Lenovo, a leading maker of personal computers, on Tuesday announces that sales of ThinkPad laptops will surpass 60 million this month. Throughout its 18 year history, ThinkPad has recorded many ground-breaking innovation firsts - like the first spill resistant keyboard and protective roll cage.

“Long recognized as a hallmark for innovation and excellence, ThinkPad has been the trusted laptop brand for business users around the world for nearly two decades. With Lenovo, ThinkPad has grown even stronger for quality, reliability and performance, and we’ll continue to drive our commitment to innovation further as we design future ThinkPad laptops,” said Peter Hortensius, senior vice president of Think product group at Lenovo.

With more than 2000 design awards under its belt, ThinkPad has made a number of industry firsts, including first modern laptop to fly in space, first with a spill-resistant keyboard, first with built-in CD-ROM, first with built-in DVD-ROM, first with built-in wireless, first with embedded security subsystem, first with built-in fingerprint reader, first dual screen mobile workstation.

In addition to being very innovative, ThinkPad laptops have also been traditionally very reliable. This reliability has played a major role in acceptance of IBM and then Lenovo ThinkPad-branded systems by business and enterprise customers seeking for maximum quality and reliability. Still, ThinkPad systems are not by definition the most rugged systems, there are competing offerings from companies like Panasonic or HP.

According to Lenovo, more than fourteen ThinkPad laptops are now sold every 60 seconds, contributing to Lenovo’s position as the fastest-growing major PC company.

In celebration of the milestone, Lenovo is rewarding customers with a special event featuring up to 15% discounted pricing on select ThinkPad models purchased in the U.S. The promotion begins today and runs through October 8, 2010.

To commemorate the event, Lenovo also releases several ThinkPad laptops with Nvidia Optimus technology that allows to dynamically enable and disable discrete graphics processor to save power or increase performance in graphics intensive applications. ThinkPad also supports Optimus technology to drive four displays via select ThinkPlus docks.  The ThinkPad T410, T410s and T510 laptops with Nvidia Optimus technology are available immediately through business partners and the company’s online store. Pricing begins at approximately $1299 for the T410 and T510 and $1849 for the T410s.

Tags: Lenovo, ThinkPad, IBM