Lenovo introduces three new tablets
Lenovo has just announced three new tablets; two that run Android 3.1 and one that runs Windows 7. The base specs of the two Android tablets are pretty standard; dual core 1Ghz Tegra 2, 10.1-inch 1280×800 IPS display, 1GB RAM, 16/32/64GB storage, WiFi/Bluetooth, and 5/2 mega pixel back/front cameras. The IdeaPad K1 expands on this with a microSD slot, micro-HDMI, and a 10 hour battery life. The ThinkPad Tablet on the other hand expands on the base specs with a digitizer pen, full sized SD slot, micro-HDMI, 3G (optional) and 8 hours of battery life. The ThinkPad Tablet will also have a portfolio case with a built in keyboard, which Engadget has gone hands-on with. Both will ship in August, with prices starting at $499 (IdeaPad K1 32GB, 16GB price unknown) and $589 (ThinkPad Tablet with pen, 16GB).
The ThinkPad Tablet is clearly the higher end tablet here and might be aimed at photographers with that full-sized card slot and digitizer. Both tablets weigh around 750 grams though, so I wish them luck in trying to sell the somewhat industrial looking things in the same stores as the iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1.
As for the Windows 7 tablet, the ThinkPad Tablet P1, it’s a thicker, heavier version of the other two with a shorter battery life at 6 hours. It has the same screen size and resolution, a microSD slot, USB port and a docking port. It’s powered bya 1.5Ghz Intel processor (whatever that actually means), has 2GB of RAM and 32/64GB storage options. pricing is unknown, and we won’t see it until Q4.
The digitizer aside, I’m not seeing anything here that is worth celebrating over, and software is going to be a massive issue for finding uses for that digitizer. The weight of the tablets in particular had me scratching my head, and I don’t really see any of these being the next best anything.
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