Lenovo Windows 8 ThinkPad Tablet 2 - Tablet + dockable Keyboard Combo

[e-schreiber]

It is plausible that Lenovo will release the device with bugs. Personally, I never buy a gadget on the month of its release. I like to wait 4 months to let the early adopters review the device and report its bugs to the OEM. 4 months is also enough time for the coupons to start popping up around the interwebs. Two birds with the same stone!

[Pianomanos]

Every single review of the Thinkpad Tablet 2 has commented on its bugginess. I haven't seen similar comments with, say, the Envy X2 or the Samsung devices (which also have had a decent number of reviews). What's going on with that?

Where are these reviews that you're talking about?

[Mitlov]

Here's two:

Though the models I saw were all pre-production units, they felt very nice to hold. There were still some glitches in Windows 8 as shown in the video above, but it still runs relatively smoothly. We’re hopeful it will run even more smoothly and with less crashes when the ThinkPad 2 is released in October.

Hands-On With Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2

There are still a few glitches with screen responsiveness that the company is working on, but overall, the tablet seemed snappy and responsive.

Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2: Looks Like a Tablet, Behaves Like a PC

I think I've seen similar comments elsewhere, but I don't remember where.

[fatpolomanjr]

There is even some mention of these problems in the trusted reviews take on the TPT 2 that I posted on page 3. The hopeful thing about all of this is that these were pre-production units. Lenovo does tend to screw at least something up on launch, whether it be a matter of quality control (X230T wobble, X1 Carbon screen door effect, wobbly touchpad and misaligned screen adhesive) or of drastic, needed improvement (X220T edge inacurracy), or a matter of buggy software and drivers (Honeycomb performance of the TPT that improved greatly with ICS...I DEFINITELY don't know enough about the TPT 1 to say ANYTHING about it, though...).

My hope is the last set of issues, because software and driver issues can usually be fixed with an update. I'm not really the early adopter type, myself, but I did buy my X220T on Black Friday in spite of the bad edge firmware. I got lucky though, in that the day I received it Lenovo had already released the firmware update to fix the edge problem! I hope Lenovo would be smart enough to actively and timely address any valid issues users may have, especially with the Thinkpad line's reputation at stake. Thinkpads are at least somewhat better supported than their consumer brand counterparts ideapad and edge.

Edit: Of course, to reiterate, if there is an inherent hardware limitation the TPT 2 might not be for me. That is, if Atom is fundamentally unable to smoothly handle Win 8 and OneNote, as an X220T owner I'd probably be better served by buying a cheaper RT tablet as a companion, such as Surface RT or anything else with Wacom. True pen digitizer an absolute must. None of this ipad "stylus" wannabe trash.

No way I'd shell the bucks for a full on Ivy bridge slate given that I already have my awesome X220T. My 2 cents.

[FinancialWar]

does that mean Lenovo will stop meaning Android based Thinkpad?

[fatpolomanjr]

does that mean Lenovo will stop meaning Android based Thinkpad?

They haven't announced anything. Will they stop making droid based Thinkpads? Only Lenovo knows. Plenty of droid ideapad tablets out though.

[Mitlov]

October 26 release, price of $799 including keyboard dock. Lenovo ThinkPad 2 pegged for October 26th release, with a $799 price tag -- Engadget I was expecting a price $100-$150 cheaper. Oh well.

And since they've already removed the Android Thinkpad Tablet from their website, yes, this means the end of Android Thinkpad tablets. They may hedge their bets on Windows RT for consumer devices by still offering some Android Ideapads, but for Thinkpad, it's Windows 8 only from now on.

[Bronsky]

A thinkpad tablet is an enterprise device. It should run windows.

[Pianomanos]

Here's hoping Lenovo offers the Thinkpad 2 without the keyboard dock for $100 less.

[Steve B]

Surprised about the price point though. Sheesh. What makes it so special that it can cost that much more? Does it have a special Anti-Glare screen? A snap on dockable keyboard with extra battery? A removable battery or alterable ram?

Nope. Nope. Nope.

I like a lot of what it does, but for a 10.1" tablet without a real dockable keyboard or modifiable guts, this seems more expensive to me than I'd want to pay.