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Is this the future of business laptops?

The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix is a fully-fledged business laptop running Windows 8 Pro, but detach the screen and you can tuck your spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation under your arm.

By Staff Writers on May 15 2013, 1:14PM

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Detach the keyboard and you have a tablet for handwriting, drawing or swiping through apps with your fingers.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix on top. Below: an iPad (not a current generation model).

Lenovo ThinkPad Helix on left, iPad on right.

Carrying around the Helix. It's heavier than an iPad, but not heavy enough to be a problem as a tablet.

An odd feature: You can attach the screen backwards. Close the lid completely, and ...

... you've got a tablet, with the keyboard hidden underneath. It's heavy, but you've got the keyboard with you wherever you go.

With the keyboard attached: it was a struggle holding the Helix still to get this photo.

We love the keyboard. We would be prepared to spend quite a bit of time typing up long documents and making notes in meetings.

In tablet mode again - the screen looks gigantic when you hold it this way.

This is exactly the same Helix unit we tested, just photographed on a different day.

The Helix is more compact than a bulky 15-inch laptop. But it's not the thinnest or lightest on the market. There are Dell and Apple laptops lighter than this.

Here we've flipped around the screen, so we can close it on the keyboard.

The screen uses IPS technology which means you can see what's on the screen from an angle. Here you can see the glossy covering reflecting the lighting in our office.

The keyboard. We've only had a short time testing it, but our first impression is that the keyboard is very solid. No wiggle-room you get with some laptops. The touchpad is very smooth.

You can see one of the docking posts in the top right corner of this photo - when in laptop mode, that post points straight up. The screen slots onto the post.

The keyboard and back of the Helix screen fees slightly rubbery to touch.

The "i" in this logo lights up to indicate sleep mode.

The Windows 8 Pro sticker.

This is as far back as the screen would angle.

There's a panel behind the keyboard which channels air from the fan. The panel popped loose once, but it was easy to pop back in.

Something you can't do with a regular laptop: The Helix comes with this stylus, for handwriting or drawing on the screen.

Here is the Helix on the left and a 13 inch MacBook Pro with Retina display on the right.

The Helix on the left, the MacBook Pro on the right. The Helix looks skinny in this photo, but a lot of the bulk is in the screen, which you can't see in this photo. Ready to see our full review of this machine? Click here.

Detach the keyboard and you have a tablet for handwriting, drawing or swiping through apps with your fingers.

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Is this the future of business laptops?

The Lenovo ThinkPad Helix is a fully-fledged business laptop running Windows 8 Pro, but detach the screen and you can tuck your spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation under your arm.

Linked Articles

Related Articles

How to keep your tech up to date on a tight budget with DaaS

Key small business laptop features to look for in 2020

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Most popular tech stories

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