back to article Lenovo iPad-smiting Windows 8 slate slips out

You'd never have guessed this, but Lenovo will be shipping a ThinkPad-branded tablet running Windows 8 when Microsoft's next major OS release comes out. Still, we do no have details. According to a leaked presentation, Lenovo reckons the 10.1in beast is a clear iPad killer: it has NFC; HDMI, SD and USB portage; two mics rather …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Lord Voldemortgage

    Fingerprints

    A fingerprint reader and good user profiles would be handy on this sort of device.

    That screen resolution is barely sufficient though.

    1. Richard 81

      Re: Fingerprints

      Barely sufficient? Honestly, kids today!

  2. Dana W
    Trollface

    Seriously.

    A STYLUS? Ohh, cutting edge!

    1. Timfy67

      Re: Seriously.

      I think that the reference is more to do with the fact that it supports a pressure sensitive stylus rather than just a "finger substitute stick" ... not much use to me, but could be an important addition for some.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Seriously.

        Stylus is way better than finger for anything requiring precision and pressure sensitivity opens up a lot of creative applications.

        If handwriting recognition also works well then it's definitely something I'd see as a plus point for the device.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Seriously.

          but does it ship with the stylus or is that an 'optional extra' (50 quid more please)?

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          The pen is is thicker than the finger

          EOM

  3. Jeffrey Jefferson
    Thumb Up

    Would be tempted if its got a reasonable price.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Lol

      As if, it'll weight in well above the top ipad.

      The table is a poor attempt to justify the tablet and it's moronic price.

      1. h4rm0ny
        Facepalm

        Re: Lol

        "and it's moronic price"

        It's nice how you you don't need any actual figures in order to reach your conclusions. Bias makes decision making so much more efficient, don't you think?

      2. Chet Mannly

        Re: Lol

        "it'll weight in well above the top ipad."

        Firstly there's no price listed.

        Secondly this is a PC, not a consumption device like the ipad. Of course it will be more expensive, because it does more, just like a Macbook Air is more expensive than an ipad.

        Full blown office/one note alone would be worth a hefty price premium over an ipad for a business person.

        1. Droid on Droid

          Re: Lol

          No it's more like all the other MS tablets that have failed for a decade. The price will be around that of an ultrabook so around a $1k.

  4. Andrew James

    "9.8mm = 9.4mm"

    Oh, ours is fatter, ah well, chalk that up as a draw. Its probably close enough.

    1. Uncle Slacky Silver badge
      Stop

      Reality distortion field?

      As title...

    2. Richard 81

      Seriously?

      I challenge anyone to notice a 0.4 mm difference in thickness.

      1. Andrew James

        Re: Seriously?

        I challenge anyone over the age of 4 not to know that 9.4 is a lower number than 9.8. In real terms, it might be the same, but in a spec sheet, 9.8 != 9.4.

  5. Tim 11

    It runs PC apps?

    So there's an intel CPU inside this?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It runs PC apps?

      "So there's an intel CPU inside this?"

      That's what it says in the review - an Atom

      1. Tom 35

        Re: It runs PC apps?

        So it's a netbook, without a keyboard. I expect with a high price (my guess $998). Should make a great toy for the execs to run their powerpoint, and impress the other execs.

        1. Dave 126 Silver badge

          Re: It runs PC apps?

          @Tom 35

          Depends on the digitiser.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Re: It runs PC apps?

          So it's a netbook, without a keyboard

          Oh and a touchscreen and a pen, and different OS and and and...

  6. Leon
    Thumb Down

    Low rez lenovo tablets look horrible (I've played with the lenovo droid tablet).

    As an avid Apple hater, I'd have to say :

    low rez+the thick gorilla glass = fail display

    Steer clear of bad displays!

  7. David Webb

    It's competition isn't the iPad though, it's competition is going to be Surface which can only be a good thing, having competition within the same ecosystem (eww, that word) can only lead to better products within that ecosystem.

    Should we buy the Leveno Win8 slate or the MS one.... The MS one is vastly better (so people buy the MS one)... Leveno bring out a V2 to try and beat the MS one, MS bring out the V2 etc.. so yeah, I'm going to say it's a good thing.

    1. h4rm0ny

      Whether or not it's a competitor to the iPad depends on pricing, I'd say. It looks like it can do anything the iPad can do plus more, but the screen resolution is weak. But between this and the Surface? Definitely the Surface for me unless the latter turns out to have some major flaws. What's the point in having Windows + Office on the device if I don't have the proper tools to create content on them, so a hybrid like the Surface has a major edge on this. I suppose you could get a keyboard with this, but nice to have it all in one from the start.

      1. Keith 72

        The price isn't what determines if it's a competitior to the iPad, it's what the device can do. As this is Atom based Win8 it's effectively a laptop without a keyboard. If it were ARM based then it would really be just a consumer device (i.e. toy) just like the iPad.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    fail

    Intel atom? They may as well use an ARM processor and release a Windows RT version cos that Atom processor ain't going to do jack for real applications that people may want full fat windows for.

    As for the fact you can use a stylus that too is a fail when it's gonna have them massive big metro tiles wasting the resolution

    1. Big_Ted
      Facepalm

      Re: fail

      Way to totally reverse everything.....

      The latest atom is designed by Intel to run Windows on a tablet so it will handle it just fine.

      And the stylus is for writing and drawing etc, I would imagine that pressing harder would give bold rather than normal in writing and pressure different scales in say grey rather than having to change constantly.

      1. hitmouse

        Re: fail

        If you check out the original Tablet PCs of 10 years ago then pressure sensitivity allowed written/drawn ink to have the subtle differences in width that characterise ink on a page. It's really very nice.

        Boldness, even italic qualities can be given to ink-strokes afterwards.

  9. Ian Grant

    Browser+Java

    If this runs a proper browser with full Java support then it might actually be useful.

    The iPad is just a toy.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Browser+Java

      My Wintel laptop isn't a toy, and now doesn't run Java.

      (I just got so fed up with those f^&*ing Java update prompts every bloody week that i figured I would do without the ability to run some 1990s educational planetary orbit simulator or whatever. So far, so good)

  10. Chris D Rogers

    What, no HD

    What's the point of producing a tablet if it cannot display HD content - on that point alone its a big fail.

    Thankfully, Asus seem to have it right with the TF700 and will probably get it right with its next Windows 8 tablet that can also boot into Android - now if only Apple could give us a choice!

    PS

    Yes, I have a iPad3 4G, but lack of expansion limits its appeal for me personally - my wife does not care though.

  11. MondoMan
    FAIL

    The whole point of a tablet is the display, so having less than half the resolution of the iPad -> major Fail on Lenovo's part.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The only explanation is they want their Spring 2013 replacement to look impressive (adequate panel resolution and CPU upgrade). The 'lets release a crap product first' school of marketing.

  12. Alan B
    FAIL

    Article written by an English language/grammar scholar?

    "...and it's resolution is higher..."

    Why the apostrophe? the word is "its". Using an apostrophe means "it is" which doesn't make any sense in that sentence.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Other dimensions

    So its 9.8 versus 9.4 but what about the other two.. if it is 50mm bigger in each dimension that the Ipad then its a big fail... and the fact that there is no mention of these two dimensions suggests that its significantly bigger in both.

    1. Eddy Ito

      Re: Other dimensions

      The graphic in this article is a link to the techin5 piece. There is has the other two at 262.6 x 164.

  14. Richard Plinston

    The Market(s)

    There is no 'tablet market'. There is an iPod/iPad/iPhone market and there is an Android phone/cheap-tablet/topend-tablet market. Buyers will only be looking within those markets by features/size/price/style.

    The Windows 8 x86 surface, slate and tablets will compete in the Windows laptop/netbook market. Few will choose between an iPad and a surface. It is like choosing between buying a new fridge or a new oven. Buyers will get a Windows 8 device because it runs existing Windows applications. These will mostly need a keyboard and mouse/trackpad (as surface has) because 'legacy' (Win32) programs will not work well with touch.

    Some may buy Windows RT ARM tablets thinking that they will run Windows programs, and will be disappointed that it is almost useless because it won't run the programs they want and won't allow then to run Android or WebOS, or anything else.

  15. John Savard

    Name

    I thought they would have to call it an IdeaPad now; but apparently their right to use the ThinkPad name hasn't run out after all.

    But unless it has an x86 processor, (and, for that matter, a keyboard) it won't really be able to run "PC applications".

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My opinion

    I made a false statement in my previous "My opinion post". I stated that Adobe Suite does not support 32-bits OS. This not true. It support 32-bits OS but only on Windows, not OS X.

    Sorry for this mistake.

  17. Dana W
    Trollface

    Ok, so a stylus for your tablet/content creation device.

    Then they can add a mouse, and a keyboard, "and maybe extra box for a hard drive and peripherals too! " The Future of the tablet! The Mini desktop!

    Microsoft leads the way! To 1995!

    1. dogged
      FAIL

      Re: Ok, so a stylus for your tablet/content creation device.

      Interesting how, having had the advantages of the stylus pointed out to you, you still try to mock the idea.

      And this is Lenovo, not Microsoft.

  18. Christian Berger

    The obvious advantage...

    is that you can just get rid of Window 8 and install any operating system you like. That's the reason why someone would want to buy an Intel based tablet. This also would make development for it a lot simple. Combined with a stylus this could finally bring the software breakthrough desperately needed in that area.

    1. Robert E A Harvey
      Linux

      Re: The obvious advantage...

      That's my question.

      Can you install Linux?

      1. h4rm0ny

        Re: The obvious advantage...

        It's an atom processor, so almost certainly yes.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My opinion

    I think this is a bad investment for Lenovo, because I can't figure why I should buy this tablet when Lenovo already have three models of Android Tablet and one X series Tablet. The Android tablet already contain many simple to use applications and the X series Tablet is more powerful.

    As for the keyboard, I prefer that it is detachable bluetooth keyboard because AZERTY and QWERTY keyboard layout is not the same. With a detachable keyboard, I can choose the one that fit my need (optional numpad) and if the keyboard get dirty or is broken, it could be easily fix without losing access to the tablet.

    2GB of RAM and 64GB of HD space is not enough for running Windows applications like Office 2010 Professional and Adobe Suite CS6 and a browser at the same time. It should have a least 4GB of RAM and 128GB of HD space with 64-bit OS because of Adobe Suite CS6 does not support 32-bit OS.

    Also, there is a rumor that Microsoft is working on Office app for the Ipad and Android specially for tablet interface this coming month. If this is true by the time this tablet is out in the market, It will make the use of this tablet less necessary.

  20. A Long Fellow

    Odd comparison

    Did I misread something? The comparison seems to be between the current iPad and a _future_ Lenovo product, concluding that the vaporware is better than currently shipping incumbent.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like