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Lenovo "Rips and Flips" the ThinkPad With New Convertible Helix Design
MojoKid writes "Convertible laptops and ultrabooks had a big presence this year with the release of Windows 8. At CES, Lenovo revealed its ThinkPad Helix which it marketed as having a 'groundbreaking "rip and flip" design' that enables this 11.6-inch ultrabook to transform into a powerful Windows 8 tablet with Intel vPro technology for the enterprise. The ThinkPad Helix lets you work in four different modes: laptop, tablet, stand, and tablet+. When attached to the Enhanced Keyboard Dock in laptop mode, you'll get additional battery life and additional ports as well as Lenovo's ThinkPad Precision keyboard, a five button trackpad that supports Windows 8 features, and a traditional ThinkPad TrackPoint. ... The ThinkPad Helix features an 11.6-inch Full HD 1080p IPS (In-Plane Switching) 10-point multi-touchscreen with pen touch input and Gorilla Glass for protection. Lenovo claims the ThinkPad Helix will run for up to 8 hours on a single charge. Performance-wise, the new ThinkPad tablet convertible doesn't have a ton of horsepower, but the machine will get by well enough handling light multimedia and office app use with relative ease."
The "stand" mode is just the tablet part mounted away from the keyboard, tablet+ similarly just the tablet part folded over the dock giving it a longer battery life and more ports. It comes at a price though: ~$1800.
Does it come in a Ubuntu flavor?
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
This sounded really cool about 10 years ago, but what real appeal does this have over laptop+tablet? What are the use cases where this kind of flexibility actually matters?
If I'm using a tablet I'm either on the road or at home - I never see a case for doing "tablet" style stuff at work. Considering "Thinkpad" is an enterprise brand, what need does this fill other than fulfilling Microsoft's desire to turn their Windows userbase into a tablet userbase?
I'll leave aside the fact that almost no one wants Windows8 for it's Metro interface (as witnessed by the Surface RT's spectacular sales failure).
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Ok, so if I take this, and then flip a coin between a desktop linux and Android for x86 platforms, I will end up with a tablet that might actually be useful?
Because seriously-- didn't microsoft learn its lesson yet about ambiguating the desktop and tablet market spaces with its metrosexual user interface? Are they *still* trying to blur that line? /half trolling
I had been fighting with Lenovo for the last 100 days to unlock the bootloader of the Thinkpad Tablet 1.
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-slate-tablets/Thinkpad-Tablet-1-Errors-on-Recovery-Menu/td-p/1055573
The devices is prone to brick if the software (recovery menu) gets corrupted. And can not be recovered since Lenovo has the bootloader locked. The solution that Lenovo gives you is to replace the mainboard for a software error.
Lenovo Quality team told me that they can not release the bootloader keys because the Thinkpad Tablet has DRM software included.
Unfortunately, the last thinkpad with a keyboard worth using was the X220. The newer keyboards are okay... but only if you never used a proper thinkpad keyboard in the first place. If you're spoiled with stuff that's actually good instead of cheap to manufacture right now because its what every other crap laptop uses (with minor improvements so that it is not too shitty), well...
rip in peace
one problem... its still got windows 8 on it.
and.. 4gb ram? seriously? and where's the high-capacity spinny hdd in the keyboard/base unit?
ThinkPad brand means something to me. It means something to everyone who's ever owned an IBM product bearing the name.
Lenovo, what the fuck are you doing. Seriously.
I'm typing this on a ThinkPad W520, which might be the last ever ThinkPad in the IBM style. W530 they fucked up the keyboard.
They say all good things must come to and end...
Good luck with that.
I could have sworn I had advertising disabled.
That's just like the X41 tablet. You know, the one IBM released in 2005.
Shame you can no longer build a ThinkPad worthy of the name, eh Lenovo?
Performance-wise, the new ThinkPad tablet convertible doesn't have a ton of horsepower, but the machine will get by well enough handling light multimedia and office app use with relative ease
I'd love to replace my current thinkpad with a unit that doesn't require a mouse. Unfortunately, laptop manufacturers keep the word 'tablet' synonymous with the word 'toy'. As long as getting rid of the mouse is a pipedream, tablets will continue to be a toy. If people want to play tablets and have ridiculous battery life, there's already a perfect platform for that.
What lenovo needs to build is a grunty cost effective business laptop replacement that doesn't require a mouse.
...put the fn key where the ctrl key goes.
Vpro the thing with the hardware VNC server built in, can watch your screen, read your ram, and upload it through the cell network.
Privacy is illegal because actually different societies are illegal.
Can someone please buy Wintel a clue. Far too late in the day, you say? Yeah, I guess you are right.
The current near cheapest ARM SoC parts from China (Allwinner, Rockchip, Mediatek) can give you FOUR CPU cores, and a GPU engine that can thump out fast 2D to any tablet resolution. When they are placed in the biggest of tablets, the only thing that should inflate the price (since a bigger tablet has more room for everything beneath the display) is the cost of the bigger display itself.
11.6" means we are talking 300-400 dollars. Sure, the ARM tab won't run Windows XP or Windows 7 (let's try hard to ignore the other versions), but that's an issue of software only. Where the hell does the other $1400 come from?
Look, I know what the Wintel infrastructure costs. High-end Intel parts cost a fortune (no-one gouges like Intel) and Microsoft wants a massive cut as well (except Microsoft), but going into the future, how the hell is crap like this supposed to compete with ARM devices. This Thinkpad even has a low resolution screen for its size compared to the better ARM devices.
When Google finally releases Android for desktops (ie., Google stands behind a standard shell/UI for desktop mode) where the hell do you think Wintel will be. Even now, cloud services should be at no disadvantage on ARM tablets. And Android for desktop will have a decent free office suite days after its release.
I love my desktop PC. I love the vast world of x86 software that runs on it. But Wintel deserves to vanish from history. The traditional PC companies have done NOTHING to meet the emergence of ARM even half way. ARM, despite its ancient heritage, is actually a delightful breath of fresh air. In the UK, the portable PC market has lost comprehensively to ARM tablets when it comes to female users. But then, outside the USA, notebooks were always horribly over-priced.
It gets worse. Devices like the Thinkpad have horrible weak graphics for AAA PC gaming. They are better at casual gaming, but far more casual software is released for Apple and Android. So, the Thinkpad can do Windows, but this matters less for more and more potential customers. Why do you think this insanely expensive device tries so hard to pass itself off as a tablet?
Yawn, give me back my ThinkTank, I don't want your yuppie hipster tablet shit. By all means, go ahead and make it, but not at the sacrifice of the once-venerable ThinkPad, now hamstrung by cheap build quality and shitty, unusable keyboards.
Like in 2002-2003? Thinkpad line even?
no buy
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
I've been reading about the Helix for over a year now and its been on sale for months, can you please tell me what your definition of 'new' is?
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
Nutritious Hostess cupcake?
Luxurious Toyota Prius?
Tasteful Miley Cyrus wardrobe?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
We get an option of a couple high end lenovo's and the 15" macbook pro retina. The shear size and weight of the thinkpad with the 170 watt power supply is basically a non-starter for people who even only travel occasionally or just to meeting rooms and back.
Lots of people in my office learning OSX now and not because they love apple or are expecting productivity gains. One guy still loves windows so much he only boots his macbook pro into Windows 7. The lenovo hardware just sucks by comparison.
The real winner in the device market will be the first vendor to offer a tablet that connects to a laptop through a true HD interface to become a second screen and input device. People don't want everything in one device... computer sales are down because everyone has one.
Give us a laptop -- we like keyboards. Give us an iPad like device -- something to lend to a visitor or a kid, or to haul on to the couch, or for casual gaming. When we plug one into the other, pop up the hard drives so we can move data back and forth, or even use the free space on the tablet as an extra bit of scratch space. Allow the tablet to become a Cintiq-like input device for the laptop, and make sure the laptop has an additional video out for a larger 4k-ish screen.
But with all of the non-Apple vendors stuck with whatever horrible idea Ballmer's team of dunces "imagineers," we'll probably end up with a lot of stupid and unusable convertibles like this Lenovo thing.
Recently I was forced to work with Windows Server 2012. And you know, I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the simple stupidity of the Microsoft Bob era in Redmond. At least Bill Gates was smart enough to not touch servers with such an infantile interface.
"Oh, the database connection seems to be down, and you need to check running processes? We've removed the Start Button to speed up the process. Simply tilt the device to the right, swipe left, and choose the Unhappy Face. Then cycle through the server managers and click the undulating cube -- the red one, not the chartreuse (duh). Then hope and pray we keep the same method in Smiley Server 2015."
I'm pretty sure I read this same story on Slashdot sometime in 2003...
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Lenovo, are you listening? If you continue your trend of removing the trackpoint buttons and the ability to completely disable the trackpad, you lose your edge and slide into irrelevance. Oh, and this should go without saying, but NO SALE.
The trackpoint with actual physical buttons (THREE of them) is the only acceptable pointing device on a portable. The X301 was PERFECT.
Touchpads are complete and utter garbage. Ones with only soft buttons are even more crappy. What I really want is for this abortion to be completely removed and the keyboard relocated to its proper place and the front of the base, but if it HAS to be there to cater to losers, at least it must be completely disablaeble so I don't brush it when I am attempting to type, damn it.
If it wasn't for the fact that these thins all have absolutely garbage specs, and cost almost twice as better spec laptop or a laptop AND a tablet. AND we have to suffer through windows 8 ...
Seems they need to drop the 1 out of that price
As I sit here typing this post with my TC1100, the computer which got me to use Windows XP as my primary operating system, the computer which runs Windows 7 decently enough, which I purchased used for $850 about 8 years ago. It works like a boss. It has 1 problem with hardware overheating which can be resolved by tilting the screen towards you as far as it will go, and then it just works. Just works. Originally priced at $2400 back in 2001/2002. It has a trackpoint, and enough space for all the keys in all the right places except for page up and page down. The only form of laptop which doesn't burn your legs because the battery floats in space (a battery you can replace without shutting down completely). The only laptop with a proper trackpoint and excellent stylus support. A beautiful 8.9 inch screen over 180 degree viewing angle which has the option of VGA-outing to some big screen you want to use at the same time. In that same time I've worn out a Vaio laptop and a brand new Lenovo laptop (which stopped working in 1 month). HP the company is bleeding revenue seeking to redefine itself, when it had the quality answer 10 years ago. I know this Lenovo in comparison is trackpointless and will only last just past the warranty period if you're lucky. I don't know what to say really.
They lost me at "Powerful Windows 8 Tablet".
...to the Extreme, Bro!
Peace out, Yo.
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
I'm not sure I agree with the original poster's "Performance-wise, the new ThinkPad tablet convertible doesn't have a ton of horsepower". It comes in an i5 with 4GB RAM and an i7 with 8GB RAM flavour and both have large SSDs (180GB and 256GB respectively). Last I looked, those are mainstream business PC specs. I am typing this on the i5 model of the Helix and I have to say it's an impressive machine. Tearing off the tablet portion (where all the guts are) for media consumption and re-docking it for business computing is a near-perfect solution to the multi-device travel dilema (I spend some time in airports and hotels for business). The battery in the keyboard (dock) portion charges the tablet battery when docked and the tablet gets preferencial charging when connected to AC. The claim of 10 hours battery when both parts are connected together is a little bit of a stretch (I am seeing about 8 hours in heavy use). I am not a huge fan of Windows 8 Pro but I spend my time on the old-style desktop running Office 2010 anyways, so I don't "see" Windows 8. Windows 8 Pro keeps me connected to the servers at the office and that's what I need to do business. This isn't a machine to buy for the kids to play Angry Birds, like an Android Tablet or iPad. Can you say "Domain Join"? It's a business PC in a very flexible form.
Officially a geek since 1984
Lenovo, just bring us X61 back, will ya ?
This new keyboard is awfull, good old IBM styled keyboards are not available even as an option. (jeesh, this could be a revenue source on it's own)
This 16:9 screen since x200 is absolutely pointless to me - no 3:4 options ?
All these blumps with Thinkpad series over the last decade just shows us, how genius IBM engineering was, and how long does it actually take to kill a really marvelous piece of engineering.
Once, Thinkpad was an alias for solid, bullet-proof work horse. I'm not sure what does it stand for nowdays...
I was thinking this was the Haswell release of the Thinkpad Helix. Turns out, /. is behind by 4 months and just learning about the Helix. *facepalm* It hurts.
But yes, IMHO its the best convertable out there by far.
I'm waiting for the Haswell version however, and i hope its 16" 3200x1800 and sports a better GPU. I don't mind the weight and size.
Hivemind harvest in progress..
I've got one of their RT Yoga's. It's a little gutless but for basic tasks works really well and the battery life is pretty good. I wanted Word/Excel and that limits your options. As a piece of kit, I think it's actually pretty good (though a one handed tablet for long-term usage, it isn't).
This looks like an interesting hardware design. For those of us that prefer Windows to Mac/Linux, this looks like a great specced piece of kit. Pricey, granted but I'd definitely consider the i7/8GB version (or whatever is current) when my Dell E6410 dies.
The Windows 8 Tablet "experience" to use that well-loved term, hinges on well designed apps. The new interface is actually a joy to use with a touch enabled device - assuming someone half competent was the UI designer. If you're slow enough that you can't remember swipe right for settings/search, swipe up for app settings (which is pretty much the only two you need), then tough. The key is that application design is much, much more important than in the traditional interface where you can just slap in another menu. It won't suit all app types but it works well for content rich types.
Use, but not over use. This is what a lot of hardware manufacturers do not comprehend. Tablets are great for a certain, limited set of tasks. Mice are great, keyboards are greatâ¦but also only for limited things. Having a fusion of them all is liberating and very functional.
When I taught, a convertible tablet + OneNote + a wireless projector was AMAZING. It 100% replaces paper and the blackboard. It decimates a smartboard. I could walk around anywhere in my room, using it as a tablet, making notes for my students. Notes were forever saved and searchable and editable. But, handwriting can never, ever, hope to replace the functionality and efficiency of typing for anything that consists mostly of words. So, when I needed to put down some serious text, or write a test - boom - I had a laptop. Need to Google something for class - boom - keyboard. On screen keyboards may as well be a death sentence and handwriting is way slower even for the worst typist. However, if you need to write an equation, Windows has a math input screen. You handwrite the equation and it converts it to a typed equation. You cannot type an equation that fast even if you knew every keyboard shortcut.
The convertible allows you to pick the tools for the job, so you don't have to hammer in screws. Sure, you can hammer in screws in a pinch, but who wants to do that? Use, but not overuse.
You might say, "just get two machines". That is inconvenient. Should I have a desktop everywhere I might work? Should I sync all my documents to the cloud so I can always have them? Should I sync my bookmarks also?
I cannot wait for apple to make a convertible. That way the popular opinion will change and everyone can appreciate how sweet these computers are.
One last thing: Sometimes I wonder; "Is that someone's signature? Or do they type that at the end of each post?"
Use this combo for a majority of my on-the-go meetings, email, note taking, document creation, and light duty spreadsheet work. 90% of what normal business folks need. How do they even hope to compete with this price / value proposition and with the reviled Win8 interface? They've lost before they started.