It’s difficult to contend with a 13-inch laptop weighing only 1.72 pounds and make a run for the claim as the world’s lightest laptop. There’s no way to beat an ultraportable laptop that only weighs that much.
Lenovo’s LaVie HZ550 is and it is not because it has lightweight and subpar components inside. The laptop exudes power under the hood as it is run by a fifth generation Intel Core processor.
Making it a double record for Lenovo is the LaVie HZ750, a 13-inch convertible notebook that only weighs 2.04 pounds. The notebook features a 360-degree hinge that allows it to fold back into a tablet mode.
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Just like its laptop counterpart, the LaVie HZ750 has fifth-gen Intel Core processor inside it so it is not just a skinny notebook but a powerful skinny one at that.
The LaVie HZ750 has a touch screen display while the LaVie HZ550 does not have it but both feature an impressive 2560 x 1440 pixel screen resolution.
The battery life of both devices are also remarkable as they can run from between seven to eight hours in continued video playback, a characteristic that put them on the league of some bigger and heavier laptops.
Lenovo made use of Sharp’s IGZO display, known for its energy efficiency, for the HZ750 which is why the company can also claim long battery life for the notebook.
Engadget explains that what makes the LaVie HZ550 and LaVie HZ750 lightweight amid their powerful internal hardware is the magnesium-lithium alloy used to build the devices. The metal compound is light but most certainly unbendable making the world’s lightest laptop and notebook sturdy too.
The history of LaVie
LaVie was actually coined by Japanese computer maker NEC, which has been manufacturing ultra-thin notebooks in Japan for quite some time already.
NEC and Lenovo forged a joint venture to produce laptops together enabling Lenovo to get a piece of the Japanese PC market, which is the fourth largest in the world. The collaboration has been in place for four years and LaVie is just one of the by-products of the partnership of the two computer manufacturing companies.
While ultra thin laptops and notebooks are already common in Japan, they’re still considered as strange and extra-ordinary in the US and other markets.
The downsides
Lenovo’s 13-inch laptop and notebook are ultra thin, super light, very powerful, and possess long battery life.
But the devices also come with their own limitations. The LaVie HZ550 does not come with a touch screen display while the LaVie HZ750 does not have the rubber bumpers, normally found on Yoga convertible notebook lines, that enable the device to have quite as many poses when it is converted from a notebook to a tablet and vice versa via the 360-degree hinge.
Lenovo plans to roll out the LaVie HZ550 in the US for $1,299 and the LaVie HZ750 for $1,499.