Chinese tech giant launches depth-sensing laptop

folarin okunola

May 28, 2015 8:52 AM

The 15-inch Z51 laptop has an Intel RealSense 3D camera that can be used for scanning, gaming or gesture control.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 100

According to sources, Lenovo has revealed an interesting option at its Tech World event in Beijing.

The 15-inch Z51 laptop has an Intel RealSense 3D camera that can be used for scanning, gaming or gesture control. If you're not into that gimmick, the Z51 and 14-inch Z41 have pretty decent bang for the buck, however, with 1080p displays, optional discreet AMD graphics, 16GB max memory and up to a Core i7 CPU.

Sources close to Lenovo also revealed that both will arrive next month starting at $499, but on the off-chance you want a depth camera, you'll have to pay an extra $100 for the 15-inch model.

Sources have also disclosed that Lenovo also revealed the Ideapad 100, a $249 laptop coming next month that could give potential Chromebook buyers pause.

It's available in 14- and 15-inch sizes, with a 1,366 x 768 non-touch screen. Lenovo says it's aimed at buyers "who need only the most essential features" like web browsing, meaning the max configuration has a mere BayTrail-M N3540 CPU and 500GB of storage.

Lastly, there's the 10-inch ThinkPad 10 (2nd generation) tablet. Lenovo's aiming that at business pros with features like a ThinkPad Pen Pro stylus, 1,920 x 1,200 IPS touch screen, Intel Atom quad-core CPU, up to 4GB RAM, a 5-megapixel camera, LTE connectivity and 10 hours of battery life. Lenovo says it'll also bring "a full PC experience," very similar, and reminiscent of, Microsoft's Surface 3, provided you're willing to spend up on accessories.

Its $549 for the tablet itself, which is $50 bucks more than a base Surface 3. Still, it's good to have options.

The ThinkPad 10 will be available August 2015.

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