Lenovo To Offer $200 Budget Tablet

First time accepted submitter khellendros1984 writes "Amazon's not the only big-name company planning on a budget-level tablet release; Lenovo recently announced their Ideapad A1 tablet as competition. It includes a 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, along with other features more commonly seen on higher-priced tablets, such as dual cameras, bluetooth, GPS, wifi, and a MicroSD slot. Is this the start of the Android tablet price avalanche?"

Comments

Compromised

[gilesjuk]

Except it's a 7 inch tablet with a widescreen ratio screen. So when holding in portrait it looks silly, too narrow and too tall.

These compromises are why they get overlooked.

Every week...

[ryanmcdonough]

I see news articles saying "Sub $200 tablet from (Big Vendor) due soon" then it turns out to be vaporware. Sick of these companies never following through.

Re:Every week...

[jmorris42]

They already announced they aren't following through. Slashdot editors can't read. The article says the $249 model is the least expensive model intended to ship to the US. Doubt the low end model will make it to much of the 1st world.

Good first step though, put a decent tablet out at non-apple prices. The HP disaster proved product will fly off shelves at $99. I suspect they would have moved briskly at $199, i.e. selling out in days instead of the gone before most people even heard the news of the demise, selling out so fast they still had ads up on CNN after they were all gone. The trick is the costs of production need to drop just a smidge more and the manufacturers have to be willing to accept consumer electronics margins instead of Apple margins.

Get a really usable tablet/ereader on shelves at a reliable (not firesale/closeout, loss leader, etc) and they willl become viable. For those who don't need a laptop and need more than a smartphone provides. Apparently that niche is fairly large.

Adroid tablet price avalanche ? Oh yes! please...

[nomad63]

Since the time overpriced tablets hit the stores, on-line and off, I can't keep wondering why people fee the urge, buying these overpriced gizmos. The netbook, which was on the same boat few years ago, is now, obtainable around $200 price point, which gives you at least twice the CPU power in most cases, a full keyboard, multiple expansion ports, more memory and storage space, alas, no touch screen. But knowing the price point of a touchscreen, sacrificing all other advantages of a netbook over a tablet, should be able to compensate the cost of a touchscreen addition and then some. So, why people are buying tablet at 4-500 dollars price points is beyond my understanding. It is time that some sensible company to get a clue that, the yahoos of this world got their overpriced gizmos and the rest of us will not give them any of our hard earned money for a sub-par device, just because it is the hot thing to have while sipping your coffee at Starbucks. Kudos to Amazon, Lenovo and whoever else comes up with cheap but equally powerful, if not more, tablets to the market.