During the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Panasonic unveiled what was then a massive, 20-inch tablet running a resolution reserved for 4K Ultra HD TVs. It only ran for two hours before its battery died, but as unique yet completely unnecessary item, it was kind of impressive.
Lenovo's new Windows 8-powered IdeaCentre Horizon tablet can't match the resolution on Panasonic's Ultra HD slate, but, believe it or not, it significantly outpaces its opponent in another display category. The IdeaCentre Horizon clocks in at an impressive 27 inches, and Lenovo is pushing the enormous device as "the world's first table PC."
So what exactly does that mean? A table PC? We had a chance to check out the IdeaCentre Horizon at Digital Focus in New York City last week, where a Lenovo representative guided us through a demo as he tried to answer that very question.
Lenovo's pitch is that the Horizon is focused on the family, particularly for parents and grandparents who would like to make it easier to share things with their children/grandchildren. It's great for laying down on the table, gathering around, sharing pictures, videos, and playing games with parents and grandparents. We were shown picture and video sharing apps while standing on opposite sides of the tablet, and images could be viewed and then "flicked" across the screen to someone on the other side. If someone wants to watch a video while others look at pictures, too, that was possible as well.
On the gaming front, Lenovo was demoing an air hockey type game with touch-enabled joystick pads. Since the tablet runs Windows 8, users will be able to download whatever games are available through the Windows Store, but the air hockey title looked distinctly uninspiring and boring. The touch detection didn't seem to work properly, and it felt as though there was a noticeable lag between your motions and the puck moving onscreen. Not a very good showcase.
Of course, selling an enormous tablet just on the basis that sharing photos with grandma is more fun on a giant screen is tough, so the IdeaCentre Horizon doubles as a kind of desktop. Since it can potentially run Windows 8 Pro if you want it to, it's capable of doing pretty much everything a traditional desktop PC would, just in tablet form. The downside? The battery life is a measly two hours - and that's not taking into account playing videos and games.
Specs wise, the tablet can be outfitted with an Intel Core i7 processor, packs a 1920 x 1080 resolution, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M, sports up to 8GB DDR3 memory, and can support up to 1TB HDD and an extra 64GB SSD.
Considering the tablet starts at $1,600 and only goes up from there depending on what specs you prefer, the biggest obstacle in the way is clearly price. It's unlikely families would be willing to shell out that much money on what would primarily be a gaming/media sharing device, especially since, at this point, Windows Store leaves something to be desired in the app and games department. It's possible some users could find this dual desktop/tablet hybrid to be useful, but the incredibly brief battery life doesn't do it any favors. The Horizon is an interesting idea, but I think it's fair to it still needs some improvement.
