Hands-on with Lenovo IdeaCentre 27-inch Horizon Table PC

Hands-on with Lenovo IdeaCentre 27-inch Horizon Table PC
Remember the Microsoft Surface interactive table top? Just as early as mid-2012, this conversational piece commanded a price of more than US$11,000. That's quite a hefty sum, but it was one of the first commercially available solutions with a huge 40-inch interactive screen that was targeted at the service and hospitality industries (and as such, it's more robust than a personal system).

At the ongoing CES 2013 trade show, Lenovo announced the Horizon Table PC that is surely one of the geek highlights of the show. Now you can experience most of what the Microsoft Surface table top could do on the US$1,699 Horizon Table PC in your home. The system has typical specs of a 27-inch AIO PC with a 10-point multi-touch full HD display. While it doesn't sound anything more than any modern AIO PC, it's the concept, application, experience and marketing of the product that has made it unique. We had some hands-on time with the product during the show for an initial assessment.

The huge 27-inch 'table' PC has a built-in stand that allows users to interact with it as a typical AIO machine. To convert it into a table PC, we found the process straightforward by using both your hands and applying a twisting downward motion on both sides of the screen. The actual motion was fluid and the affirmative resistance provided during the conversion process gives you a sense and feel of the stand being durable and one that you can rely upon. If you need further flexibility such as height adjustment or mounting it upright vertically at 90-degrees like a huge monitor, Lenovo has an optional movable stand that accomplishes these extra requirements.

Now, once you've gotten the system down to its table form factor, you can now interact with apps and games that are best used on a flat surface such as viewing photos and videos around in a group, drawing and other creativity tasks and most importantly, gaming!