Lenovo just released its Thinkpad Helix in the country, or, well, it is available on a retailer's shelves. It is a very interesting device. It is a nice portable 11.6-inch ultrabook, with a display which is actually a detachable tablet. I know this is nothing new, but it is very nicely done. It has a Full HD (1920 x 1080) display, an Intel Core i5 processor and a 180 GB solid state drive. Nothing which I can complain about. So I asked about the price. Php92,100, and my first reaction was, is Lenovo crazy?
Okay, I love Thinkpads and their keyboards, so let's give this one a good look. I did get a MacBook Air three years ago, which cost almost this much.
So, re-opening my mind, I took a better look at the new Lenovo offering. I picked up the tablet portion of the Helix, and man, it was heavy. Later looking up the specifications, it is apparently 1.8 pounds. Then I came to the dock, which felt was a little heavier than the tablet. Later, I would find out it was 2 pounds. Slotting the tablet into the dock, and closing the lid, I said to myself that is no Ultrabook.
Okay, lets go back to the price. A 13-inch MacBook Air with a 128 GB SSD cost just a little over 50K these days. Getting one with a 256 GB SSD will cost you just over 60K. That is 20K less than the first release of the current generation MacBook Air less than three years ago. The 11.6-inch models are even cheaper. Basically, prices have gone down, and the Lenovo, in pricing ThinkPad Helix, seems oblivious of that fact.
Basically, if I wanted an 11.6-inch laptop, I could get a 11-inch MacBook Air and an iPad or iPad mini (with LTE) for less than the cost of the Lenovo Thinkpad Helix. These two separate devices would weigh just about as much as the Helix. In a bad, they would occupy just about as much space.
The Lenovo Thinkpad Helix is a nice concept. I really like it, but I am waiting for Version 2, or the price of Version 1 to go down.
Agree, at those specs (and price), they cannot call it an ultrabook!
ReplyDeleteYes, you are better off with the MBA and an iPad. But the 2013 MBA have some wifi issues, I hope they have fixed it already, specially that it has been out for quite sometime. Now how much are you selling that 2010 MBA? :P I'm sure it's still working properly. Personally I will hang on to my MBA until it dies 2011 11" 522 battery cycles 90% capacity but it still lasts 5 hours on average, almost the same as the day I got it. The power cable broke and Apple replaced it beyond warranty. That's the best thing about Apple.
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