Lenovo has announced a new addition to its line of ThinkVision monitors—a USB travel monitor that’s designed for touch. The new 13.3 inch, Gorilla Glass display weighs well under 2 pounds and boasts a crisp (but rather odd) resolution of 1600 x 900. Video and power are supplied by USB, so only one cable is necessary to connect this to your laptop or PC. Optimized for Windows 8, the display supports 10-point touch for a full touch experience.
Our hands-on testing showed the device to be “fast and fluid,” as Microsoft would prescribe, though it didn’t always recognize right-edge swipes to display the charms. A Windows 8 laptop recognized the display as a standard second monitor, offering options to mirror or extend the screen.
Lenovo’s ThinkVision LT1423p Mobile Monitor Touch is expected to ship in 2013 Q2 at a price of $449. Lenovo also plans to deliver a wireless version later in the year.
See our complete coverage of CES 2013.
I dont get this. If you are close enough to use a USB connection, you are probably close enough to use a wireless mouse or IR remote to control WMC. I use a number of apps on an iPad to achieve wireless access to WMC from anywhere in the house (eg Splashtop, Ceton’s comoanion app, vmcMote)
I have a Media Center PC in the basement that I’ve used historically as a jukebox to pump audio through the first floor of my house. It hooks to an amplifier and speaker distribution switch also in the basement. Years ago I pulled video and USB up from the basement to a small cabinet-mounted touch screen. This was way before the days of gesture support! Since that monitor died about two years ago, I’ve been searching for a replacement. Having a PC itself in the kitchen isn’t really possible because of space and the other audio equipment already installed in the basement.
yeah maybe if it wasn’t $450. For that price you could buy 2 nexus 7 tablets and use them as media center remotes. I plan to do something similar but with itunes and our old iphones.
but that just wouldn’t be as fun 🙂 Honestly, I think the point is that the Windows Media Center interface is better than any of the mobile remote control apps. Richard is someone who cares about user experience more than anyone else I know, and he’s willing to do the job in whatever way gives him the best experience.
Josh is right. The touch experience on Media Center is amazing—better than most high-end custom installations and much better than any remote apps out there.
[…] Hands on with Lenovo’s Touch-based USB Mobile Monitor […]