Lenovo Z51 Delivers AMD R9 Graphics, RealSense Camera
Designed for multimedia as well as productivity, Lenovo's new Z41 and Z51 notebooks can be configured with AMD graphics, Intel Core i7 processors, and Intel's RealSense 3D cameras. Available in black, white, or red, the Z41 and Z51 also feature full HD displays, Dolby DS 1.0 Home Theater Surround Sound, and optional 2.5-watt JBL stereo speakers for a more immersive experience when watching movies and videos.
These 14- and 15-inch systems will be available in June starting at $499.
Even at the starting price, both notebooks will feature a 1080p display, albeit at a dimmish 200 nits. While the base models will have integrated Intel GPUs, the Z41 will be configurable with discrete AMD R7-M360 graphics, and the Z51 can be outfitted with an AMD R9-M375 GPU.
Both notebooks can also be configured with up to a fifth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of DDR3L RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. You'll want to keep them plugged in, though: Lenovo estimates that the notebooks will only be able to get up to 4 hours of battery life.
Intel's RealSense 3D camera, which showed up first on the Dell Venue 8 7000 tablet--and still needs some kinks ironed out--will only be available on the larger Z51.
The 14-inch Z41 weighs 4.6 pounds and measures 13.7 x 9.8 x 0.96 inches, and the 15-inch Z51 weighs 5.1 pounds and measures 15.1 x 10.4 x 0.97 inches. Both systems will have two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, HDMI, Ethernet, VGA, a 4-in-1 card reader, Bluetooth 4.0, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
Both notebooks will be available in June starting at $499; for that, we expect that you'll get integrated graphics, an Intel Core processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive. We'll certainly be interested to see how well AMD's new GPUs perform, too.
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Michael was the Reviews Editor at Laptop Mag. During his tenure at Laptop Mag, Michael reviewed some of the best laptops at the time, including notebooks from brands like Acer, Apple, Dell, Lenovo, and Asus. He wrote in-depth, hands-on guides about laptops that defined the world of tech, but he also stepped outside of the laptop world to talk about phones and wearables. He is now the U.S. Editor-in-Chief at our sister site Tom's Guide, where he oversees all evergreen content and the Homes, Smart Home, and Fitness/Wearables categories for the site..