Lenovo introduced three Android-running Ideatab tablets and three Microsoft-running IdeaPad laptops at the IFA 2012 show in Berlin Aug. 30.
Taking its something-for-everyone theme further, the entertainment-geared Ideatabs come in 10-, 9- and 7-inch versions.
The Ideatab S2110 is offered with an optional detachable keyboard dock-not a loosey-goosey keyboard but a rather nice-looking one that, with the pieces combined, gives the aluminum-and-dark-glass impression of an Apple MacBook. At least at a quick glance.
The S2110 measures 8.69mm thin and weighs 20.5 ounces. Its 10-inch display features 10-poing multi-touch sensitivity and has a full viewing angle of 178 degrees. There’s a micro HDMI port on board, an SD card reader, USB ports, a 5-megapixel camera on the back and a 1.3-megapixel camera up front, 1GB of memory, WiFi connectivity and a textured back cover that’s said to offer a more comfortable grip.
When connected to the dock, battery life reportedly doubles to 20 hours.
The smaller A2107 features a 7-inch display with a 720p HD resolution, a microSD card, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi, a built-in FM radio, two speakers, and a battery that run 10 hours on a charge. It will also come with the option of 3G connectivity.
The A2109, with its 9-inch, four-point capacitive display (1280-by-800), gets a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU and graphics card. There are also two speakers and a micro HDMI port, dual microphones, a 1.3-megapixel camera up front and a 3-megapixel camera on the back, a micro USB port, up to 16GB of storage and a microSD card that supports up to 32GB more.
The A2107 will arrive later this year, but the A2109 and S2110 are available now, starting at $299 and $399, respectively.
Also available now are three new Lenovo IdeaPads, the S300, S400 and S405, all starting at $499.
These are rather identical laptops-their processors are their distinguishing features. The 300 gets a third-generation Core i3 processor and the S400 a Core i5-both chips from Intel-while the S405 steps over to an A8 quad-core chip from Advanced Micro Devices.
The laptops ship with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Professional but are eligible to upgrade to Windows 8, which Lenovo says they’re really designed for-the S Series’ touchpads were made to offer a more controlled touch experience when scrolling and zooming and pinching.
They measure less than an inch when closed, weigh just under 4 pounds and feature metallic finishes and up to 500GB hard disk storage-or a 1TB HDD in the case of the AMD-running S405. The Intel models also include the option of 32GB solid-state drives.
“Customers don’t just want a functional product … they also want one that speaks to their sense of style and individuality,” Bai Peng, general manager of Lenovo’s IdeaPad Business Unit said in a statement.
The new S Series laptops, Peng added, “give everyday consumers exactly what they need by matching small size and light weight with the power needed for everything from Web browsing to productivity tasks, all in an affordable package.”
Lenovo has been closing in on PC market leader Hewlett-Packard-it shipped 12.8 million PCs during the second quarter, according to Gartner, compared to HP’s 13 million. By the end of the year it is expected to surpass HP, shipping more PCs than any other vendor worldwide.