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Lenovo X201t: Tablets in disguise

There's more than meets the eye with the Lenovo X201t, a tablet that transforms into a robot. Sorry, not robot, laptop

Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
Richard Trenholm

The Lenovo X201t is more than meets the eye: it transforms from a tablet into a laptop, similar to the Eee PC T91 -- but with a lot more going on under the bonnet.

The 12.1-inch,1,280x800-pixel display rotates and folds down over the keyboard. You can then write with a stylus, tap the capacitive touchscreen or type on screen. It runs an Intel Core i7 processor, with up to 8GB of RAM. Memory options include a maximum of 320GB hard-drive space, or up to 128GB of solid-state storage. All well and good, but admit it: you're going to spend most of your time watching 80s cartoons on YouTube. We've gussied up the boring, blank-screened PR shot with a mock-up of what it'll look like when you watch Transformers on it.

The X201t sports three USB ports, with VGA video but no HDMI. It packs an eight-cell battery. One of the cleverest features is a fingerprint reader that will automatically boot the machine and log you in when you swipe a digit. It also offers a small trackpad.

The X201t is being shown off at CeBIT, where a US release date of March and price of $1,549 -- a couple of quid north of £1,000 -- has been confirmed. We'll bring you more when we have it. Right, back to YouTube.