Time to look at another competitor to the Windows 8 tablet. This time, we’ll look at the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet.
(http://i53.tinypic.com/11jbztu.jpg)
At 10. 3 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches (260.4 x 181.7 x 14mm), it’s taller and wider than the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (it measures 10.1 x 6.9 x .34 inches).
There’s a row of four physical buttons, which line the bottom of the screen when you holding the tablet in portrait mode with the front-facing camera up top.
These include
■ one to lock the screen orientation
■ a browser launcher
■ a backward navigation key
■ a home button.
There are a bunch of ports on this device below the buttons.
There are the following slots
■ an SD reader slot
■ a 3G SIM card slot
■ a docking connector
■ a micro-USB port
■ a mini-HDMI socket (1080p capable)
■ and a headphone jack.
This tablet has a pen option as well – it uses N-Trig’s DuoSense digitizer to allow for both pen and touch input. The pen is sold separately for of $30.
There’s a $569 32GB model, though you can also opt for a 16GB version ($499) or a 64GB number ($699).
Lenovo’s also selling a $60 dock with USB 2.0, micro-USB, HDMI, headphone and line-out ports, along with that $30 pen.
My take is that this is interesting but too expensive and bulky to compete with either the Ipad or the Kindle Fire.
I have to wonder if I can buy one, wipe it clean and put Windows 8 on it?
Here are some more detailed photos of the Thinkpad Tablet.
(http://i52.tinypic.com/fnycts.jpg)
(http://i54.tinypic.com/oaxif6.jpg)
(http://i52.tinypic.com/24oyetg.jpg)
(http://i52.tinypic.com/i5qjnt.jpg)
(http://i56.tinypic.com/34oydzq.jpg)
Lenovo Unboxed: ThinkPad Tablet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXFexk6k39M#ws)
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet pen demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnFJbtvtNwY#ws)
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet hands-on and first impressions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FM3-uPvgnQ#ws)
Detailed review of The Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet coming to W7NI very soon