As a joint venture between Lenovo and NEC, it feels like LaVie often gets a little more freedom to have fun with its device designs, so LaVie has created a concept device for CES 2021 that looks like someone took a Nintendo Switch , added some PC parts. , and give it a steampunk-reminiscent finish.
Based on a 8-inch 1920 x 1200 screen, in normal use the LaVie Mini concept looks a lot like the netbook of yesteryear. However, if you add the distinctive white and gold color scheme, along with its circular colors in the background, the LaVie Mini looks like something in the Bioshock universe.
Although it’s just a concept right now, the LaVie Mini also plans to have reasonable components, including an 11th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU with Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD storage, Wi -Fi 6 and a 26 Which battery. And while the system is too small to accommodate a full-size interface, there are even a little stamp-sized nub and a few skinny mouse buttons to help you navigate.
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The real party trick of the LaVie Mini, however, is the ability to fold back its keyboard and attach an optional game controller, making the LaVie Mini effective in a computer equivalent of a Nintendo Switch. With the linked controller, you get all the standard set of control buttons, including a D-pad, two joysticks and a a variety of face buttons and a few triggers on his shoulders. and just like Nintendo’s portable console, the LaVie Mini also has its own dock that you can use reload the system or export video to a nearby screen.
After the huge success of the Nintendo Switch, the LaVie Mini is not the first attempt we have seen by device manufacturers to create a computer-based hybrid console (see Dell’s draft UFO from CES 2020), but because no computer manufacturer has yet been able to nail down the formula, the LaVie Mini concept is remains a aice and teasing dream.
Unfortunately, LaVie has just come up with a design. Aext comes the hard part: take this concept and turn it into a real production device. Currently there is no timetamay be for sale for the LaVie Mini, and if this thing is anything like Dell’s UFO concept, chances are it never will be. And unfortunately it’s kind of downer for what can be a very interesting device.
And if you want to see more new devices and devices from CES 2021, click here to read our full coverage.