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Porsche Design's Book One is a sexier Surface Book for $2,500

The two-in-one is the world's first with a screen that detaches from its keyboard as well as rotates on 360-degree hinges.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice
Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.
Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials
  • More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.
Joshua Goldman
2 min read

The rise of two-in-one Windows PCs has resulted in some interesting designs, but none quite match Porsche Design's Book One unveiled at Mobile World Congress .

The design group has other tech in its product portfolio such as the Huawei Mate 9 and this $3,000 sound bar, but the Book One, which was teased at Computex last year, is its first computer. It's also the world's first two-in-one to be both a detachable and a convertible.

Detachables like Microsoft's Surface Book have removable keyboards that allow the screen to be used as a standalone tablet. In the case of the Book One, it's a 13.3-inch tablet with a 3,200x1,800-pixel resolution display with support for Windows Ink so you can write and draw on the screen.

porsche-design-book-one-pc
Porsche Design

What the Surface Book can't do is stay attached to its keyboard and rotate up to 360 degrees on its hinges like a convertible such as the Lenovo Yoga line or Dell's two-in-one XPS 13. The Book One's clever cog-wheel hinges -- a design inspired by the transmission of a sports car -- allow the system to be quickly used as a tablet or a clamshell laptop or anything in between. Or you can just detach the screen entirely and use it as a tablet.

Inside is a seventh-generation Intel Core i7-7500U processor, 16GB of RAM, and an Intel 512GB PCIe solid-state drive. Ports include three USB-C ports, one of which is Thunderbolt 3, and two full-size USB 3.0 ports. Plus, there's an infrared camera that lets you use Windows Hello to log on with facial recognition. There's even a magnetic holder on the right side of the tablet for its stylus.

Porsche Design's Book One is both a convertible and detachable 2-in-1 PC

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If you want a Book One, you'll only have to wait until April, when it will be available from Porsche Design stores and select retailers including NewEgg.com where you can preorder it now. The price is set at $2,495, which roughly converts to £2,000 or AU$3,250.