Sprint 3G & 4G To Be Included On All Future Lenovo ThinkPads

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Lenovo and Sprint have just announced a partnership that will bring 3G and 4G wireless connectivity to the complete line of ThinkPad notebooks, including the recently announced Edge 14 and Edge 15. Of course for those keeping track Lenovo has offered wireless connectivity in some of their notebooks in the past, however this announcement means that customers can opt for Sprint wireless service in any of the ThinkPad notebooks.

“Adding Sprint to our network of supported carriers gives customers even more 3G choice and expanded connectivity points with the fast speeds of Sprint 4G,” said Dilip Bhatia, executive director, ThinkPad Product Marketing, Lenovo.

As for getting up and running. First you will need to make sure you check the option to have Sprint access during the order process. Then assuming you take care of that, Lenovo will ship your shiny new ThinkPad with a Sprint branded SIM card pre-installed. Once the notebook is in your hands up and running getting the connection to Sprint is simple. All you need to do is launch the Lenovo Access Connection tool and that will walk you through the setup process.

Of course, the Sprint service does come with the extra added monthly expense. But maybe you can convince you boss that this will help make you a more productive employee. And no, in most cases watching YouTube and forwarding chain letter style emails during your lunch hour will not qualify as a work requirement.

The Sprint 4G sounds nice, however as of this posting most people will be limited to Sprint 3G connectivity because as of now the Sprint 4G coverage is not yet nationwide. In fact, it is only available in 27 markets, some of which include Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia and Seattle. That said, Sprint has plans to expand on those 27 market by adding 4G coverage in other areas such as New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington DC during 2010.