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Hands-on with the Lenovo U1: Two PCs for the price on one-and-a-half

We love the Lenovo U1, with its detachable mini-tablet computer and its funky Linux-based, Snapdragon-powered awesomeness -- so we've taken some photos

Ian Morris
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We've already written about the Lenovo IdeaPad U1, helpfully providing its specifications and explaining how this little beast has won our hearts with its detachable mini-tablet, which runs Lenovo's Skylight Linux-based OS. But CES isn't just about telling -- it's about seeing. So we've made you a photo story that should give you an idea of how awesome this new machine is.

2010 threatens to be the year of the tablet, with Apple making noises in the area and Microsoft trying to stimulate some interest in the devices, and not doing a great job of it. The U1 isn't a fully featured tablet PC though -- you're somewhat limited by the Linux OS and comparatively low-powered CPU. Even so, it's still a device we're very interested in. At £625 or more, however, we're worried about how we're going to justify the expense. 

And if low-powered is something that doesn't worry you for working on a commute, and you want something nice and cheap, don't worry, help is at hand. The help comes in the form of a netbook-sized PC called the Lenovo Skylight that runs the aforementioned Skylight OS on a Snapdragon processor.

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On the surface, it looks like any other small laptop.
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Then you see the Snapdragon-powered, tablet PC in action, and you can't help but be amazed by how brilliant it looks.
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You can really get a sense of how small the detachable tablet PC is when you see it in someone's gloved hands.
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And without the tablet PC screen, you've got the main PC, which runs a very traditional Intel CPU with SSD hard drive and Windows 7 OS.

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