Lenovo has secretly shown the much anticipated X1 ThinkPad tablet with dock-able keyboard and targeted at the in Brazil. ZTOP, a Brazilian blog reported that Lenovo X1 ThinkPad coupled with keyboard dock does sound similar to the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer and Acer Iconia Tab. The Lenovo X1 ThinkPad tablet is expected to launch internationally next month. There are no details on its Indian launch, availability and pricing as yet.
The Lenovo X1 ThinkPad comes with leather case that wraps around it and also accommodates a keyboard that can be attached with the screen. The ThinkPad tablet sports a 10.1-inch screen supporting 1280×800 Pixel resolution display. The ThinkPad tablet houses dual-core 1Ghz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and runs Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system.
Acer has already launched its Iconia Tab A500 at a price point of Rs. 27,990 last month. Iconia sports the same 10.1-inch display screen, dual-core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, and Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system. Acer has smartly priced its tablet for about Rs. 27,990 in India and that’s why it is looked upon as a preferable option because of affordable price. Unfortunately the Android version of the tablet doesn’t bundle a dockable keyboard.
Next month we expect the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer tablet to hit Indian shores at the end of next month and it would be one of the first 10.1-inch tablet to be available with the dockable keyboard. With the 10.1-inch tablets, several early adopters still aren’t comfortable using the onscreen keyboard. Also if the tablet makers bundle along a physical keyboard that can be docked or connected via Bluetooth then it could be a well deserved add-on.
Tablet sales in India might be on the rise with advent of Apple iPad, Galaxy Tab and several other models already available here. But consumers continue to look for the best affordable bundle amongst all available options today in Indian market. That is just to see if the tablets can replace their netbooks and heavy laptops.