Finally something to get excited about in the world of tablet computers… The $529 (WIFI with pen) 10″ Lenovo ThinkPad Business Tablet is due out momentarily – probably everywhere except where I am – Thailand. The ThinkPad tablet 3G version will follow, but no date has been set. Writers, book authors, note takers, scribblers… if you haven’t already bought the Apple iPad system, here is an Android based system that will play nice with all things Windows – like your files and plug and play hardware.
I was just 50 seconds into the first video at the bottom of this post when I said, “I WANT THAT.”
All I know other than what you see in that video, at the moment, is some of the specs… According to Matt Burns from TechCrunch (.com) it will have:
nearly everything a person would want in a Honeycomb tab: an affordable digitizer pen, 2GB of cloud storage, a ton of built-in 3rd party apps, and a 1280×800, 16:10 IPS screen covered with Gorilla Glass. There’s an SD card slot, dual cameras – 2MP on front and 5MP on back, mini HDMI out, USB 2.0 host, micro USB port, and a SIM card slot. Lenovo states the Tegra 2-powered tab can run with WiFi enabled for 8 hours.
The ThinkPad Tablet is built for enterprise and so security and encryption are throughout the whole system including SD card encryption, lost device disablement and anti-theft software. The tablet ships with McAfee and features layered data security. All this amounts to a tablet with proper data protection whether the owner needs it or not.
The fact that it will ship with all the social and writer’s software necessary like Twitter, Facebook, AccuWeather, Kindle, Documents to Go, Zinio E-Mag, a ton of games, and of course, the whole Android 3.1 suite, is enough to get me a little bit worked-up.
The iPad is too full of proprietary BS, as well as not meshing with my 6 billion Windows files I’ve created over the last 15 years. I don’t want to join iTunes to be able to listen to my music, or to buy music. I don’t want to buy my Amazon Kindle books through iTunes. I want a full-size SIM card slot. I want a full size USB port. I want the encrypted SD card slot and dual cameras. I want the digitizer pen.
If this thing can really run on WIFI for 8 hours on the battery charge – that works enough for me.
Brilliantly, they are showing the docking station with keyboard built in – for $99. The perfect solution for writers needing to take it on the go. The guy reviewing in the video 1 also mentions that it will work with wireless keyboards as well. Nice.
This new ThinkPad Business Tablet will start shipping in the USA in August and pre-ordering will be available from 8/2. The 16GB WiFi model is priced at $479 without the digitizer pen and $509 with it. The 32GB tablet will be $589 and ships with the digitizer pen. 3G tablet models will be coming shortly.
This 1st video shows something I’ve been wanting to do easily for about 10 years on a computer. Looks perfect for me:
This 2nd video shows the device more clearly, the ports, and just how easy it will be to take notes on the tablet, and do somethign with them – save them as text or image, and send them somewhere – like Gmail. NICE.
The display is said to be easy to read from the sides. There is a large group of apps that come pre-installed. One thing that I’m going to LOVE is that it has a volume slider on the outside, as well as a lock switch for the orientation selection.
One of the other clinchers for me is the fact that the new business tablet has FULL FLASH support. Thank you! It means that your web experience will be like it always has been on your Windows computer… the iPad does not work with FLASH and you’ll get empty windows browsing the web with the iPad.
After a couple of years of watching the tablet market – I finally found a computer tablet that makes sense for a writer. This ThinkPad tablet will likely be as good as it gets for a while. The keyboard on Lenovo computers is world-renowned and writers across the globe regularly praise them. The new chicklet style keyboards by Lenovo are phenomenal – even better than their traditional keyboards. I think this mini-keyboard that goes with the new business tablet will be just right and I’m anxious to try it.
The fact that it will seamlessly mesh with things I have going – makes it the right tablet for me.
What about you?
Did you buy into iPad’s proprietary BS already? Or, are you ready to jump on the tablet train?
I just told my wife – we’re getting a tablet and she nearly fell over. It has been a long wait – but I love Lenovo’s products and I’m sure this new ThinkPad Tablet has what I’m craving.
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