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Lenovo's E Ink laptop lid feeds your screen addiction even when your ThinkBook is closed

Lenovo stuck an E Ink display (the kind Kindle made famous) on its ThinkBook Plus laptop lid, because why not?

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Joshua_Goldman.jpg
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.
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Joshua Goldman
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus
James Martin/CNET

Lenovo always seems to have a couple CES products that think totally outside the box, but this is more literal than I'm used to. On the cover of the 13.3-inch ThinkBook Plus is a secondary 10.8-inch E Ink display "on which users can create illustrations and diagrams with the integrated Lenovo Precision Pen and receive essential notifications when the lid is closed allowing them to stay focused during meetings." 

Now, I question whether anything that delivers notifications, even when closed, will allow you to stay focused in meetings. But being able to quickly jot down action items that can then sync with Microsoft OneNote -- without unlocking a phone or opening a laptop -- sounds good to me. Plus, you can customize it with your own screensaver. 

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Watch this: Lenovo's future-forward laptops are packed with folding screens, E ink displays and 5G

Aside from the E Ink display, the ThinkBook Plus is a fairly straightforward 13.3-inch ultraportable business laptop. 

  • Up to 10th-gen Intel Core i7 processor
  • Integrated Intel UHD graphics
  • 8GB or 16GB of memory
  • 256GB or 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD
  • Full HD display with 100% sRGB color gamut coverage
  • Power button with integrated fingerprint reader, webcam privacy shutter and TPM 2.0 for security

The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus is expected to be available in March, starting at $1,199 (about £910 or AU$1,730 converted).

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Originally published Jan. 6.