At first glance, Lenovo’s new ThinkPad T400s model fits somewhere between Lenovo’s existing X300 and T400 notebooks. But take a closer look, and VARs will find the T400s designed for customers that have fallen for voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications. Here’s why.

First, the nitty-gritty details. On June 17, Jay McBain, director of SMB for Lenovo, hinted that a new notebook market segment was set to emerge. McBain’s prediction:

Of course, McBain had inside information about the June 23 T400s launch. You’ll find the T400s technical specs here. But The VAR Guy has never been a “speeds and feeds” type of guy. So let’s focus instead on design and innovation.

The following video from Lenovo’s David Hill offers a quick look at the T400s’s design, and some nifty elements related to the keyboard layout and VoIP application support:

Though not a rugged laptop, Lenovo has gone viral with the following video, showing the T400s surviving quite a beating. Smart marketing:

The Book on Lenovo ThinkPads

Hmmm. To learn more about Hill and Lenovo’s design team, The VAR Guy read “The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Develop the Ultimate Portable Computer.” That book and a related BusinessWeek article focused on the X300.

Looking ahead, Lenovo plans to migrate some of the new T400S design elements into the original T400 as well as the X300. Translation: Lenovo plans to eventually promote VoIP application support as a differentiating factor for its business laptops, The VAR Guy believes.

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