With Windows 8 launching next month,
all manner of tech is waiting to make the most of this new, touch-friendly
face. First to the shelves (alongside Microsoft’s own Surface tablets) is
Lenovo, with a typically businesslike slate…
Price: TBA
Website: Lenovo.com
There are two kinds of Windows 8: RT, which
runs on the type of chips inside iOS and Android devices, and Pro, which runs
on meatier tablets and desktops. The ThinkPad runs Pro, so it’ll be able to run
full-fat desktop software – including the huge back catalogue of programs
compatible with previous versions of Windows.
Lenovo
ThinkPad Tablet 2
The Lenovo is all work and not much play:
its onboard graphics won’t handle anything more than basic games and its 1366 x
768 display will be nice enough to use for a movie on the plane but not so good
that you’ll want to stay on it when you get home.
Windows 8’s swipey, tile-based UI is made
to be touched, but actual work involves an old-fashioned skill called ‘typing’.
With that in mind Lenovo is offering a keyboard dock/ stand (with that ThinkPad
stalwart, the tracking nubbin), as well as a pressure-sensitive stylus for
singing, scribbling or scrawling
Microsoft’s Surface may come in all kinds
of bright colors, but have you ever seen a businessman in a bright pink suit?
True to years of classic ThinkPad design language, this tab is a formal grey.
It’s no fat banker, though at a whisker under 10 mm thick and slightly lighter
than an iPad, it packs Windows 8 into a svelte space.
The ThinkPad’s brain is an Intel Atom chip.
That means it’s got less power than the Intel Core chips you’ll find in laptops
and Ultrabooks, but much better battery life. As a matter of fact, Lenovo says
you’ll get 10 hours of proper desktop computing from the Tablet 2. That makes
it ideal for business trips.
Stuff says
Desktop performance with a 10 hour battery
life? We’ll put one on expenses
Tech specs
Display 10.1
in IPS (1366 x 768)
OS Windows 8
Pro
CPU Intel
Atom (Clover Trail)
Memory 64GB
SSD, 2GB RAM
Camera 8MP
(rear); 2MP (front)
Connectivity
3G/4G (optional), HDMI-out, MicroSD, NFC, USB, WI-Fi b/g/n
Battery 10
hours
Alternatively…
Asus Tablet 810
Price: $tba
Website: uk.asus.com
Asus
Tablet 810
With near-identical specs to the ThinkPad,
Asus is taking its phenomenally successful Transformer design to work. Asus has
shown the world how type-friendly tablets are done. Lenovo has some catching up
to do.
