14 DAY TRIAL // The Mobile World Congress expo, which takes place right now in Barcelona, Spain, has marked the introduction of an imposing number of hybrid tablet/notebooks devices, but few are more appealing than Lenovo's IdeaPad U1 hybrid with LePad slate that brings an Intel Core i5 Windows 7 laptop together with a Snapdragon-powered tablet.
Just as other hybrid designs, the IdeaPad U1 is comprised of a base, which features the keyboard, and a detachable 10.1-inch tablet that runs a custom version of the Android 2.2 operating system, called LeOS by Lenovo.
However, when compared to its competitors, Lenovo has decided to go with a different approach for the base as it now features an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor capable of running the fully-fledged version of the Windows 7 Home Premium OS.
The switch from notebook mode to tablet mode is nearly instantaneous and only requires for the user to unlatch the LePad slate from the base.
This is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.3Ghz processor and it features a front facing 2MP webcam as well as a 5MP rear facing snapper.
Storage is provided thanks to an 32GB SSD and the capacitive multi-touch 10.1-inch display supports a resolution of 1280x800 pixels.
“Our IdeaPad U1 and LePad truly fits the mobile lifestyle,” said Liu Jun, senior vice president, Idea Product Group, Lenovo.
“Use the light-weight slate when you're mobile, and then simply slide it into the U1 base when you need to do content creation.
“Consumers shouldn't have to adapt their lifestyle to technology, and this product definitely gives them the best of both worlds,” concluded the company's rep.
We managed to get a closer look at the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid during the MWC 2011, but no details are available right now regarding the device's availability in Europe.
