CES 2013: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S Brings Intel Core i5 to 11-in Form Factor

Subject: Mobile | January 6, 2013 - 07:31 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: yoga 11s, yoga 11, yoga, Lenovo, ideapad yoga, Ideapad, ces 2013, CES

The Lenovo Yoga laptops were actually announced at last year's CES and we have had one in house for a couple of months as well, doing a quick look type video of it back in October.  The Yoga notebooks are convertible Ultrabooks with a 360 degree hinge allowing you to wrap the display behind the keyboard and put the machine into a tablet form factor.  The first one we saw was powered by the Intel Core i5 processor but was in a 13-in design. 

There has been an 11-in version of the Yoga, but it was powered by NVIDIA's Tegra 3 processor and runs Windows RT.  The Yoga 11S being announced today runs the full version of Windows 8 and includes Intel ULV Ivy Bridge Core i5 series processors, integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics and can be configured with up to 8GB of DDR3 memory and a 256GB SSD.

An 11.6-in 1366x768 IPS display with 10 point touch capability is at the heart of the convertible notebook that is rated at 6 hours of battery life with a 3.08 lbs fighting weight. 

The Yoga's biggest feature is the ability to convert into four different "modes" of usage: laptop, tablet, stand and tent.  You can see all of them demonstrated on our Yoga 13 preview video above and the same forms exist on the new Yoga 11S. 

The Yoga 11S will also be available in "Clementine"

The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S will be available in mid-February and will start at $799.

Check out the full press release after the break!

PC Perspective's CES 2013 coverage is sponsored by AMD.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

CES 2013: Lenovo ThinkPad Helix Convertible Ultrabook With "Rip and Flip" Design

Subject: Mobile | January 6, 2013 - 07:21 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: ultrabook, Thinkpad, tablet, Lenovo, helix, convertible tablet, ces 2013, CES

The ThinkPad line from Lenovo just got a bit more interesting with the announcement of the Helix, a new touch-enabled convertible tablet form factor that includes a new design labeled as "rip and flip." 

Hardware specifications on the Helix are pretty impressive given the small form factor and include Ivy Bridge-based Core i7 processors, up to 8GB of memory and a 256GB SSD, two USB 3.0 ports, RJ45 port, mini-DisplayPort and even mini-HDMI.  The machine will also have optional LTE radios to go along with the 802.11n WiFi and even NFC support. 

The display panel is an IPS 11.6-in 1080p rated at 400 nits - that is very high brightness for a Lenovo machine in my experience.  The screen is rated for 10 point touch capability as well in case you need BOTH HANDS for your project.

Also new is the Lenovo glass ClickPad which I am very eager to get my hands and try.  That is the one area where MacBooks have continued to dominate in terms of notebook design and if Lenovo's ThinkPads can match or improve then we might have a winner on our hands. 

The machine will weigh in at 3.68 lbs for the tablet and dock, 1.84 lbs for the tablet on its own, for great portability.  Battery life claims are at 5 hours on the tablet alone and 10 hours with the tablet and base combination, but as with all battery life specifications plan on cutting that to 50-60% for real-world usage scenarios. 

The new form factor of the ThinkPad Helix is being branded as "rip and flip" due to the tablets ability to be pulled off the keyboard / trackpad dock easily with a single release point.  Folding it down into a standard clamshell design results in your standrad laptop configuration, but with only a 20mm z-height.

Lenovo will start shipping the ThinkPad Helix in mid-February with a starting price of $1,499. 

Keep checking our CES 2013 coverage at http://pcper.com/ces and continue on after the break for the full press release!

PC Perspective's CES 2013 coverage is sponsored by AMD.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

CES 2013: Lenovo OneLink Connection Combines HDMI, Audio, Power, Ethernet and more!

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | January 6, 2013 - 06:00 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: thunderbolt, onelink, Lenovo, ces 2013, CES

An interesting technology from Lenovo is making its debut at CES 2013 as a side-story to an otherwise kind of bland notebook, the ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531.  The notebook itself is based around an Ivy Bridge platform, 14-in or 15-in 1600x900 touch screen, optional discrete graphics and standard storage but what makes it more interesting is that it is the first machine to support Lenovo OneLink.

Lenovo OneLink is a single connection that promises to "connect and deliver power to everything" and if successful, can reduce cable clutter and simplify connections for consumers and business users that want a laptop as their primary machine with a dockable workstation option for when you are at home or the office.  The capability for OneLink to not only act as the conduit for video, audio, networking, storage and more but also charge your laptop and power those other accessories would be impressive and surpasses Thunderbolt in many ways.  We don't yet know the actual data rate of OneLink so TB may still have an advantage there.

Lenovo was also showing the first accessory for OneLink, a dock that features a NAS controller, 4 USB ports, Ethernet, native VGA, HDMI and audio.  In a relatively small package you are able to expand the ThinkPad Edge E431/E531 to the connectivity and capability of a full desktop with external storage and added displays.  Lenovo claims the HDMI connection will be completely lag free and support 1080p resolutions. 

Lots of questions remain including when other Lenovo machines will adopt this connection and why Lenovo decided to shun Thunderbolt that would allow them not only support other accessories but sell its accessories (like this dock) to non-Lenovo customers. 

Hopefully we'll get some more details this week!

PC Perspective's CES 2013 coverage is sponsored by AMD.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

Lenovo ThinkVision LT1423p Touch Mobile Monitor

Subject: General Tech, Displays, Mobile | January 6, 2013 - 06:00 PM | Morry Teitelman
Tagged: windows 8, thinkvision, mobile, LT1423p, Lenovo, CES

Not one to be left out of the fray, Lenovo latest mobile announcement for CES comes in the form of a 13.3 inch, Windows 8 touch optimized mobile monitor.

Courtesy of Lenovo

The ThinkVision LT1423p Mobile Monitor is being markets as a touch enabled secondary screen to be used by on-the-go professionals wanting the added productivity that a touch screen provides for the Windows 8 experience. The screen is an AH-IPS LED-based display with an edge to edge Gorilla Glass coating for added strength and durability. The monitor also support both wired and wireless forms of connectivity for added versatility.

KeyFeatures
Courtesy of Lenovo

• Windows 8 touch optimized wired mobile monitor
• 10 point multi-touch Gorilla Glass screen with anti-reflection and anti-fingerprint surfaces
• One USB3.0 interface for its signal and power or optional WiFi wireless connectivity for ultra-mobility
• Digitizer pen with 256 pressure, 2540lpi resolution, and a 133pps data rate
• 4-directions wide viewing angle supported by latest 13.3 inch AH-IPS LED viewing panel
• Ultra slim design ranging from 0.3 inch at its thinnest point to 0.6 inch at its thickest

Courtesy of Lenovo

The touch screen monitor is only 1/2 an inch thick, weighing a mere 1.6 lbs. Not only is this sized to fit in the same bag as your ultrabook or laptop, but will not add much weight to that shoulder bag either.

Courtesy of Lenovo

In addition to its 10 point multi-touch support, the ThinkVision LT1423p supports use of an stylus-type touch pen device for finer touch control.

Technical Specifications (provided by Lenovo)

PC Perspective's CES 2013 coverage is sponsored by AMD.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

CES 2013: Vizio Creates Windows 8 Tablet with AMD CPU

Subject: General Tech, Processors, Mobile, Shows and Expos | January 6, 2013 - 05:13 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: CES, ces 2013, vizio, amd

Why not open up CES-proper discussion with a tablet announcement?

AMD has begun their push into the tablet space with Vizio being one of their first OEM partners to announce products at CES. Due to AMD being one of the select few to still maintain a proper x86 license, they are about your only option outside of Intel for a true Windows 8 tablet. Vizio took them up on that position.

The Vizio Tablet PC, seemingly a play on their original Android-based Vizio tablet with an added declaration that “I am a PC”, will run standard Windows 8 certified as Microsoft Signature. No bloatware will be included which should help users experience the performance that 60-day antivirus trials and auto-launched demo notifications absorb.

On the technical side, the Tablet PC is loaded with 2 GB of RAM, an 11.6” full 1080p display, and a 1.0 GHz AMD Z60 processor. 64 GB of solid state storage is included although Windows 8 has been known to stake claims to a large portion of that. Readers of our site would probably have a primary computing device although this might be worth watching as a secondary device. You do not have a whole lot of other options for Flash support or access to non-default browsers.

PC Perspective's CES 2013 coverage is sponsored by AMD.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

Brace Yourself: The PC Perspective CES 2013 Coverage is Coming!

Subject: Graphics Cards, Networking, Motherboards, Cases and Cooling, Processors, Systems, Storage, Mobile, Shows and Expos | January 5, 2013 - 10:47 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: CES, ces 2013, pcper

It's that time of year - the staff at PC Perspective is loaded up and either already here in Las Vegas, on their way to Las Vegas or studiously sitting at their desk at home - for the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show!  I know you are on our site looking for all the latest computer hardware news from the show and we will have it.  The best place to keep checking is our CES landing page at http://pcper.com/ces.  The home page will work too. 

We'll have stories covering companies like, Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, Zotac, Sapphire, Galaxy, EVGA, Lucid, OCZ, Western Digital, Corsair and many many more that I don't feel like listing here.  It all starts Sunday with CES Unveiled and then the NVIDIA Press Conference where they will announce...something.

Also, don't forget to subscribe to the PC Perspective Podcast as we will be bringing you daily podcasts wrapping up each day.  We are also going to try to LIVE stream them on our PC Perspective Live! page but times and bandwidth will vary.

PC Perspective's CES 2013 coverage is sponsored by AMD.

Follow all of our coverage of the show at http://pcper.com/ces!

A powerful Ultrabook yes ... powerful gaming machine, not so much

Subject: Mobile | January 4, 2013 - 02:54 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Cyberpower, Zeus M2, Intel, ultrabook

Cyberpower went all out on the Zeus M2 gaming laptop they sent to Legit Reviews, in order to show off what their most expensive model is capable of.  The quad core i5-3317U is paired with 16GB of dual channel DDR3-1600 and a 120GB Intel 520 SSD handles the storage but there is one subsystem which is a let down to the rest of the components.  The graphics are handled by the HD4000, not a discreet GPU which really shows in the performance testing Legit Reviews conducted.  If you need a very fast and capable laptop for productivity or maybe light gaming then this is a decent laptop but as a gaming laptop it leaves much to be desired.

"The CyberPower Zeus M2 offers a 14.1" high gloss screen that has a maximum resolution of 1366x768. This is powered by the Intel 'Ivy Bridge' i5-3317U processor's HD 4000 graphics. While the Intel HD 4000 graphics may not be the meanest graphics around, they are fully capable of some great DirectX 11 graphics and will offer reasonable performance for some light gaming. Speed is certainly one of most common things that people will look for in an Ultrabook, by the specifications the Cyberpower Zeus M2 will have plenty. In addition to the Intel Core i5-3317U quad core processor, there is 16GB of DDR3 RAM installed into the machine! Not just any RAM, Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz RAM, some of the best stuff out there today..."

Here are some more Mobile articles from around the web:

Mobile

• GIGABYTE U2442F Ultrabook @ Tweaktown
• Acer Aspire S7-191 Review @ TechReviewSource
• Asus G75VW-DH72 Review @ TechReviewSource
• NZXT Cryo V60 Bladeless laptop cooler @ Rbmods
• Mobile GPU Comparison Guide @ TechARP
• Samsung ATIV Tab Review: Qualcomm's First Windows RT Tablet @ AnandTech
• Poetic Nexus 4 Borderline Bumper @ LanOC Reviews
• ZTE Grand X Review @ InsideHW
• LG Optimus L9 @ Hardware.info
• HTC Windows Phone 8S @ The Inquirer

HTML5 Games: The Legacy of PC Gaming?

Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Mobile | December 30, 2012 - 04:48 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: webgl, w3c, html5

I use that title in quite a broad sense.

I ran across an article on The Verge which highlighted the work of a couple of programmers to port classic Realtime Strategy games to the web browser. Command and Conquer along with Dune II, two classics of PC Gaming, are now available online for anyone with a properly standards-compliant browser.

These games, along with the Sierra classics I wrote about last February, are not just a renaissance of classic PC games: they preserve them. It is up to the implementer to follow the standard, not the standards body to approve implementations. So long as someone still makes a browser which can access a standards-based game, the game can continue to be supported.

A sharp turn from what we are used to with console platforms, right?

I have been saying this for quite some time now: Blizzard and Valve tend to support their games much longer than console manufacturers support their whole platforms. You can still purchase at retail, and they still manufacture, the original StarCraft. The big fear over “modern Windows” is that backwards compatibility will be ended and all applications would need to be certified by the Windows Store.

When programmed for the browser -- yes, even hosted offline on local storage -- those worries disappear. Exceptions for iOS and Windows RT where they only allow you to use Safari or Trident (IE10+) which still leaves you solely at their mercy to follow standards.

Still, as standards get closer to native applications in features and performance, we will have a venue for artists to create and preserve their work for later generations to experience. The current examples might be 2D and of the pre-Pentium era but even now there are 3D-based shooters developed from websites. There is even a ray tracing application built on WebGL (although that technically is reliant on both the W3C and Khronos standards bodies) that just runs in a decent computer with plain-old Firefox or Google Chrome.