Lenovo ThinkPad 10 is announced, ready to take on Surface Pro 2

Lenovo has been effective at keeping the ThinkPad brand relevant since buying the PC business from IBM years ago. Since Microsoft got into the computing hardware business with the introduction of the Surface tablets, there has been a lot of discussion about how Microsoft’s hardware partners would respond to that type of competition.

For Lenovo, it was simply a matter of building a new tablet of its own. The ThinkPad 10 is an all business Windows tablet. It runs the full 64-bit Windows 8.1 operating system and its body is made of aluminum while the display is protected by Gorilla Glass.

Lenovo’s new tablet will be available in a variety of configurations to serve the company’s business clientele, but it has a good feature set for anyone that is looking for a tablet with full computing capabilities. The tablet itself has HDMI-out, and one USB 2.0 port. The reason for the 2.0 port on the tablet itself is due to the chipset, however Lenovo is able to provide 2 USB 3.0 ports on the tablet dock, which is a separate accessory. The display is a full HD IPS panel. There is stylus support and Lenovo has a host of accessories available as well.

The tablet is light too, just about 1.3 pounds, which is more than half-a-pound lighter than the Surface Pro 2. That is due to the differences on the inside, as the quad-core Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU does not have the same cooling necessity of the Surface Pro's i5 processor.  However, that will be an available option for the ThinkPad.

Like the Surface Pro 2, the ThinkPad 10 comes with a digitizer pen. Unlike the Surface Pro 2 however, the Lenovo ThinkPad will have the option to use cellular data connectivity. On the flip side, the ThinkPad will come with memory options of 2GB or 4GB of RAM, and 64GB or 128GB of microSD expandable storage.  There is a pair of cameras on board, a main 8MP sensor and a front facing 2MP unit.

The ThinkPad 10 will be on sale in June. Prices will start at $599 which some Surface shoppers may find appealing. The company has put together an unboxing video, a “first look” video, and a product tour video.


source: Lenovo