Notebook concept with removable tablet looks a bit… bulky

Multifunction computers that can work as either laptops or tablets are nothing new. PC makers have been pumping them out for the past 10 years or so. But tablets without built-in keyboards are all the rage these days. If you’re the sort of person who likes the idea of a thin tablet for reading a book or web page or watching a movie, but wants to be able to plop it into a base station for typing and running more powerful applications, the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 may have caught your eye earlier this year. But that product is currently in limbo while Lenovo retools the design to use Windows and Google Android instead of Windows and Skylight Linux.

But designer Shyam Balasubramanian has a few ideas of his own. His concept PC isn’t just a laptop and a tablet — but it also works as a fully functional desktop computer thanks to a docking station that includes a disc drive and hard drive.

The overall design is kind of interesting. I like the idea of a device that you can use as a tablet, notebook, or desktop style PC. But if you’re going to go through the trouble of mocking up some drawings, you think they’d be a bit… sexier. I honestly find the rough sketches like the one below to be a lot more appealing than the rendered images.

You can fin more concept drawings at shyam-ideas.

Update: Designer Shyam wrote in to let us know that this concept was drafted back in 2006 — long before Lenovo’s vision started making the rounds. In that light, this thing was actually kind of visionary.

via GadgetMix