Lenovo's first ThinkPad hybrid ultrabook with a detachable Windows 8 tablet portion is now available for purchase as the new Lenovo ThinkPad Helix.

The ultrabook is now available, but the price tag will definitely not suit everyone's taste and budget. The new Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hybrid sports a $1,679 starting price, which means the cheapest configuration is actually far from cheap.

The basic configuration, i.e. the $1,679 model, will get you a Windows 8 tablet with a 1920 x 1080 pixel display measuring 11.6 inches, a capacitive touch panel and an active digitizer for pen input. It packs an Intel Core i5-3427U processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid state disk under the hood.

Lenovo is marketing the ThinkPad Helix as an ultrabook and that's just what it looks like when you attach the keyboard dock to the screen. Basically the device is a thin and light notebook with a black case in typical ThinkPad fashion. It has a pointing stick in the center of the screen, as well as premium features such as Near-Field Communication (NFC) and 2 x 2 Wi-Fi.

Unlike many other ultrabooks currently available on the market, however, Lenovo's ThinkPad Helix can also serve as a tablet for writing or drawing. On the other hand, the battery life of this tablet is not at all spectacular with a 42Whr battery and a Core i5 processor.

According to Lenovo, the tablet alone should provide up to 5 hours of battery life, but that could extend to up to 10 hours when adding the keyboard dock. A 5-hour battery life is quite poor for a tablet, especially with many tablets out there offering better battery performance.

Aside from the $1,679 basic model, Lenovo also has a higher-end model with 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core i7-3667U processor and 180GB of internal storage, but that will set you back a whopping $1999.

Both models of the new Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hybrid ultrabook are already available for purchase from Lenovo and have an estimated shipping date in the first week of June. Would you pay $1999 for a Lenovo hybrid ultrabook? Sound off below.