Lenovo’s ThinkPad line has always been geared towards business users on the go. In the post-PC (PC plus?) era, that has meant adding a tablet to the ThinkPad family. The ThinkPad Tablet was a bit of an odd fit for the role, though. It ran Android, not Windows, which meant no access to the Office apps most business users depend on. Also, the Tablet relied on an awkward folio case to provide the signature Lenovo keyboard and an optical trackpad for a mouse, instead of a touchpad, or trackpoint. Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet felt in many ways like a compromise, meant to ensure the company kept a piece of the business tablet market, rather than a finished design.
Last night, Lenovo introduced a successor that will feel far more familiar to HP TouchPad customers. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 feels like the finished design that the original was a prototype for. Far thinner (9.8mm) and lighter (1.3lbs), the ThinkPad Tablet 2 looks and feels like a reasonable challenger to the iPad for enterprise customers. Instead of Android, the Tablet 2 runs Windows 8, not the more limited Windows RT for ARM tablets. We’re talking about the full Windows 8 Pro, thanks to a next-generation Intel mobile processor. That means support for Microsoft Office, as well as just about any other legacy application that could be used on Windows 7.
Lenovo has done away with the USB-powered keyboard folio case in favor of a bluetooth keyboard and stand. The result looks a lot closer to a laptop and is far more conveniently disabled when you want only a tablet. Unfortunately, it looks like the optical trackpad remains, but I guess we can’t have everything.
The ThinkPad Tablet 2 has plenty of connectivity options, including a full USB port once again. You’ll also get Bluetooth, WiFi, and NFC, as well as 3G and 4G service options.
Most impressively of all, Lenovo claims the Tablet 2 can expect over 10 hours of battery life. Given the history of Intel’s mobile processors, that’s simply astonishing in a device with so little space to cram battery into.
The Tablet 2 will be available this October, after Windows 8 is officially released to the public. That will put it several months ahead of Microsoft’s own Intel tablet offering, the Surface Pro. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but Lenovo looks poised to enter the PC plus era for its business users this holiday season.
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