What's the deal?

I've been given the opportunity to trial a Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet through Nick Hall of Lenovo.  I offered to do some writing to review the device in exchange for this opportunity.

Three things impressed me about Lenovo over other devices:
  1. There is a clear company philosophy, focus, and direction
  2. The devices are super rugged and durable, backed by a very reasonable warranty
  3. They run the Android operating system


1. Who are Lenovo
A company called Legend Holdings began in 1984, grew into China's largest PC company for 20 years, changed their name to Lenovo in 2004, and purchased the PC division of IBM in 2005 (which has been going since 1981).  This is important because it shows that these guys have been around during all of the major technological developments of the last 30 years of the computing boom.  They have adapted and innovated where other companies have died out for failing to adapt to current developments.

What impressed me the most about the company is best summed up in their own words:
"We have a long-term goal of becoming the leading personal technology company in the world. We aspire to achieve this goal by leading in three key areas:
  • Personal Computers: Lead in PCs and be respected for our product innovation and quality.
  • Convergence: Lead the industry with an ecosystem of devices, services, applications and content for people to seamlessly connect to people and Web content.
  • Culture: Become recognized as one of the best, most trusted and most well-respected companies to work for and do business with."

Innovation, seamless connection, and a positive culture.  And by all accounts, along with what I learned in my discussion with the Lenovo rep (Nick Hall), Lenovo back up their talk with action.



2. Why is durability important?
I'm a teacher and a physically active person.  Education is one of the toughest testing grounds for durability.  I have one student who seems to go through cell phones every week or two.  Seriously.  He could be an exception because he likes to pull them apart and fix them, but I doubt that he breaks them just so he can fix them!

I know that I'm better than most when it comes to looking after my tech devices, but I really want a device that I can trust to survive an active lifestyle.  As an electronics teacher, I have been called upon to fix a high number of teachers' laptop chargers that have been wrecked by rough hands in a rush to get to the next class.  This is a problem of battery life as well as structure, and the Thinkpad tablet appears to solve both of these issues by having a high battery life (8hrs of active use) reducing the need to plug in, unplug, plug in, etc.  The docking stations and minimalistic chargers of modern mobile devices are easier to manage, going a long way towards solving the structure problem.

Something else that I've noticed, either from Nick or from the Lenovo website, is that the decision to use Android as an operating system was a deliberate choice with clear grounds for doing so.  The development resources were apparently redirected to produce better hardware.  Compare the prices to an iPad, and you know that the Thinkpad of similar specs and price will be more durable.


3. Why I prefer Android
I won't labour this point because I have done so already in other places.  Basically, Android is more adaptable in the ways that I like to be innovative and creative.  I haven't found anything else that meets my professional and personal needs.

While I haven't yet received my demo model in the post, I am certainly building my expectations through writing about them.  I look forward to sharing these experiences (both good and bad - if there are bad) and comparing them to what others have found.  I hope to contribute something new and original and, as always, your feedback is strongly encouraged!

Sam

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