The price details for the MSI Slidebook S20 have been given out by the company approximately 2 weeks after the hybrid Ultrabook was officially announced. The device is said to be an ideal mobile workstation for professionals and is also capable of catering to leisure needs.
Just as the name suggests, it can conveniently be converted from a laptop form factor to a tablet by simply sliding the display back and forth. The front houses an HD webcam along with an 11.6-inch LED backlit IPS touch panel that proffers an anti-glare coating and 1920 x 1080p FHD resolution. On gliding the screen back, users will be presented with a keyboard housing 87 buttons, while the sides play house to a host of components such as 2 USB 3.0 slots, a miniHDMI jack, a LAN port and a 2-in-1 SD/MMC card reader amongst others.
Measuring 19.8mm thick, the device is powered by a third generation Intel Core i5 processor which tags along the HD4000 graphics family supporting DX11, OpenCL v1.1 and OpenGL 3.1. This Windows 8 laptop can be configured with up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and comes with options of a 64GB or a 128GB SSD. There’s also a 2.5-inch HDD bay for expansion purposes. In addition to built-in stereo speakers, the company has thrown in THX TruStudio Pro for rich audio playback. A 3-cell 3800mAh battery gets the hybrid up and running.
The Slidebook S20 isn’t the only one of its kind. Sony’s Vaio Duo 11 is dressed with a highly similar form factor allowing users to easily transform it into a tablet or a notebook upon requirement. The hybrid Ultrabook category also comprises of various other such devices. The Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga is one amongst the many contenders in this lineup.
The MSI Slidebook S20 will hit the market for $1,199.99 and it will be available sometime during the first quarter of 2013. Concrete release date details are still under wraps.
Here’s a quick glance at the device’s specifications:
– Platform: Windows 8
– Display: 11.6-inch 1080p IPS panel with 10-point touch support
– Processor: Third generation Intel Core i5
– Graphics: Intel HD4000
– Memory: 64GB or 128GB mSATA SSD; up to 8GB of RAM
– Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, built-in LAN, card reader, miniHDMI, USB3.0
– Battery: 3-cell 3800mAh
– Dimensions: 300mm x 196.5mm x 19.8mm
– Weight: 1.16kg