Tag Archives: job

Feb 22

Buying a Netbook? 5 Things You Need To Consider ...

Posted on by

Netbooks are the latest, lightweight mini-laptops that you can take anywhere with you. A good netbook will do most of your basic computing – internet services like email, web browsing and downloading, run business applications and play music and video files – without straining your back or your bank balance. They’re cheap and they’re fun! Most netbooks come with Windows ready-installed and there are Linux-based mini-notebooks with their simpler interface that’s very popular.

Although there’s a big selection of netbooks for sale out there, not all mini-notebooks are created equal. The people who design them have to contend with the problems of weight, size and performance and their decisions can cause problems for you, the netbook user.

Here are 5 factors you need to know when shopping for a netbook:

1: Will it do the job?

Most netbooks feature a useful 1.6GHz Intel chip and although they give good, brisk performance in the jobs they’re designed for, remember that they’re not heavy-duty number crunchers. If you need to do some heavy-weight computing, you may need a notebook that’s got more power.

2: Is the keyboard big enough?



The keyboard is the main interface with your netbook and many early-model mini-notebooks had mini keyboards. People who could easily touch-type on a regular keyboard found themselves struggling on a netbook. As well, some designers try to save space by moving keys around or reducing their size. Test the keyboard before buying so you know you’ll be able to type comfortably.

3: Is the track-pad adequate?

In the struggle to make netbooks ultra-portable the track-pad and its buttons frequently get the chop, too. Unless you’re prepared to carry a mouse, the trackpad is the other main interface with your computer. Check that the netbook’s trackpad is large enough to be usable and that the buttons are well positioned.

4: Is the display large enough?

Early-model netbooks also had smaller displays, and while they were more portable, 7 inch displays are not noted for their visibility. Currently, 8.9 inch screens seem to be about the smallest display for reasonable readability, while the industry standard, the 10 inch display, is a reasonable compromise in terms of size and ease of viewing. Check that the laptop you’re considering won’t cause you eyestrain.

5: Does it have the features you require?

The majority of netbooks have the features we require in a notebook computer: a good-sized hard drive, webcam, speakers and microphone, card reader, bluetooth and a wireless card. The only feature that netbooks lack is an optical drive – the DVD/CD drive has been sacrificed to keep size and weight to a minimum. When choosing your netbook, be sure it has all the features you need.

So there are five important things to consider when purchasing your netbook.

Although these mini-notebooks are cheaper than regular notebooks, do your due diligence before buying. The main manufacturers all have web sites with detailed specifications. Have a look at them at your local computer store and check out online netbook forums. If you buy online, don’t buy on impulse and buy from a seller with a good reputation.

Peter Strudwick bought himself a netbook recently and takes it everywhere with him. He also uses it to write for NetBookNut.com where you’ll find a great range of cheap netbooks.

Aug 02

Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 Review – SlashGear

Posted on by

If you’re one of the few that is looking for a decent mid-range well rounded Android tablet that also manages to come in the same shape as the iPad, we might have something just for you. Today on the SlashGear test bench is the new Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet. Running on a standard build of Android, but rocking an iPad-like 9.7-inch 1024 x 768 resolution display check out if this tablet is for you after the break.

What we have here is a tablet that Lenovo has designed to be well built, well priced, and budget friendly. Coming in at just $349 with 16GB of internal storage it’s an ideal offering, although the Nexus 7 severely undercuts it — while being more powerful. First you’ll need to see our hands-on and unboxing, then lets dive into the tablet and see what we think. shall we?

Hardware

In the very recent past Lenovo’s hardware and build quality has always been one of the low points of their tablets, but with the S2109 they’ve surprisingly done a much better job in that department. Offering it at a low price at the same time doesn’t hurt either. The build quality and hardware is improved, but it still isn’t up to Samsung or Apple standards.

Lenovo’s equipped this S2109 tablet with some pretty poor specs to meet that low price point though. You get an old, aging, and quite grainy 9.7-inch display rocking the same 4:3 aspect ratio and terrible 1024 x 768 resolution that the original (yes as in a few years old) iPad had. Almost all Android tablets come with at least a 1280 x 800 resolution so this is instantly looking worse once you glance into the screen. after using the Acer A700 with a 1920 x 1200 resolution, or our new iPad with Retina display this thing almost hurts my eyes.

Other than that you’ll get a mid-range 1.0 Ghz dual-core TI OMAP 4 processor, 1GB of RAM, and this model comes with 16GB of internal storage — they do offer a 32GB version for those in need too. we would rather of seen the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core here, but we’ll take what we get. overall however the S2109 both looks and feels smaller than a 9.7-inch tablet because of the curved rounded edges and the sleek unibody design. Sadly the back is a hard plastic and not aluminum and it picked up scratches extremely quick. Lenovo has shipped the tablet with a silicone case right inside the box however, so that is an added bonus.

As for ports and options you’ll quickly notice the micro-HDMI and micro-USB ports on the right side, followed by a reset pinhole, the proprietary jack for charging, and a micro-SD slot for extra storage options. The top is outfitted with a single volume up/down rocker, then the left side is the lone 3.5mm headphone jack and power/wake button. The design is pretty basic, but works great for those who might be just beginning.

Sadly the hardware isn’t anything special. The best part is probably the unibody design (although it’s plastic) and the quad-stereo SRS surround sound speakers. The only camera is the 1.3 MP shooter up front, and they scraped the rear camera in favor of a low price. The speakers offer quite great sound for a little and budget tablet. while they won’t fill an entire room — most tablets don’t — they do have clear and crisp sound. we have mixed feelings on the hardware and build quality, but I guess for $349 it’s ok but we’d rather just buy an iPad 2.

Lenovo S2109 unboxing video

Software

The Lenovo S2109 runs a completely stock version of Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich which is a nice change since their previous attempts had a lot of changes — for the worse. everything is completely vanilla and they’ve not touched the launcher, settings or notification bar or anything. for some reason however it seems to stutter and lag more than it should.

Lenovo’s pre-loaded AccuWeather, Lenovo App Shop, Documents To Go, Evernote, Adobe Flash Player, Go Keyboard, Movie Studio, Norton Security, Lenovo PrinterShare, Skype, SugarSync, News Republic, and Zinio. more than I’d like to deal with, but a few are quite nice. First thing you’ll want to do however is disable that terrible Go Keyboard and stick with ICS stock option.

Performance and Benchmarks

Unlike many recent tablets the Lenovo doesn’t run an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor. instead it runs a pretty basic and aging Cortex A9 Texas Instruments chip that lags behind most of the tablet competition, even compared to old Tegra 2 dual-core options. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich had a little lag here and there that wasn’t expected, but that could be due to the old and aging processor under the hood. for the most part performance was fluid and swift, but we had to mention those odd stutters. Operation throughout the OS wasn’t too bad, it was browsing the web, reading RSS feeds, or checking through the market that seemed to struggle more than most.

Benchmarks, as expected, fall far behind most of the competition. Tablets like the Transformer Prime, or even cheaper options like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10 (2) all are a little better in this category. we see where Lenovo was aiming, but they just haven’t quite hit the mark. Scoring lower benchmark tests than all 3 mentioned above. Here’s a quick look at Quadrant and AnTuTu — which speak for themselves.

The boot time is rather long, and has a loud and slightly obnoxious animation and sound that is louder than anything else the tablet puts out, which we found a little odd. Playing your average games was decent although the slow processor and low resolution display gives you a less than stellar experience compared to the competition.

Camera and Battery Life

Now first we’ll start with the camera, since it only has one. Most tablets these days offer both a front and rear camera but here we only have a 1.3 megapixel front camera. It’s capable of 720p video but you’d hardly tell. while I don’t consider it a con that there’s no rear camera, many tablets currently offer one in this same price point — so we’ll take another notch off for that.

Battery life is one area that the Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 does do well though. It comes with a 6,720 mAh battery under the hood that lasted for around 7-8 hours of solid use. they claim 10 hours of video playback but we doubt you’ll make it that far. Stand-by battery was quite excellent too. Using the tablet here and there briefly during the evenings and leaving it at a table nearby we managed great battery life as you can see here. some tablets no matter what will run out of life after a few days, but not the S2109.

Wrap-Up

When using this tablet over the past few weeks we decided that for $349 you could probably do worse, but at the same time you could easily do better. overall Lenovo has designed a decent mid-range tablet with ok specs, and a low price. with the iPad 2 being just $399 these days, and powerful quad-core Android tablets being similarly priced we had a hard time giving this a thumbs up of any kind.

If you’d like to stay under the $400 mark we’d easily have to recommend the ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T. It rocks a quad-core, higher resolution, and an optional keyboard for only $379, as well as the brand new Google Nexus 7 16GB for just $249. for those looking for a 9.7+ tablet the iPad 2 or even the new Acer Iconia Tab A510 would be a great option.

In the end the Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 is a well built tablet, it functions well and operates smoothly. The mid-range at best specs, low resolution, lack of a rear camera, and occasional stutters makes it hard to justify. for the price you could do better, but if Lenovo drops her down to $299 this might be a slightly different story.

Story Timeline Author Bio

Lenovo IdeaTab S2109 Review – SlashGear

Apr 20

Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 is the best ...

Posted on by

With Android 4.0 software, a sturdy build, and an eye-popping price, Samsung’s just-announced 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 has just become the best $250 Android tablet on the market.

Samsung was the first manufacturer to take a stab at releasing a legitimate Android-based iPad competitor when it debuted the first 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab in September 2010. but that device was, at best, an experimental half-baked product that inspired others to make Android tablets. The first Tab used Android software that wasn’t optimized for tablets and cost an embarrassingly high $600 without a wireless contract.

A year later, Samsung did a much better job with the Tab’s 7-inch successor, the Tab 7.0 Plus. that model included Android 3.2 Honeycomb (which actually worked for tablets), a faster 1.2-GHz dual-core processor, and a more reasonable $400 price. but with the iPad costing only $100 more, many serious-minded tablet buyers ponied up for the iPad because its apps were far and away better than Android tablet apps.

But now, Samsung’s third serious try at the 7-inch tablet has succeeded in a big way. The Tab 2 7.0 shows that Samsung has learned the most important lesson: price wins. with consumers going crazy for those crappy $99 HP TouchPads in last summer’s fire sale and then Amazon’s seemingly successful introduction of the $199 Kindle Fire during the holidays, it was clear consumers love cheap tablets. they like the iPad more, but they see the $500 base price as too much. Now you can get the iPad 2 for $400, but that’s still a tad high for a device that can’t completely replace your computer. (Sorry Harry.)

So does the $250 device feel cheap, you ask. actually, no. The Tab 2 feels great in the hand if you like the feel of 7-inch tablets. I’m more partial to 10-inch models, but I’ve met some users (mostly women) who prefer the 7-inch form factor because it’s lighter and feels good in horizontal use. The construction of the device, like many Samsung products, is excellent with a hard plastic back. it feels much more expensive than, say, the Kindle Fire.

On the inside, the device includes 8GB of internal storage, a 1-GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, an IR blaster, a VGA front-facing camera, and a 3-megapixel back camera. If you need additional storage for media, there is a microSD card slot that takes up to a 32GB card. The device is Wi-Fi only, so no hopping on 3G or 4G networks, but it had to be Wi-Fi-only to keep the price down.

The display is easily the weakest link on the Tab 2 7.0. Now that the iPad has a Retina display, looking at screens without that kind of clarity hurts a bit. but if you’re fine with a passable 1024-by-600 resolution screen for watching videos and surfing the web, you’ll like it.

Preinstalled apps on the Tab 2 7.0 include Netflix, Smart Remote, YouTube, ChatOn, and various other Google services. you also get 50GB of Dropbox cloud storage free for one year, and after that, it drops to 5GB free forever. The Tab 2 includes a link to the Android Market, but that automatically turns into the new Google Play store when accessed. Play, much like iTunes, gives you links to all kinds of music, movie, book, and app downloads.

Finally, you’re wondering, is the device a better buy than the Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, the best of the cheap tablet bunch? on first impression, my gut says yes, this is the best cheap Android tablet. The Kindle Fire is $50 less, but the hardware feels cheap, and it only has access to Amazon’s Android apps rather than the much better Google Play. Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) gives you more features and makes the device more fully realized as well. and I prefer using a more traditional Android build (Samsung uses the TouchWiz skin) over the Fire and Nook’s interfaces. If you’re tied to Amazon or Barnes & Noble content, you can just download their Android apps through Google Play and use the Tab 2 like an e-reader.

Pre-orders on the Tab 2 7.0 start tomorrow. it will be available in stores and online on April 22.

Check out more photos of the device below:

Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 photos: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

Samsung’s 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 is the best $250 tablet yet (first look)

This Tablet PC Post was also found by:

    samsung galaxy tab 2 (7 0) wifi®
Feb 29

eBay’s iPad trade-ins up tenfold from same ...

Posted on by

eBay says 10 times the number of people traded in their iPads during February than did during the same month last year.

Stack of iPads are piled up at the San Francisco Apple Store at the 2010 launch.

(Credit:James Martin/CNET)

With the anticipation of a newiPad being just around the corner, more people have been trading in their first- and second-generation Appletablets, eBay says.

This afternoon, the company said it’s generated more than 125,000 tablet trade-in offers this month, with 97.6 percent of those consisting of Apple iPad models. that number is up tenfold from the number of offers during the same month last year, eBay said.

Those offers are for the online commerce site’s Instant Sale program, which differs from its auction services by giving gadget owners a way to trade in items for cash. Users describe the quality of their item, and eBay picks up the shipping cost, as well as the job of wiping whatever data is on it.

eBay says 7.3 million trade-in offers have been made since the program’s launch. Along with Apple devices, the program also accepts other electronics, though the company says iPhones, iPods, and iPads have represented the majority of trade-ins.

That more people are trading in their iPads now than this time last year shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. In February 2011, the first-generation iPad had been out less than a year and had suffered considerable supply shortages that pushed availability back several weeks for those looking to get their hands on one. by comparison, Apple sold 32 million iPads last year, with the majority of those being the second-generation model–a device that had supply problems of its own.

First-generation, Wi-Fi-only iPad models are among the most popular models being traded, eBay said.

eBay has historically provided a unique view into the international sales demand of the iPad, with the company publishing a chart last year depicting where people were reselling the second-generation tablet in the two weeks after its launch. While the majority of those devices remained in the United States, eBay’s data showed which countries were buying it up ahead of local launches. that data also included a breakdown of which models were the most popular (something Apple does not disclose).

Below is a full ranking of which iPad models are pulling in the most trade-in offers, as well as the top five non-Apple tablets offered for eBay trade-in:

Top Apple tablet models:1. iPad 1 Wi-Fi + 3G AT&T2. iPad 1 Wi-Fi only3. iPad 2 Wi-Fi only4. iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G Verizon5. iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G AT&T

Top non-Apple tablet models:1. ViewSonic ViewPad 10 16GB2. Motorola XOOM 32GB Wi-Fi3. Asus Eee Pad Transformer 16GB4. Acer Iconia Tab A500 16GB5. Dell Streak 7 16GB Wi-Fi

eBay’s iPad trade-ins up tenfold from same time last year

Feb 19

Tablet PC Interesting Facts – News and ...

Posted on by

Good information about tablet PC reviews may be situated on the site mytabletpcreviews.com. Below a number of intereseting facts about tablet PC’s exactly why they’re importan:

- Prices and models do vary and it is advised to seek reviews must a tablet by yourself.

- Samsung tablets pc’s are some of the best on the market and needless to say some models will be found an individual.

- one thing that’s obviously which there are many different makes and designs of tablet pc’s. there seems to the model that suits perfectly with what ever job you will have.

- If you might be on the lookout for enhance pc tablet that could be more appropriate for business then industrial use, you may because the Tosheba Portege R400.

- Xplore’s iX104 Rugged tablet pc is the one other extremely rugged and sturdy tablet. it is made to be reliable for operation and durability in harsh environments the actual Amrel model.

- it was made and tested to be capable to withstand dust, rain, vibrations and shock. The Amrel Rugged tablet pc ways approximately a pound in order that it is vitally in order to handle your go. while it is a great sturdy and rugged tablet pc, it could be perfect to industrial and field consist of.

- one pc tablet that you may like will be the Amrel Rocky Rugged tablet pc which could be very sturdy and authorized for both military and industrial standards.

- I am always the particular go and I even have found myself using my tablet in quite a few unusual places. I have had mine fall your ground and even had coffee spilled on its base.

- pc tablet’s are a hot item for a number of years people in all types function, if you are at all like me, you would like a sturdy one.

- one tablet computer that you’ll like would be the Amrel Rocky Rugged tablet pc which could be very sturdy and licensed for military and industrial standards.

- I am your go and I actually have found myself using my tablet pc in various unusual places. I even have had mine fall your ground and in many cases had coffee spilled on its base.

Tablet PC Interesting Facts – News and Info About Them and Some Tips — Florida Bankruptcy BK Lawyers Attorneys, Law Firms

This Tablet PC Post was also found by:

    facts of tablets pc
    interesting facts about pc\s
    interesting facts about tablets
    interesting facts tablet pc
    interesting pc tablets facts
    some interest facts about tablet pc
    some interesting features of tablets company
    tablet pc interesting facts
Jan 29

Toshiba thrive android tablet review

Posted on by

Another day, another Android Tablet. but this time, something worthwhile has come across and the specs of the tablet we are talking about are heavy weight. Today we are going to discuss about one badass Android Tablet, the Toshiba Thrive.

Toshiba Thrive runs on Android 3.1, Honeycomb. Honeycomb was the first actual tablet operating system from Android. Anything before Honeycomb was just not made for tablets. Although sneak peeks of the next iteration of Android operating system, Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich already out, Honeycomb does one hell of a job.

Enough said about the operating system, now let’s move to the nitty-gritty details of the Toshiba Thrive. First let us talk about the screen. The display is a very good 10.1 incher that supports HD resolution (720p). The screen is capacitive and supports multi touch input. but the novel thing about the screen is Toshiba patented Resolution+ video enhancement technology. The Toshiba Thrive can upscale standard definition to HD definition courtesy Resolution+. The visuals are crisp and the contrast ratio is brilliant. The display is adaptive in nature and the display automatically switches between different settings for Sunny and Dim light conditions.

Toshiba Thrive is a beast at performance with the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. The dual core processor makes the whole tablet experience a whole lot smoother. The fast processor also means that HD videos you watch on the tablet won’t stutter. NVIDIA GeForce graphics technology provides hardware accelerated Adobe Flash and also can run some demanding games without a hitch.

When it comes to optics, Toshiba Thrive comes with 2 cameras. The rear 5 Megapixel camera is auto focus and supports 720p video shooting. The front camera has a resolution of 2 Megapixel which is ample for everyday video chats and Skype calls. The Toshiba Thrive has a rubberized back panel, this comes in handy when you have to hold the tablet for longer periods of time. There is even more, you get to choose the color of the back panel you want out of the 6 different options.

When it comes to internal Memory and RAM size, the Toshiba Thrive has ample internal memory of 8GB and the RAM capacity is whopping 1 GB. Android Honeycomb supports multi tasking and with that amount of RAM you can run all the Apps you want, simultaneously. 8 GB internal memory is pretty standard in tablets these days and there is nothing much to talk about it. but the tablet is also available in 16 GB and 32 GB variants, of course they will cost a bit more.

Now the only thing that remains to talk about the Toshiba Thrive are the connectivity options and trust me, I have saved the best for the last. Toshiba Thrive has pretty much covered everything on connectivity grounds. The tablet has 2 USB ports, one the usual full PC sized USB port and 1 mini-USB port. The full sized USB port is a huge plus and you can plug in all your USB devices from pen drives to portable HDD’s.  another first for any tablet, the Toshiba Thrive features a full sized HDMI port. This means that you won’t have to purchase any additional HDMI cables. Toshiba Thrive also support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0.

The device is pretty sturdy and the battery lasts for 6+ hours with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections on. but if you are a heavy user and want the tablet to be ON at all times than you can purchase replaceable batteries for Toshiba Thrive. and mind you the batteries can be replaced by yourself, no need to send it back to the support. This is a huge plus, in my opinion and is one killer feature in addition to the full sized USB and HDMI ports. All in all the Toshiba Thrive is one very good Honeycomb based tablet and the price tag at which the 8GB model sells is a steal. so if you are looking for top of the line hardware at a throwaway price, then the Toshiba Thrive is the right choice for you.

Toshiba thrive android tablet review

This Tablet PC Post was also found by:

    android 4 0 upgrade toshiba thrive
    blackberry playbook wi-fi 16 gb can pendrive get connected
    Tablet 32 gig Thrive Toshiba
    toshiba tablet settings
Jan 22

My twelve gadgets of Christmas

Posted on by

MANILA, Philippines — having the monicker “Techie Mom” entails quite a few things. Firstly people tend to ask an array of questions that range from, “Jaye, what’s the best tablet in the market, where can I get the best speakers to how can I get an online job.” I really don’t mind being asked these things and actually love the queries but this season, more than ever this query was asked more often, what gadgets do you recommend for us to get? Well, considering the fact that it is now commonplace to expect and want to receive some sort of gadget for Christmas, here are the gadgets one may acquire to augment certain gadgets you may already have. Here’s our techie version of the partridge in a pear tree list.

A good set of speakers like the X- mini or Jawbone Jambox Speaker – Smartphones and tablets need to improve their sound quality so these provide the quality one needs and yet remain just as portable.

The X- Mini’s sleek, chic compact look makes it attractive but its crisp sound they makes it a favorite. The Jawbone Jambox gives users the opportunity to share content with those around them without everybody having to crowd around the laptop or hold a smartphone up to their ears to hear what’s going on.

The Jambox packs a battery life of 10 hours to keep users from constantly having to worry if they need to reach for the power cable.

It can be used several different ways — as the primary source of audio from a laptop, playing music from an iPod or smartphone, or watching videos and gaming on the iPad or another tablet

The tablet case – yes, they come in all shapes and sizes. Greenhills is a good source of them. Whether your tablet is an iPad, a Samsung, an Archos Android ( oh these ultra slim long one will be a bit hard to find a match with), they will have the right one for you.

Plus tablet cases or sleeves now come with retractable flaps and stands to make writing and reading is easier.

A mini scale – all sorts of diet programs abound nowadays – from Southbeach to Sexy Chef to Cohen – the holidays is bad timing for dieting but it could be done and what better way then to be able to measure your food intake! The Escali mini digital scale.

This little scale works as well as its larger cousin (which sells for just a few dollars more) but is easy to store. It can measure up to ten pounds in either ounces or grams and comes in very handy for those recipes (like King Arthur Flour recipes) that measure ingredients in weight.

Great for the smaller kitchen or apartment dweller, this smaller scale can easily store in a drawer. They also come in a variety of fun colors.

LifeProof iPhone Case – The LifeProof case gives iPhone users peace of mind no matter where they may be going with their device, whether it’s underwater, in the ocean or on the ski slopes. a full enclosure case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. It protects the iPhone better than any case around without making it too big to comfortably carry in your pocket. It makes your iPhone waterproof, dirt-proof, snow-proof and shock proof. $80 at www.Lifeproof.com

(To be continued)

Lemme hear from yah:

techiemommy@gmail.com

My twelve gadgets of Christmas

Oct 16

Archos 35 Internet Tablet shows up in France ...

Posted on by

Looks like they’re still using a resistive screen but unlike many other companies Archos usually does a good job optimizing responsiveness for a resistive screen and is harder to tell it apart from how a capacitive would work for you.

However, Archos hardware does have it’s faults though.  My experience with a A70 for example, after just under a year of use, is run time now less than a hour, TS keeps losing calibration, screen rotation keeps getting stuck, edge of TS less responsive and forces me to use in portrait mode for more consistent usage, and the kick stand hinge pin popped out just recently.

Though of course everyone’s experience will be different but for the price you shouldn’t expect too much. but it was good when new…  While smaller models should be more durable and Archos has more years of experiencing at designing PMP’s anyway.

Mind though Apple is lowering the base price of their iTouch to $199 now and other similar products are starting to show up.  So there are more choices coming…

Archos 35 Internet Tablet shows up in France – Liliputing

This Tablet PC Post was also found by:

    archos 35 internet tablet resistive
Oct 12

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet means business

Posted on by

With the ThinkPad Tablet, Lenovo distinguishes itself as the first company with two tablets clearly aimed at two different markets. the company did a solid job with its consumer-focused IdeaPad K1, released midsummer. the ThinkPad Tablet (starting at $499 for a 16GB model, price as of 9/23/2011), like its laptop brethren, has its sights squarely set on business users. And like the ThinkPad laptops, Lenovo largely succeeds in putting together a business-worthy package with its own design, features, and bundled software.

From the outside, the ThinkPad Tablet looks as if it would fit right in with Lenovo’s classic matte black case designs. the back is covered with a soft, slightly rubberized surface, the front bezel finished off with a piano-black plastic.

The ThinkPad Tablet has a starkly different design as compared with its sibling, the IdeaPad. it has four physical buttons on the front, situated along the bottom beneath the screen, and optimized for use in portrait orientation. Physical buttons like these are unusual inclusions for an Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet such as this, since Android has all the buttons you need inside its interface.

However, Lenovo chose to make certain functions not only physical buttons, but ones that are up front and easy-access, too: rotation lock, Web browser, back, and home. the buttons are a curious inclusion; I only found the home and back buttons of occasional convenience, and even then I didn’t like how my fingers had to work to depress the buttons, which click inward, even though the buttons themselves run to the outer edge of the tablet. the inward-click at least mitigates accidentally invoking a button click, and physical buttons are preferable to soft-touch capacitive buttons that are too-easy to accidentally tap, but I would have preferred the cleaner look of a button-free design.

Buttons aren’t the only thing that make this boxy model stand out. It’s also one of the thickest tablets we’ve seen, at a solid 0.57-inch thick. And it measures 10.3-inches long and 7.2-inches wide, making it one of the larger models we’ve seen overall. by comparison, the svelte Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 measures 10.1 by 6.9 by 0.34 inches. Not surprisingly, the larger dimensions contribute to ThinkPad’s heavier weight, 1.64 pounds to Galaxy Tab’s 1.24 pounds. the weight difference is especially obvious when holding the tablet in one hand, and you try to use it for anything longer than a minute or two at a time.

Inside ThinkPad Tablet: Familiar Specs

The specs of the ThinkPad Tablet ring familiar for an Android 3.1 Honeycomb tablet. it packs a 1GHz dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 1GB of memory, and a a choice of 16GB ($499), 32GB ($569), or 64GB ($699) for internal storage.

The 10.1-inch, 1280 by 800 pixel IPS display looked very good in our hands-on. We’re still running our full slate of tests on the tablet, but on our test images, the display showed terrific detail and pleasing color balance. the overall photo-viewing experience compares favorably to the Apple iPas 2: Colors were bright but not oversaturated, and skin tones looked warmer and more natural than they have on other Android tablets we’ve tested. the display had an impressive viewing angle, as you’d expect from IPS technology (Lenovo claims it’s a 178 degree angle), and it has Corning Gorilla Glass to prevent against accidental scratches and breakage.

Other familiar specs include Wi-Fi and 3G (all models have a SIM card slot, but 3G certification will be complete later this fall), a slew of sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, assisted GPS, ambient light sensor), and dual cameras. the front-facing camera, positioned in the upper right corner when in portrait mode and the upper left corner when in landscape mode, is a reasonable 2 megapixels (better than what’s on many other tablets); the rear-facing camera has 5 megapixels, but no flash.

One disappointment: the mono speaker, located at bottom in landscape (along the lower left side in portrait). the speaker was weak and tinny, and required volume to be pumped up to the max to get usable audio. It’ll be passable, perhaps, for listening to narrated audio or a quick YouTube fix, but don’t count on the speaker being satisfactory for listening to music while you work.

The volume buttons are clearly defined, and located at the top/along the left side in portrait and landscape modes, respectively. the power button is on the right side. a fun tweak: the dot in the “i” of the ThinkPad logo on the back glows red when the unit is on.

As with its IdeaPad K1, Lenovo has made some tweaks to the stock Android Honeycomb interface to improve usability. the three core home screen navigation buttons are redesigned to be more cleanly defined; the recently opened apps scroll offers a way to kill apps; and a redesigned settings pop-up menu, to provide wider access to frequently changed settings than Android provides by default.

Lenovo also replaces the default Android keyboard with Lenovo’s FlexT9 keyboard. I didn’t like the position of the delete key–I kept mistaking it for a return key–but the keyboard was otherwise better than the default Android one, with predictive text options, and the ability to handwrite with the pen if you tap on the space bar.

ThinkPad: the Business Differentiators

The ThinkPad Tablet has some purposeful inclusions that Lenovo counts on holding appeal for business and IT users. some of these, however, have appeal for consumers, too.

For starters, Lenovo is the first to bring a large-screen Android tablet to market with pen input; the company uses N-trig’s digitizer technology. unlike other tablets that have pen input, the touch sensor grid was not immediately visible or distracting in use. One advantage to Lenovo’s implementation of digital ink is that you can use the pen with any app, something you can’t do with the HTC Flyer, for example. I liked that flexibility, though I also found the pen input a bit inconsistent. When it worked, it worked really well, with Vision Objects’ MyScript Notes Mobile app translating my chicken scrawl penmanship fairly well; the software also lets you keep your handwritten notes as is, and to share notes and sketches via e-mail, Facebook, and other cloud services.

But sometimes, particularly when using the pen instead of my fingers just to navigate the screen, the pen input appeared to lag behind what my fingers could do, requiring extra taps or motions. perhaps it is something I’d adjust to over time; or, perhaps the display could use a little more calibration to work with the pen. in addition to MyScript Notes, Lenovo says the pen works with Adobe Sketch book and ezPDF Reader, among others.

At least Lenovo thoughtfully builds in a storage slot in for the optional pen (a reasonably priced $30 add-on, more than half the cost of the pen on the Flyer), and includes a lanyard loop for the pen on the tablet as well as the pen itself, so it won’t get easily lost.

Lenovo also packs the ThinkPad Tablet with ports. along the lower left (portrait), or bottom edge (landscape), sits the full-size USB 2.0 port for use with USB devices like a flash drive or hard drive. I liked the sliding door cover for the port–best port protector I’ve seen yet–but I found the placement to be a bit awkward, as a USB drive would point downward when attached–meaning I couldn’t rest the tablet’s bottom edge on the table. the positioning is on purpose for one clear reason, though: the ThinkPad Keyboard Folio ($100) case provides a wired keyboard that plugs into the USB port, includes a nifty, easy-glide optical TrackPoint mouse alternative, and folds up into a nifty carry case combo that packs easily into a suitcase, and works well on the airplane tray table, too.

Other inputs onboard include a dock connector, micro-USB port, and Mini-HDMI connector along the bottom edge (right side in landscape mode). And beneath a sturdy flip-out door sits the full-size SDHC Card and SIM card slots.

Lenovo’s business-friendly tweaks go beyond the hardware. in addition to providing the Lenovo Launch Zone and handy App Wheel–both handy, customizable home screen app widgets first introduced with the IdeaPad K1–the company provides preloaded software apps aimed at business users.

You get the full version of DataViz Documents to go for editing Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents and viewing Adobe Acrobat PDFs; MyScript Notes Mobile; Citrix Receiver; McAfee Mobile Security; and PrinterShare ( a mobile printing app that requires you to setup a printer via your PC). a handful of leisure apps are also preloaded, including Netflix, the Hardwood Games Suite for card games and backgammon; Amazon MP3 and Amazon Kindle for Android; Zinio; Slacker Radio; and mSpot Movies and Music (the latter, oddly, replaces the stock Google Music player outright). oh, and you can’t escape those Angry Birds–Lenovo thoughtfully provides Angry Birds HD, too.

Also included is Lenovo’s awkward app for transferring files from the USB port to the tablet; a Wi-Fi import/export app, and Lenovo’s SocialTouch app.

For the corporate IT market that Lenovo caters to with its ThinkPad brand, the tablet has a handful of custom features that court this audience. Together with LANDesk, Lenovo offers a a Mobility Manager for deploying the tablet in corporate environments, and controlling usage policies like whether you want to encrypt user data and content on SD Cards; push custom apps and installations out to the device; and more. Lenovo partnered with Absolute Software so its Computrace technology can help lock down and trace a wayward device. And Lenovo provides custom imaging services, a custom app store, and secure email options via good Technologies and Microsoft ActiveSync integration.

The ThinkPad Tablet looks and feels bulky, but it’s the first tablet to truly target business users with its configuration. the ThinkPad’s pen input is a benefit; its poor built-in speaker a deterrent, especially for presenters who need passable audio. Still, together with the Folio case, this tablet makes a compelling case for business users and even students who want to switch more of their day-to-day tasks to a tablet.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet means business

This Tablet PC Post was also found by:

    add quickbooks to a lenovo tablet
    thinkpad tablet and quickbooks
    quickbooks lenova tablet app for thinkpad
    lenovo thinkpad with quickbooks
    lenovo tablet quickbooks
    lenovo table pc
    lenovo k1 gps operation
    Lenovo K1 gps assisted
    lenova tablet
    configuration lenovo g750