Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet review

Tablet market and manufacturers now seem to be ready to take on the laptop market and that's the reason why we are seeing tablet PCs with attached keyboards and ports. The ThinkPad Tablet from Lenovo runs on Android 3.1 Honeycomb and has applications like print share, Citrix receiver and note and an additional stylus or ThinkPad pen that makes it ideal for corporates.

The tablet is based on Nvidia's latest Tegra 2 dual-core 1 GHz processor, and comes with 1 GB RAM. It has a 10.1 inch Corning Gorilla glass touch screen that supports 1200x800 pixels resolution. The TFT screen provides for a bright and vivid display and supports a viewing angle of 178 degrees. But its weight can be a drawback. At 715 gms, Lenovo ThinkPad tablet is heavier than Samsung tablet (565 gms) and Apple iPad2 (601 gms). At the bottom, it has 4 buttons --2 of which we usually don't see in tablets. There is home button, a back button, a button to open the browser and the fourth is to lock the orientation. You need to click the buttons with an angle since you have to click them towards the display rather than clicking them from center. Below these buttons, there are different ports like 3.5 mm audio jack, mini-HDMI, micro-USB, dock connector, and then a cover hiding SD card slot and SIM card slot for 3G connectivity. Bottom left hand side has a full sized USB port which can be used to plug in the keyboard attached in the casing. Just above this USB port there is a speaker. On the top right hand side, it has volume keys and to the extreme left, a dedicated compartment for the stylus. It slides in easily and perfectly and has a thread attached to it which you can tie to the ThinkPad (there are two separate small holes provided for that).

Running on Android 3.1 Honeycomb, Lenovo has added widgets for games and Lenovo App shop. Yes in addition to Android Market, Lenovo has also integrated its own app shop where different categories like business, entertainment, finance, etc are given. There is a favorite button, at the bottom, integrated with the interface where you can add or remove your favorite applications. While unlocking the tab, we noticed a slight lag but that is not something to worry about. Tablet worked fine when we ran multiple applications on it like music and games (music stopped when we opened the game). But at times, we noticed certain delays while closing certain applications. Notes Mobile, one of the preloaded application, is a pretty nice application which comes handy while taking notes. It is where the stylus comes in use since this application supports handwriting recognition and you can also scribble and give a name to the cover of the notebook also (you can create different notebooks). If your palm is touching the tab while writing, then there is an option of palm rejection and same is applicable for left hand users. As compared to ThinkPad, Asus Eee Pad does not have a stylus. ThinkPad tablet also has a rear and front camera. Front camera is 2 MP and placed at the top left corner (while holding in landscape mode) while the rear camera is 5 MP with a decent quality. Unlike Asus Eee Pad Slider, where you cannot adjust the screen, Thinkpad Tablet allows you to adjust the screen if you are using the keyboard folio.

Bottomline: More than a decent tablet for business professionals. It's additional accessory like Keyboard folio and stylus give it an extra edge over other tablets.

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