Key difference: The unique aspect of Lenovo Thinkpad Twist is that it is a convertible laptop with the ability to twist its screen and fold back. This allows the device to take up four design modes. This includes Laptop Mode, Tablet Mode, Tent Mode and finally, Stand Mode. The Lenovo Thinkpad Twist features a 12.5 HD IPS display with Touch Sensor of Magnesium Alloy Construction with Corning Gorilla Glass. It is powered by Intel Core, and is actually available in three variants. The Latitude 10 tablet is quite slick and light weight at 658 grams. The devices comes with a 10.1-inch IPS (1366 X 768) Wide View Angle LCD capacitive touch screen and is powered by a 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Z2760 processor.

Lenovo Group Limited is a Chinese multinational with its operational headquarters in Morrisville, North Carolina. The company provides computer hardware and electronics, including personal computers, tablet computers, mobile phones, workstations, servers, electronic storage devices, IT management software and smart televisions. Among other things, the company is especially known for its computers, especially the ThinkPad and IdeaPad line of notebook computers.

The Lenovo Thinkpad Twist is inline with its ThinkPad series, which is known for its durability, long life and easy availability of replacement parts. In fact, laptops in Lenovo Thinkpad series are currently the only laptops certified for use on the International Space Station.

The unique feature of Lenovo Thinkpad Twist is that its screen and CPU is attached with a single twistable hinge that gives the device the ability to twist its screen and/ fold back completely. This feature gives the device versatility and allowing the user to use the device as either a laptop or a tablet. It also allows the device to take up to four design modes: Laptop Mode, Tablet Mode, Tent Mode and finally, Stand Mode. Hence, the device is effectively two-in-one, a tablet and a laptop.

The Lenovo Thinkpad Twist features a 12.5 HD IPS display with Touch Sensor of Magnesium Alloy Construction with Corning Gorilla Glass. It is powered by Intel Core, and is actually available in three variants, Intel Core i3/ i5/ i7. It has up to 8 GB RAM which varies as per the processor. The Thinkpad Twist runs Microsoft 8 as its OS, and has either 320 GB or 500 GB of hard disk memory, as well as 128 GB of SSD or solid-state drive. The SSD works to improve application load times and system boot times.

The Lenovo Thinkpad Twist is a follow-up to the company’s popular IdeaPad Yoga line. Other than provide the durability of a ThinkPad over the IdeaPad, it also aimed to improve on a feature of the IdeaPad Yoga series. The IdeaPad Yoga series are also convertible laptops, however in order to get to the tablet mode, the screen folds back, which leaves the keyboard exposed on the back of the tablet. This makes holding the tablet, a little awkward. The ability of the Lenovo Thinkpad Twist to twist its screen 180 deg before folding back addresses this issue as the twist allows the screen to cover the keyboard. However, the device has been criticized as being too heavy to be used comfortably as a tablet.

Dell is a popular computer manufacturer, which has made a name for itself in the laptop and desktop market. However, the company is still trying to garner a name for itself in the tablet market. The company launched the new Dell Latitude 10 Windows tablet in the beginning of 2013, that claims to bring all professional and personal needs of the desktop and laptop to a portable tablet. The tablet runs on Windows UI and OS to make it compatible with almost all Windows desktops and PCs.

The Latitude 10 tablet is quite slick and light weight at 658 grams without the dock and only the two-cell battery, with the four cell battery the device can weigh around 850 grams. The device is quite easy to hold in landscape mode, while in portrait it is a bit bulky and awkward. The devices comes with a 10.1-inch IPS (1366 X 768) Wide View Angle LCD capacitive touch screen that provides a decent enough resolution; however, the device does fall short on pixel density compared to the top-of-the-line tablets. The device also provides adequate picture quality, nothing mind-blowing, but it’s bad enough to complain either. The screen is made of Corning Gorilla Glass that protects it from shattering and small scratches.

The company has incorporated a number of ports for easy connectivity on the device itself such as USB 2.0, SD Memory Card Reader, Docking Connector, Stereo headphone/ Microphone combo jack, Mini-HDMI, Micro-USB charging port and Micro-SIM slot. The device also has the volume rocker and the power button on it in addition to all the ports. The device can be made into a laptop, similar to the other tablets in the category with a dock. However, the dock differs a little from the others and is only a plastic base with a metal support plate that stands at a weird angle and holds the tablet up. The dock itself houses four USB ports, an HDMI output, an audio-out jack and an Ethernet connection. The dock allows the device to support external keyboards and mouse that can be attached to the device.

The device is powered by a 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Z2760 Processor with Intel® Burst Technology, making it quite fast and powerful for handling day to day functions. The tablet also runs a full version of the 32-bit Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro (depending on the pricing of the model), which means that a person can use it as a proper desktop and install own desktop software, run different programs as they would on a proper desktop computer. This makes the tablet very customizable for personal as well as professional needs. The device comes with a 2 GB RAM, which lacks performance compared to the Core i5 processors. According to many review websites, the system is best for simple tasks and limited multitasking. The system also is a bit sluggish, when shifting from portrait to landscape modes.

The tablet comes with two battery options: 2-cell (30Whr) Lithium Ion battery (swappable) and optional 4-cell (60Whr) Lithium Ion battery (swappable) for more power. The battery life is quite excellent and should last around 10 hours, according to Dell. The swappable battery allows users to get more juice out of the device by doubling the battery life. The tablet also comes in three different variants: $649 - Dell Latitude 10 essentials configuration - 64GB storage; $899 - Dell Latitude 10 - 64GB storage and $999 - Dell Latitude 10 (enhanced security) - 128GB storage. They have slight differences and added features that are available in the higher priced version; however, the hardware is the same in all of the versions.  The additional features in the high end tablet include fingerprint and smart card reader. The second and the third version come with Windows 8 Pro, while the basic one comes with Windows 8. Addition features in the two most expensive models are: Wacom stylus support, rear LED flash, micro-USB charging port, mini-HDMI port, micro-SIM slot and hardware TPM chip.

The information for the detailed table about the two devices has been taken from the Lenovo website, the Dell Website, the Sydney Morning Herald Website and CNet.com.

Image Courtesy: lenovo.com, dell.com