Lenovo ThinkPad Twist - An Ultrabook, A Tablet, A Notebook, And More

Lenovo’s ThinkPad Twist harks back to the olden days of ‘tablet computers’, only juicing it up with the least tech.

It's not called the Twist for nothing, since if you tum this ultrabook‘s screen, you can fold the device into four main positions. Obviously you have the normal notebook position (in which you'll almost never use the touchscreen); Stand mode (good for watching movies); Tent mode (a slightly risky position with the notebook resting on the top of the screen and bottom of the keyboard); and Tablet mode.

The Twist provides the business-ready performance expected from it, with the added benefit of its twistable screen.

Lenovo ThinkPad Twist

Since the ultrabook twists around a hinge located at the bottom of the screen in the middle, in Tablet mode you end up with the screen covering the keyboard, and luckily not as is the case with the Lenovo Yoga, with the keyboard exposed at the bottom. The Tablet mode comes in handy when you want to read books on Kindle or just browse the web.

It’s a ThinkPad

Being part of Lenovo‘s business-focused ThinkPad range, you can be certain of two things: solid build quality and an excellent keyboard. As per usual Lenovo does not disappoint, even though the keyboard is not backlit and from an aesthetic point of view, they could have extended the matte finish around the keyboard to below the screen too. Talking of which, the 12.5” screen’s resolution stands at a so-so 1366 x 768; a touch of full HD goodness would not have gone amiss.

Being part of Lenovo‘s business-focused ThinkPad range, you can be certain of two things: solid build quality and an excellent keyboard.

As far as workload is concerned, the Twist can deal with a lot, since onboard is a very generous 8 GB RAM and the same Intel Core i7-3517U running at 1.9 GHz that also powers the Acer S7. Apart from 500 GB hard disk you also receive a not so common WLAN port, SD card reader, 2x USB 3.0 ports but only a mini HDMI port. Our model was 3G enabled.

To the point

As an ultrabook, the Twist will provide the business-ready performance expected from it, with the added benefit of its twistable screen. Just remember that at 1.58 kg, this unit is bulkier and heavier than regular tablets. If you don’t want the extra bulk, wait for the Lenovo Helix coming soon. With Window 8 Pro installed the Twist retails for $1,215.

specifications General §  Packaged Quantity 1 §  System Type Ultrabook §  Mechanical Design Convertible design §  OS Provided Microsoft Windows 8, §  English / MUI §  Notebook type Convertible laptop Processor / Chipset §  CPU Intel 3rd Gen Core i5, §  3 i5-3317U / 1.7 GHz §  Max Turbo Speed 2.6 GHz §  Number of Cores Dual-Core §  Cache 3 MB §  64-bit Computing Yes §  Chipset Mobile Intel HM77 Express §  Features Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, §  Integrated memory controller, §  Hyper-Threading Technology Memory §  RAM 4 GB ( Provided memory is soldered ) §  Technology DDR3 SDRAM §  Speed 1333 MHz / PC3-10600 Storage §  Hard Drive 500 GB HDD / 7200 rpm §  Interface Serial ATA-300 §  SSD Cache 24 GB §  Optical Drive None Display §  Type 12.5 in Yes - IPS §  LCD Backlight Technology LED backlight §  Max Resolution 1366 x 768 ( HD ) §  Widescreen Yes §  Image Aspect Ratio 16:9 §  Features Corning Gorilla glass, §  Ambient light sensor, §  Projected Capacitive/Direct Touch, §  Anti-reflective Audio & Video §  Graphics Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 §  Camera Yes §  Capture Resolutions 1280 x 720 §  Camera Features Face-tracking technology §  Sound Stereo speakers , Stereo microphone §  Codec Realtek ALC3202 §  Compliant Standards High Definition Audio, §  Dolby Home Theater v4 Input §  Type UltraNav, §  Keyboard, §  TrackPoint §  Features Volume control, §  Spill-resistant, §  Button less touchpad, §  Multi-touch touchpad Communications §  Wireless 802.11n, §  Bluetooth 4.0 §  Wireless Controller PCI Express Mini Card §  Network Interface Gigabit Ethernet §  Ethernet Controller Realtek RTL8111F Battery §  Technology 8-cell Lithium polymer §  Capacity 42.4 Wh §  Run Time 6 hour(s) AC Adapter §  Voltage Required AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz ) §  Output 65 Watt Connections & Expansion §  Expansion Bays None §  Slots None §  Interfaces 2 x USB 3.0, §  Mini-HDMI, LAN, Headphone/microphone combo jack, Mini DisplayPort §  Memory Card Reader 4 in 1 card reader Software §  Microsoft Office Preloaded Includes a pre-loaded image of select Microsoft Office 2010 suites. Purchase an Office 2010 Product Key Card or disc to activate preloaded software on this PC. Miscellaneous §  Case Material Polyphenylene sulfide, §  Magnesium alloy §  Embedded Security Trusted Platform Module (TPM 1.2) Security Chip §  Features ThinkVantage Active Protection System, §  Security lock slot (cable lock sold separately) , §  Hard drive password, §  Administrator password, §  Power-on password §  Compliant Standards GREENGUARD, §  RoHS Dimensions & Weight §  Width 12.3 in §  Depth 9.3 in §  Height 0.8 in §  Weight3.5 lbs