Comments on: Lenovo Says “No” to Slate PCs

By: theDonnybrook

theDonnybrook — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:45:12 +0000

After having played with an iPad, I agree with Yak that the iPad is, basically, a large iPod Touch. However, the strides they are making in slate usability are notable. I agree with the research here. I run a small law practice and my office is effectively is my x200t and my portable scanner. I have no need for a slate only device. Also, the OS limitations of the iPad effectively remove any business application for the iPad beyond being a device to assist in giving presentations, something I would expect my convertible tablet to be able to do anyway.

What I would love to see is an appropriately feature rich Thinkpad that has the design feature of the U1. That way, I can carry the slate into court, jot my notes, prepare documents, and return to my desk, or closest coffee shop, and type away as needed. Put the guts of my x200t into a slate that docks into a portable base with a keyboard, that docks into an Ultrabase, and I would be sold on that kind of product so quick my x200t would become homeless. That is, of course, provided the user experience is up to par.

By: yak

yak — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:49:00 +0000

Don’t forget that iPad is just an oversized iPod Touch and as such not the same type of device as a real slate running desktop operating system. So to lock the market you are talking about Apple first has to come up with a slate running OS X, not iPhone OS.

By: thinknopad

thinknopad — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:11:06 +0000

Lenovo’s decision not to come out with a slate shows lack of vision and courage among Lenovo/Thinkpad executives. Once Apple makes a hit with their iPad, then everyone else will come out with their own version of slate. The gang at Microsoft will work overtime to compete with Apple on slate. By then Apple may have locked up the market. Shows lack of boldness among the pc industry.

By: T43user

T43user — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:23:21 +0000

When my T43 dies or I get fed up with it getting slower and slower, I an planning on getting a slate from someone else, and then a separate Trackpoint keyboard from Lenovo. This is because nobody wants to make usable laptops anymore, with screens with enough vertical working space: they constantly just keep cutting slices away from the top of the screen. Thus I’ll just get a slate that I can put into portrait mode — at least TabletKiosk has 12″ 4:3 slates, which will have quite nice height in portrait — and then attach a trackpoint keyboard (a small laptop-sized one — I’ve always thought the numpad to be useless).

By: Phelan

Phelan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:24:55 +0000

I agree with Lenovo and Rice. You MUST have a keyboard, but it can be detachable. Lenovo has their U1 (correct?) that has this option, although it is not a Thinkpad and is woefully underpowered.

There had been days where I exclusively used my X200 in the slate position. As a student, I can atest to the usefulness of having a detachable keyboard. It makes the overall computer lighter, thinner, and easier to handle in cases where you are just taking notes and traveling from class to class. The keyboard can be left at home for those long essays. I wish that Lenovo comes up with a TC1000 modern counterpart.

By: Herb Rice

Herb Rice — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:31:15 +0000

One wonders who conjured up this research.

Compaq demonstrated years ago that you can successfully build a slate with a physical keyboard option (TC1100). Why did Lenovo intentionally omit this from their presention, hmm?