Yesterday, Lenovo unveiled a new and affordable tablet, as well as a new set of touch-enabled Windows 8 laptops. Its newest Windows 8-based tablet creation, dubbed the Miix, stems from Lenovo’s belief that it has created one of the best, and most affordable mixtures between a tablet and fully-functional laptop.
The Miix – Enveloped in a thin (0.4 inches) and light (1.28 pounds) casing with a soft-touch back panel, the display measures 10.1-inches, features an HD resolution of 1366 x 768, and makes use of IPS wide-view technology.
At its heart, the Miix runs an Intel Atom Z2760 dual core processor, surrounded by up to 2GB of LPDDR2 system memory, and 64GB of eMMC storage. If you want additional storage, you’ll find a handy SD slot. The Miix is convertible, allowing you to swap between “laptop mode” and tablet mode via a detachable folio case, which features an integrated AccuType keyboard that Lenovo promises feels just as sturdy on your lap as a notebook. The Miix promises 10-hours of battery life, and is starts at $500 (the keyboard will cost you an extra $50). More info, check out our hands-on review of the Miix.
The IdeaPad Touch S-series – Lenovo’s S-series laptops are entry-level devices meant for the mainstream consumer. The IdeaPad S210 is 11.6-inch laptop-tablet was designed with portability and power in mind. The IdeaPad Touch S210 has a 10-point multi-touch display HD display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. Weighing a little over 3 pounds and 0.88mm thick, the S210 comes with a Core i3 processor, up to 8Gb of DDR3L RAM, and up to 1TB HDD storage (with an additional 500GB SSD available to add). The battery should last upwards of 6 hours on a single charge. For more information, check out our hands-on review of the IdeaPad Touch S210.
The S210 will start at $430. Also available is the S400 Touch and S500 Touch, which have 14-inch and 15.6-inch screens and will sell for $450 and $580, respectively.
The IdeaPad Touch U-series – Perfect for those looking for a little more bang for the buck, the two new U-Series notebooks feature a larger 13.3-inch or 14-inch screen, and boast a higher FHD resolution of 1920 x 1080. All of this is enveloped in a 0.74-inch-thick casing that weighs only 3.7 pounds. The U-Series features the same 10-point multi-touch as the S210. It also comes with a Lenovo Voice Command feature that allows you to give spoken commands to your notebook, kinda like Siri. It even has an Instant Resume feature that will pull the PC from sleep mode in just over a second.
Internally, the U-Series features up to the latest Intel Core i7 processor, with up to 8GB DDR3L RAM, and up to 1TB of storage. Like the S210, you’ll be able to add an additional 500GB SSD. The IdeaPad U330 Touch will be available in the third quarter for $800, and the U430 will be available for $900.