ThinkPad

Lenovo: ThinkPad Helix to ship early March

People looking to buy Lenovo's Helix laptop may not have to wait that long after all.

The convertible Windows 8 laptop will begin shipping in early March, a Lenovo spokesman told CNET today, though he couldn't say exactly when it will hit retail stores. The Helix will be sold worldwide, but availability will vary by country.

This bit of news follows a Facebook post on Monday from a Lenovo representative saying that the Helix would be delayed until March or April. The rep added that more details would be announced soon.

Demoed at CES last month, the Helix … Read more

Lenovo sees surge in tablet shipments

Lenovo saw tablet shipments spike in its most recent reported quarter, according to comments today from its top executive.

Along with reporting a record profit during its fiscal third quarter (the fourth calendar quarter of 2012), Lenovo said tablet shipments are on a tear.

The Chinese device maker shipped 800,000 tablets in the quarter ended December 31, "almost an 80 percent year-to-year" growth, said Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO, during the company's earnings conference call.

"We will continue to have hyper growth in smartphones and tablets," he said. Lenovo shipped 9.4 million phones … Read more

Splittable laptop-tablets: The U1 Hybrid had it right all along

Sometimes, even if it's vaporware, it doesn't mean its maker isn't on to something.

Three years ago, the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid caught my eye -- and many others -- at CES in Las Vegas. The idea -- a laptop that had its own detachable tablet -- seemed revolutionary, and at the time it was an idea ahead of even the iPad, which debuted just months later.

The IdeaPad U1 Hybrid was a great idea, with one problem: it never arrived. After surfacing again in 2011 as a Windows/Android detachable hybrid, it again disappeared from view.… Read more

CES postscript: The touch laptop, like it or not

The laptop was reinvented at CES.

Or maybe I should say there was a vigorous attempt to reinvent the laptop. Because we won't know how successful touch has been until next year this time.

Intel's CES booth -- still a large presence in the CES Central Hall -- had one basic unmistakable message: touch has arrived.

Windows 8 convertibles, detachables, touch-screen laptops, and just plain tablets from Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Samsung, Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Toshiba, Sony, and others blanketed Intel's booth.

And just to make sure the touch message was crystal clear, Intel issued an edict to PC … Read more

At CES, tablets go full-bore Core, get 'real' Intel processors

LAS VEGAS--With Intel now pushing its mainstream processors into tablets and convertibles, some PC vendors are opting for high-performance designs that offer no-holds-barred performance.

Lenovo is delivering probably the best example. The PC maker announced the ThinkPad Helix at CES (see video below) which is built around Intel's low-power "Ivy Bridge" Core i5 and Core i7 chips.

Surprisingly, Lenovo's Helix doesn't skimp on battery life, offering a total of 10 hours when used in conjunction with its keyboard base.

So, why would Lenovo stick an ultrabook chip in a tablet? Intel's most power efficient … Read more

Intel-based Windows 8 tablets see spotty availability

A tablet from Hewlett-Packard running the full version of Windows 8 is expected to finally ship to customers, though a full Win 8 tablet doesn't appear to be imminent from Lenovo.

HP's Envy x2 laptop-tablet hybrid "convertible" was originally slated for November 14 availability but is now expected to reach customers soon, HP said.

"Customers can expect to receive an Envy x2...in January, if they order today. Customers who ordered their units on Dec. 3 or prior are expected to receive their PC by Dec. 21 at the latest," an HP representative told … Read more

ThinkPad X1 Carbon touch for Windows 8 arrives

Lenovo said today that it has added a touch-screen ThinkPad X1 Carbon model, as PC vendors continue to ramp up shipments of Windows 8 ultrabooks with tablet-like attributes.

The 14-inch ThinkPad now measures 20.8mm (about 0.8 inches) thick and weighs 3.4 pounds, slightly thicker and heavier than the non-touch model.

The display resolution and internals stay the same, though. That means a pixel-dense 1,600x900 resolution display and Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

And, true to its name, the chassis is made from lightweight carbon fiber, which allows Lenovo to keep the weight of its 14-inch laptop below 3.5 pounds.

Other specifications have not been disclosed yet.

But the price has: $1,499. Some of that extra cost is due to the high-resolution touch display, which comes at a premium. … Read more

Always On Torture Test Giveaway Extravaganza! iPod Touch, ThinkPad Carbon X1, and Kindle Fire HD

It's been a while since we had a good gadget giveaway here at Always On, so in honor of the holiday season, we're having a giveaway extravaganza! Enter in the comments for a chance to win one of three devices we've recently put through the wringer.

First up, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop. This one boasted rugged construction, but had trouble with our torture gantlet: mainly the heat test and the part where I spilled a cup of hot coffee on its otherwise outstanding keyboard. It comes on, but the keyboard and touch pad are unresponsive. … Read more

Episode 18: The Galaxy Note 2 and a ThinkPad torture test

When Samsung debuted the Galaxy Note last year at CES, the phone met with, well, a mountain of mockery.

It was inexplicably huge, it came with a stylus, hallmark of the hopelessly unhip, and worse, pundits took to calling it a "phablet" -- half phone, half tablet. It appeared to be a product in search of a market it could never, ever hope to find.

We were wrong. The Note found a following, and Samsung reportedly sold 20 million of the funny little things. That's pretty good for a tweener device with no known purpose.

And here … Read more