Lenovo’s got the right idea about weird laptops. But I want more

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I like my laptops weird. Or at least, that’s what I learned looking at the news out of IFA this year.

Specifically, Lenovo’s latest concept design: the ThinkBook VertiFlex. This thin-and-light notebook lets users rotate the screen between portrait and landscape mode.

Do I like it better than Lenovo’s rolling screen ThinkBook? Not in terms of sheer coolness, no. Do I think I could just buy a 2-in-1 laptop with a 360-degree hinge, prop it on a portable stand in full tablet mode, and pair it with a keyboard? Yeah, I need an ergo keyboard anyway. But would I still consider buying this anyway? Oh yeah.

I’m not a coder, but I do a little writing for my job—and having a taller screen helps me see how the overall piece flows together, without having to zoom out or scrunch down font size. And as accustomed as I am to hobbling together my own solutions, it is nice to have a more elegant, purpose-built version. That’s especially so since I assume this would be more affordable than that $3,000+ ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable model. Not automation here. You just grab the screen and rotate it on its hinge.

Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry

What else would I love to see? Currently on my mind would be laptops that bridge DIY and off-the-shelf designs—like letting you convert a handheld gaming PC into the littlest of laptops. (Conveniently, the lone mainstream handheld with detachable controllers is…Lenovo’s.) I already waxed poetic this week on the show about using a handheld gaming PC without its controllers as a Windows tablet. Dropping a handheld gaming PC into a frame with a keyboard and trackpad, built just for it, would be even more badass.

I’d also be into the return of the truly wild, like Razer’s Project Valerie (a triple display laptop). And I’m now hoping for more variations in sizes, shapes, and weight for creator and possibly gaming laptops, now that dogs and cats have united, with the surprise announcement of Intel consumer CPUs featuring Nvidia RTX integrated graphics. (More on that in the news recap below!)

We’ve been in a hardware drought on the desktop side—I honestly can’t remember a year quite this slow in a long while, including during the pandemic. I don’t think it’ll end any time soon, even given the startling news about Intel and Nvidia’s partnership on x86 chips. But laptops have been giving a solid boost to my enthusiasm for PCs. It’s been a nice way to shake off the summer doldrums and head into fall feeling more optimistic.

In this episode of The Full Nerd

In this episode of The Full Nerd, Adam Patrick Murray, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith dive into the return of five-year old Intel architecture, Lenovo’s pricing for its fancy-schmancy Legion Go 2 handheld, and AMD Radeon market share. We also dive into a discussion around game launchers on Windows, inspired by the news of Microsoft’s tweaks to its Xbox app. (You won’t be surprised to learn that nothing is as good as we’d want.)

It also turns out that Adam likes to flout domestic laws (and flaunt it by showing us his haul). I may have also delayed the start of the show by singing the praises of German bread (and cooking in general). Definitely try homemade rouladen, if you can!

Alex Esteves / Foundry

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This week’s dramatic nerd news

Intel and Nvidia (Intvidia?)’s partnership completely took all of us by surprise, of course. But it’s just the peak of the emotional rollercoaster I was on this week, between ominous rumblings about product availability, another full blast of nostalgia, and yet more amazing used PCs finds.

Oh, and a scandal that I found truly delightful.

• The Intel-Nvidia deal could utterly rewrite the future of laptops: I’m not the only one on the PCWorld staff thinking about laptops and the impact of x86 chips with RTX graphics. My colleague and TFN regular Mark Hachman takes a different angle, diving into the history of previous SoC architectures and Intel partnerships, as well as the questions sparked by this new partnership.

• What’s next for Intel Arc? Brad examines the potential implications this new Intel-Nvidia deal could have on Intel’s Arc graphics division, even with Intel assuring us that it will “continue to have GPU product offerings.”

• Would you eat TSMC honey? No, that’s not a euphemism. Just a sweet byproduct of TSMC’s efforts to restore the ecosystems around its plants. I think I’d try it.

• The WinRing0 driver issue hurts: Choosing between security and PC fan performance is making me unhappy. (Obviously I’m choosing security, hence the sorrow.) A ton of third-party apps are affected—MSI Afterburner, OpenRGB, and Razer Synapse among them.

• What a trash haul: Redditor Alternative-Run363’s dad snagged quite a find off the street—a 9th-gen Intel PC with a GTX 1660. Sure, it’s old and dusty. But as the redditor says in response to a commenter, “I can use the PC.” (Also hilarious: this comment.)

• Tech apocalypse incoming? Ars Technica had a chat with the Consumer Technology Association, and the impact of tariff effects sounds potentially bad for availability of tech products in the U.S. after the holiday season. Combined with other expected shortages, affordable DIY PC building and upgrades might get tough soon.

Ubisoft

• I have demands, Ubisoft: Speaking of Assassin’s Creed, a Black Flag remake seems imminent. But I’m not playing it unless they bring back the companion app and its ship minigame.

• AMD X3Ds can hit 1,000fps: At least, they can in some esports games, according to AMD China. And here I am, happy when Overwatch 2 just gives me a consistent 40 to 50fps. (Sometimes the new patches cause awful framerate drops.) I need to demand more from life.

Catch you all next week—I’ll likely still be reeling from the realization that fall is starting. Where did this year go?

Alaina

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ung, founder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive editor of hardware at PCWorld.