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jas [soylentnews.org] writes:

The notebook PC market is a complex one—practically every manufacturer is trying to follow Apple into the thin and light market, even as Apple quietly admitted defeat this week, discontinuing the 12" MacBook with a lone USB port and 3.5mm jack after four years [cnet.com]. This race to make thinner laptops has impacted even Lenovo's business-focused ThinkPad line, with the 13.3" ThinkPad X390 [lenovo.com] limited to one M.2 SSD, soldered down RAM, and a battery that can only be replaced if you unscrew the case.

Naturally, this direction has upset many in the ThinkPad enthusiast community, as the brand has strayed from the user-serviceability that made it the go-to option when the brand was under IBM's stewardship. In an interview with TechRepublic,  Lenovo's vice president of global commercial portfolio and product management Jerry Paradise [techrepublic.com] noted that "Our job is made up of a series of trade-offs, it's never one perfect answer," noting that professionals who often travel in airports "are a big segment of our customers… they want less weight, and they want something that slides down their bag and doesn't take a lot of space."

Epson's just-announced Endeavor NA520E [techrepublic.com] delivers all of the features of classic ThinkPad systems, at a lower weight than the ThinkPad X390, and with competitive specs—adding just 2.1 mm of thickness allows for two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, two M.2 2280 SSD slots, a 1080p display with narrow bezels, up to an Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, a wealth of ports, and durability without being a tank. But you'll have to buy it in Japan.

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