Hot on the trail of its 100 million Thinkpads sold celebration, Lenovo took the wraps off of it"s new thin & light "LaVie" laptop PC series today at CES. The series features both a standard laptop design and a full 360-degree hinge that allows the LaVie to be used in tablet form, a feature popularized by the company"s Yoga PC series. With a surprising starting weight of 1.72 lbs. with its 13.3" screen configuration, the Lavie earns the world"s lightest 13" laptop/convertible crown.
The LaVie comes in so light due to a chassis built from magnesium-lithium (Mg-Li), allowing for both reasonable durability without the added weigh - similar to Microsoft"s Surface products. If a lightweight and sleek 13" laptop sounds like a good idea that is resigned to performance compromises, think again. The LaVie houses Intel"s 5th-generation i-series CPUs for excellent performance while under formidable workloads.
The LaVie will be available in two models, both running Microsoft"s Windows 8.1 OS: the HZ550 and HZ750. The HZ750 is the higher-performing variant and comes with the 360-degree adjustable hinge. The HZ550 starts at $1,299 while the HZ750 starts at $1,499.
| HZ550 | HZ750 (Convertible) | |
| CPU | 5th-gen i5 (Intel HD graphics) | 5th-gen i7 (Intel HD graphics) |
| Memory | 4GB (DDR3) | 8GB (DDR3) |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1 | Windows 8.1 |
| Ports | USB 3.0 (2x), HDMI out, SD Card, 1/8" audio out (headphone) | USB 3.0 (2x), HDMI out, SD Card, 1/8" audio out (headphone) |
| Battery | 4-cell 29.6 Wh (est. 7-8 hrs w/ video playback) | 6-cell 44.4 Wh (est. 7-8 hrs w/ video playback) |
| Screen | 13.3" (WQHD non-touch, fixed hinge) | 13.3" (WQHD/1080p, touch-enabled, 360-degree hinge) |
| Storage | 128GB SSD | 128GB SSD |
| Weight | 1.72 lbs. | 2.04 lbs. |
Lenovo is planning a worldwide launch of the LaVie for May 2015, with a separate Japan launch slated for a similar time frame and different pricing. Both version of this convertible laptop will be available for purchase directly from Lenovo"s web page.
Source: Lenovo