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硬件厂商正在打造可变形的笔记本

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Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system is a combination of two very different user interfaces, with each best used in a different way. While the whole system is touch-enabled, only the Start Screen, with its own tablet-type apps, is fully optimized for a touch screen. The second interface -- the traditional Windows desktop -- is still best used with a physical keyboard and a mouse or touch pad.


微软(Microsoft)最新的Windows 8操作系统融合了两种差别巨大、用途迥异的用户界面。虽然整个操作系统都为触控优化，但只有名为"开始屏幕"(Start Screen)的全屏界面是完全为触摸屏优化的，运行平板风格的应用。而第二界面，即传统Windows桌面，则更适合实体键盘、鼠标或触控板。



So, hardware makers are turning out convertible PCs that attempt to function as both tablets and traditional laptops. These aren't merely tablets with thin, optional keyboard covers; or standard laptops with touch screens. They are attempts to create true hybrid devices that can look and work like either a regular laptop or a touch-operated tablet.


因此，硬件厂商正在打造可变形的笔记本，试图让其同时兼备平板电脑与传统笔记本的功能。这些产品并不是简单的平板电脑加配轻薄可选电脑壳，也不是普通的笔记本配个触摸屏。变形本是希望打造真正的跨界产品，在外观和使用上都兼具传统笔记本和触摸操控的平板电脑的特色。



The models take different approaches, each of which has its pros and cons. So, this week I decided to test three from well-known PC makers. These machines have three things in common. At $850 to $1,299, they are far costlier than the midrange Windows laptop, which falls into the $400-to-$700 range. All use full Windows 8, not the more limited Windows RT, so they can run popular Windows desktop software. And switching between their dual modes takes some adjustment.


各家变形本有不同的设计，每款产品都有自己的优缺点。所以我这周决定测试三款来自知名PC厂商的变形本。这些机型有三个共同点：首先，它们价格介于850美元到1299美元，比目前售价400-700美元的中端Windows笔记本要贵上不少。其次，这些产品都使用全性能版的Windows 8，而不是功能诸多受限的Windows RT版，因此都可以运行常用的Windows桌面软件。第三，使用这三款变形本时，用户都需要时间习惯两种模式之间的切换。



The Detachable


拆分式变形本



The HP Envy x2 takes the simplest approach of the three, and is the only one that allows you to use a normal, thin, tablet, separate from the keyboard and touch pad. It's also the least expensive of the three, at $850; and scored the best battery life in my tests. But it has some drawbacks.


惠普Envy X2是三款机器中设计最简单的，也是唯一一款拆了键盘和触控板后就可成为常见纤薄平板电脑的产品。这款电脑售价850美元，也是三款中最便宜的；在我的测试中，其电池续航时间也是最长的。但这款电脑也存在着一些缺陷。



A gray, aluminum machine, the Envy at first looks like a plain touch-screen laptop. But when you slide a button on the hinge, the screen pops off to become a slender, 11.6 inch tablet you manipulate by swiping, tapping and using an on-screen keyboard. When you want to use the physical keyboard and touch pad, you pop the screen back onto the base portion and you have a laptop again.


Envy外壳使用了灰色铝合金材质，初看起来像一部普通的触摸屏笔记本。但当你滑动转轴上的一个按键，就可以拆下显示屏，让其变成一款纤薄的11.6英寸平板电脑，你可以在屏幕上滑动、点击和使用虚拟键盘。当你想使用实体键盘和触控板的时候，只需要将显示屏插回基座，就重新拥有了一款笔记本。



Other PC makers are making detachables, but unlike some, Hewlett-Packard has chosen to hide the attachmentmechanism in a sort of hump below the keyboard. This gives the machine a rear rise, good for typing, but it means it can't sit flat on a desk. In laptop mode, the Envy x2 weighs 3.1 pounds. The tablet alone weighs 1.5 pounds.


其他PC厂商也有可拆分变形本产品，但惠普的设计与众不同，他们将连接部位隐藏在键盘下方的隆起处。这种设计给键盘带来了倾斜度，方便打字输入，但这样一来电脑就不是平放在桌子上。在笔记本模式下，Envy X2重3.1磅(约合1.4公斤)，而拆了显示屏用作平板则重1.5磅(约合680克)。



I applied my tabletbattery test to the Envy, since it actually can be used as a free-standing tablet, and my laptop-battery test to the other two, since their screens are fixed to their keyboards. Both tests are harsher than those the industry uses and involve playing media continuously with Wi-Fi on, power-saving features off and the screen at a bright setting.


鉴于Envy可以用作独立的平板电脑，所以我对Envy用的是平板电脑的电池测试标准；而其他两款变形本的屏幕和键盘是不可拆卸的，我用的则是笔记本的电池测试标准。但我的电池测试标准都比行业通用的更为严格，是在打开Wi-Fi、关闭省电功能以及显示屏调亮情况下持续进行多媒体播放。



Because the Envy has two batteries -- one in the tablet and one in the base -- it did pretty well. The tablet alone lasted five hours and 15 minutes, and when it died, I snapped it back onto the base, which kept it running for another three hours and 22 minutes. That combined total of eight hours and 37 minutes still wasn't as good as the Apple iPad's nine hours and 58 minutes in the same test, but it was better than some other tablets, and in normal use, would likely approach 10 hours. You might do much better runningstrictly in laptop mode, with both batteries together.


由于Envy设计了两块电池，一块在平板内，一块在底座中，其电池性能表现相当不错。平板部分电池坚持了5小时15分钟，电池耗尽后，我将显示屏插回了底座，又坚持了3小时22分钟。合起来电池续航时间相当于8小时37分钟，虽然不如苹果iPad在同一测试标准下的9小时58分钟，但也已好于其他一些平板。按照一般用法，其电池续航可能会接近10个小时。如果严格按照笔记本使用，两块电池合起来的话，或许电池时间还会更长。



The biggest downside of the Envy x2 is that it uses a relatively wimpy Intel Atom processor. I found it adequate but with some latency, and, on one occasion, it produced choppy video briefly. (The other two machines use full-powered Intel laptop chips.) Also, the Envy has the least storage of the three -- 64 gigabytes -- though it can be expanded with memory cards.


Envy X2的最大缺陷是其配备了性能相对较弱的英特尔Atom芯片。虽然我觉得这够用了，但存在一些延迟情况，有一次播放视频时还短暂出现了锯齿。而其他两款机器则使用了全性能的英特尔笔记本芯片。此外，Envy的硬盘只有64GB，是三款中最小的，不过可以通过存储卡扩展。



Two more things: Even after days of use, I found it hard to re-attach the screen. I also kept accidentally triggering the Envy's power switch, which is flush with the surface at the top right rear of the screen, where you might hold it.


还有两点值得一提：即便经过数日的使用，我还是觉得把屏幕装回到键盘上有点困难。我还好几次误触动了Envy的电源开关，这个按键和屏幕右后侧上部齐平，你在拿着电脑时很容易会碰到它。



The Dual Screen


双屏式变形本



The twist with the Asus Taichi 21 is that it has two 11.6 inch screens: a nontouch display in the usual position inside the lid and a tablet-like touch screen on the outside. Yes, unlike any laptop you've probably owned, the cover of the Taichi 21, which starts at $1,299, is glass.


华硕太极21(Asus Taichi 21)的新奇之处是配备了两块11.6英寸屏幕：传统位置的内侧显示屏是非触摸的，而外侧显示屏则是类平板的触摸屏。所以，不同于市面上的其他笔记本，1299美元起售的太极21的背壳是玻璃的。



The way it works is that you press a special button that controls how the two screens work. There's a notebook mode, in which the inner screen is the focus, just like a traditional laptop, but the outer screen comes on when you close the lid. There's a tablet mode, which reverses the priority. There's a mirror mode, in which the same thing is shown on both screens when the lid is open, and dual-screen mode, in which different things can be shown on the two displays. (The latter two modes are meant for presentations and collaboration.)


你按一个专门按键，就可以控制两块屏幕的运行。在笔记本模式下，主要使用内侧屏幕，就像普通笔记本一样，但你合上笔记本后，外侧显示屏就会启动。而在平板电脑模式下，两块屏幕的优先级别正好相反。这款产品还有镜像模式和双屏模式，用于演讲展示以及协同工作。镜像模式下，打开笔记本上盖，两块屏幕显示同样的内容；而双屏模式则是显示不同的内容。



In my tests, the system worked. But it's all very complicated. And to add complexity, a second button can disable the outer screen altogether, turning the expensive machine into a non-touch, standard notebook.


在我的测试中，这种设计运转正常，但整个产品非常复杂。更加复杂的是，这款产品还有第二个按键，可以关闭外侧显示屏，让这款昂贵的双屏机变成一款非触摸功能的传统笔记本。



Also, even though the Taichi is as light and thin as a laptop, it makes for a heavy, thick tablet. The Taichi is 2.76 pounds and has 128 GB of storage. But it costs $1,299 to $1,599, depending on configuration, and battery life was poor. I tested it with both screens on, since the company touts this feature, and got just a bit over three hours. I estimate that with only one screen and more normal usage, you'd get two to three more hours.


此外，虽然太极作为笔记本很轻薄，但作为平板却有点厚重。这款产品重2.76磅(1.25公斤)，128GB固态硬盘，根据配置不同，售价从1299美元到1599美元不等。太极的电池表现不佳，鉴于华硕将双屏功能作为卖点，所以我就打开两个屏幕进行测试，电池只坚持了三个多小时。我预计，如果你只用一块屏幕，进行更为常规的操作，电池续航或许还能延长二至三个小时。



The Slider


滑盖式变形本



Toshiba's Satellite U925t lacks a name that rolls off the tongue, but it has a screen that slides, which transforms it from a laptop to a tablet. You just push the screen back into a flat position and then slide it toward you over the keyboard, and voila! You now have a big, bulky, 3.35-pound tablet with a 12.5-inch screen.


东芝(Toshiba) Satellite U925t名字念起来不是很顺口，但其屏幕却可以顺畅滑动，让其从笔记本变形为平板电脑。你可以把屏幕掰下直至放平，再滑动则露出键盘，然后这款笔记本就成为了一款重3.35磅(1.52公斤)、拥有12.5英寸显示屏的厚重大平板。



Not only that, but in laptop mode, the slider mechanism forces the $1,150 PC to cram its top row of keys right up against the screen and to offer only a shrunken touch pad (though it has a touch screen, which lessens the need for the touch pad).


不仅如此，在笔记本模式下，由于滑盖设计，这款1150美元的笔记本的键盘最上一排过于接近显示屏，而触控板也缩小了。(不过，触摸屏减少了触控板的使用需求。)



The Toshiba has 128 GB of storage, and in my laptop battery test, it turned in a mediocre time of four hours and two minutes, which likely would approach five hours in normal use. It's loaded with craplets -- software and offers many folks don't want and laboriously delete.


东芝这款产品硬盘空间128GB，在我的笔记本电池测试中，其4小时2分钟的续航表现中规中矩，如果正常使用可能接近五个小时。这款电脑装载了很多人用不着的诸多鸡肋软件，删起来费力烦琐。



There's nothing wrong with the slider concept, but I doubt many people would use a computer this thick and heavy as a tablet for very long.


滑盖设计没有什么问题，但我怀疑，很多人会把它当笔记本使用，因为这款产品作为平板太厚重了，不适合长时间使用。



Bottom Line


结论



None of these three convertibles is optimal and different people will have different tastes. But as someone who values tablets partly for their sleekness, I'd pick the HP, which includes a real tablet, if I had to choose. I only wish that, as a laptop, it had more storage and a snappier processor.


这三款变形本中，没有鹤立鸡群者，不同用户会有不同选择。但我或多或少会侧重于从轻薄性角度来衡量平板电脑，如果必须做出选择的话，我会选惠普Envy，因为它内含了一部真正的平板电脑。我只希望，从笔记本角度出发，Envy可以配备更强劲的芯片和更大的存储空间。



Walter S. Mossberg


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