Skip to main content

Lenovo, Dell, and Samsung Windows RT tablets and laptops confirmed

Lenovo, Dell, and Samsung Windows RT tablets and laptops confirmed

/

Windows RT has reached RTM, and Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and Asus are all confirmed as hardware partners.

Share this story

Gallery Photo: Asus Tablet 600 pictures
Gallery Photo: Asus Tablet 600 pictures

To-date the only official products that we've seen running Windows RT are the Microsoft Surface and the Asus Tablet 600, but Microsoft has confirmed today that multiple other manufacturers will be creating PCs that use the ARM-friendly operating system. Specifically, Lenovo, Dell, and Samsung have all been confirmed as Windows RT hardware partners — alongside Asus, of course. If there's one big name missing from that list, it's number-one PC manufacturer HP, which has previously said that it's initially avoiding ARM tablets to focus on a business-oriented Intel tablet. Unfortunately, we're still pretty light on details for the confirmed partners, but all of these manufacturers have been (unsurprisingly) rumored to be working on Windows RT products before. What we do know is that the four manufacturers aren't just bringing tablets to market: Microsoft said today that some of the products will be full laptops with keyboards and trackpads.

We've also received our first battery life estimates: according to testing on early production PCs with 10.1- to 11.6-inch screens and 25 to 42 Whr batteries. In tests running full-screen HD video while synced to a single email account, the models achieved 8 to 13 hours of runtime. In a "connected standby" state that leaves the computer in a low-power standby state while remaining "always on and always connected," the machines pulled off 320 to 409 hours of battery life. In terms of performance, the Windows RT computers are said to be achieving 60fps during the operating system's (many) animations, and touchpad gestures are now natively supported in the firmware. We'll have to test it all for ourselves, of course, but everyone will be happy to see improved touchpad performance.

We've yet to receive a date for when we can expect these first Windows RT PCs, but Microsoft said today that the operating system has reached the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build, meaning that it is complete.