Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet hits retail – can it take on the iPad?

We have covered the news on the demise of the doomed HP Touchpad this week. If you want a bargain and don't mind a lack of support then you can pick them up for next to nothing. Just as the HP Touchpad becomes a footnote in tech history, Lenovo are unleashing their new ThinkPad tablet.

In a market dominated by Apple, it is going to take something spectacular to persuade punters to walk away from the iPad, and Lenovo are hoping that their 10.1 inch ThinkPad might just tick the right boxes.

The ThinkPad is based around Google's Android, so there is no problem regarding developer support. From what we are reading, the ThinkPad might make an ideal candidate for the discerning business user.

Lenovo are focusing on some key selling points, such as the new ‘pen based handwriting recognition technology', which will allow the user to write, create and draw content. According to Lenovo anyway.

The ThinkPad will ship with Documents To Go by DataViz which will allow the editing of Microsoft Office documents without any additional cost. The tablet also supports Citrix Receiver for accessing PC desktop applications when on the move.

More importantly, Lenovo are including Good For Enterprise software which “delivers secure corporate e-mail, and IT managers can…configure security and device settings with custom corporate preloads from Lenovo's Imaging Technology Center,” according to a press release.

On a hardware level, the ThinkPad is rated to almost 9 hours battery life with a WiFi connection enabled, meaning it would be comparable to the Apple iPad. They are using the Nvidia dual Core Tegra processor which has plenty of power on tap. There is a full sized SD card slot and USB port as well as a mini HDMI port for connection to monitors and televisions. They are using IPS technology for the display with a wide viewing angle.

UK pricing is sketchy right now, but in the US it is already available. 16GB for $499, 32GB for $569 and 64 GB for $669. We have heard it will cost between £399 and £549 in the UK although this is not confirmed.

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