Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon: 27-inch Tablet Turns into a Table
LAS VEGAS - How badly have you wanted to turn your iPad or, better yet, touchscreen all-in-one PC into a table?
OK, so maybe you haven't thought of it. But don't worry, Lenovo has. At CES 2013 the company unveiled its IdeaCentre Horizon, a 27-inch desktop all-in-one that transforms into a table.
The all-in-one can actually be purchased with a separate table stand with wheels. But… why would you want to do that? It's all about the software you can run on the desktop. Yes, it is a normal Windows 8 PC, but when you push the screen back so it lies flat, it automatically launches Lenovo's own Aura software.
The software brings up a circular widget with shortcuts to photos, videos, games, music, etc. Tap on the video or photos widget and you can move things around and pinch to zoom. Then flick four fingers on the screen and you can send all those open photos and videos off the screen. The display supports up to 10 fingers, and you might actually care about that spec with this one, especially when you hear about the games.
The highlight of the machine is the game play. You can launch a series of tabletop games, including air hockey, Monopoly and even roulette, and the whole family can gather round to play. Lenovo will also sell physical game accessories, including e-dice, joysticks and strikers. We got a chance to play air hockey, and while there's no excuse for our bad eye-hand coordination, the screen and computer were very responsive and kept up.
That's because inside there's a quad-core Core i7 processor and Nvidia's GeForce graphics. There's also a giant battery inside the table/tablet, so you can roll it around without being tied to the wall. Unfortunately, the battery isn't going to last too long in this one, but it should get you through a couple of rounds of air hockey.
Of course, all of that is going to cost you more than the average all-in-one. The Horizon will cost $1,699 when it goes on sale this summer.
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