Most industry watchers, from Strategy Analytics to Gartner agree that that the tablet needs to evolve if it is to recapture the public’s imagination, and one trend that is clearly beginning to emerge is making devices bigger and closer in nature to notebooks. But Lenovo’s latest device, the Yoga Home 900, takes things to the extreme.
Apple has finally unveiled its long-rumored 12-inch iPad Pro, the new Surface Pro has a 12-inch display, and Samsung is currently working away on a slate with an 18-inch screen.
However, all of them are dwarfed, quite literally, by Lenovo’s latest offering, the Yoga Home 900. Its display measures 27 inches from corner to corner, but that’s because it’s been conceived as an all-in-one PC that the family can use together as a computer, then lay flat on a table and continue using in unison as a gaming and entertainment tablet — in other words, a tabletop PC.
The concept itself is nothing new. Three years ago, Sony debuted the Vaio Tap 20 which was a 20-inch display PC that doubled as a family tablet and a host of devices from other PC makers, Lenovo included, followed.
However, as the end of 2015 approaches, they’re yet to catch on in the way that companies had hoped.
Still, Lenovo hasn’t given up hope and its latest offering in the segment uses very good mid-range internal specifications — a fifth-generation Intel Core i7 chipset and (optional) Nvidia GeForce 940A graphics — allied to a battery good for three hours (when not plugged in and being used with its included wireless keyboard and mouse) and to Windows 10.
“Windows 10 was designed to help people do great things, and Lenovo’s new YOGA PCs were built to maximize the operating system’s incredible features,” said Joe Belfiore, corporate vice president, Operating Systems Group, Microsoft Corp. “We worked closely behind the scenes with Lenovo to ensure its new PCs really brought to life the best of Windows 10, and we’re excited to see customers’ reactions.”
The device is lighter than Lenovo tabletops of old and its AURA software and supporting apps are also much improved to take advantage of Windows 10 and to make sure that the tablet is a fun family tool — paint, look at photographs, video call together or even play air hockey — it will ship with air hockey mallets for hitting the virtual puck.
The starting price of Lenovo’s Yoga Home 900 is $1500.
