Lenovo’s ThinkPad Helix is the laptop/tablet hybrid you want, but it’s too damn expensive

Chinese electronics marker Lenovo has introduced the delicious looking ThinkPad Helix laptop/tablet hybrid, with an 11.6-inch tablet that can be attached to a comfy keyboard.

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Lenovo showed off the device and several others this evening at CES Unveiled, the kick-off event to the CES 2013 conference this week in Las Vegas.

One of the coolest aspects of the Helix is that it can be detached from its keyboard, can use the keyboard to give it more battery life, or can use the keyboard as a stand. (See the first photo in the slideshow below.)

The ThinkPad Helix runs Windows 8 and features a 1080p Gorilla Glass display, LTE connectivity, a 5-megapixel rear camera, 2-megapixel front camera, and NFC technology. The device will go on sale at the end of February.

Unfortunately, you have to throw down some serious scratch if you want to get your hands on the ThinkPad Helix. It starts at $1,500 and moves up in price if you want more powerful components. That’s way more than most Windows computer buyers are willing to pay, according to recent holiday sales data. Hell, that’s more than the average sales price of an Apple MacBook, which sold around $1,419 during the holiday season.

On top of the ThinkPad Helix, Lenovo also showed off an upgraded IdeaPad Yoga laptop/tablet hybrid (pictured above in an orange shell) that can flip its screen backwards to become a heavy tablet. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S starts at $800 with a Core i3 processor, 128 SSD drive, and 4GB of RAM. If you’re willing to pay more, you can bump the device up to a Core i7, 256 SSD drive, and 8GB of RAM.

While the ThinkPad Helix is a much more versatile device, the IdeaPad Yoga at $800 will be more palatable to consumers who don’t want to pay top dollar for a new Windows 8 machine.

Lenovo also announced refreshes on several of its less flashy laptops.

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Check out more pictures of the ThinkPad Helix below.

Photos via Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat