Meet Lenovo's 27-inch Horizon

The big breakthrough was the iPad: a flat, thin, beautiful, nearly buttonless computer,touchscreen. But that was three years ago. Ever since then, Apple's rivals have churned out iPad clones in different sizes. Ten inches diagonal? How about 11? How about nine? Or seven? Or five? In Samsung's line alone, you can buy a tablet that matches almost any shoe size.

But the size variations don't do much more than nudge the needle along the convenience spectrum. A little bigger means greater screen area; a little smaller means better portability.

The Lenovo Horizon doesn't just nudge the needle — it snaps off the needle and teleports it. Its screen measures 27-inch diagonally.

Now, at this point, Lenovo's rivals probably have cartoon steam exploding their ears. "Twenty-seven inches? That's not a tablet, you idiot — that's an all-in-one PC!"

So what is the Horizon? A PC or a tablet? The argument could go onnight. The fact that it has a three-hour battery only confuses the issue. And there's an optional table — a $300 rolling adjustable stand specially designed to hold and raise the Horizon.

One thing, the Horizon certainly is novel. The concept is fresh. It dispenses with the refrain that electronic entertainment encourages isolation and represents a step down the olden days, when families gathered around the coffee table for game nights.

Game nights around the Horizon may not become as much of a tradition as the old board games made of wood or cardboard. First, because as clever as the Aura world is, the games are a little laggy. It's just not as responsive as you'd like. Often, that sluggishness really saps some of the joy.

Second, because even if it actsa huge tablet, the Horizon isn't portablea tablet. Your children won't want to play with this thing in the back seat for long car rides, unless they're sumo wrestlers.

Lenovo deserves great credit for transforming the tablet into something that's fresh and interesting, something that serves a purpose no other machine quite fills. There really is something new in the Horizon.