Lenovo’s new ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 has an eight-inch secondary display screen

Lenovo has introduced the brand new ThinkBook Plus Gen 3, which has two (two!) screens. There’s one 17.3-inch major display screen (like, the common one), and there’s one other eight-inch display screen on the keyboard deck. Various different fashions which have tried this manner issue (particularly, Asus’ gaggle of Duo merchandise) have put the secondary display screen at the back of the deck and pushed the keyboard to the entrance. But Lenovo has as a substitute put the keyboard on the suitable facet of the chassis, smushing the keyboard to the left.

While the ThinkBook Plus Gen 3’s look takes a little bit of getting used to, I undoubtedly favor this structure to these of the Duos. You don’t have to purchase a separate palm relaxation, and also you don’t feel and look like a T. rex while you’re typing. (I do know that members of the Keyboard In The Front Club will disagree with me on this, however so be it.)

The major display screen is… effectively, it’s very large. Specifically, it has a 21:10 facet ratio, which could be very uncommon to see on a laptop computer. I’ve by no means used a pocket book this large and could be loath to attempt to carry it round too many locations, nevertheless it definitely affords fairly a little bit of display screen house for multitasking. The eight-inch secondary show has 800 x 1280 decision and helps a stylus that comes built-in within the chassis.

Lenovo confirmed off a pair neat use circumstances for the secondary display screen throughout my transient demo. You can write notes on it (in the event you’re proper handed, lefties may need some points), and it syncs straight with OneNote. There’s a cool factor the place in the event you’re, say, modifying a photograph on the primary display screen, you should utilize the stylus to blow a small a part of it up on the secondary display screen. You can dump distractions like Twitter and Spotify down there, you possibly can pull up a calculator, you possibly can mirror sure smartphones, or you possibly can simply lengthen no matter app you’re on the first display screen.

The software program doesn’t look as elaborate as Asus’ is (although which may be for the most effective, as determining how you can use Asus’ is an entire factor). Lenovo, additionally not like Asus, doesn’t seem like making an attempt to get builders to make issues particularly for this manner issue — they famous that it has loads of makes use of already.

The Plus, which begins at $1,399 and ships in May, is (like the remainder of the ThinkBook household) focusing on small and medium companies that won’t have the funds for Lenovo’s top-of-the-line ThinkPads. Dual-screen gadgets are usually costly, and a price ticket of $1,399 may make this know-how accessible to a brand new swath of enterprise prospects.

The ThinkBook Plus additionally comes with twelfth Gen Intel Core processors, as much as 32GB of RAM, and as much as 1TB of storage, in addition to an FHD infrared digicam with a bodily privateness shutter. But come on — the screens are the thrilling half.

Lenovo introduced updates to a couple different ThinkBooks as effectively. We’ve now received the ThinkBook 13X Gen 2, the ThinkBook 14 Gen 4 Plus i, and the ThinkBook 16 Gen 4 Plus i. (The names are so much, I do know — Lenovo does this typically.) These will all be out there in April, with beginning costs of $1,099, $839, and $859 respectively.

All three fashions will function Intel’s twelfth Gen processors. The 13X now comes with an elective wi-fi charging mat, which may cost a suitable cell system alongside it. The ThinkBook 14 and ThinkBook 16 have thinner designs from their predecessors, with 16:10 shows and bigger glass touchpads.

I’m a fan of the ThinkBook line generally, and I’m glad to see it getting some funky options. Given how outrageously costly enterprise laptops have a behavior of being, it’s good to see that fashions at extra accessible costs are maintaining with the newest {hardware}. These fashions are all sturdy, engaging, and effectively made, and (assuming the efficiency is as much as snuff) I’d don’t have any downside bringing one into the boardroom. I say the extra innovation at this worth level, the higher.

Photography by Monica Chin / The Verge