Lenovo, now the number 1 PC manufacturer in the world, has just let us take a look at their latest ultrabook, the Thinkpad Twist. It’s a sexy little ultrabook that runs up to an Intel Core i7 processor, has a HDD/SDD hybrid drive that gives you huge storage without compromising boot times, and comes with a large 12.5-in screen. On top of all of these features, it’s a fully-certified Intel ultrabook, so all the weight, thickness and power requirements for being called a full ultrabook are met. It’s 1.58 kilograms light, and 20mm thin. It’ll give you 7 hours of usable power, too. It runs Windows 8 out of the box, and as such, gives you 10 fingers of full touch action.
Lenovo also bundles their Solutions for small business that takes care of most of the tasks a whole IT department would normally have to take care of. USB port lockers, recovery solutions, warranty reminders are all handled automatically. This runs in line with the company’s goal of catering to their SMB clients, as well as thouse who aren’t quite so hardcore.
We got a little time to handle the Twist, and we have to say that Lenovo’s third entry into their 2012 ultrabook portfolio is a stunner. The Gorilla Glass screen is built to take the extra abuse the Windows 8 interface is going to bring. It might not be the thinnest ultrabook in the market at the moment but it’s certainly one of the more functional. The fact that you can switch from content creation, to media consumption and sharing is great if you don’t want to carry multiple devices to handle work and play separately.
The outside of the device is covered in a smooth but grippy matte finish that makes holding the device in tablet mode a very pleasant experience. It’s not as chunky as one might think, particularly when carrying it around in tablet mode, if this is a concern for those people who intend to have the Twist take the place of their daily tablet.
The screen is has nice viewing angles, and is great for sharing, and will avoid all the elbow-bumping that can sometimes accompany watching videos or sharing pictures with seatmates. Tent mode (imagine an upside-down “V,” and Presentation mode (with the keyboard oriented in a normal fashion, but the screen spun around so the lid faces the keyboard) are great ways to share media, and are the main feature of this new ultrabook. It’s a simple solution to a common problem. It’s so very elegant, and I love it. The execution is solid, and the device feels like it would last through some pretty rough handling.
The 3317u i5 will be available for about PHP 57,000.