Lenovo at CES 2013: touchscreens, touchscreens, and more touchscreens

Lenovo is demoing a brand new gaming tower PC here at CES, the Erazer X700. It’s aggressively styled to the point where it almost looks like a parody of other companies’ towers, with harsh angles and more blue lights than we cared to count. It features what Lenovo is calling “OneKey Overclocking,” which automatically overclocks the CPU and GPU for when you need some extra power. It’s configurable with a choice of Core i7 Extreme processors, either dual GeForce GTX660 or AMD Radeon HD 8950 graphics cards, and up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM. You’ll also be able to choose from a wide range of storage options and optical drives. The Erazer X700 will be available in June starting from $1,499.

We’re here at CES with a first hands-on look at Lenovo’s new ThinkPad Edge E431. Like the Edges of the past it’s an attractive machine, but unlike earlier models it comes with a 10-point multitouch 14-inch 1600 x 900 display. Apart from the new touchscreen, this is the exact same Edge it’s always been — fantastic keyboard, flimsy trackpad, trademark red trackpoint. The prototype model we looked at had a Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM, but the final product will be configurable with Core i7 processors and up to 16GB of RAM. There’s also a bigger brother to the E431, the E531, which comes with a larger 15-inch full HD display. Both models will be available this May starting from $539.

What’s the catch, you ask? Well, there’s Lenovo’s $1,499 starting price, an unusual glass touchpad with five buttons underneath the surface rather than readily visible, and the knowledge that you’ll need to wait until February even if you have ready cash.

We’ve only had a few minutes to spend with the 11S, but it looks and feels just like its 13-inch sibling. Its 360-degree-rotating hinge is sturdy at any position or angle, the touchscreen felt fast and responsive (a nice improvement over the Yoga 13, actually), and the small three-pound device doesn’t skimp on either trackpad or keyboard size. It’s, well... it’s an 11.6-inch model of the Yoga 13, a machine we liked a lot in our review.

It might not get the battery life possible with an ARM chip, with Lenovo estimating a take-it-with-a-grain-of-salt six hour runtime for the 11S, but it does support up to 8GB of memory and 256GB of solid state storage underneath its 11.6-inch, 300-nit, 1366 x 768 resolution touchscreen, and there’s an optional 1600 x 900 resolution display for pixel density enthusiasts, too. Lenovo says the IdeaPad Yoga 11S should arrive in June.

Apparently Lenovo liked what it saw from Sony’s Tap 20, because here at CES the company is introducing its own “portable” desktop PC. The IdeaCentre Horizon is primarily a Windows 8-enabled all-in-one — Lenovo calls it a “table PC” — with a 27-inch, 1080p 10-finger touchscreen, Intel’s Core i7 processors and discrete graphics. But it’s also portable, at least in theory, thanks to an internal battery that Lenovo says will power the gigantic device for two hours at a time. The gigantic slate is only 1.06 inches thick, but it weighs 17 pounds, so its actual viability as a tablet will vary with your upper-body strength. In a more practical nod to the Horizon’s touch-friendliness, Its hinge lets it either sit up at a normal angle for a PC, or lay flat on a table.

When you lay the Horizon flat, Lenovo’s “Moon Dial” interface automatically opens, providing a wheel-based interface for launching apps, flipping through pictures, and moving things around. It’s incredibly reminiscent of Microsoft’s original Surface interface, turning your table into a giant touchscreen. Gestures let you move things around, fling them to the edges, shake them to show similar objects, and much more. The Horizon doesn’t interact with other devices — which was maybe the coolest feature of the original Surface — but it’s a pretty fun concept nonetheless. We spent a few minutes using the Horizon, and though it’s definitely a gimmicky idea, it’s definitely fun to use and play with.

Lenovo has announced a slew of touchscreen devices ready for Windows 8, including a pair of new ultrabooks, a high-res all-in-one, and a 13.3-inch multitouch monitor. Perhaps the most interesting of the new products are a pair of new touchscreen ThinkPads, the Edge E431 and E531. Measuring one-inch thick and weighing in at 4.7 (E431) and 5.4 (E531) pounds, they’ll be configurable with up to Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. The E431 will max out with a 14-inch 1600 x 900 “HD+” display, while the E531 will be available with a full HD anti-glare panel. They’ll also arrive with “next generation” Nvidia graphics with either 1GB or 2GB of video RAM. Lenovo claims you’ll be able to squeeze up to eight hours from both laptop’s batteries. They’ll be available in May from $539.

The IdeaPad U310 Touch and U410 Touch are touch-enabled versions of Lenovo’s already-available ultrabooks. Both are powered by Intel Ivy Bridge processors with HD4000 graphics, up to 4GB (U310) or 8GB (U410) of RAM, ultrabook-standard 1366 x 768 displays, and SSD/HDD hybrid drives. The 14-inch U410 also has switchable discrete graphics from Nvidia, although Lenovo hasn’t specified what GPU will be included. Apart from the discrete graphics and touchscreens, the pair feature everything you’d expect from an ultrabook, and both are relatively thin and light, weighing in at 3.85 (U310) and 4.4 (U410) pounds and measuring 18mm and 21mm thick. According to Lenovo the U310 will be good for six hours of “productive usage,” while the U410 will last eight hours — we imagine that’s with the discrete graphics disabled. The U310 will start at $779 in March and the U410 will be available for $850 from April.