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The Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 is a laptop with a 17:3 inch, 3072 x 1440 pixel ultra-wide display, a 12th-gen Intel Core processor, and support for up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
But what really makes this laptop unusual is the second screen, which is positioned to the right of the keyboard.
First announced during the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in January, the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 is now available for purchase for about $1500 and up.
The starting price gets you a laptop with a 45-watt Intel Core i5-12500H processor featuring 12 cores, 16 threads, and Intel Iris Xe graphics plus 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. But the laptop is also available with up to a Core i7-12700H processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage storage.
The notebook’s primary display is an ultra-wide IPS LCD touchscreen with a 21:10 aspect ratio, 120 Hz refresh rate, support for up to 400 nits brightness, and Dolby Vision. And the secondary screen is an 8 inch, 800 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD touchscreen with up to 350 nits brightness and support for finger or pen input.
You can use the included Lenovo Pen to write or draw on the smaller screen. Or you can tuck the pen into a garage in the notebook for safe keeping when you’re not using it and use that secondary display to display apps or controls for apps running on the primary display.
Lenovo says there’s also a “Magic Launcher” application that will allow you to view shortcuts for frequently used applications on the second screen, making it easier to quickly launch those apps.
While this isn’t Lenovo’s first dual-screen ThinkBook Plus, previous models put the second screen on the lid, which meant that you could basically choose between using the cover display or the primary display. The company’s 3rd-gen model is instead aimed at multitasking.
In addition to the functionality mentioned above, there’s a calculator app that’s optimized to fit in the second screen and support for smartphone screen mirroring, allowing you to view and interact with your phone using the 8 inch screen.
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 also features a full HD webcam with support for Windows Hello face recognition and a privacy shutter that covers the camera when you’re not using it, Harman Kardon 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, a backlit keyboard, a glass-covered touchpad, and a fingerprint reader in the power button.
The laptop features LPDDR5 memory (not user upgradeable) and PCIe Gen 4 M.2 solid state storage (user upgradeable), a 70Wh battery, a 100W USB-C power supply and a selection of ports that includes:
- 1 x Thunderbolt 4
- 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2
- 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1
- 1 x HDMI
- 1 x 3.5mm audio
The ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 also supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1 wireless connectivity, and the notebook measures 16.14″ x 9″ x 0.7″ and weighs about 4.4 pounds.
Lenovo says the ThinkBook Plus Gen 3 will be available starting in May, 2022 for $1399 and up.
This article was first published January 5, 2022 and most recently updated September 13, 2022.
I really like the concept here, but I’m concerned about the ergonomics of a keyboard as far off-set from centre as this. I think it would have been a MUCH better idea to bring the keyboard closer to the front edge of the base, ditch the trackpad, and use the lower screen as the trackpad (maybe just use the bottom 1/3rd, with a quick toggle button to dismiss it)