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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?"
That's where all the HP touchpads went.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
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.
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.
Here's an 8.4" tablet with a dual core ARM for under $200. Maybe it's a quality issue? I've read mixed things about cheap tablets. But still...
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In Australia we have for example the ZTE v9 7" WVGA tablet with 3G for $129. (Was $99 for a while). Easily unlocked, Android 2.2 or Cyanogen 2.3.
An 8 or 16GB micro-SD is a cheap add-on.
The Lenovo is certainly higher spec, except it seems crazy to have such a small (i.e. portable) tablet without 3G.
Can we have finally a Tablet with S/PDIF output (via dock)?
I want a tablet (largish touch-screen device) for my home stereo, yet all they bother including onto the docks is HDMI.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392422,00.asp
"Lenovo: Samsung Galaxy Tab Sales 20K, not 2 Million"
So, that is why Lenovo decided to deride Samsung...
Cheap, in many aspects.
And this would be why they've been talking about Samsung only selling 20,000 Tabs...
If it can't do PDFs without reflowing then I don't see how it is worth it.
if the sub-par Chinese manufacturers can have functional tablets under 150 all day long and still make profit, why cant we have a 'decent' one for ~ 200? Not a 'great one', but a 'decent' one.
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I don't understand why so many people believe it's going to be possible for some company to produce a good tablet -- with decent specs -- and still sell it cheap. If you want a good tablet, you have to pay for the cost of those components. ANY $200 tablet is going to have very huge compromises -- at least until the cost of components come WAY down in years to come. Right now, if you want the best available tablet, buy an iPad if you just want a good user experience or an expensive Android tablet if you want to make it a hobby. Any of the cheapos are going to be disappointing to anyone with high expectations.
Too bad really. I could see using meego, android makes me want an Ipad. But Ipad makes me want a meego. I can't have a meego though....it's a vicious circle. I'll probably settle for a color nook. With cyanogen on it at least it'll be useful and cheap. It's not what I really want though, I've been waiting a year now for someone to make a decent tablet that will run a real linux os. I guess it's not gonna happen.
"make a decent tablet that will run a real linux os"
Why not get a netbook? It's like a tablet with a keyboard, but for less money and with more capability. I'm running a "real linux OS" on mine, with KDE 4.6 under a 64 bit version of Kubuntu, and it works marvelously. While obviously short of my desktop by a long shot, it's more powerful than my previous generation laptop. All for under $300.
It's also better than a tablet for using it while laying down on the couch, because the hinge can keep the screen propped up to the right viewing angle, rather than me having to do that by constantly holding it.
Ditto.
Niether pad nor smartphone have I. Touchpad seemed like a once in a decade opportunity so I bought two. At the very least I'll have an rooted Android e-book reader.
I clicked the link and read TFA:
For that you'll get 8GB of storage, but a 16GB model will go for $249, 32GB for $299. We're told only the 16GB and 32GB models will be shipped to the US..
So... they'll have a 8GB $200 model, somewhere, probably always sold out, and the real price will be between $249 - $299.
> I guess it's not gonna happen.
No it isn't Android isn't 'Linux' so OEMs can load it without bringing down the wrath of Microsoft. Notice how there are zero ARM based netbooks/laptops for purchase. But they all have models ready to roll, sampling now, for the launch of Windows 8. They could have introduced a model running some version of Linux this year if for no other reason than to put moderate quantities of the hardware out into the world for wider testing. But there are zero available in the US. There are one or two that have popped up on liliputing being sold by unheard of vendors you could import if you were hellbent on it, but none have US distributors.
Zero is an important number. Had there only been one or two failures that would be the market talking. Zero means there is an unseen force at work. ARM is the buzzword, netbooks aren't as hot this year as last but still a major segment and running time, weight and cost are key specs. An arm netbook should be better on all three fronts at the only 'negative' of no Windows. Somebody should have at least tried, at least in an unfettered market.
Or finally look at the Chromebooks. Why did they have Intel Inside? Arm would have been better in every way. Except of course we would have been buying the shit out of them, ditching the Chrome silliness and installing Ubuntu like crazy. I know I WANT a light laptop that can run all fricking day.
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I'll be buying at least one, assuming it's not a botch. To qualify as a botch, Lenovo would need to make the same mistakes as all those no-name $100 tabs: no gpu, insensitive touch, bad display, bad battery life. To win, the tablet doesn't need to even pretend to be an ipad, or for that matter a media player or have any cameras. There is a market for a highly portable (small, 8hr battery, fairly light) touchscreen connectivity (wifi) device. To the user, the most salient aspect of a tablet is the display: it needs to be nice looking (decent IPS, AMOLED), with a modern GPU (snappiness is 99% of the feel of the UI), fairly nice to hold (doesn't have to be CNC-milled spacecraft titanium).
We already have touchscreen thermostats, fridges, home alarm systems, conference-room-status displays, POS terminals. why not just use a cheap android tablet instead? Heck, why not use them for menus at (sit-down) restaurants? Or to keep customers happy when they're having their oil changed or hair cut?
Since the dominant component in all tabs is the display, that's what needs to be optimized. My guess is that integrating touch into the active matrix itself is the main win, though just integrating would eliminate a sheet of glass (material cost, assembly cost, thickness and weight). Cameras don't cost anything, nor do accelerometers, etc. All the teardowns show batteries come after the display/touch assembly, then 3g-type interfaces. (wifi and bluetooth are cheap.) And people: quit the flash-size pissing match: you don't need even 8 GB for a fully-functioning surf-pad. There's no reason for a connectivity tablet to have space for multiple movies - it doesn't have to be a PMP!
Lenovo knows these things, and is not trying to prove anything (unlike, oh, say HP).
I'd take a netbook with a 6 or 7 inch screen maybe but not a 10" screen. They're damn near as big as my 12" ibook. I haven't looked at netbooks in a while, I'll have to look and see what's out there.
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.
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Budget? Yes. Groundbreaking or newsworthy? No. There's a gazillion tablets with similar specs and similar pricing on the market.
0x or or snor perron?!
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.
Tablets are not about specs like these. They are about what someone can do.
This I feel like is a really poor competitor to either the iPad or the Amazon tablet, because you'll be able to do a lot less than you would with either of those devices...
Amazon understands this totally which is why I think it'll be real competition and very popular.
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"You're believing marketing!" Marketing always mixes as many confusions as it can get away with before it breaks the law. "You actually believed that marketing statement had any correlation to policy?"
What companies are seeing is if they can pick off the "low end use case" with low end tablets, it forces bottom pressure on the market leader.
For example, Apple seems to have done a great job of keeping this out of the news, but "generic" mp3 players now hold 4 gigs - PLENTY for a random music collection. So for a guy like me who only loads his music once a month, who needs all that iTunes synch crap?
Same thing with tablets. We all know $600 is absurd. Tablets need to be $99. And soon a second generation of hardware will be there.
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I'm still looking for a replacement for my Garmin iQue 3600 (GPS, PDA, no phone and no phone bill). Maybe an Android tablet nobody wants is just the thing!
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
Not everyone is like you, not everyone has your preferences, and not everyone thinks like you.
If all you're doing are web surfing, email/chat/IM, and basic games -- which is what the majority of consumers do -- a tablet is functionally better than a netbook (let's see how many people pay attention to that word, as I'm arguing about tablets vs netbooks, and not tablets vs tablets):
* No 2-3 second waiting for a resume. A tablet's responsiveness is generally very snappy compared to the netbook.
* For the unwashed masses, the use model (a finger) is more natural than the traditional keyboard and mouse/trackpad.
* The form-factor is more convenient. You can easily hold a tablet with one hand and control it with the other. Holding a netbook with one hand and typing with the other is just awkward (not to mention that you've got to unfold it first and maybe hit the power button if you have a model that doesn't automatically turn on when opened).
* Polishing touches such as smart covers. Seriously, to anyone who hasn't used an iPad, smart covers may seem like "total meh", but it's actually a genius-level polishing touch: stuff automatically turns on when you take it out, and stuff automatically turns off when you put it away. You don't have to hit a power button.
* Consumers (not the people on /.) generally care about what you can do with a product, and care less about specs.
You may not care about the above points, and may think that I'm crazy (and maybe rightfully so :), but, for most consumers, a tablet's "experience" (yes, I hate that word) really is better than a netbook's.
Yes, tablets don't work well for some things. They're not great at writing long documents, although wireless bluetooth keyboards help, and they downright suck at software development. However, for the majority of what consumers generally want to do, they do it well. And, the market is proving that, for better or worse, consumers are willing to pay iPad prices. Tablet manufacturers do well, netbook manufacturers not so much.
I have a netbook and a tablet, and my netbook has pretty much sat unused since I got the tablet (my old Asus eee 1005ha runs like a dog compared to the tablet). And, while I don't agree with everything, here's an opinion on the changing PC/tablet landscape.
Right now, I think only Amazon's upcoming tablet has a chance of hurting iPad sales, even though it's not really meant to be a competitor. Amazon is probably the only one with the ecosystem that can compete.
Perhaps because the tablet is offering them.... shock horror, a user experience that is *not* like a tiny laptop?
To use a car analogy, why would I buy a sleek, 2 seater sports car as a single guy with no kids when I could buy a Minivan - not only is the Minivan cheaper than the sports car, but it has more storage space, more features, more cup holders, more 12V power sockets, a cool sliding side door that makes it easy to get in and out of in a crowded parking lot and it can carry 7 people!
So much better than a 2 seater sports car that can't do any of that! Why on earth would I buy anything *other* than a Minivan - it has the most features per unit value so it is obviously the only vehicle anyone should ever consider buying. It's time some sensible company realised that only yahoos buy anything other than Minivans and that the rest of us will not give our hard earned money for a sub-par car.
No 2-3 second waiting for a resume. A tablet's responsiveness is generally very snappy compared to the netbook.
By convention of Windows/Linux behavior, not due to form factor (incidentally, not without a tradeoff, those slow to resume devices get much more sleep life in them).
No 2-3 second waiting for a resume. A tablet's responsiveness is generally very snappy compared to the netbook.
Depends. I've never meant someone who thinks text entry is easier with screen vs. keyboard, the debate would be if it is *worth* it, which varies greatly with use case.
The form-factor is more convenient
This really really depends. Sure, if you are standing then the Tablet will be more convenient. If you are sitting,without some sort of prop stand you are having to support the weight with your hands while a laptop/notebook has a table or your lap holding the wieght flat and a hinge holding the screen at a suitable angle. Also, redundant with previous point, you can do text entry without blocking the screen or looking at your fingers.
Polishing touches such as smart covers.
While I don't think saving the user a power button press is no big deal, I do think the cover doubling as a propstand greatly mitigates the issue of discomfort on a table (though not lap).
Consumers (not the people on /.) generally care about what you can do with a product, and care less about specs.
True, *but* what you *can* do is significantly influenced by specs. All the ecosystem in the world won't make a tablet without expansion or GPS give you reasonable directions, and conversely a tablet with massive specs is useless without software to use them.
although wireless bluetooth keyboards help,
See, this is even *less* convenient to tote around and set up than a laptop.
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> 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.
I agree about extension ports and easy of installing software, but I am not sure about the CPU power. It is difficult to compare, but it seems that the HP TouchPad actually has more CPU and graphics power than a (single core) Atom. Good tablets certainly feel faster than a netbook (which are typically slugging even under light use). Still netbooks have their place - for example if you want to give a PowerPoint presentation on a projector. It just works.
I have to say that with a faster CPU, a newer version of android, and more hardware features like GPS, front- and rear-facing cameras, as well as a $50 cheaper price tag, I think B&N may be in trouble! If the screen on this baby looks as good as the NC's (which looks phenomenal for the price), why would anyone buy an NC?
You just load up B&N's android app on this puppy.
Honestly, if I can get my hands on one of these, my rooted NC may end up on eBay.
Uh, so you're saying that tablets are bought by balding 40-something men with frigid wives? I'm not sure, these car analogies are kind of hard to follow.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
You've just nailed it very succinctly - the GGP was severely generalising with the demographic of who buys a tablet (and all the reasons why they're "stupid" for doing so) when it's really not so cut and dried.
Replace the sports car with any other vehicle and it holds. Regardless of what you pick, the Minivan is the best features/storage per dollar and anyone who buys anything without going for the best features to dollar ratio, and ignores the form factor, is "beyond [his] understanding".
Western companies cant count on chinese products being junk. The quality is rapidly improving.
Lenovo is a chinese company fyi. Korean products used to be junk, now LG is a top of the line tv.
Considering that my N900 phone (and other phones) already have "dual cameras, bluetooth, GPS, wifi, and a MicroSD slot" I'm not sure the features are as spectacular as suggested.
The faster processor could be a big deal if it's running software that needs it and if it hits a price point below the higher specced iPad.
The difference is accuracy plus pressure sensing versus multitouch. Both have their place and it's hard to say which is better. A stylus and resistive is nice. A multitouch capable capacitive screen and a GUI that lets you rescale by moving two fingers is nice. Then there's the actual display where TFT, IPS, OLED and e-ink all have their place (TFT's place is to bring the price down).
It's not an "unseen force". When the CEO of ASUS makes a big deal about his linux netbooks at a trade show in the morning and makes a PUBLIC APOLOGY about them after lunch with Microsoft executives that force is pretty obvious. While we don't know the details of a deal the actions taken immediately afterwards can give us a good idea of the direction.
For example, Apple seems to have done a great job of keeping this out of the news, but "generic" mp3 players now hold 4 gigs...
Apple has never been competing using disk space as a differentiator. They weren't the largest mp3 player, nor the largest per $ when they came out and they never have been since. Apple won and has kept their lead in that market based on a coherent user experience, from ripping CDs, to buying new music online, to synching, to organizing and rating, to playing easily with one hand. The fact that you think Apple has ever won on disk space just shows you haven't been paying attention.
Apple will do a great job with Lenovo as well.
What? You didn't notice it?
It's a rectangular, black device with an aluminium bezel and rounded corners.
Let loose the Apple patent dogs!!!!!
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As your comparing tablets to netbooks, I thought I'd chime in on this point:
* Polishing touches such as smart covers. Seriously, to anyone who hasn't used an iPad, smart covers may seem like "total meh", but it's actually a genius-level polishing touch: stuff automatically turns on when you take it out, and stuff automatically turns off when you put it away. You don't have to hit a power button.
I can't think of a netbook that you can't easily configure to automatically suspend when the lid is closed (some are even configured this way by default.)
As you've brought up the iPad specifically, not tablets in general, I think it's reasonable to point out here, that the use of magnets in a cover to change the state of the system is something that RIM has been doing with their smart phones at least since the 7290 (2005, iirc, possibly also with earlier models, but I don't have anything older lying around to check).
The point, of course, is that this feature isn't limited to tablets in general or the iPad specifically. Nor is it a feature absent on netbooks. In short, it doesn't support your argument.
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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
The $200 price point for netbooks isn't a new thing. It was what started off the netbook boom in 2007. For a time, "netbook" was defined by some as "subnotebook which you can just buy because it is so cheap".
So, why people are buying tablet at 4-500 dollars price points is beyond my understanding.
I reckon it is because that is the price point for the Apple iPad, and the iPad is currently the gold standard for what a tablet should be like. If you want, you can certainly buy tablets for 200 dollars or less. However, it won't be an iPad, and it won't be from Apple.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
Just about any halfway decent receiver these days with a S/PDIF jack also has HDMI decode ability.
Barring that, most TV's with HDMI also have S/PDIF audio out that you can use to feed the audio into your older receiver. (I just went to the Vizio website and looked at a crap 20" model, and even it had S/PDIF out.)
...Since Apple cornered and revived the market with the iPad, much like Amazon cornered the market for an eBook reader with the Kindle, HP withdrew from the tablet market, sensibly because they couldn't see a way to profitably dent Apple's monopoly. Sony are the only other player in the eBook market but they hardly get a mention, for the simple reason that like the iPad is to tablets, the Kindle is the candle to which every single other reader is compared. If it isn't a Kindle or an iPad, then it isn't a reader or a tablet.
That said, I have a perfectly serviceable Fujitsu Stylistic 3500 tablet (500 Celeron, 256MB/30GB/4hr battery) BUT even though I do travel a lot, I prefer my netbook for the simple reason that it's got a physical keyboard and a vast amount of space (and built in Bluetooth, WiFi, easily interfaces to my smartphone (not an iPhone or Blackberry, it's a ZTE F930), dual core processor and a much slicker package). I got it on a back-of-the-truck deal as well, £35. Can't be bad.
It dawned on me while writing this that the tablet PC idea's been tried before and it failed (see above, it's just not practical and very expensive, the 3500 runs £1700 even on the secondhand market!). What Apple did was created the need and had a product to fill the gap. Here's the blunt truth: there is no damn good reason to have a tablet when a netbook will fulfill that need at a much lower price and you can use the saving and get a decent smartphone and interwebthingy with no wires. If you want to be pretentious get an iPad. Good luck to you when it comes to replacing the: battery, "keyboard", hard drive, RAM...
Operation Guillotine is in effect.
+5 for you! (If I could)
I've been waiting just the same time for just the same thing. Whenever The Register pleases itself with a 'test' of a new "fondleslab", I ask 'But does it run Linux?' and some retard will say, yes, under chroot, or Android actually is Linux, or likewise. Very very boring.
Why does no manufacturer understand that I am willing to fork out reasonable money for a device that allows me to install Debian / Ubuntu?? What is soooo wrong with allowing the consumer of your hardware to run the software of her liking? I mean, I run Ubuntu on a Pandaboard and on a number of netbooks. What's wrong with an ARM-based tablet?
I take a bet that Microsoft has 'encouraged' the manufacturers to prevent the loading of Linux by threatening them with OEM-prices or similar into subservience of not allowing a Free OS.
I'll support your cpu commentary with the following anecdote:
My Motorola Atrix feels significantly faster than any netbook I've played with so far, and the only downsides in the comparison are that the phone doesn't have a 7" screen, nor a hardware keyboard.
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My phone is a dual-core 1.2GHz A9, so a 1GHz A8 and all the other gubbins seems rather worthless to me, but the larger display is nice.
How about selling a 'dock' for the phone that happens to be a 7" or 10" display that uses the HDMI portion of the dock output of the phone to drive the display, and some more battery of course? I.e., a tablet without the innards - just the display and touchscreen (that can use the USB portion of the dock).
I can see a solid niche for a smaller tablet with GPS, that would be really useful for automotive use or hiking - the iPad is OK for cars but too large for hiking, and you have to pay $100 more for the 3G units that include GPS.
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If your receiver, amp, DAC, whatever, doesn't have HDMI, then use your TV as the decoder and output S/PDIF that way. Problem solved.
And if a puny HDMI cable is causing analog interference in your componetry and/or cables, you have some serious issues. And your S/PDIF optical connection has to be connected to an optical -> electrical converter in your box, a signal-generating part that would otherwise be silent.
Going off on a slight tangent: I'm not a fan of John Gruber, but he's hit the nail squarely on the head with this one: http://daringfireball.net/2011/09/new_apple_advantage