There are two ways a manufacturer can get attention to its products: build something cheap, powerful and with nice design or do something new that breaks any patterns thus getting the media guys to talk about it, and from there it’s success all over. Lenovo chose the second alternative when it came up with the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid notebook plus slate/tablet gadget. The plus means you have two gadgets in one: a regular notebook with a 11.6 inch screen and an Intel Core 2 Duo ULV CPU and a detachable touchscreen with multitouch input and a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU.

    When the screen (or tablet/slate) is attached to the main body with the ULV CPU you have a regular notebook running Windows 7 Home Premium with up to 10 hours of battery life (actual autonomy will be lower tough, as we’re used to manufacturer claims). Internal memory comes in a speedy 128 GB from a SSD drive. Once you remove the screen you get a tablet running a proprietary Lenovo Skylight OS. On the screen there are integrated stereo speakers, a mic, a 1.3 megapixel camera and 16 GB of flash memory (more than the first Asus EEE PC netbook had). The Slate is capable of running without a power cable for up to 8 hours.

    New idea, but is it any better?

    New idea, but is it any better?

    As you know, adding two devices in one adds to the cost, which in case of the amazing Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid is 999$. Is it worth it? I say we wait for the first reviews, but I’m betting it will be different from what we’re used to. What will also be interestesting to see is if Lenovo did something to provide a seamless experience from switching from tablet to notebook mode. Imagine you’re browsing relaxed on your sofa and an urgent email comes with a nice spreadsheet for you to complete. You get to the desk, attach the slate to the body and it would be nice to have the attachment transferred to the bigger drive. But hey, if it’s not I’m betting some other manufacturer will up the stake soon if this kind of device catches attention. [source]

    Update:
    We now have a video hands on with the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid. It looks good enough at least to take a look at.

    Update 2:
    We now have another video showing what the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid can do. It seems that Lenovo is aiming for a 3 seconds switch time from Windows 7 to the Skylight OS when you undock the screen and from what Engadget told it happens already.  [via]

    Now about the Skylight interface, it is build upon a six panel homescreen (which hopefully can be customized) plus a second screen that holds four screens: image, music, video and a eReader widget (the screen can be automatically rotated via the included accelerometer). Engadget was not impressed by the 11.6 inch screen which is resistive in nature and has low horizontal and vertical viewing angles which is not good for a mobile device.