Op-Ed: Sexiest New Devices? PCs...

Bob O'Donnell

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Staff member

sexiest devices pcs lenovo thinkpad dell laptop pc opinion lavie z yoga dell xps 13 panasonic 3e guest

After narrowly escaping death (well, OK, not really, but a lot of people sure tried to convince us of it), the PC industry is regaining some color in its face, and starting to make some bold moves forward. Yes, the road ahead will be challenging, and nobody’s expecting any kind of magical return to the glory days, but at least we can all now agree that there is indeed a road ahead.

Timed perfectly in conjunction with this sense of rebirth are the release of arguably some of the most innovative PC designs we’ve seen in a long time (and I’m not even counting the widely expected new version of Apple’s MacBook Air). Yes, I’m going to say it—PCs are starting to look sexy again.

Most of the attention is rightfully focused on notebooks, but before I go there, I do want to make a quick shout out to HP’s Sprout desktop system. Even now, several months after its surprise launch, Sprout stands out as a remarkably innovative reimagining of what a PC can be and what it can do. It’s not the kind of product that will sell in big numbers—and to be fair, the first version has a few limitations that I’m sure HP will address in future iterations—but Sprout has broken the mold on traditional PC designs. In so doing, it has given consumers—and the tech industry—a vision of where personal computing could go in the future. I think it deserves a tremendous amount of credit for doing so.

On the notebook side, the innovation has arguably been more of a continuous evolution, but the end result is a set of products that are remarkably cool and undeniably sexy. (When’s the last time you’ve been able to say that about a PC?) Dell’s new XPS13, for example, wraps together a magnificent, nearly bezel-free, ultra high-resolution 5 Megapixel screen (on some models) with an ultraslim, lightweight 2.8-pound body (2.6-pound on standard HD screen models) into a machine that is the first to really deserve the title “ultrabook.” Leveraging Intel’s new 14 nm Broadwell architecture design, the XPS13 features great performance and a stated 11+ hours of battery life with the high-resolution display. Best of all, it’s a 13” notebook packed into an 11”-size package that looks cool to carry around.

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Not to be outdone, Lenovo has put together a wide range of innovative designs, leveraging both their ThinkPad heritage as well as their groundbreaking swivel screen Yoga products. My personal favorite is the 14” ThinkPad Carbon X1—which, like the XPS13, has been through several iterations. The latest version of this 2.9-pound device has been refined not only with performance and battery life boost from the addition of Intel’s fifth-generation Core-based CPUs and Broadwell architecture, but also comes with an improved touchpad. This is a classic design now taken to the nth degree.

For those who prefer the full wrap-around capabilities of their popular Yoga designs, Lenovo’s Yoga Pro 3 features a cool watchband-like hinge in a half-inch thick, 13.3” design that offers a similar resolution 5 Megapixel screen to Dell’s XPS13. At 2.8 pounds, the company claims the Yoga Pro 3 is the lightest 2-in-1 available on the market. Having checked it out on several occasions, I can tell you it’s a very lightweight, impressive machine.

sexiest devices pcs lenovo thinkpad dell laptop pc opinion lavie z yoga guest dell xps 13 panasonic 3e

As light as the Yoga Pro 3 may be, however, it’s not the lightest notebook on the market. That honor now belongs to another Lenovo machine—the LaVie Z, a 13.3” notebook that in its 180°-swivel design comes in at an incredible 1.7 pounds. Designed by NEC of Japan (which was purchased by Lenovo in 2011), the LaVie Z is built from a special magnesium-lithium alloy that not only makes it lightweight, but keeps the machine rigid.

In addition to these more mainstream designs, there’s also been PC innovations in more specialized areas. Microsoft’s HoloLens is, of course, one impressive example, but even in the field of education I’ve seen some interesting designs that have flown under the radar. One is Panasonic’s 3E, which in addition to offering a ruggedized, more kid-proof design in a 2-in-1 detachable device, adds a clever magnifying lens to the standard webcam, turning it into a mobile microscope for kids to explore the world.

Taken together, these devices, and many others like them, offer a surprisingly robust set of new PC choices that should make even the most jaded individuals take a second look at new PCs. Some might argue that these are nothing more than a collection of incremental changes, but it’s this combination of improvements that really do make the difference. Just as people who haven’t seen friends or relatives in several years suddenly notice a big change when they see them again, people who have been living with old PCs and haven’t really seen what new options are available are bound to be impressed. Most of these new PCs leverage the kind of technologies that people have wanted in their notebooks for a long time: fast, reliable SSDs (solid state drives) leveraging flash memory technology; beautiful high-resolution displays; and even the often-overlooked but critically important large touchpads. They’re the kind of PCs we dreamt about having several years ago and now they’re actually here.

Yes, it’s easy to get cynical about the PC market and how it often felt like it was looking backward instead of moving forward. But seeing the kind of innovation that is now coming out of an industry that many had given up for dead, you can’t help but be impressed.

Bob O’Donnell is the founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, LLC a technology consulting and market research firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community. You can follow him on Twitter . This article was originally published on Tech.pinions.

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Using the word sexiest, must be talking about dildos and blowup dolls.
Right Cliff, the new wave of sex toys will be internet connected. "Smart significant others", if you will. They'll never have a headache, will learn what you like, will forgive you if you run out of Viagara, never be condescending, and be much more adventurous than would be any human counterpart. Picture if you will, Daryl Hannah in, "Blade Runner", but without the combat training. (Unless you're into that sort of thing)..;)

Soon you'll be able to purchase "moan tracks" for Siri and Cortana at any of your favorite app stores, which will then require proof of age before downloading.
 
Bring the sexy back.....[ ].....
What's really sad is when people start to think of shiny computer driven trinkets as, "sexy"!

Do people really have "full contact sex", any more? Or, do they just send pictures of each other's junk back and forth on the internet, with their, "sexy phones"?
 
I don't understand the meaning of "sexy" & "Apple" used in the same sentence. One would normally use the words 'overpriced, ripoff, overrated etc. to be used in conjunction with Apple products.
 
What's really sad is when people start to think of shiny computer driven trinkets as, "sexy"!

I think it's an opinion based on how "slick" looking are nowadays computers, compared to the squared boxes we used to have, to call them sexy that's a totally different subject but lets stick with the slick idea.
 
Sexy computer driven blow up dolls? ..... nothing new there .... didn't any of you remember seeing "West World" years ago? Shoot, even her eyes would light up with she got the "pay off" ..... LOLOL
 
Sexy computer driven blow up dolls? ..... nothing new there .... didn't any of you remember seeing "West World" years ago? Shoot, even her eyes would light up with she got the "pay off" ..... LOLOL
Yes but.........., (wait for it)........"West World" wasn't real....:D It was a movie. OTOH, "Battlestar Galactica", now that was a stone cold lesson in factual human history
 
I puked in my mouth a little when I read that the PC was "dead" in the latter days of the xbox 360 and ps3. It was never true, and yet despite PC having more games, more ways to control your games, replaceable upgradeable hardware and all the other things you can think of that made PC gaming the pinnacle of video gaming awesomeness, it seemed like every dweeb online blasted PC gaming as a total joke. I'm really not sure what happened beyond the huge dissapointment of "next gen" consoles, but now I am beginning to read articles like this. I am glad people are again beginning to realize the best video gaming still comes from the PC which these games are created with, but sad it hasn't been blatantly slap-in-your-****ing-face obvious to everyone. There is nothing overly new going on here. PC games and PC gaming hardware has continued to grow at pretty much the same rate as ever. Games still look and play better on PC. Big surprise.

I puked in my mouth a little when I read like 50 articles in the last two years claiming that 3D is a dead fad. I got a 3DTV in 2013 and it was the best single purchase of my life, the answer of a childhood dream of my games and movies all existing in my third dimension, in a time where 3D movies and games were EVERYWHERE. Finally no more red\blue nonsense. I got a Nintendo 3DS shortly after. 3D gaming, no glasses, in my pocket! --- Suck it, wilderness camping trip! --- It seemed to be obviously the next step for media. I swear a year later, I am reading how useless and sucky 3D is. Headaches, people who cant stand wearing the "funny looking glasses" (eff you regular glasses wearing folk I guess) even in their own home around family due to the massive level of shame involed with looking a bit silly to enjoy an additional dimension in their media. Every blockbuster movie at this time is released in 3D. 3D blu ray players emerge. Youtube provides the option to convert any video you upload to 3D. 3D TVs are sold everywhere by just about every company. 3D projection units. IMAX 3D cinema rules. The Oculus Rift gets made. (thats 3D strapped to your face for anyone not in the know) Sony makes 3D head mounted display. Amazon makes a 3D phone for **** sake with a ****ing 3D camera, but every article laughs at 3D. Now VR 3D and augmented reality are huge! 3D tech is absolutely everywhere, vastly popular and still.... 3D is still just a crappy fad? When looking for immmersion in my media, an experience which exists in the same 3 dimensional plane as my life does, really gets me there better than a flat picture does. How is that not a common opinion? How is this not obviously the only way knowing this technology exists?

People who cannot understand what I'm going on about are the same people who think PC ever lost footing as the hands down sexiest way to play games ever. I feel like PC has always been the obvious choice! I can't help but feel disappointed that a bunch of former console fanboys\fangirls will begin gaming on PC because it is viewed as the cool thing to do now, because a bunch of people on the internet say its ok. I dont care how pop PC gaming gets, it will remain the best way to game long after the waves of hype wash all the flimsy opinions away.

Also, an article about PC's being the sexiest devices right now should feature at least one PC. In case you missed the memo, a laptop is not what most people are talking about when they say PC. A laptop is a small portable thing you can take with you from place to place that does a lot of the same things you can do with a PC, but not all.

Replace your motherboard in your laptop.
Go.
How about adding some case lights to show off your cool internals.
Upgrade your screen.
Oh.
Wait....
That is (bare minimum) a huge pain in the ***, if it goes down at all.

A PC traditionally is a desktop unit for use at home, providing access to more powerful hardware configurations and peripherals like monitors, doesn't rely on battery life, typically has better cooling solutions, more options for cosmetic customizations, hopefully you get the idea. I like laptops and there are some really intense (and overly expensive) gaming laptop builds out there, but for me there is a huge difference between a PC and a laptop, and a proper article about the current sex appeal of PC's could be written featuring some sexy PC's and not laptops. Make a sexy laptop article about sexy laptops, featuring sexy laptops would make for a great sexy laptop article, but not a sexy laptop article about sexy PC's featuring sexy laptops. Right?

Does Techspot need a new writer? I can do it. Really.

Some offense.
 
I puked in my mouth a little when I read that the PC was "dead" in the latter days of the xbox 360 and ps3. It was never true, and yet despite PC having more games, more ways to control your games, replaceable upgradeable hardware and all the other things you can think of that made PC gaming the pinnacle of video gaming awesomeness, it seemed like every dweeb online blasted PC gaming as a total joke. I'm really not sure what happened beyond the huge dissapointment of "next gen" consoles, but now I am beginning to read articles like this. I am glad people are again beginning to realize the best video gaming still comes from the PC which these games are created with, but sad it hasn't been blatantly slap-in-your-****ing-face obvious to everyone. There is nothing overly new going on here. PC games and PC gaming hardware has continued to grow at pretty much the same rate as ever. Games still look and play better on PC. Big surprise.

I puked in my mouth a little when I read like 50 articles in the last two years claiming that 3D is a dead fad. I got a 3DTV in 2013 and it was the best single purchase of my life, the answer of a childhood dream of my games and movies all existing in my third dimension, in a time where 3D movies and games were EVERYWHERE. Finally no more red\blue nonsense. I got a Nintendo 3DS shortly after. 3D gaming, no glasses, in my pocket! --- Suck it, wilderness camping trip! --- It seemed to be obviously the next step for media. I swear a year later, I am reading how useless and sucky 3D is. Headaches, people who cant stand wearing the "funny looking glasses" (eff you regular glasses wearing folk I guess) even in their own home around family due to the massive level of shame involed with looking a bit silly to enjoy an additional dimension in their media. Every blockbuster movie at this time is released in 3D. 3D blu ray players emerge. Youtube provides the option to convert any video you upload to 3D. 3D TVs are sold everywhere by just about every company. 3D projection units. IMAX 3D cinema rules. The Oculus Rift gets made. (thats 3D strapped to your face for anyone not in the know) Sony makes 3D head mounted display. Amazon makes a 3D phone for **** sake with a ****ing 3D camera, but every article laughs at 3D. Now VR 3D and augmented reality are huge! 3D tech is absolutely everywhere, vastly popular and still.... 3D is still just a crappy fad? When looking for immmersion in my media, an experience which exists in the same 3 dimensional plane as my life does, really gets me there better than a flat picture does. How is that not a common opinion? How is this not obviously the only way knowing this technology exists?

People who cannot understand what I'm going on about are the same people who think PC ever lost footing as the hands down sexiest way to play games ever. I feel like PC has always been the obvious choice! I can't help but feel disappointed that a bunch of former console fanboys\fangirls will begin gaming on PC because it is viewed as the cool thing to do now, because a bunch of people on the internet say its ok. I dont care how pop PC gaming gets, it will remain the best way to game long after the waves of hype wash all the flimsy opinions away.

Also, an article about PC's being the sexiest devices right now should feature at least one PC. In case you missed the memo, a laptop is not what most people are talking about when they say PC. A laptop is a small portable thing you can take with you from place to place that does a lot of the same things you can do with a PC, but not all.

Replace your motherboard in your laptop.
Go.
How about adding some case lights to show off your cool internals.
Upgrade your screen.
Oh.
Wait....
That is (bare minimum) a huge pain in the ***, if it goes down at all.

A PC traditionally is a desktop unit for use at home, providing access to more powerful hardware configurations and peripherals like monitors, doesn't rely on battery life, typically has better cooling solutions, more options for cosmetic customizations, hopefully you get the idea. I like laptops and there are some really intense (and overly expensive) gaming laptop builds out there, but for me there is a huge difference between a PC and a laptop, and a proper article about the current sex appeal of PC's could be written featuring some sexy PC's and not laptops. Make a sexy laptop article about sexy laptops, featuring sexy laptops would make for a great sexy laptop article, but not a sexy laptop article about sexy PC's featuring sexy laptops. Right?

Does Techspot need a new writer? I can do it. Really.

Some offense.
Really I cant. lol
 
No you really can not! Neither can I but... I think you took your post way down south. For the average computer user a notebook is enough. Also when you started talking about "case lights to show cool internals" you lost me.
 
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