# Lenovo U1 Hybrid better than iPad?



## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/01/04/lenovos-u1-is-a-netbook-with-removable-tablet/










When docked, it runs Windows 7 on a low-power Intel Core2Duo processor, when undocked runs a lightweight version of Linux on it's own ARM processor. Starts at a $1,000, supposed to be available 3rd quarter 2010.

Here are the specs, broken down into tablet and dock portions:

Tablet:

* 1.6 pounds
* 1GHz Snapdragon processor
* 512MB DDR1 RAM
* 16GB SSD

Dock:

* 3.8 pounds (with tablet attached)
* Intel Core2 Duo U4100 processor
* 4GB DDR3 RAM (max)
* 128GB SSD

It also won C|Net's Best of CES Award (for Computers/Hardware).. their article is more recent then the above info and mentions that the base dock can still be used when undocked, with an external monitor attached... Cool!

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-31045_1-10427615-269.html?tag=mncol


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## teiresias (May 26, 2009)

I saw this during all the CES coverage and I think it's a neat concept.  I think they would have been better off running Android for the tablet's operating system though, and the current tablet interface didn't look particularly responsive to me in the videos I've seen of it.  It definitely is very pretty when in tablet form and that the keyboard base can continue to run on a separate monitor when the tablet is removed is a plus as well.  I question how long that plastic top where the tablet sits will survive normal laptop transportation abuse though.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

Combine this hybrid configuration with the technology Apple put into the iPad, market it at around $500, and you'd likely have an ultimate killer netbook. I'd sure as heck buy one!


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

I have no interest in it. it runs on windows and isn't compatible with the itunes app store.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

Rasputina said:


> I have no interest in it. it runs on windows and isn't compatible with the itunes app store.


That's why I wouldn't buy the Lenovo - Windoze. I just wish Apple would come out with something in a similar configuration... :-(


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Hard to tell which one is "better," since neither is available.

But I'm not much interested in something that "starts at $1,000."

Mike


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## Richard in W.Orange (Nov 24, 2009)

There's some ways I think this has greater potential than other recently announced devices.

The 'niche markets' are getting too small. But I'll add that this, (like iPad) is not a business user/power user kind of device. We (I) are (am) a Lenovo shop, they bought thinkpad from IBM and they aren't screwing it up (too badly). I have 10 year old thinkpads that run as well as the day I got them (although this is also true of my 3 year old MacBook Pro) but in the 'work' environment where my 'guys' have to be able to get anything 'working again' this just introduces _yet another_ OS into the fray.

I'm happy to say that my "mac guy" isn't what *I* call "mac religious" he's almost as handy on PCs, and the converse is true of my "PC" guy. They recognize the hardware as a means to an end (people getting the job done) and I recognize that that doesn't always mean throw a PC on the desk (but why are the macs they need always 3x more money?) (this is budget painful).

Anyway, the folx who buy 'the most' (and usually without too much consideration of the dollars) are getting overwhelmed by the market. I'm strangely enough to the point that for the office it is going to say Apple, Dell or Lenovo and I don't have the time to even consider other product. (Those three lines alone are hard to keep up with).

BTW--you unhappy windows folx, you anti-windows folx, its a PC Operating System. My favorite 2 laptops in the whole office are the Lenovo running OSX and the MacBookPro 15 running Win7. Given the substantially "less money" of buying PC hardware over Apple Hardware, maybe that's how I solve my current budget problem. Here's your Mac, sorry it looks like a thinkpad.


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## geko29 (Dec 23, 2008)

Richard in W.Orange said:


> I'm happy to say that my "mac guy" isn't what *I* call "mac religious" he's almost as handy on PCs, and the converse is true of my "PC" guy. They recognize the hardware as a means to an end (people getting the job done) and I recognize that that doesn't always mean throw a PC on the desk (but why are the macs they need always 3x more money?) (this is budget painful).


And unfortunately, that also can add some creep. We had to buy some macs because we were developing an iPhone application--fine. Then we had to buy another one so product could demo said application via the simulator--again, no problem here.

But this week we were forced to pay $4k to buy an iMac for Marketing so they could run Creative Suite on it--you know because Creative Suite isn't available for Windows, we haven't already paid for a copy for every person in the marketing department already, and/or it'll somehow run better on a dual-core iMac with basic video than it does currently on the 8-core professional workstations with Nvidia Quadro cards they have now. Wait, what?


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## Richard in W.Orange (Nov 24, 2009)

geko29 said:


> And unfortunately, that also can add some creep. We had to buy some macs because we were developing an iPhone application--fine. Then we had to buy another one so product could demo said application via the simulator--again, no problem here.
> 
> But this week we were forced to pay $4k to buy an iMac for Marketing so they could run Creative Suite on it--you know because Creative Suite isn't available for Windows, we haven't already paid for a copy for every person in the marketing department already, and/or it'll somehow run better on a dual-core iMac with basic video than it does currently on the 8-core professional workstations with Nvidia Quadro cards they have now. Wait, what?


I'm avoiding that (if possible) I came into somewhere with "no" policy for IT so I used the boilerplate language (through legal more times than I can count) policy with editing (company name) and it's basically got a mac section that says something along the lines of "unless a software product is unavailable, in function not name, for the windows operating system, and absolute need is required, it will not be the policy of this department to purchase Macintosh hardware for a function. Please note that it is this department's responsibility to determine wether another product can fullfill the need of said software title effectively for the Windows Platform."

I don't do creep. (and why is always the marcom group who wants the macs?)


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

Starts at $1000 and has Windoze as the OS. No thanks.


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## lynninva (Feb 7, 2009)

Do you think Lenova believed the rumor that the new Apple tablet would start at $999 when they set that starting price for the U1 Hybrid?  Wonder if they are trying to figure out how to make it for a lower price now that the iPad details have been announced?


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## teiresias (May 26, 2009)

The U1 is essentially two computers - a Snapdragon-based unit in the tablet when it's detached, and either an Atom or some AMD solution in the base when the tablet is connected and used as a regular monitor.  The base can be used with an external monitor when the tablet is detached, so you are essentially paying for two devices when you buy the U1, but that doesn't solve the fundamental problem of it being perceived as overpriced.

Taking the computer out of the base completely and making it just a convertable tablet is probably the only way they can lower the production cost any significant amount, and I'd think they'd want something better than the Snapdragon if they were going to go that route, so it's a redesign of the tablet component at that point, and I've already said I dislike the custom Linux OS idea.  There's a reason Google gave the world Android, Lenovo.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

teiresias said:


> ...and either an Atom or some AMD solution in the base when the tablet is connected
> 
> ...I dislike the custom Linux OS idea. There's a reason Google gave the world Android, Lenovo....


The article I read said the laptop portion would have an available Intel Core 2 processor. Also, I read an article yesterday about a company already having a Windows 7 solution ready for the iPad that will run the day it's released. I wouldn't be surprised if people do the same thing with the U1, make hacked Android and Windows installs, etc.


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## Guest (Mar 4, 2010)

i love lenovo personally


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