ThinkPad History

Here is an overview of the history of IBM ThinkPad (and similar) mobile computers.

IBM has a webpage on the history of the ThinkPad here: http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/thinkpad/anniversary/history.html

ThinkPads sorted by time of appearance

ThinkPad model	release year	special characteristics
1992
700T	Apr 1992	TabletPC
300	Oct 1992
700, 700C	Oct 1992	MCA
1993
710T	Mar 1993	TabletPC
720, 720C	May 1993	MCA
350, 350C	June 1993
500	June 1993
750, 750C	Sep 1993
750P	Sep 1993	TabletPC/Notebook-Morphable
750CS	Nov 1993
1994
360, 360CS	May 1994
730T	May 1994	TabletPC
360C	June 1994
360P	June 1994	TabletPC/Notebook-Morphable
510CS	June 1994
355, 355C, 355CS	June 1994
755C, 755CS	June 1994
360CE, 360CSE	Oct 1994
755CD	Oct 1994	first notebook with integrated CD-ROM drive and IrDA
755CE, 755CSE	Nov 1994
1995
701C, 701CS	Mar 1995	SubNotebook w/ Butterfly keyboard
360CE	Apr 1995
370C	May 1995
755CX	May 1995
755CV	May 1995	display can be used with overhead projectors
755CDV	June 1995	display can be used with overhead projectors
820, 850	July 1995	PowerPC driven
PC110	Sep 1995	PalmTop - the smallest and cutest "ThinkPad" ever, was sold in Japan only
730TE	Oct 1995	TabletPC, enhanced version of 730T
760C, 760CD	Oct 1995
365C, 365CS	Nov 1995
365CD, 365CSD	Nov 1995
1996
760L, 760LD	Feb 1996
365E, 365ED	May 1996
365X, 365XD	May 1996
560	May 1996	UltraPortable
860	Oct 1996	PowerPC driven
1997
380, 380D	May 1997
385D	May 1997
310, 310D	June 1997
560E	June 1997
765L, 765D	June 1997
380E, 380ED	Sep 1997
385ED	Sep 1997
770	Oct 1997	first Notebook with integrated DVD-ROM drive
310E, 310ED	Nov 1997
1998
380XD	Mar 1998
385XD	Mar 1998
560X	Mar 1998	UltraPortable
600	Apr 1998	probably the most popular ThinkPad so far
770E, 770ED	Apr 1998
380Z	Sep 1998
560Z	Sep 1998	UltraPortable
770X	Oct 1998
390	Nov 1998
600E	Nov 1998	enhanced version of 600
i Series 1410, i Series 1450	Nov 1998
1999
i Series 1411, i Series 1451	Jan 1999
770Z	Feb 1999
390E	Mar 1999
570	Apr 1999	UltraPortable
240	June 1999	SubNotebook
i Series 1412, i Series 1452, i Series 1472	June 1999
i Series 1512, i Series 1552	July 1999
i Series 1720, i Series 1721	July 1999
390X	Sep 1999
i Series 1420	Oct 1999
i Series 1460, i Series 1480	Oct 1999	first Notebook with integrated keyboard light
i Series 1540, i Series 1560	Oct 1999
600X	Dec 1999	enhanced version of 600E
2000
i Series 1421, i Series 1441	Jan 2000
i Series 1541	Jan 2000
570E	Feb 2000	UltraPortable
i Series 1422, i Series 1442, i Series 1482, i Series 1483, i Series 1492	Mar 2000
i Series 1542, i Series 1562, i Series 1592	April 2000
A20m, A20p	May 2000	]
T20	May 2000
240X	June 2000
i Series 1210, i Series 1230, i Series 1250, i Series 1260	June 2000
i Series 1330, i Series 1370	June 2000
i Series 1200, i Series 1300	Sep 2000
X20	Sep 2000	UltraPortable
A21m, A21p	Sep 2000
A21e	Oct 2000
T21	Oct 2000
2001
TransNote	Feb 2001	IBMs innovative approach on Human Interaction
T22	Mar 2001
A22m, A22p	Apr 2001
X21	Apr 2001	UltraPortable
S30	May 2001
A22e	June 2001
T23	July 2001
A30	Oct 2001
A30p	Oct 2001
R30	Oct 2001
X22	Oct 2001	UltraPortable
S31	Nov 2001
2002
X23	Jan 2002	UltraPortable
R31	Feb 2002
A31	Mar 2002
A31p	Mar 2002
T30	May 2002
X24	May 2002	UltraPortable
R32	June 2002
X30	Sep 2002	UltraPortable
2003
R40	Jan 2003
T40, T40p	Mar 2003
X31	Mar 2003	UltraPortable
G40	Apr 2003
R40e	Oct 2003
R50	Oct 2003
T41	Oct 2003	first notebook with HDD protection system
T41p	Nov 2003
R50p	Nov 2003
2004
X40	Feb 2004	UltraPortable
R50e	Apr 2004
R51	Apr 2004
T42, T42p	May 2004
G41	Oct 2004
2005
T43	Feb 2005
R52	Mar 2005
T43p	Apr 2005
X32	Apr 2005	UltraPortable
X41	Apr 2005	UltraPortable
X41 Tablet	June 2005	UltraPortable