features present in the ThinkPad 300 series. It was discontinued in January 2004 in favor of R and G series ThinkPads. This is not to be confused with the newer ThinkPad A series released by Lenovo consisting of ThinkPad T and X series models with AMD processors.
History
The ThinkPad A series was released as part of IBM's initiative in 2000 to revamp and streamline their lineup of computers. Following decreasing sales in their PC division, a decline that started from following a high of $1 billion in 1998 and lead to $550 million in lost revenues starting the first quarter of 2000, IBM invested more into the ThinkPad line, leading to increased sales in the corporate market. The ThinkPad A series with the A20m and A20p were released to acclaim alongside the ThinkPad T series as its powerful, larger sibling. Being described as "a stellar choice for small or large businesses" that "trades portability for power" by CNET in 2002 while reviewing the A3x series. It offered little compromise when compared to the T series both in the case construction, boasting titanium composite lids, and in the keyboard, offering sturdy and responsive keyboards with 2.7mm of travel, being rated as "a cut above anything you'll find elsewhere, except on some Dell notebooks" by CNET in the same review. The A20m was also one of the first laptops to offer a Intel Celerons in a 15" form factor, leading to 15" displays being more accessible than before.IBM's Improvements
IBM's revamps were focused on improving wireless connectivity and user experience. Their wireless connectivity improvements lead to the addition of optional wireless LAN that connected to the mPCI slot and Bluetooth that connected through the UltraPort, a modified USB port that could expand a ThinkPad's functions by adding features such as a CompactFlash slot or a webcam. To give users things to do on the internet, IBM hosted online demonstrations, tips, and forums to provide user help and share experiences. To improve user experience, IBM added the ThinkLight, dedicated volume buttons, and ThinkPad button.To streamline the ThinkPad lineup, IBM replaced their previous ambiguous 300, 500, 600, and 700 series lineups with the better defined A, T, and X series, while keeping their i series around as their ultra-budget line. Naming wise, their streamlining involved the shift from a three number scheme to a system with a letter followed by two numbers. Whereas the previous naming system had a number in front to denote the series a product belonged to followed by a number indicating generation and a third number distinguishing revisions, the new scheme changed the first number into a letter that served the same function. Just like the previous naming scheme, letter suffixes can be added to the end of the model number to signify types of the model it is attached to.
Unique features
The A series wasn't simply a larger version of the T series. The A series, positioned as a desktop replacement, offered many additional features not available on the T series including a line-in audio jack, 4-pin FireWire, floppy drive,, more powerful GPU options, and options for larger and higher resolution screens. The A3x generation expanded on the list of unique features by adding a second UltraBay in place of the floppy drive, web navigation keys on the left of the keyboard, and option for IPS displays. Those "flexview" IPS screens, with drastically greater viewing angles, were also added as an option for future T, R, and X series ThinkPads, leading to ThinkPads of this era being known for their great displays.A2x (2000-2001)
All ThinkPad A series information reference the tawbook.A20m
The ThinkPad A20m was released in 2000 as a successor to the ThinkPad 770. It was released alongside the A20p and was meant to be both the lower cost and mainstream option of the A series. A carbon fiber case similar to the one in the ThinkPad 240 and 600 series was used to maintain stiffness while keeping the laptop somewhat light.It came in two body types with 3 display sizes. The 14" body type could be fitted with either a 12.1" SVGA or a 14.1" XGA display. The 15" body type could only be optioned with a 15" XGA display.
A20p
The ThinkPad A20p was released as the high end version of the A20m. It sported a titanium composite lid similar to the T20 released around the same time, higher capacity battery, UltraPort, higher resolution displays, and more performant CPUs and GPUs when compared to the A20m.The A20p was only available in the 15" body type with a 15" SXGA+ display.
A21e
The ThinkPad A21e was released starting at $1499 and was aimed at "budget-conscious business users".It had features cut out, including the ability to dock to the full sized ThinkPad Dock, was made of ABS plastic, had a lower end 440MX chipset that couldn't handle as much RAM, did not have battery terminals nor the ability to hot or warm swap in the UltraBay, and couldn't support more than one PCMCIA card at a time.
During the A21e's lifetime, two versions of it were released. One, released in October 2000, was based on the A21m. The other was a smaller model released in March 2001 and didn't have a 1.44MB floppy drive or upgradeable CPUs. This was the model that the A22e would revise on.
In Japan only, there were versions both types of A21e released called the ThinkPad i Series 1800. These were essentially the same computers but rebranded under the i Series name.
The A21m based model was available in two both 14" and 15" body types. The 14" body type housed either a 12.1" SVGA or a 14.1" XGA display. The 15" body type was only available with a 15" XGA display.
The newer, smaller model was only offered in the 14" body type which could be optioned with 12.1", 13.3", or 14.1" displays. the 12" display was SVGA while the 13" and 14" displays were XGA.
A21m
The ThinkPad A21m was released in September 2000 as a revision of the A20m with faster CPUs.It came in two body types with 3 display sizes. The 14" body type could be fitted with either a 12.1" SVGA or a 14.1" XGA display. The 15" body type could only be optioned with a 15" XGA display.
A21p
The ThinkPad A21p was released as a revision of the A20p with faster CPUs and higher resolution displays. PCWorld gave the A21p a score of 89, rating it the best "Power Notebook" due to its chart topping performance. In the main review of the laptop, they noted its high resolution screen and high-speed mobile Pentium III processor, calling it the "Lexus of portables".The A21p was only available in the 15" body type with a 15" UXGA display.
A22e
The ThinkPad A22e was released in June 2001 and was a revision on the smaller version of the A21e. A new version of i series 1800 was released based on the A22e as well. This would be the last A series with an -e suffix as the ThinkPad R series succeeded it in the space of low cost smaller laptops.The A22e was only offered in the 14" body type which could either house a 13.3" or a 14.1" XGA display.
A22m
The ThinkPad A22m was released as a revision of the A21m with faster CPUs. While other A series models supported wireless LAN as upgrades, it was the first A series model to have the option of wireless LAN connectivity from the factory. It was given the Editor's Choice Award from ZDNet in 2001 and was the best rated out of the 7 other "AV notebooks" reviewed, being fast with excellent build quality. Starting with the A3x series, the smaller 14" body type from the mainstream Axxm linup of desktop replacements would be succeeded by the R series.It came in two body types with 3 display sizes. The 14" body type could be fitted with either a 12.1" SVGA or a 14.1" XGA display. The 15" body type could only be optioned with a 15" XGA display.
A22p
The ThinkPad A22p was released as a revision of the A21p with faster CPUs. In a review in 2001, Bloomberg called it the Lexus among portables due to it " great design with top-shelf components, as well as a screen resolution of 1600 by 1200, the highest available for notebooks".The A22p was only available in the 15" body type with a 15" UXGA display.
A3x (2001-2004)
All ThinkPad A series information reference the tawbook.A30
The ThinkPad A30 was released in October 2001 alongside the ThinkPad R Series, the laptop line that replaced the lower cost lines of the A series. This was reflected in the positioning of the A series in IBM's lineup shifting from "Desktop alternatives covering a range of performance and functionalities" to "High-performance desktop alternatives with exceptional versatility".It, along with the ThinkPad R30 released at the same time, started the era of ThinkPad design of a cut corner on the left side back side, thin, exposed metal hinges, grey function row and page left and right keys, and a blue enter key. This design was later brought to the T30 and the X3x series in 2002. While the cut corner and the grey color accents would only last in ThinkPad design until 2005, the exposed metal hinges along with the blue enter key and the page left/right keys would stay with ThinkPads for much longer. The changes to the A series were not all positive though. In place of the carbon fiber construction of the Axxm series, ABS plastic lids and glass fiber reinforced plastic bottoms were used instead on the A30.
Being a desktop replacement, the laptop featured not just one but two UltraBays, One Ultrabay 2000 on the left side and another Ultrabay Plus on the right. The Ultrabay Plus could be used for floppy, SuperDisk, ZIP, CD, or DVD drives just like an Ultrabay 2000, or for expanding other device functions such as adding a numpad or a cradle for the IBM WorkPad PDA. Not only were there two UltraBays, there were two Communication Daughter Card slots that could house either 56K modem or 10/100 Ethernet cards. It also included six web navigation keys on the left side of the keyboard, three of which were preprogramed while the other three were user programmable.
The A30 was available with 3 display options: a 14.1" XGA, a 15.0" XGA, or a 15.0" SXGA+, all of which were TN displays.