Amazon/Nook see some serious competition.

[=X=]

It seems the success of the nook Color has garnered attention and showed there is a market for 7" tablets.

Personally I belie the success of the nook was a combination of three factors, the screen quality, the price, and access to the Android Market(translate it's hackable nature). In short what I believe people want is an affordable tablet with a good quality screen.

Lenovo seems to have payed close attention as they have released just that

A1 runs Android 2.3 (no, I didn’t mix up the numbers there) and is powered by a 1GHz single-core ARM Cortex A8 processor.
Screen: 1024 x 600-resolution IPS LCD panel. (more...)

Sure it's hardware from a year ago but at $200 running Android 2.3 and access to the market it will make a nice option for folks who want an affordable tablet that requires no hacking.


=X=

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by =X=

Lenovo seems to have payed close attention as they have released just that

Finally, another manufacturer sees the light.

[Joseph R]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Finally, another manufacturer sees the light.

Well, one famous CEO did believe that small tablets were DOA

[PaulJones]

That's quite an attractive little pad given its size and price. I noticed in one shot that I could see a lot of fingerprints on the screen which is one of my problems with the Nook Color. I find myself really distracted by the grease spots my fingers tend to leave (but I live in the desert and I tend to be a bit on the sweaty side).

Nice pad and a good price, though.

[jasoraso]

Too bad that it looks like Lenovo plans to release the 16gb and 32gb in the U.S.; but not the 8gb. I would love to see the $200 8gb.

I'm also curious to see how this screen compares with the Nook Color. They have the same resolution.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by PaulJones

Nice pad and a good price, though.

Welcome to the group. Hope you enjoy it around here.

[Hellmark]

if the 8gig version gets released, I'd definitely be on board.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by PaulJones

I noticed in one shot that I could see a lot of fingerprints on the screen which is one of my problems with the Nook Color. I find myself really distracted by the grease spots my fingers tend to leave (but I live in the desert and I tend to be a bit on the sweaty side).

I would suggest a screen protector, the clear one seems to be better to protect against fingerprints, but the anti-glare one would help too.

Good to see some competition in the tablet arena, we should all benefit from this.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Joseph R

Well, one famous CEO did believe that small tablets were DOA

Jobs said these devices were too small for a pleasant touchscreen experience.

So that means that Apple is selling substandard (according to Jobs) touch screen devices aka, all iPhones and iPod Touches. Seems they are too small for a pleasant touchscreen experience. Jobs talks out both sides sometimes.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by jasoraso

I'm also curious to see how this screen compares with the Nook Color. They have the same resolution.

They both have IPS screens at 1024-by-600-pixel resolution, with 170 pixels per inch (ppi). (well the nook has 169 ppi)

On paper they look to be the same. The question is will they have a better capacitive layer. The nook has some blind spots and is only 2 point multi touch. If Lenvo has more accuracy and more touch points it will be a winner.


=X=

[jocampo]

Hmmm, well, I am not so sure about using the word "success" with the Nook Color.

They sold a lot, that is correct, but mainly because the price was low and the operating system was relatively easy to hack.

In terms of B&N as a bookstore, not so sure that means a success for them. They make money with digital books, not so much with hardware.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Hmmm, well, I am not so sure about using the word "success" with the Nook Color.

They sold a lot, that is correct, but mainly because the price was low and the operating system was relatively easy to hack.

In terms of B&N as a bookstore, not so sure that means a success for them. They make money with digital books, not so much with hardware.

I would tend to think that those who root the NCs are in the minority.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by afv011

I would tend to think that those who root the NCs are in the minority.

If that was the case, then how come I've yet to see a NC in the wild not rooted? Almost everyone I've talked to about it said they did it because they wanted access to the Android Market. Especially with the software available, it doesn't take a techie to root it. It is as easy as download a program, connect SD card to computer, click button in program, put the SD card into the NC and boot the NC.

[stonetools]

The success of the NC is measured by Amazon's introduction of a direct competitor. While quite a few techies liked the NC because they could hack it into something like a general purpose tablet, the vast majority of NC buyers used it as an ereader.
Good luck to Lenovo on it's tablet. I would note that there are a lot of similiarly priced Android tablets out there which all failed because consumers just would not put up with their crude interfaces and lack of performance. We'll see how the Lenovo tablet actually performs when it launches.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

If that was the case, then how come I've yet to see a NC in the wild not rooted? Almost everyone I've talked to about it said they did it because they wanted access to the Android Market. Especially with the software available, it doesn't take a techie to root it. It is as easy as download a program, connect SD card to computer, click button in program, put the SD card into the NC and boot the NC.

I didn't imply it is difficult. All I said is that, in my opinion (which is just that), most people do not root it. You are free to disagree.