Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 review: how important is audio quality in a budget tablet?

DNP Lenovo IdeaTab A1000 review how important is audio quality in a budget tablet

It's not easy being a 7-inch tablet these days. With relatively inexpensive devices like the ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 and the refreshed Nexus 7 offering a whole lot of bang for your buck, budget tablet makers are facing stiffer competition than ever before. Lenovo hasn't had much luck thus far delivering mobile devices that impress and, indeed, the company's latest offering -- the 7-inch IdeaTab A1000 -- has its work cut out for it. With the 16GB model priced at $160 (currently on sale for $130), the petite IdeaTab prioritizes sound quality over its other functions, perhaps in the hopes that its above-average performance in that area will woo picky buyers. But does the A1000 have what it takes to compete in a crowded market? Read on to find out. %Gallery-slideshow73819%

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Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review: a competent Transformer competitor running Android 4.0

DNP Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review

It's taken nearly half a year for Lenovo's transforming IdeaTab S2110 to go from CES reveal to retail shelves and it's arrived barely unchanged. But despite the initial fanfare, the company chose to slip this slate into the marketplace quietly, ahead even of its official launch at IFA. In that time, ASUS managed to announce and ship a new hybrid tablet of its own, the Transformer Pad TF300 -- a keyboard-optional rival offering the same 10-inch, 1,280 x 800 IPS display and Android 4.0 experience, along with a quad-core Tegra 3.

While Lenovo's offering may not come with four cores or an unskinned version of Ice Cream Sandwich, there is a very contemporary dual-core S4 inside, clocked at 1.5GHz and buffered by 1GB of RAM. Alongside that, the tab's also outfitted with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing shooter and 5-megapixel rear camera capable of 1080p video capture. Other specs include radios for WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, a battery rated for up to 10 hours of browsing (augmented to 20 hours when connected to the dock) and either 16GB or 32GB of built-in storage. At $430 for the base model alone, it's already positioned as a higher-priced alternative to the TF300. Add the dock and full storage, and you're looking at a cool $580. So, will this be a case of "too little, too late" for Lenovo? Can the S2110 lure undecided customers away from cheaper similarly specced offerings? Read on as we attempt to answer all that and more.

Continue reading Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review: a competent Transformer competitor running Android 4.0

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Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 review: a competent Transformer competitor running Android 4.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx: an 11.6-inch Windows 8 hybrid arriving in December for $600 and up

Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx an 116inch Windows 8 hybrid arriving in December for $600 and up

With a couple exceptions, we hadn't heard much about Lenovo's Windows 8 plans until now. Okay, it teased the IdeaPad Yoga back at CES, and recently unveiled the business-friendly ThinkPad Tablet 2. But surely the company wasn't going to stop there, right? Hardly. Lenovo just announced the IdeaTab Lynx, an 11.6-inch laptop / tablet hybrid aimed at mainstream consumers. Like so many other products with this form factor, it runs a dual-core, Clovertrail-based Atom processor, paired with 2GB of RAM and either 32 or 64GB of solid-state storage, depending on the configuration you choose. Unsurprisingly, the detachable keyboard dock has a built-in 6,800mAh battery of its own, which promises to double the tablet's runtime from eight hours to 16. In this case, though, the machine benefits from Lenovo's keyboard know-how, so as small as the 1.45-pound dock is, it still offers an AccuType layout similar to what you'd find on Lenovo's bigger notebooks.

Detach the tablet from its dock and you have a 1.4-pound tablet that measures 9.45mm thick. That 11.6-inch, 400-nit screen is of IPS caliber, so the viewing angles should be decent if you attempt to use it outdoors or watch movies from an odd angle (say, with the screen dipped forward on an airplane tray). Poke around the device and you'll find micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports, along with a microSD slot for external storage. It also has a 2-megapixel webcam up front for video chatting, though interestingly, there's no camera module on the back side. The dock, meanwhile, adds two full-sized USB 2.0 ports. According to Lenovo, the Lynx will be available in December, starting at $600 for the standalone tablet. (The keyboard dock will be a $150 add-on.) Until then, we've got some early hands-on photos below, along with the usual spate of press shots.

Continue reading Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx: an 11.6-inch Windows 8 hybrid arriving in December for $600 and up

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Lenovo IdeaTab Lynx: an 11.6-inch Windows 8 hybrid arriving in December for $600 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s 9-inch IdeaTab A2109 shows up at Best Buy, flaunts Tegra 3, $300 price tag

Lenovo's 9-inch IdeaTab A2109 shows up at Best Buy, flaunts Tegra 3, $300 price tag

Lenovo's upcoming IdeaTab A2109 didn't drop in on the FCC with its seven-inch brother, but that hasn't stopped it from reaching stores. The nine-inch device appears to be in stock on Best Buy's online store, offering 16GB of storage, an NVIDA Tegra 3 processor and a standard serving of Ice Cream Sandwich for $299. The slate isn't just available for order, either -- according to Best Buy's stock locator, it can be found in brick and mortar stores too. The A2107, on the other hand, isn't so readily available, but we'll let you know when Lenovo lets it come out to play.

[Thanks, Justin]

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Lenovo's 9-inch IdeaTab A2109 shows up at Best Buy, flaunts Tegra 3, $300 price tag originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 02:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s seven-inch Android 4.0 tablet passes federal testing, on course for September release

Lenovo's seveninch Android 40 tablet passes federal testing, should be ready for September release date

While pricing hasn't revealed whether it'll spar with the Nexus 7 for the hearts of bargain tablet shoppers, Lenovo's smaller Android 4.0 slab, the A2107, has called in at the FCC. Again, there's not all that much we can glean from a tablet that's prone and turned off, but it does give the product another nudge towards launching next month. Fans of all things radio and wireless can peruse the official filing at the source below.

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Lenovo's seven-inch Android 4.0 tablet passes federal testing, on course for September release originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo teases IdeaTab A2107 and A2109, hints at September US availability

Lenovo teases IdeaTab A2107 and A2109, hints at September US availability

Lenovo's been racking up its IdeaTab portfolio with slates like the S2109 and S2110, but apparently there's a lot more where that came from. The Chinese company's currently showcasing two new US-bound, ICS-based IdeaTabs on its website, starting with the 7-inch A2107 which had previously made the rounds in China under a different moniker, and followed by a 9-inch (1280 x 800) A2109 that's said to be "full size fun on a small budget." Unfortunately, full spec and pricing details are relatively scarce at the moment, though Lenovo's product page does tell us they should both be available at some point next month. For now, feel free to head over to the source link below if you'd like to give 'em a quick view.

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Lenovo teases IdeaTab A2107 and A2109, hints at September US availability originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 15:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 quietly goes on sale as the Gobots of transforming tablets

Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 hybrid tablet

Lenovo's 10-inch IdeaTab S2 was one of the belles of its CES ball in offering a distinctly Transformer Pad-like experience for those not beholden to ASUS' view of the world. While there wasn't much attention given to the Android 4.0 tablet outside of the FCC filing we saw last month, it's getting its time to shine at last: the device is now sitting on Lenovo's virtual shelves as the S2110. The 10.1-inch slate's selling point remains its (strictly optional) keyboard dock, which supplies a trackpad, an SD slot, USB and 10 extra hours of battery life to keep that movie marathon going. Even if you have no intention of constructing the Gobot to ASUS' Transformer original, though, the S2110 is still a big leap over the so-so S2109 from the spring. A 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon APQ8060A, a rear 5-megapixel camera and a landscape 1,280 x 800 screen are all incentives to pay the premium over the S2110's budget predecessor. Not that there will be much of a premium to pay -- despite setting a $449 official price, Lenovo is already discounting the S2110 to as little as $343. That's low enough to lure the cost-conscious away from the Transformer Pad elephant in the room, even if it reminds us of relatives that always bought us the cheaper robot toys when we were kids.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Lenovo IdeaTab S2110 quietly goes on sale as the Gobots of transforming tablets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lenovo’s IdeaTab S2110A transforming tablet hits the FCC, doesn’t mind the mess

Lenovo IdeaTab 2110a transforming tablet hits the FCC

From the looks of it, the coffee-chugging folks in the FCC's underground bunker were so excited about investigating Lenovo's IdeaTab S2110A (formerly the IdeaTab S2) that they didn't have time to clean up. The transforming Android tablet (with optional keyboard dock) was splayed and tested to determine if its 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 radios were safe for human consumption -- with the thumbs up meaning that it shouldn't be long before the hardware arrives stateside.

Lenovo's IdeaTab S2110A transforming tablet hits the FCC, doesn't mind the mess originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Jun 2012 08:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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