Preface: Michael Archambault does NOT work for Lenovo. WinBeta is NOT being paid by Lenovo. We are simply giving credit to where credit is due. Get a Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer, Asus, Vaio, Lenovo, or even, a MacBook — we honestly don’t care.
Here at WinBeta, we get to play with and test the latest technology from every major computer manufacturer on the planet. Whether it is HP’s latest affordable machine, Dell’s latest business machine, Vaio’s latest wild experiment, or Acer’s latest attempt to make ultrabooks thinner than ever thought possible – we test it all. However, there is one company that consistently impresses our team with its seemingly never-ending innovation and consumer-forward focus; that company is Lenovo.
The Consumer Awards
It is not just us here at WinBeta that feel Lenovo has a leg-up on the competition. Computer Shopper’s “The Best of CES 2014” awarded Lenovo four times, more than any other OEM, for their ThinkPad Tablet 8, Horizon 2, Miix 2 10, and ThinkPad X1 Carbon (3rd Generation). In addition, Consumer Report’s continues to name Lenovo #1 in a variety of categories including several top recommendations.
“Lenovo [is] the #1 selling PC manufacturer in the world”
If you don’t feel comfortable with innovation awards or even top evaluations from Consumer Reports, it is hard to argue with sales numbers. Just last year, Forbes reported that Lenovo posted a 36% profit hike, which is an outstanding jump. IDC and Gartner continue to report Lenovo as the #1 selling PC manufacturer in the world.
The Company Legacy
Lenovo was founded in 1984 with its original name, Legend. The Hong Kong based manufacturer soon began to witness quick growth, and in 2005, purchased IBM’s personal computer division. The name Lenovo is actually a combination of the word “Legend” and the Latin word for “new”, which is “novo” – thus Lenovo means “New Legend”.
Today, Lenovo is not only the #1 PC manufacturer, but the owner of Motorola Mobility. Currently, Lenovo only produces smartphones in mainland china (running the Android platform), but there they sit as the largest vendor of smartphones.
“Lenovo means ‘New Legend’ – a combination of English and Latin”
The Best Products
So, that is all dandy, but what makes Lenovo the #1? Also, why on Earth do we suggest that they are the future of Windows? Simply put, because everyone else wants to be them and no one has yet to become them.
When Windows 8 launched, Microsoft announced their Surface Pro tablet, which was supposed to serve as the perfect Windows experience. However, PC manufactures quickly dispersed to find their own solution to the tablet/laptop hybrid. We only have to look at some of Vaio’s crazy concept ideas to see exactly how hard companies were trying, but in the end, Lenovo cracked the code.
“Yoga was the perfect idea – a powerful, yet deadly thin, hybrid”
The question was simple – what if the hinge of a laptop could twist back 360 degrees? You could go from laptop to tablet in almost no time at all. Plus, you would never have to worry about losing a keyboard cover.
Lenovo’s Yoga was the perfect idea, but when it launched it wasn’t the perfect machine. The original Yoga was beautiful, but a tad heavy and not ideal for a mobile tablet experience. Today, Lenovo has refined their YOGA line to include ultra-light standalone tablets and powerful, yet deadly thin, hybrids.
Since Yoga’s first announcement, other PC manufactures had tried to copy the experience. Currently, four out of five of HP’s “Detachable and convertibles” use the same basic hinge design. Toshiba is even trying to get in on the action with their “Satellite Radius” machine, which if you haven’t seen yet – cringingly rips off not only the Yoga design, but also its marketing artwork.
The Reasoning
Why are we telling you this? This must be a gigantic ad and we are selling out to the corporate giant, right? Nope, not at all. However, when Windows 8 appeared on the market there was one company that got the solution right, and one company that intends to keep innovating while others catchup.
“Lenovo is perfecting what they already got right – others are trying to catch up”
While HP scrapes together low cost alternatives to the Yoga from cheap plastic materials, Lenovo is perfecting what they already got right. Recently the company announced their Yoga Pro 3, a machine that keeps the innovative idea of flipping over backwards to impress you, but integrates a new “watchband” hinge to improve stability and use scenarios.
There are many great laptops out there, and many manufacturers should be praised for their work, but when we have a company that works as hard as Lenovo to create excellent hardware for the Windows platform we love most – we want to acknowledge it.
“If Microsoft wants to give a ‘Thank You’, give it to Team Lenovo”
I’m asked every day for recommendations on a new PC, and the first question people usually ask is “what brand should I buy?” My answer remains the same, “Get a Lenovo (or possibly, a Microsoft Surface)”. Everyone has different needs, and one manufacturer may not have all the solutions, but this one sure has a lot of them. Lenovo has contributed to the future of Windows, and kept it innovative, sexy, and practical — if Microsoft wants to give a “Thank You”, give it to Team Lenovo, because others are still trying to catch up.
