The Lenovo Helix has popped up on the official Lenovo website with 2 configurations immediately available to order with a June ship date.
Starting at $1,679 the lower priced version of the detachable Ultrabook comes with a Core i5-3427U CPU, 4GB RAM (not configurable), Windows 8 64bit, 128GB SSD, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11agn, 2×2 dual band powered by an Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205S and NFC. Upgrade options include Windows 8 Pro and up to a 256GB SSD. However there is no option to add mobile broadband.
The second option starting at $1999 differs by offering a Core i7-3667U CPU, 180GB SSD, Windows 8 Pro 64bit and 8GB non configurable RAM as standard with an option to upgrade the storage to a 256GB SSD. BT, Wifi are the same as the lower priced model with NFC also included. Again there is no option for mobile broadband.
Both models come with a 1920×1080 400nit 11.6″ full HD display with digitizer and pen, front and rear cameras and a 42Wh 3-cell Li-Polymer Battery in the tablet with USB 2.0, 1 SIM Card and 2x USB 3.0 and 1 Mini DisplayPort on the dock with a 4-cell lithium polymer 28Wh battery.
Estimated ship date is given as 6/6/13.
Hoo boy that’s a lotta moola. Looks like no mobile broadband yet. Hard to resist. If it was a 13″ I’d buy it.
If it was thirteen, it would be the perfect device for me. Seems I have to decide between screen size and a digitizer. Or wait for the Vaio Duo 13, though I like detachable better.
I totaly agree.
Iv’e been looking at this for a while. I’ve got an Atom based 11,6″ tablet from Asus now which I love, but it could use a little more power.
The price is a bit steep but what I was really wondering is weather an 12,1″ might be more preferable with that resolution and that power? From his videos I guess chippy find the form factor ideal because it’s extremely mobile but I wouldn’t the text be to small?
If it were 15″, if it had upgradeable ram (at least up to 16 gb), if it had 512 gb of storage… A different machine.
This is a tablet too large to be a tablet and a laptop too little to be a laptop. My bet is that we won’t hear much about it unless they half the price.
Re mobile broadband, my source (CDW) says August .. for now anyway. I passed, since Haswell is right around the corner.
By August, everyone will be waiting for Haswell. Unless Haswell units fail to show up this year, which I fear is likely.
There’s one major consideration with these convertibles that I haven’t seen anyone addressing:
Mid to Long-term reliability of the attachment/ detachment mechanism.
I’ve seen so many convertibles with worn-off paint right along where the connector goes on lately. It would be great to know which of these designs are going to lead to asthetic issues and more serious issues.
Adam
Adam:
Well, Lenovo is advertising that they paid extra attention to making the docking mechanism durable.
That’s one reason why my personal preference is towards a non-detachable Hybrid. I know they can do a really light, thin one. Look at the Acer Aspire S7/Inhon Blade 13 Carbon/NEC LaVie Z.
They are really at a point where it blurs the Tablet and Notebook-class weight and portability. I’m really hoping we’ll see convertibles in that class. Add a little weight and thickness for the convertible mechanism and they should be able to get a 950 gram, 12mm thick convertible.