Lenovo pursues the dream of making a Nintendo Switch PC with the LaVie Mini concept

Every year at CES, we see devices designed to bring the worlds of handheld and PC games together. This year, it is Lenovo and NEC that still pursue that dream with the LaVie Mini. The device is a hybrid concept of portable gaming console for laptop and includes a touch screen, controller and dock accessories.

For those unfamiliar with the name, LaVie is a joint venture between Lenovo and NEC, and while most of its products do not reach the U.S., it has had some successes at CES in the past focused on ultralight laptops.

By itself, the LaVie Mini appears to be a reasonably powerful and compact computer. The device, if it were real, would have an 8-inch touchscreen with 1920 x 1200 resolution and an 11th generation Intel processor with Xe graphics. Of course, there is really no room for a trackpad, but the concept design makes room for a Blackberry optical touch sensor.

Image: Lenovo

But acting as a laptop is not really the reason why this concept exists. It exists to pursue the dream of having a gaming laptop, more powerful than the devices Nintendo was famous for making.

LaVie also created a game controller accessory, which plugs into the laptop after folding the keyboard back. The controller has the same buttons and layout as the Xbox gamepad, so it will be familiar to many players, although the weight is probably not: the laptop weighs 1.28 pounds without the attached controller. For comparison, the Nintendo Switch weighs 0.88 pounds with the Joy-Con attached.

Don’t start going to the gym to strengthen your forearms just yet. At the moment, there is no announced price or release date for the Mini. We have seen many PC manufacturers present similar concepts and ideas for gaming notebook computers at CES.

Most, like last year’s Alienware UFO concept, never make it to the market, as these prototypes tend to be less about making consumer products viable and more about experimenting with new ideas and formats and getting the necessary press attention. during CES. Some go on sale, but don’t end up attracting enough players to really make an impact, like the Razer’s Edge or the initial Nvidia Shield handheld.

However, it’s easy to see why companies keep coming back to the idea of ​​a computer that lets you play PC-quality games on the go. The Nintendo Switch showed that, when done right, handheld games can offer a living room console quality experience that people can’t get enough of. Who doesn’t want to be able to play while away from home and then come home, put the same device in a dock connected to the TV and pick up where they left off?

This is an experience, in fact, that the LaVie Mini would support with its optional dock accessory if it ever hits the market.

Image: Lenovo

For now, that experience (at least for people who want the device to be a PC) is likely to remain outside the realm of products they can actually buy. But the LaVie Mini shows that the dream is still alive and can really come true sooner or later. For now, we’ll have to wait until next week’s CES to see if LaVie releases more details about the Mini.