Panasonic Announces Impressive Hybrid Notebook/Tablet

Electronics giant, Japanese company Panasonic has just announced a new notebook that features some original functionalities and a powerful computing platform.

The new device is basically an 11.6” laptop that can be converted into a tablet just by flipping the display all the way back a whole 360 degrees.

The model name for the new device is Panasonic AX2 and this is one that’s built and sold in Japan.

We don’t really believe this one will be available beyond the shore of the Land of the Rising Sun so, if you like it, ask your Japanese friends to get you one.

This is a fully fledged notebook PC as it’s not powered by a puny Intel Atom nor by an ARM processor.

Panasonic’s AX2 is powered by Intel’s Core i5-3427U dual-core processor that runs at a default frequency of just 1800 MHz.

When the Turbo option is activated, both cores can jump to 2600 MHz or, if only one thread needs undivided attention, one core can be clocked all the way up to 2800 MHz.

The is a HyperThreading-enabled CPU so it can handle four threads simultaneously and also features a 3 MB level 3 cache buffer along with Intel’s acceptable HD 4000 iGPU.

The iGPU runs at a modest 350 MHz, but in Turbo mode it can reach a high 1150 MHz while the total TDP will not go over 17 watts and this is quite impressive.

The storage is handled by a fast 128 GB SSD and there are 4 GB of DDR3 RAM inside the new Panasonic AX2.

All the popular connectivity options such as WiMAX/LTE, WirelessN, Bluetooth 4.0, SDXC, HDMI, and USB 3.0 are present, as well as an HD webcam and the much-needed capacitive touch interface that covers the 1366 by 768 display.

The pricing is not what we’d call affordable, but considering the built quality and all the durability and reliability that come with a made-in-Japan device, we’d say it’s worth it.

Therefore, the price is slated between $2060 (1600 EUR) and $3220 (2500 EUR).