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Sorry to say I'm disappointed

ThinkPad/Ideapad Slate Tablet, Tablet 2, Miix etc.
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brucewilsonpa
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Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#1 Post by brucewilsonpa » Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:28 am

Got my TPT yesterday and even ordered the Gobi 3000 card in anticipation of converting it to 3g. But now it's going back. I am very disappointed with this device. I've been through both the original iPad and the iPad2 and have had a Moto Xoom since they came out in Feb, which I consider an excellent tablet. But, as a gadget geek, I keep hoping the advance of technology will justify "upgrading" it -- I have a buyer should I be ready to part with it. Thought the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 would be the replacement until I realized Samsung hobbled their product with no accessibility outside their proprietary connector. I've looked at the HTC EVO View but didn't want to revert to Gingerbread after Honeycomb. So when Lenovo announced this baby I thought, here is the replacement I've been waiting for.... not so!

Sorry to learn, after the fact, that the wifi modem is the older b/g technology -- no "n" capability as I've been accustomed to. It seemed to take "forever" to charge the device -- nearly all day -- far slower than the Xoom. I experienced the delays others have referred to -- software download/installation seemed quite slow -- the display does seem slower than my Xoom but that might be a perception only. The responsiveness seems clearly slower than the Xoom, however. I really dislike the Lenovo add-ons and decided to dump them all. No way to reprogram the hardware buttons (I don't want their browser) -- the Lenovo software apps are very limited in terms of choices.

I'm not trying to pan this tablet -- it's well built (great quality, as expected) -- has the pen and handwriting recognition others are missing -- it is much more oriented towards business use compared to all the consumer-focused tablets. But after 8 months with my Xoom and over a year with ipads before that, this just isn't enough of an "improvement" -- sad to say.
Bruce Wilson (PA-USA)

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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#2 Post by TTY » Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:14 pm

brucewilsonpa wrote:Sorry to learn, after the fact, that the wifi modem is the older b/g technology -- no "n" capability as I've been accustomed to.
It's specified as b/g/n, so it ought to be b/g/n.
It seemed to take "forever" to charge the device -- nearly all day --.
This could be a problem with the access point or wireless router you're using. Some access points and routers try to keep clients awake. That prevents the tablet from going to a power saving mode. Linksys access points and routers seem to work correctly, some not-so-new D-Link models seem to have problems. Charging time with the 10W AC adapter is about four hours if your access point/router works correctly.

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disappointed too

#3 Post by Shofar » Fri Sep 30, 2011 9:06 am

I'm disappointed by the dearth of reviews of the TPT.

I was in the States in August and tried my best to get a TPT. Couldn't do it in the time I had alloted.

As a long time TP X series user I am still interested but there are so few user reviews that I am frustrated.

Come on board members, if you have on let the rest of us know what you think.

Is it a buy? or is it a wait for something better.

Hoping for more reviews, opinions,

Shofar

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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#4 Post by BillMorrow » Sat Oct 01, 2011 3:11 am

you can google around and find many reviews..
some are recent, some not so recent..

they seem to be all over the map as to how good it is or not..

the highpoints that stick in my mind right now are:
1. the display is not as bright as some think it should be..
2. the front camera not so hot..
3. i tiny bit heavier than most tablets in "this class"..?! class..? what class..? the 10 inch class maybe..?
4. the stylus and inking app are great.. (or not according to a few reviewers)..
5. the fit, finish and general overall quality is high..

there are more things but its late, so i'll pause here..

the whole point for me is whether to buy one or not to replace my iPad 1..

i'm still on the fence and i suppose i'll be sitting here until the 3G version is available..
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#5 Post by anabol » Wed Oct 26, 2011 6:35 pm

BillMorrow wrote:the highpoints that stick in my mind right now are:
1. the display is not as bright as some think it should be..
I compared the screen with ipad2,both on max brightness and can't say that TPT is really worse...
I have never faced any problems other people are writing about...the only issue is that the speaker is really quite(((

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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#6 Post by underclocker » Fri Feb 17, 2012 11:01 pm

My ThinkPad Tablet finally sold after having it listed with an agressive price for 3 weeks both here and on Craigslist. Not exactly a hot seller.

Overall, it's actually a nice, durable tablet, but there were five issues that I couldn't get over;

1) upredictable battery consumption (maybe due to WWAN adapter)
2) lots of warnings or aborted startups if battery was under 10%
3) painfully slow charging
4) pathetic speaker
5) no HBO Go (plus whatever signal HBO is sending by not updating their product for Honeycomb, even one year after its release! With Ice Cream Sandwich projected for a May 2012 release, HBO may never run on a modern Android tablet.)

(Of course, if you don't have a WWAN adapter, use the dock & ThinkPad charger, use headphones and don't have an HBO subscription, you might think it's awesome!)

When performance, battery life and apps support catch up to the iPad 1 level, I'll take another look.
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#7 Post by pjk » Tue Apr 24, 2012 4:16 am

underclocker wrote:
3) painfully slow charging

...[unless you use] the dock & ThinkPad charger...

I just ordered an open-box deal on a base model TPT, waiting for it to arrive.

But just wanted to say that one of the things that looked really cool to me was the fact that apparently you can use a standard TP 20v adapter and get good charging times. (I guess you need the dock for that, but MacMall is selling them really cheap right now)

And I've never seen anyone else's tablet that could be easily upgraded like this. With an iPad or most of the other products, you agonize over ie the FLASH size because once you buy it, you're stuck. With this one, not only can you just stick an SD card in there, you can also swap some other components like wireless cards.

Combined with the various ports on it, that really makes the difference between the "meh" I've always thought about tablets in general, versus something I can actually customize to my needs. (HW anyway)

My main concern (prior to actually having it in my hands) is lack of 5Ghz WiFi support. The 2.4Ghz band around here is crazy congested. But if push comes to shove I'll just get a low-end 3G account for it, we'll see.
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#8 Post by BillMorrow » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:14 pm

And I've never seen anyone else's tablet that could be easily upgraded like this.
which is why thinkpads are superior to apples products..
blackbox vs. open arcitecture upgradeable platform..

as i said elsewhere the mini-dock thing seems to be a no brainer..
lenovo should include it with the tablet..

@underclocker..
as i have said elsewhere (again) i think the android is best left for smartphones and this and other tablets should use a tablet version of win 7 or win 8..
just saying, here.. :)
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#9 Post by pianowizard » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:50 pm

BillMorrow wrote:as i have said elsewhere (again) i think the android is best left for smartphones and this and other tablets should use a tablet version of win 7 or win 8..
Well said. I think business-class slate tablets should run Windows. For example, the Dell Latitude ST runs Windows 7. It's actually 25% off right now on the Dell Outlet and is slightly tempting -- a starting price of $359 is really cheap for a Windows slate tablet. But for entertainment, Android is fine.
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#10 Post by pjk » Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:55 pm

FWIW, I don't remotely envision this item, for me, to be any sort of laptop replacement. I'm going to carry that around with me regardless because I need it for remote system administration. If it turns out that I can stuff a enough Android apps on there like VNC, SSH, RDP clients and various other network tools, I might re-consider, but I've got no illusions on that as of yet.

I'm mostly getting this to play around with Android, have a small thing to read news and do some limited websurfing on, etc.

I also have an e-ink ereader that I use because it's way easier on the eyes than a TFT screen. I'd love a tablet that could also serve as an e-reader but the technology/products/prices aren't there yet. (yeah I know a lot of people read books on ipads and other TFT tablets, I'm not one of 'em. My eyes get enough fatique with the hours I already spend every day staring into an LCD or CRT. And LCDs are useless in bright sun.)
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#11 Post by Temetka » Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:28 pm

I have only read 2 books on my TPT mainly because I have a Nook Simple Touch and reading on an e-ink screen is far easier on my eyes.

Other than that I really enjoy using my TPT it gets used on a nearly daily basis, I think it is a wonderful device.
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#12 Post by pjk » Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:18 pm

Temetka wrote:I have only read 2 books on my TPT mainly because I have a Nook Simple Touch and reading on an e-ink screen is far easier on my eyes.
Hehe, that's exactly the same e-reader I have. :) I upgraded from a 1st-gen Nook to that. And drat B&N, they just came out with another model to tempt me to upgrade again...

Temetka wrote:Other than that I really enjoy using my TPT it gets used on a nearly daily basis, I think it is a wonderful device.
That's good to hear. Luckily for me my expectations are probably not as high as some others because A) I only paid $310 delivered for it, and B) I have no illusions that it will replace my e-reader or my laptops. It probably also helps that I have little interest in using it for watching movies or listening to music either.

Re: my earlier comment about the congested 2.4Ghz spectrum around here, anecdote: I was working on setting up a new WAP for my network yesterday. In the process I needed a tool to get a better idea of the WiFi environment because I haven't installed AccessConnections on this Win7 LT yet, and the built-in Win7 WiFi tool doesn't even tell you what channel/freq the visible WAPs are broadcasting on. So I installed Nir Sofer's outstanding free "WirelessNetView" tool.

Are you ready for this? I have around 500 (that's FIVE HUNDRED) detectable WiFi signals here at my house. :eek:

Good grief! No wonder I've had signal quality/disconnect problems with my 2.4Ghz WAPs here for so long.

(I knew there were a lot of 'em, but the built-in or ThinkVantage tools would typically only show something like 50-60 of the stronger ones that didn't have blank SSIDs. I live across the street from a university and they have a bunch of meshed WAPs, many of which don't have SSIDs, and many of which have very low signal strength at this location)
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#13 Post by BillMorrow » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:17 am

So I installed Nir Sofer's outstanding free "WirelessNetView" tool
i'm going to look up that tool..
i have been using "fing" or "ping" or something (the thinkpad tablet is in another room right now) and it gives a lot of info..

500 wifi signals.. WOW..!! you must live downtown..
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#14 Post by pjk » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:32 am

BillMorrow wrote:i'm going to look up that tool..
That guy has released so many outstandingly useful and FREE software utilities (and LIGHTWEIGHT tools - bloated S/W is one of my biggest peeves), he's a gem. Here's a link:

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_network_view.html

BillMorrow wrote:500 wifi signals.. WOW..!! you must live downtown..
Well I live across the street from the original UCSF medical center. Close enough. :lol:
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#15 Post by pjk » Sat Apr 28, 2012 3:42 am

Anecdote: My Verizon LTE hotspot (Samsung SCH-LC11) gets so flustered with all the competing signals here, it spends a few minutes after I turn it on apparently trying to find a clear channel to broadcast on, and then basically gives up and turns off its WiFi light. :(

I said years ago when WiFi first started getting popular that this would happen eventually. People poo-pooed me. Kind of ironic that I start thinking about going back to the crappy USB LTE modem that I originally had w/ Verizon when they rolled out the service, simply because there are places I can't get a good signal with 1-2 feet between the hotspot and the device I'm trying to use with it.
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#16 Post by BillMorrow » Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:49 am

thanks for the link..
BillMorrow wrote:500 wifi signals.. WOW..!! you must live downtown..
Well I live across the street from the original UCSF medical center. Close enough. :lol:
you mean the UC med center on parnassas..?
500..? i'm surprised its so few..

then you must live in one of those houses on a steep hill where, when you park your car and open the downhill side door the door flys out of your control and leaves a big divot in the side of the next car downhill..?!

been there, but never did that, being i was born there and its genetic.. curb your wheels, learn how to ride the clutch stopping at the top of a hil for cross traffic and how to find a parking place in the financial district..

"original" uc med center..? you mean they moved it..? all those interlinked buildings..?
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#17 Post by pjk » Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:44 pm

BillMorrow wrote: then you must live in one of those houses on a steep hill where, when you park your car and open the downhill side door the door flys out of your control and leaves a big divot in the side of the next car downhill..?!

Actually I'm on the Irving St. side where it's a little flatter. :)


BillMorrow wrote: "original" uc med center..? you mean they moved it..? all those interlinked buildings..?

The 2 original hospitals and various facilities are still on Parnassus. But since there's basically no room to expand there, when they needed to expand in 2003 they started building a secondary campus in the Mission Bay/China Basin area. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University ... sco#Campus
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#18 Post by BillMorrow » Mon Apr 30, 2012 1:20 am

not that we're hijacking this thread BUT i used to do business with a law firm that had offices in the china basin building.. big old 5 floor cement structure that was, i think, once used to produce telephone books.. between 3rd and 4th streets if memory is correct..
and at that time an old ocean liner, maybe roth's lurline or matsonia was docked nearby slowly rusting away..
this was, of course, about 28 years ago..

one could fly down third street to avoid rush hour traffic on 101 or 280 south out of the city.. :)
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Re: Sorry to say I'm disappointed

#19 Post by pjk » Mon Apr 30, 2012 1:30 am

Well when they re-developed that area around the time of the ballpark construction, one of the unfortunate things was that they covered up or obscured the whole front of the China Basin building, which used to be rather attractive.

Fun techie fact: at one time Level3 had a significant data-center/interconnect hub in the China Basin building, may still be there. Had to meet someone there once.

I'm actually kind-of disappointed in SF since the dotcom days. The 'personality' of the city has changed a lot since then.

OK, enough hijacking I guess. Oh and BTW, my Thinkpad tablet arrives tomorrow. ;-)
Phil
San Francisco, CA USA

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