The massive 27-inch Lenovo Yoga Home tablet brings back the tabletop PC
This big all-in-one doubles as a futuristic touchscreen tabletop perfect for sharing.
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
A few years ago, it seemed like tabletop PCs were ready to take off as a mainstream computer category. These massive devices were part all-in-one desktop, part tablet, and a lot of fun to use. Most had flexible hinges that allowed them to fold down flat on a desk, coffee table or ottoman, and big screens for family sharing, with everyone gathered around the display for a virtual board game or for sharing photos or video.
The first one of these tabletop systems we reviewed was one of our favorites, the 27-inch Lenovo Horizon from 2013. Similar models from HP, Sony and others followed, but the category never really went mainstream.
Lenovo has been making and updating the Horizon line this whole time, but the company is now relaunching it as the Yoga Home 900, and adding some new components and options. The new version still has a 27-inch touchscreen display with a 1,920x1,080 native resolution, but now moves up to fifth-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The built-in battery isn't designed for long-term use, but should last about three hours, long enough to carry into another room for a movie or game session.
An Nvidia GeForce 940M graphics chip is also available as an option, but that's not powerful enough to make this more than a casual gaming machine. That said, board game and tabletop game apps, from Monopoly to Risk to various poker and casino games, are a natural fit for this style of computer, and are easy to find in the Microsoft app store or Lenovo's own curated app store.
Like previous versions of this system from Lenovo, when you push the top of the display, it folds down on its hinged kickstand, and when nearly flat, automatically launches a tabletop operating system overlay named Aura. That interface gives you touch-friendly access to photos, videos and app, all from a top-down point of view. You can also close Aura and just use the standard Windows 10 view.
The idea of having a tabletop PC sitting inside custom-built furniture (such as a coffee table with a system-sized cutout) never came to pass, but these big-screen, battery powered all-in-one desktops are still fun to use, and the new Yoga Home is more than powerful enough to be a full-time productivity machine when you're not playing board games on it.
The Lenovo Yoga Home 900 will be available from Lenovo's website and in Best Buy stores in late October, starting at $1,499. International price and date details were not yet available.