IBM ThinkPad 240-series
IBM Thinkpad 240X
ManufacturerIBM
IntroducedJune 1999; 24 years ago (1999-06)
Discontinued2001
CostUSD$1999.00 (Thinkpad 240, 16 June 1999)[1]
ProcessorIntel Mobile Celeron 300, Pentium III
Memory64 MB RAM (maximum 320 MB)
PortsVGA out, serial port, parallel port, IBM external drive port, CardBus, Mini PCI, USB 1.0
Weight2.9 lb (1.3 kg)
Dimensions10.2 x 8.0 x 1.05" (260.0 x 202.0 x 26.6 mm)

IBM ThinkPad 240 is an ultra-portable laptop computer designed and produced by IBM from June 1999 to 2001. It is one of the few ThinkPad 200 series models made available in America and was the smallest and lightest ThinkPad model produced to date. The 240 series was discontinued, and it (as well as the 570 series) was replaced with the ThinkPad X series in 2000.

Features

The first 240 series models included the 300 MHz Mobile Celeron processor, 64 MB built-in RAM and one slot for memory expansion (maximum 320 MB). The laptop also was one of the first to feature the Mini PCI card slot. No built-in optical drive or diskette drive was included due to size limitations. External drive access was via a USB 1.0 port and/or the IBM external floppy drive connector. The unit shipped either with a standard 6 GB hard disk drive or with the 12 GB upgrade option.

All 240 series models feature a 10.4 TFT display, and the first models featured NeoMagic MagicGraph128XD graphics chips with 2 MB of video memory. The 240 is capable of displaying up to SVGA (800x600) on the TFT display, with XGA output available to an external monitor. All 240s also have audio controllers and VGA ports to connect to external display devices.

Models

ThinkPad 240Z
240 240X 240Z i-Series 1124
CPU Celeron 300, 366 or 400 MHz Celeron 450 MHz or Pentium III 500 MHz Celeron 500 MHz or Pentium III 600 MHz Celeron 450 or 500 MHz, or Pentium III 500 MHz
RAM 96MB, max. 320MB SDRAM SODIMM (PC-66) 64 MB or 128 MB (soldered), + 32MB, 64MB or 128MB SDRAM SODIMM (PC-100)
Graphics chip Neomagic MagicGraph128XD with 2MB SMI LynxEM+ with 2MB SMI LynxEM+ with 2MB (SVGA-model) or SMI LynxEM4+ SM712 with 4MB (XGA-model)
Display 10.4" TFT Display with 800x600, max. 24-bit colordepth (SVGA) 10.4" TFT Display with 800x600 (SVGA) or 1024x768 (XGA), max. 24-bit colordepth
Disksize 6GB or 12GB 12GB 10GB or 20GB
Operating system Microsoft Windows 98 or NT 4.0 Windows 98 SE or Windows 2000

Reception

Joseph Leung from the South China Morning Post in December 1999 appreciated the compactness and portability of the ThinkPad 240. It also noted the short battery life and that it only has a single Type II PC Card slot.[2] Peter H. Lewis from The New York Times noted that it is a niche product for people who travel a lot.[3]

Transmeta Crusoe

At the June 2000 PC Expo in New York, IBM demonstrated a ThinkPad 240 with a Transmeta Crusoe.[4][5] In November, it was announced that IBM would not be using the Transmeta CPU in a 240.[6] According to a source close to Transmeta, this was due to pressure from Intel.[7]

References

  1. ^ "A Notebook That's Kind to Fingers". Bloomberg News. 1999-06-28. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  2. ^ Leung, Joseph (16 Dec 1999). "ThinkPad a welcome addition to IBM family". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  3. ^ Lewis, Peter H. (1999-06-17). "STATE OF THE ART; Skinny Laptop, Hefty Keyboard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  4. ^ staff, ITworld (2001-01-18). "IBM postpones Crusoe laptop". Computerworld. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  5. ^ "IBM takes close look at Transmeta processor with ThinkPad demo". EETimes.
  6. ^ "IBM spurns Transmeta - Nov. 1, 2000". CNN. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  7. ^ Lettice, John. "Intel claimed to have squeezed IBM to dump Transmeta". The Register. Retrieved 2021-04-20.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ThinkPad 240.
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