Lenovo’s New Consumer Windows Laptops Start At $250

Two hundred fifty dollars is a relatively low price for a Google Chromebook, but Lenovo has just released a new line of consumer Windows 8.1 laptops with an entry-level 14-inch model starting at $249.00. That’s $650 less than Apple’s cheapest 11-inch MacBook Air, and the same price as the cheapest tablet in Apple’s iPad family — the A5 powered, non-Retina, original iPad mini.

Unveiled this week in advance of Lenovo Tech World, the company’s first exclusive global technology innovation event in Beijing. The new Lenovo Z41, Lenovo Z51 and the ideapad 100 laptops provide users who are satisfied with a simple and basically-functional laptop design with a full-sized Windows machine at tablet-prices.

Lenovo Z41 and Lenovo Z51

The new 14-inch Lenovo Z41 and 15-inch Lenovo Z51 laptops are intended to be both home-entertainment center and powerful workstation. Featuring a stunning FHD display, optional AMD discrete graphics and immersive Dolby DS 1.0 Home Theater Surround Sound, they are equipped for streaming videos, downloading music and gaming. The Lenovo Z41 and Lenovo Z51 come with 802.11 a/c WiFi technology for up to three times1 the Internet speed of older versions for faster web surfing, streaming and downloading content. These new laptops are available powered by up to the latest Intel Core i7 processor with up to 1 TB of storage, cnd can be had in traditional Lenovo ebony black, chalk white or crimson red (for the 14-inch laptop).

Intel RealSense 3D Camera On The New Lenovo Z51

The 15-inch Lenovo Z51 also os available with an optional Intel RealSense 3D camera that brings the world to life in 3D if that’s the sort of feature that floats your boat. Featuring full 1080p color and a depth sensor, the revolutionary 3D camera allows the new Lenovo Z51 to sense and capture depth like the human eye. Users can 3D scan objects to 3D print, play 3D games or use gestures to control the laptop, and create a more lifelike video chat experience by changing the background and sharing content.

The Z51’s smaller 14-inch Z41 sibling is not available with the Intel RealSense camera. Both products will have a starting price of $499, but the Z51, when configured with the RealSense Camera, and equipped with a Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, will start at $599, or $300 less than the i5-powered entry level MacBook Air, and the same price I paid for my 64 GB iPad Air 2. But only 4 hours2 battery runtime compared with 9-10 hours for the base Apple laptop and 12-plus real world (I have one) for the 13-inch MacBook Air.

Lenovo ideapad 100 – Just The “Most Essential” Features

Lenovo also announced the entry-level ideapad 100 laptop for users who demand only the most essential features, such as surfing the web, creating content and managing lists. It features up to an Intel BayTrail-M N3540 four core system on chip clocked 2.16 GHz with turbo boost to 2.66 GHz (no word on what CPU you get for the base $249) processor, up to 500 GB of HDD storage and integrated Intel Graphics, giving users what is basically a mobile device processor, respectable old-school HDD storage capacity, and a decent compliment of I/O ports including one USB 3.0, and one 2.0, HDMI out, a 4-in-1 card reader, and an Ethernet port. The ideapad 100 has a modest nominal claimed 4 hours2 battery runtime and equally modest 1366×768 pixel resolution displays, the same for both 14 and 15 inch versions.

Measuring 20.2 mm for the 14-inch and 22.6 mm for the 15-inch laptop, the ideapad 100 has a classic ebony black finish and starts at $249.00

“We’ve created the new Lenovo Z41, Z51 and ideapad 100 laptops specifically for customers who want simple and functional design,” saays Mr. BAI Peng, vice president and general manager, Lenovo Notebook Business Unit, PC Group. “Because our customers are diverse, our products are not ‘one size fits all.’ Our three new laptops offer customers the choice to select the one that’s right for them – two specialized for multimedia and one all-rounder.”

Availability3

The new 14-inch Lenovo Z41 and 15-inch Lenovo Z51 laptops will be available on http://www.lenovo.com and will hit retail shelves starting in June. Pricing for both laptops starts at US $499. The new Lenovo Z51 laptop with optional Intel RealSense 3D camera comes with an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB memory, starts at US $599.

The new Lenovo ideapad 100 14- and 15-inch notebooks will be available on http://www.lenovo.com and be on retail shelves in June starting at US $249.

For more information, visit: http://www.lenovo.com, and http://www.lenovo.com/techworld after the Tech World keynote.

Notes:

1 Offers up to three times the Internet connection speeds of 802.11 b/g/n.

2 Battery life (and recharge times) will vary based on factors including system settings and usage.

3 On-shelf dates may vary by geography.