Lenovo's IdeaCentre Horizon 'table PC' is a 27" portable computer

Screencap from a video at mobileindustryreview.com that shows how Lenovo thinks this might be used...

Quote:

Originally Posted by charlituna 

The notion of carrying this around seems wack but I have played with the Surface table and thought it rather keen. I wouldn't mind a table sized iPad especially if it was my home remote. Even just a table with a cutout for my iPad would work. Have a place for the dock connector cable to go underneath, some kind of safety glass piece to prevent spills. Could be awesome

So pretty much like the information iPad display units at Apple stores?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolipsismX 


With a 27" multitouch display and what I assume is an Intel Core processor and a GPU capable of running that display how long will it last on the battery? At 17 pounds I'm guessing not very long since even the new 27" iMac is over 20 pounds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalclips 

One day in the future when the apps are there I see a large desk version of an iPad but it's a while off as of yet. For certain uses such as music and video editing a powerful enough touch interfaced Mac/iPad would be wonderful but the power needed for video editing puts it in another class from battery driven devices I suspect. What I imagine may be more likely a future Mac not an iPad.

This is why Apple isn't rushing to make a 20+ inch iPad. Battery technology isn't there yet. Who wants to try to carry some 20 pound computer around there house?

Quote:

Originally Posted by John.B 

 

 

Screencap from a video at mobileindustryreview.com that shows how Lenovo thinks this might be used...

 HILARIOUS!

This is actually a pretty cool idea, but I'm not sure it's being completely capitalized upon.  Given a thin enough, light enough, and large enough surface, this product would be ideal for board games.

Look at all the board games at your local walmart or target ... now imagine all those games loaded into a single device you can lay flat on your kitchen table!  Family game night reinvented!  Your next great game comes in the form of an app, not more cardboard and plastic bought at brick and mortar store.

I'd like to see Apple create something like their iPad Mini ... but in an iPad Maxi form where you can have a surface even larger than 10" while staying ultra thin and light.

like carrying your own tombstone around!

This is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever seen!

Where's base for this computer display?

;)

When is Apple going to come out with something cool like this?

Surely this is a joke?

If the commercial/promo was about a store display, I'd take it seriously. But lugging it from one room to the next for video chat?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilBoogie 

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider 

...the Horizon boasts a large built-in battery the company says is good for two hours of on-the-go use...

That is good engineering design, if you ask me. After all, what's the point of a battery that lasts soooo much longer than any one can carry the slab?

It's absurd, but it's not all that far off from what will be the future of professional (not home) desktop (not portable) computing. This feel like the Newton to me: cool, but not fully useful, and ahead of its time. I'm sure it's where Apple is carefully headed in the long run: pro computers that lie flat instead of tiring you out with arms raised.

For home use, the form factor is hilarious! I can certainly think of possible home uses, but I'm sure most actual personal users can think of far more uses for an iPad or Mini.

I must say those of you calling this product a failure have no imagination. Have you not seen TRON with its desktop computer interface. The original MS Surface was an amazing tech demo. Some seriously cool concepts. No, I don't think it will be very practical as a primary PC. But as a gaming surface it could be great. There's also some serious professional uses such a surface could be used for: reviewing documents with a client, collaborating with a group, doing sales presentations at a desk. Any place where you end up with a person across from you and you want to share a screen would be a great application of this. In a real estate or law office, could this be used for signing documents?

Check out the "AppGrear" and "Apptivity" products at Toys R Us. They're little toys you put on the tablet. They have conductive dots on the bottom that let them be identified by the tablet.

I'm not sure ten-point multitouch will be enough though. For a small tablet, you can only fit a few things on it, but something this large could end up with many more items on it. I'm not sure how you'd identify all the unique items. Can shape of the touch points be used?

No, I don't think this will be the way we're all interacting with our PCs next year. And yes, without the right apps this could fail miserably. But I give the company credit for trying something new. In a few years after others have stumbled around a bit, maybe Apple will step in with a "whole package" product and we'll all be cheering how innovative they are.

But I think the primary market for something like this will be professionals, not a market Apple goes after.

- Jasen.

You would probably rarely move the device, but the battery is there so you can without shutting down.  I think that's handy.

Here's the ad with all the silly carrying around (it should have a handle for that!):

Here's the Verge's first look:

Here's a demo of more modes and proposed table options (you have to see these -- check out the motorized version at 1:40)...

Side note:  we've had an older HP Touchsmart large screen touch computer in the kitchen for years.   Handy for internet news, weather, calendar, email, Skype, some touch games, etc.   It also has a TV tuner, DVR mode, and DVD player.  So I believe in large screen devices as being useful.

Originally Posted by jungmark 
Tablets are meant to be portable.

Well, right now.

Originally Posted by John.B 

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed the irony (and outright humor) there. While I was watching it, I actually looked around my empty room for confirmation as to the seriousness of the scene…

Originally Posted by capoeira4u 
…something cool like this?

Cool as in terrible?

Hopefully never. Their desktop touchscreen will be something people actually use.

I like it. In table mode it is essentially what the surface was striving to be. I remember from the Surface demo when they set the phone on the table and then you could access that phone's data. Then photos on the Surface you can "swoop" back to the phone. That looks like the direction they are heading and that's pretty cool from a syncing and gaming aspect.

I don't know how many homes this is going to show up in, though. The part in the commercial where the wife and mom carries it to a new room was pretty hilarious. That just isn't happening very often. And I'm definitely not trusting kids to take this $1,500+ device from the office and put it on the floor. Still pretty interesting.