![]() ![]() It doesn't feel flimsy or wobbly typing on your lap, but it definitely feels more comfortable on a desk or table. Like other tablets with kickstands, it'll work-or mostly work-on your lap, taking up all available thigh space with the kickstand on your knees. The Chromebook Duet is just the right size for an airline tray table with the kickstand propping the screen and the keyboard snapped into place below. The 3,264-by-2,448-pixel rear camera is above average, as well, exhibiting snappy autofocus behavior and showing crisp colors. The 1,600-by-1,200-pixel webcam captures reasonably bright and impressively sharp shots given the image quality, it was obvious that I'd been too lazy to shave for a video chat. But with a little adjustment, you can get agreeable audio, albeit low on bass and with overlapping tracks mostly muddled. Sound from the Lenovo's pair is too soft unless you crank the volume all the way up, which introduces some distortion. Small tablets aren't known for their booming speakers, so the Duet's are a mild positive, if you tweak them. Pogo pins on the tablet's bottom edge fit the keyboard. Along its right edge are a volume rocker, the power button, and the USB port, which serves for data transfer, charging-the supplied power plug's cord is rather short-and DisplayPort video output. Two speakers and two pinhole microphones decorate its top edge (as you hold it in landscape mode). There's a 2-megapixel front-facing webcam in the medium-thick screen border or bezel. The tablet alone measures 0.29 by 9.4 by 6.3 inches and combines a glossy front panel with a two-tone back that has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera lens in one corner. The Duet has 4GB of memory along with the 128GB of storage I mentioned (not, alas, expandable since there's no SD or microSD card slot), plus support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless. ![]() It is, of course, a touch screen, compatible with Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) pens like the one Lenovo says it will sell soon, joining other vendors such as HP and Chicony. Since its native 1,920-by-1,200-pixel resolution makes screen elements look too tiny, you can choose among faux or "looks like" resolutions ranging from 1,662 by 1,038 pixels to 831 by 519 the default setting (1,080 by 675) is a good mix of sharpness and readability without being too pixelated. The display offers a sunny 400 nits of brightness, good contrast, and reasonably rich, well-saturated colors. (It takes some fussing with your fingernails to open the kickstand, which pivots through 135 degrees, without removing the stand cover.) With all three pieces combined, the Duet trio forms a 2.03-pound sandwich. The third bit is a magnetically attached keyboard with touchpad, which can flip up to cover the screen. The second is a gray fabric "stand cover," a magnetically attached back panel that has a kickstand you can fold out to prop up the tablet on a desk. The 1-pound aluminum alloy tablet is the first (and most important) piece. Aĭubbed the "IdeaPad Duet Chromebook" outside the U.S., the Chromebook Duet is really a trio, of sorts, if you count its main components. And in every way from comfortable typing to smart tablet gestures, it's a nifty productivity and streaming entertainment device. You can technically call it a 10.1-inch tablet with a standard keyboard and kickstand-and you can grumble about its having only one port, a USB 2.0 Type-C (Lenovo throws in a 3.5mm audio adapter for your headphones)-but it's a full-fledged Chromebook. Today, the Lenovo Chromebook Duet is an Editors' Choice at half that price: $299.99, with a surprising 128GB of eMMC flash storage aboard (or $20 less if you settle for 64GB). In September 2018, the HP Chromebook x2, an unusual detachable 2-in-1 Chromebook, was an Editors' Choice at $599.99. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |