Wednesday, October 12th 2022

Cloud Gaming for All - Lenovo's New IdeaPad Chromebook Offers an Easy Gateway to Premium Gameplay

Today, Lenovo unveiled the newest addition to its gaming portfolio that comes with a novel twist. Designed for a wide audience of gaming enthusiasts across varying skill levels, the 16-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook is the company's first ever cloud gaming laptop. Delivering more power, faster speeds, and stunning visuals, this device also comes with new ChromeOS software features, including the ability to easily find and access the latest games while enjoying an elevated gaming experience.

Much like the rest of the tech industry, gaming has surged in popularity over the last few years with the number of online gamers increasing by more than 32%, currently making up over one-third of the more than 3 billion total gamers worldwide. The droves of people who flocked to gaming as an outlet during the pandemic have diversified the space, as well, with people of all ages taking up the hobby. The IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook is built for a broad spectrum of players across generations and skillsets, offering an enhanced yet simple gameplay experience, as well as the device features that support productivity - all at an accessible price point.

Capable of supporting graphically demanding AAA and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games, this new laptop is dripping with performance-driven features that make it a powerful gaming laptop. High resolution images will glide smoothly across the 120 Hz WQXGA display that delivers incredible color accuracy and brightness on a taller 16:10 screen. With a fast refresh rate combined with the power of an Intel Core processor, and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, players will enjoy precise, responsive gameplay, helping to make them a worthy contender.

What gaming device would be complete without an RGB keyboard? Not only does the keyboard on the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook feature four-zone color backlighting, but when the need for speed arises, not a single keystroke will be lost. This is thanks to its anti-ghosting feature and 1.5 mm key travel for a more responsive and intuitive typing experience - a feature that also translates well when users need to make the switch from gamer to knowledge worker or student.

Designed for gaming but built to support the work and school needs of everyday life, the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook offers effortless portability when needed with the productivity essentials to get more done. Sleek and stylish with an anodized aluminium top cover, this thin yet sturdy 16-inch laptop weighs just over four pounds (1.82 kg), enabling on-the-go mobility that will turn heads when out and about. With up to 11-hours of battery life, 8 GB of memory with a spacious PCIe SSD card, and an FHD webcam with integrated privacy shutter, this device can be easily adapted for work, study and play. Any increased screen time won't be an issue because of its low blue light-emitting panel, certified by TÜV Rheinland, that minimizes eye strain and fatigue.

Powerful Gaming Made Approachable
The IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook makes streaming full PC and console games more accessible for gamers, whether casual or core. It supports and/or meets the required specifications for several leading cloud gaming platforms, including NVIDIA GeForce NOW, which streams up to 1600p at 120 frames-per second and ultra-low latency for over 1,400 PC games, as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta), and Amazon Luna. As part of the new ChromeOS software, users can easily search, click, and play games across platforms by using the Everything Button, exclusive to Chromebook devices. Gamers can then pin their favorites titles to the taskbar for fast future access.

As a cloud-powered device, the need for game installs, manual downloads, updates, and patches are a thing of the past. Automatic software updates occur without the need for any user intervention, and access to the latest graphics technology in the cloud helps to ensure the device performs optimally even as games evolve over the years. Users won't have to keep up with version downloads or purchase physical graphics cards, let alone be up to speed on what some consider to be complex vernacular of a traditional gaming machine.

For users who appreciate additional device protection and support, Lenovo's advanced support service Lenovo Premium Care is available, offering around the clock access to expert technicians for fast repairs and how-to assistance. Embodying simplicity at its finest, the IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook makes it easy for just about anyone to be a gamer.

Quotes:
"We've seen a shift in the gaming community. Thanks to the growing cloud gaming ecosystem, users who once championed video games in the early 90s are taking up the hobby once more, while younger audiences welcome in a seamless, yet immersive streaming experience," said Benny Zhang, Director and General Manager of Chromebooks in Lenovo's Global Innovation Center, Intelligent Devices Group. "Regardless of skill level or genre preference, every gamer deserves to experience games the way they were intended. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook not only delivers the power, graphics and performance needed to make that a reality for the online gamer, but it simplifies the process for those who just want to play."

"Fast and simple computing. When we embarked on the journey to introduce Gaming Chromebooks powered by the cloud, these are the qualities we wanted to uphold while also providing a premium experience unique to the ChromeOS portfolio. The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook does that and more, offering online gamers an accessible and intuitive way to level up their gameplay at a reasonable price point, and we couldn't be more pleased with the outcome of this collaboration," said Chris Daniel, Director of Product for the ChromeOS Platform, Google.

US Pricing and Availability
The Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook (16", 7) will start at $599 and is expected to be available starting in October 2022.
Source: Lenovo
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10 Comments on Cloud Gaming for All - Lenovo's New IdeaPad Chromebook Offers an Easy Gateway to Premium Gameplay

#1
Valantar
Gotta love how there's a sudden influx of "gaming chromebooks" a week after Google shuttered Stadia. Such great timing!


On a more positive note, I love how this demonstrates increased access to high refresh rate displays in the ~13" range - I just hope this propagates out to regular thin-and-lights ASAP, preferrably hand-in-hand with FreeSync support.
Posted on Reply
#2
TheLostSwede
News Editor
ValantarGotta love how there's a sudden influx of "gaming chromebooks" a week after Google shuttered Stadia. Such great timing!
Very odd timing indeed, but I guess it takes a few months to make something like this and the original plan was most likely to pre-load them with Stadia.
ValantarOn a more positive note, I love how this demonstrates increased access to high refresh rate displays in the ~13" range - I just hope this propagates out to regular thin-and-lights ASAP, preferrably hand-in-hand with FreeSync support.
This thing has a 16" screen...
Posted on Reply
#3
Valantar
TheLostSwedeVery odd timing indeed, but I guess it takes a few months to make something like this and the original plan was most likely to pre-load them with Stadia.


This thing has a 16" screen...
Lol, I didn't actually look too closely at this one, it was just the third(?) I've seen in a couple of days now, and I think the other two were smaller?
Posted on Reply
#4
bonehead123
So can someone please remind me exactly why I should spend anywhere near $600 for a device that, without internet access, is essentially a useless, dumb slab ?
Posted on Reply
#5
TheLostSwede
News Editor
ValantarLol, I didn't actually look too closely at this one, it was just the third(?) I've seen in a couple of days now, and I think the other two were smaller?
15.6" for the Asus, same size for the Acer.
Posted on Reply
#6
Valantar
TheLostSwede15.6"
Really? Wow, I clearly haven't been reading too closely then :P
Posted on Reply
#7
Vayra86
bonehead123So can someone please remind me exactly why I should spend anywhere near $600 for a device that, without internet access, is essentially a useless, dumb slab ?
You can type on it.

Right? ... or does it require an app :D
Posted on Reply
#8
Valantar
Vayra86You can type on it.

Right? ... or does it require an app :D
Technically you can type on it even when it's off, though there's the question of how useful that would be :D
Posted on Reply
#9
cvaldes
bonehead123So can someone please remind me exactly why I should spend anywhere near $600 for a device that, without internet access, is essentially a useless, dumb slab ?
There's an offline mode for Chromebooks. Maybe Google engineers aren't so stupid.

Unsurprisingly Google describes it in a support page:

support.google.com/chromebook/answer/3214688?hl=en

and provides instructions on locating apps that have offline modes. When you reconnect to the network, changed documents will be uploaded.
Posted on Reply
#10
Valantar
Honestly though, for most of what I use my PCs for, they are just as useless as a chromebook without an internat connection.
Posted on Reply
Dec 22nd, 2024 01:55 EST change timezone

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