San Francisco (CA) – Lenovo kept its promise from last August and has opened the ordering process for Thinkpad notebooks that come preloaded with Suse’s Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED).

So far, the notebooks can only be ordered via phone and are not available via Lenovo’s website, which will be updated on January 19, we were told. The availability of SLED is limited to “certain” 14” T61 and R61 Thinkpads. Details about the systems are still scarce, but we know that the Linux Thinkpads will be available from $950.

It is the second time Lenovo is offering Linux as an option on its notebooks and this scenario reflects a general uncertainty of system builders if there is really a market for such systems and how such notebooks should be positioned and marketed.

Just like Dell, which recently rolled out notebook and desktops with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed, Lenovo has offered a Linux Thinkpad in the past: However, this first generation - based on a T60p model – was more than $1200 more expensive than a comparable Windows XP system and made little sense to a mainstream buyer. This new sub-$1000 approach is certainly will attract the interest of more potential customers.

Lenovo said that it will be extending the availability of SLED to 14” widescreen T- and R-series as well as 15” widescreen T-series Thinkpads. Certain models will be available with Intel’s latest 45 nm processors with Penryn core.